Fourth Homily for the Sunday of the Myrrhbearing Women (St. Luke of Simferopol)

 

By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea

(Delivered in 1958)

Congratulations, congratulations to all of you, good women, all praying with me - congratulations on your great women's feast - the week of Myrrhbearing women. It is necessary that you understand well what this great day obliges you to understand why the significance of the week of the Myrrhbearing women is so great.

Why was it that our Lord Jesus Christ was the first after the resurrection to appear not to His apostles, but to them, the Myrrhbearing women? Why? Because the Lord knew the hearts of women and the hearts of men.

Third Homily for the Sunday of the Myrrhbearing Women (St. Luke of Simferopol)

St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea

(Delivered on May 13, 1951)

The Myrrhbearing women have now been honored with great honor, for the Holy Church honors their memory on the third Sunday of Pascha.

How did they deserve such an honor, why does the Holy Church glorify them? Because they shine for all of you, women, as a holy and unattainable example of what all women should be.

The Holy Church honors the holy Myrrhbearing women with great honor for their unspeakable love for Christ, for they completely gave their hearts to the Lord Jesus.

Second Homily for the Sunday of the Myrrhbearing Women (St. Luke of Simferopol)

By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and Crimea

In the last three and a half years of the earthly life of our Lord Jesus Christ, when He preached the gospel of righteousness and performed innumerable miracles, the holy apostles and the myrrhbearing women were always with Him.

The apostles He chose were more than the myrrhbearers. Only the apostles were sent by the Lord to preach the gospel. Only the apostles were given the power to cast out demons and heal the sick. The myrrhbearers, although the Lord did not love them less than the apostles, did not receive such gifts from Him.

We need to think about the reasons why our Lord Jesus Christ had a different attitude toward men and a different attitude toward women, these two sexes of the human race. The first thing to think about is whether or not women with their weaker powers could bear the burden of the apostolic work, persecution, and the suffering suffered by the apostles of Christ. There are many testimonies on this subject both in Holy Scripture and in the lives of the apostles.

Sunday of the Myrrhbearers - The Risen One and the Myrrhbearers (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

"Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him" (Mk. 16:1).

In today's Gospel reading there is talk about the visit of the Myrrhbearing women "when the Sabbath was past" to the tomb, the encounter with the Angel and the information that "He is risen, He is not here." The encounter of the Myrrhbearers with the Lord is not described here, but we know very well that the Myrrhbearing women not only were found worthy of the angelic apparition and were the first to be informed of the Resurrection of Christ, but also were found worthy to see the Risen Christ. This is an event of great importance and significance. That is why in the person of the Myrrhbearers, female nature and in general all human nature is honored.

Sunday of the Myrrhbearing Women - A Woman of Love and Service Is Never Bored or Empty

By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin (1807-1869)

The third week after Holy Pascha is called the Week of the Holy Myrrhbearing Women. How did the Myrrhbearing women deserve such honor and memory that the Holy Church appointed a special week for their remembrance and glorification? Could it be that on the day of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, very early in the morning, they carried fragrant ointment to His tomb in order to anoint His body with it, for which they were called "myrrhbearers"? No. Of course, by this they proved that they loved Jesus Christ, but this was only their last deed, which they did for Him, out of love for Him who had died. No, even before, much earlier and much more they showed their love for Jesus Christ. They were at His burial, they were at His crucifixion, when He was led to Golgotha they followed Him and wept. But most importantly, during all the time Jesus Christ walked through the cities and villages and taught the people, these women were among the first to follow Him and served Him with their own means.

The Feast of Saint Kyriaki and the Role of Women in the Church

By Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople

(From his homily delivered in the Church of Saint Kyriaki in Kontoskaliou of Constantinople on July 7, 2020)

The feasts of female Saints and Martyrs, such as the commemoration of the Holy Great Martyr Kyriaki, is an opportunity for us to remember the martyrdoms, sacrifices and offerings of women in the Church, and the particular reverence which they give to Orthodoxy.

Unfortunately and misguidedly, the Orthodox Church is described from the outside as male-centered. However, the central position of the Theotokos in her life, the abundance of Holy Women, the contribution of women to the parishes, their multifaceted ministry work, and their essential role in the family, the "small Church", according to our predecessor on the Throne of the Church of Constantinople, John Chrysostom, are admired, canceling these views. Quite aptly, the Metropolitan of Pergamon emphasizes the fact that in Orthodox Tradition, the woman is the pre-eminent expression of the person-centered ethos.

Women, more than anyone else, and perhaps first of all as a Mother, teach us to live as persons and not as individuals, that is, as beings of a relationship, and not as autonomous and independent beings.