St. Callinicus of Cernica

Stand for the reading of the Synaxarion.
Synaxarion
On April 11, we commemorate the holy hieromartyr Antipas, Bishop of Pergamum, disciple of St. John the Theologian (92)
On this day we also commemorate our righteous Mothers Tryphaina and Matrona of Cyzicus.
On this day we also commemorate our righteous Father Pharmuthius the Recluse, Anchorite of Egypt (4th century)
Venerable-Martyr Bacchus, of the Great Lavra of St. Sabbas the Sanctified (8th century)
Saint Philip of Gortyna on Crete (180)
On this day we also commemorate our righteous Father Guthlac of Crowland, hermit of Crowland, England (714)
Saint George, founder of the Monastery of Saint John Chrysostomos, north of Koutsovendis, in Cyprus (c. 1070)
On this day we also commemorate our righteous Fathers James of Zhelezny Borok (1442) and James of Bryleevsk his fellow ascetic (15th century).
On this day we also commemorate our righteous Fathers Euthymius(1456) and Chariton (1509) of Syanzhema, Vologda.
On this day we also commemorate Saint Barsanuphius, Bishop of Tver.(1576)
On this day we also commemorate our righteous Father among the Saints Callinicus of Cernica, Bishop of Rimnicu in Romania. (1868)

St. Callinicus of Cernica

After Matins one morning in July of 1829, Saint Callinicus was in his cell reading the Life of Saint Nicholas. When he got to the sixth chapter, he fell asleep from weariness after the all-night Vigil. Suddenly, Saint George appeared in his armor and Saint Nicholas in the vestments of a bishop. Behind them was Father George, the late igumen of Cernica.
“Arise,” said Saint Nicholas, “and on this island build a church dedicated to the Holy Great Martyr George.” Saint George told him, “We will send you everything that you require.” Then Igumen George said, “Do not doubt in your heart.” They departed after saying these things.

When he woke up, Father Callinicus continued reading the Life of Saint Nicholas until he reached the end. Then he went out to visit his Spiritual Father Pimen on the small island of Saint George in order to ask him whether this vision might have been some sort of temptation from the Devil. “No, my child,” Father Pimen replied, “this is not demonic, but is really something from God. These same three individuals also appeared to me three times tonight, ordering the work to begin at once. I have just finished getting dressed so that I could pass on their instructions to you.”
At that time there were only a few cells on Saint George’s Island, among them was the cell of the late Igumen George, where Father Pimen had now taken up his residence. There was also a small church dedicated to Saint George, a gift from Bratovian. Next to this, Saint Callinicus built a large and beautiful church.
In time, the words of Saint George were fulfilled, and indeed all that was necessary was provided.

The supply of food for those staying in the monastery began to run low, but the monks had no more provisions. Deeply saddened, Saint Callinicus prostrated himself in front of an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos and Saint Nicholas, and prayed for assistance. When he finished praying, a miracle took place. Five carts loaded with bread and drawn by two bulls came through the monastery gates.

On another occasion, the monastery cook told Saint Callinicus that they had no more flour. He replied, “Let us place our hope in the Mother of God and in Saint Nicholas, and we shall want for nothing.” The saint went to his cell to pray before the holy icons, asking Saint Nicholas to help them.
A miracle took place that evening after Vespers. A cart with two drivers came to the monastery with a load of flour. They asked Father Charalampus, the ecclesiarch, where to unload the flour which their master had sent as a gift. When the monk asked for the name of their master, they said that he wished to remain anonymous. Saint Callinicus served a Molieben of Thanksgiving to Saint Nicholas, and then went to bless the flour, which was used to bake bread for the consolation of the brethren.

Apolytikion in the First Tone

The celebrated hierarch and Pergamum’s first prelate, the fellow-contestant of Martyrs and most divine myrrh-streamer, ye faithful, come let us honour now wise Antipas, who truly is a great and swift healer of severely afflicted teeth, and cry to him with our whole soul: Glory to Christ that hath glorified thee. Glory to Him that hath crowned thee. Glory to Him that worketh healings for all through thee.

“God gives me another light, and I can see more clearly than during the day.”Father Augustine the Russian believed that everyone could see, just like he could, the uncreated light of God.

Stand for the reading of the Synaxarion.
Synaxarion
On April 10, we commemorate the holy Martyrs of Carthage: Terence, Africanus, Maximus, Pompey, and another 36; and also those with Macarius, Zeno, Alexander, and Theodore. (250)
On this day we also commemorate the holy Prophetess Olda. (IV Kings 22:14)
On this day we also commemorate the holy martyrs Iakovos the priest and Azas the deacon of Persia.(c. 380)
On this day we also commemorate the holy Martyrs of Rome (c. 115)
Saint Palladius, Abbot of St Germanus in Auxerre, he became bishop there and founded several monasteries (661)
Saint Bede the Younger, a court official who became a monk at the monastery of Gavello near Rovigo (883)
On this day we also commemorate the holy Righteous Martyrs of the Kvabtakhevi Convent in Georgia, who suffered during the invasion of Tamerlane (1386)
On this day we also commemorate the holy Nun-martyr Anastasia, Abbess, and 34 nuns with her, of Uglich (1609)
On this day we also commemorate the holy 6,000 Martyrs of the St David Gareji Monastery who accepted martyrdom in the year 1616, Georgia. [Commemorated on April 9 and Bright Tuesday, the first Tuesday after Pascha (Easter)]
On this day we also commemorate the holy new martyr Demos, who witnessed in Smyrna in the year 1763, died by the sword.
On this day we also commemorate the holy New Monk-martyr Chrysanthus of Xenophontos monastery, Mt. Athos, on Pascha (1821)
On this day we also commemorate our father among the saints Gregory V, the new hieromartyr, Archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriach, who witnessed by hanging in that city in the year 1821.
On this day Repose of Elder Augustine of Philotheou, Mt. Athos (1965) [March 27 Old Calendar]

Father Augustine the Russian (+ 1965)

Toward the end of his life, Father Augustine the Russian (+ 1965) lived alone in a hermitage dependent on the monastery of Philotheou (on Mount Athos). He had a great love for every person, and every time he met anyone — whether monk or layman — he would make a deep bow to him. “He carries the grace of Holy Baptism,” he would say whenever someone asked why he did this.
He overflowed with charity even for animals. Little by little, he transformed the enclosure of his hermitage into a hospice for elderly and ailing animals: asses and mules that were blind, lame, moribund, sick, or otherwise useless. The lay workers would open his gate and let such animals in without even asking him. The good old man would then take loving care of them. He used to go and cut fresh grass and store it for winter’s provisions, for his “disciples,” as he used to call them.
When the fathers of the monastery saw how weak he had become, they suggested that they take him to the monastery infirmary. Father Augustine answered, “I can’t leave my mules!” Finally, he accepted.
At night, he had no need of a kerosene lamp. “God gives me another light,” he used to say, “and I can see more clearly than during the day.” In his simplicity, he believed that everyone could see, just like he could, the uncreated light of God.
One day, the eve of the Annunciation — the patronal feast of the monastery — monks and laymen were busy polishing the monastery’s brass. Suddenly, Father Augustine appeared, radiant, quite transformed with the divine presence. “Bless me, holy fathers!” he said, making his usual prostration. “Say, how are are, Father Augustine?” “I want to confide a thought to you. You must tell me if I am experiencing an illusion. This night, all night, there was a lot of light. One could see clearly, just like daylight, from Caracallou to Stavronikita. I could pick out the least detail. Was this, maybe, an illusion?” One of the lay workers, mocking the old man, replied, “But, dear father, it was a sputnik satellite. It fell from the sky into your cell and lit everything up.” Reassured, Father Augustine thanked him, and took his leave.
When he was bedridden in the infirmary, he used often to shout, “The holy angels are coming, there! there! Don’t you see them?” And he would wake up the elderly monks sleeping next to him and shake them. Then, a little later, “The saints are here! The All-Holy Mother of God!” And he would again awaken the other invalids. The infirmarian used to reprimand him severely, saying, “Won’t you stop this? You’re deluded. Who is someone like you that the saints should come visit you?” Every day it was like that.
When Father Augustine finally passed away, his face suddenly lit up, blindingly, three times. The infirmarian then understood his error, and exclaimed, “Now I am sure that this one was a saint!”
The Living Witness of the Holy Mountain: Contemporary Voices from Mount Athos, by Hieromonk Alexander (Golitzin) (Translator, Introduction)
https://www.orthodox.net/gleanings/augustine_the_russian.html

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone

A chosen army of athletes from Africa, contested nobly for the faith. They were of one mind and heart, and of one accord in their struggle. Now they intercede that we all may be saved.

Troparion of 6,000 Martyrs of Saint David Gareji Monastery, Georgia— Tone 4

Your holy martyrs O Lord, / through their sufferings have received incorruptible crowns from You, our God. / For having Your strength, they laid low their adversaries, / and shattered the powerless boldness of demons. / Through their intercessions, save our souls!

Apolytikion in Plagal of the Fourth Tone

When you stood before the lawless King, and delivered by him to be hanged Hieromartyr Gregory, the heavenly powers, weaved a crown for you. When you were dragged over the ground by the impious Jews, and cast by them into the sea, they invisibly placed it on your head, together crying out: Glory to God for saving Your Hierarch.

The blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christianity. The Martyrdom of the Saints Raphael, Nicholas, and the holy virgin martyr Irene.

Stand for the reading of the Synaxarion.
Synaxarion
On April 9 we commemorate the holy Martyr Eupsychius of Caesarea in Cappadocia.(362)
On this day we also commemorate the Righteous Martyr Badimus (Vadim) of Persia, the Archimandrite, and his seven disciples. (379)
On this day holy Martyrs Dausas the Bishop, Mariabus the Presbyter, Abdiesus of Persia died by the knife and 270 others, martyrs of Persia under Shapur II (362)
On this day we also commemorate the holy Martyrs that were perfected while in captivity in Persia.
Venerable Acacius of Amida, Bishop of Amida in Mesopotamia (5th century)
Saint Dotto, Abbot of a monastery in the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland (6th century)
On this day we also commemorate the holy newly-revealed and wonderworking devout martyrs Raphael, Nicholas, and the holy virgin martyr Irene, and those with them, in the sacred monastery Karyes, that is, at Therme on the island of Lesbos, who witnessed in the year 1463, and who were miraculously revealed to us in the year 1959.[Commemorated on April 9 and Bright Tuesday, the first Tuesday after Pascha (Easter)]

Tertullian cried out to the pagans: “In vain do you spill our blood. For the blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christianity.”
Saint Nikolai Velimirovič

The occupation of Lesvos Island and of the Monastery at Karyes

At the end of October and the beginning of November 1461, the Turks invaded and occupied the island of Lesvos. In April of 1462, the people at Thermi could no longer bear the exorbitant taxes so they rebelled against the Turks. The Turk Sultan Mohammed II then became outraged with the rebellion and sent armed troops with specific orders to subdue the Christians’ uprising by every means. The savage barbarians won after a 17 day battle, and, wanting to set an example, they massacred the entire population.

On Great and Holy Thursday, the 4th of April 1462, the Monastery’s sacristan, Akindinos, went to the village market near the Monastery to stock up on supplies, where he heard about the approaching invasion of the Turks against the Monastery. He immediately rushed back to inform Brother Raphael about it. Without hesitating, Brother Raphael hid all the Holy Relics and Liturgical Vessels of the Monastery inside a Crypt, so that the Turks would not find and destroy them.

On Good Friday, the 5th of April 1462, the Turks, with their leader Arif Aga, were informed by the anti-Greek, German-Jew doctor named Schweizer that some of the rebel Greeks had found refuge inside the Monastery. Thus, on Good Friday, they attacked the Monastery, right after after the Service of the Procession of the Epitafios (the Bier of Christ). As soon as the attack began, Abbot Raphael showed the rebel Greeks a secret escape route, advising them to hide out in the Pantera mountain nearby. The Turks attacked the Monastery viciously, and finally took it over without any resistance by the brethren. The Turks arrested all of them, as well as all the laypeople who were present. Among them were the Abbot of the Monastery, Father Raphael, the Deacon Nicholas, the town elder Vasilios, his wife Maria, his 12-year old daughter Irene, his 11-month old son Raphael, his orphan, 16-year old niece Helen, and the village teacher, Theodore from Epirus. Abbot Raphael remained in the Monastery to face the brutal invaders, believing that the Good Shepherd will never abandon His flock, but, if necessary, that he would sacrifice himself. The others wholeheartedly decided to stay with the Abbot to support him and to join him in Martyrdom, given that they considered themselves pious Brothers and Sisters in Christ and His followers.

The Monk, Father Stavros, and Melpomeni’s son, Akindynos, escaped capture following Saint Raphael’s suggestion. They were the ones who later were to bury the Martyrs’ sacred bodies, as Saint Raphael had foretold.

The Martyrdom of the Saints

From the moment that Brother Raphael was arrested on Good Friday, repeated interrogations took place in a distinctive brutal way. When the Turks realized they would never obtain the information they wanted with their interrogations, they moved on to tortures. They first grabbed the 11-month old baby Raphael from his mother’s arms, dropped it on the ground and killed it by beating and stepping on it. Then they tied up his mother, Mary, on a tree, because she was screaming and crying and desperately trying to reach her baby and take it back.

They then began to brutally torture the 12-year old Virgin Martyr Irene, daughter of the village elder, Vasilios, in front of her mother. Seeking to terrorize and demoralize the parents and force them into denying the Faith and revealing where the rebel Greeks were hiding, so they began to pour boiling water into Irene’s mouth, then they chopped off her one arm and one leg and flaunted them before her parents, to make them succumb. The mother could not bear to watch her daughter suffer so horribly; she immediately suffered a heart attack and died. Despite the mental ordeal, the father managed to stand firm before all those horrific acts and remained steadfastly resolute. Seeing how their efforts were unsuccessful and useless, the Turks placed young Irene inside a large clay pot and burnt her alive in it, thus completing her martyrdom. It should be noted that this clay pot was discovered during the excavations; inside it was a pile of ashes and some charred bones, all covered over by some rocks. The people who buried the Martyrs had not noticed the bones inside the pot, as the rocks that covered them had catapulted into the pot when the Turks blew up the walls of the Monastery.

Next, the Turks brutally tortured Vasilios’ young niece, Helen -who was a 15 year old orphan since the age of 3- until she could no longer bear the pain, the fear and the bleeding any longer, and gave up the spirit. Vasilios‘ first torture was a psychological one, when he was forced to witness the martyrdom of his children; thereafter it was was physical, when the Turks cut off his nose, ears and genitals and ripped out his eyes. They eventually cut off his head and jeered at the sight. For this, Vasilios deserves to be regarded and honored as a Martyr-Saint.

After killing Vasilios, they began to torture the teacher, Theodore, in an equally cruel manner; they cut off his genitals and his arms, then they decapitated him and placed his head between his legs.

Saint Raphael was the last to be tortured, as the bloodthirsty and cruel Turks were not in a hurry to deal with him. They believed that they could make him reveal everything they wanted, by forcing him to watch all his followers being brutally tortured and murdered and, of course, by physically torturing him as well. He indeed underwent a series of unbelievable tortures. The Turks cursed him, beat him brutally and threatened him. However, he momentarily managed to stand himself up and, grabbing the Crucifix that he wore around his neck, he pointed it at them and fearlessly said: ”We worship Him only, and we will never deny Him!” The Turks then beat him furiously, they undressed him, they bound his hands behind his back and beat him mercilessly, eventually leaving him paralyzed. They stabbed him repeatedly with their lances and dragged him by the beard over sharp rocks, so that the ground became steeped with his blood. After a while, after seeing that their innocent victim was still holding on and enduring all those tortures as a form of protest, they decided to hang him upside down from a big walnut tree which was in the Monastery’s courtyard. The pious Fathers of the Monastery used to hold the Divine Liturgy of the Resurrection under that same tree, every year. When the heartless and brutal criminals (Saint Raphael referred to them as “demon-possessed souls”) realized that -despite all the tortures Brother Raphael had been subjected to- he would never deny his Faith or betray the Orthodox Greek rebels, they forced him down to his knees and decapitated him in a particularly gruesome way; instead of sawing off his head starting from the back of his neck, they began from his mouth! The Turks had abandoned his bloody lower jaw on the ground near the rest of his body, however, the Christians who buried the Saint’s body did not find it. Instead, it was discovered during a recent excavation. That was how Saint Raphael became a Martyr-Saint for Christ and had gloriously delivered his pure soul to the Lord.

Saint Nicholas’ arms had been tied behind his back; he was hung from a smaller walnut tree in the Monastery’s courtyard and tortured night and day by the Turks, who beat and stabbed him with their lances. Because of his frail health, Saint Nicholas did not endure the merciless tortures very long, nor the sight of his beloved Abbot Raphael being dragged on the ground and his blood splashed all over the courtyard. He too suffered a heart-attack and died. As Saint Raphael later revealed, their souls went up to Heaven together…. Together, both in life and in death!

When a foreign doctor, Dr. Alexander, who had a great respect for father Raphael, heard that the Turks had invaded the Monastery, he ran up there to find out what had happened to him. At the horrific sight of the slaughtered Abbot Raphael, he lost his mind, horrified, and drew a knife to commit suicide, but he too suffered a sudden heart attack and died.

After the slaughter and the gruesome bloodbath, the bloodthirsty Turks set fire to the Monastery by blowing it up, after first looting as many Holy Relics and valuable religious vessels that they could find. The Martyrs had been slaughtered in the evening of Great Holy Monday, a little before midnight (ecclesiastically, each “day” commences after sunset, so it would have been Great Holy Tuesday), while the destruction of the Monastery had taken place a later, after dawn on Tuesday, the 9th of April, 1463.

After committing all those atrocities, the brutal Turks moved on to destroy other places, seeking to satiate their morbid instincts with more destruction of Churches and rocks painted with the blood of Martyrs. Among those anthropomorphic beasts, the most prominent and cruel torturers were five: two Muslim Turks, a certain Lazlar, a Circassian and a Turkish-Albanian. However, the Lord’s rage soon caught up with them: Greeks rebels captured and killed them, and buried them together, in a common grave.

The dramatic events that gave us new Martyrs are finally over…

The following night, after the Turkish hordes had departed, Monks Stavros and Akindynos the Monastery’s Sacristan, left the late Elder Joseph’s cave where they had been hiding (Father Stavros and Elder Joseph used to live in that cave in the past as monks), then, they secretly went to the nearby Village of Thermi and begged Father Savvas, the 112-year-old blind priest of the village, to escort them back to the destroyed Sacred Monastery for the funeral services of the Martyrs.

On their arrival at the place of the Saints’ Martyrdom, the blind elder priest began to pray and beseech the Lord to grant him vision so he could see with his own eyes the Saint’s place of martyrdom and their sacred relics. And behold, God’s Grace and sanctification came to him! Miraculously, after a dazzling flash of light, the blind priest’s vision returned, enabling him to see the horrific sight. Then, after having prayed to the Lord, he performed the funeral service and buried the victims as follows: The sacred remains of Brother Raphael, who had sacrificed himself for the Orthodox Faith and for his country, Greece, were buried inside the Church. Deacon Nicholas’ sacred remains were buried in the the left courtyard of the Church, and the sacred remains of Irene the Virgin-Martyr Irene as well as the rest of the Martyrs were buried in various spots around the Chapel. The sacred relics came to light after many centuries, when the time was right, in our time. After the funeral and the burial of the Martyrs, the Monastery’s sacristan, Akindynos, along with Father Stavros, escorted the elderly priest back to the village, where he passed away a few days later.

After some time, Father Stavros was arrested by armed men of the Turkish patrol who knew that one more monk was still free and they were looking for him. They tortured him cruelly and finally decapitated him, however they didn’t manage to make him reveal anything they wanted. He was left unburied for two days, as nobody dared to go to the place of the Saints’ Martyrdom, until two local Christians took him and buried him into the courtyard of the destroyed Monastery at Karyes. Later on, the Turks found and tortured the sacristan Αkindynos on Pantera Mountain. His sacred remains were buried in the Monastery’s cemetery, near his parents’ graves.

It was in this quite dramatic way that the series of slaughters which had taken place on the Karyes cliff had finally come to an end. The events had remained secret and were gradually forgotten by the people of Thermi. The only thing that was preserved was the custom of performing the Divine Liturgy on the first Tuesday after Easter on the cliff of Karyes, without anyone remembering or knowing why – until our time.
https://agiosrafael.gr/index.php/en/the-life-of-our-saints

Apolytikion of St Eupsychios in the Third Tone

With steadfast heart thou didst finish thy course, and cast down the wily foe; for thou wast clad in the armour of the Cross, O blessed Eupsychios. Thou wast numbered with the Martyr hosts, and hast attained to eternal glory. Ever entreat Christ our God to save us who honour thee.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone

On Lesvos, ye strove in contest for the sake of Christ God; ye also have hallowed her with the discovery of your relics, O blessed ones. O God‐bearer Raphael, with thee, we all honor Nicholas the deacon and Irene the chaste virgin, as our divine protectors, who now intercede with the Lord.

Apolytikon of Sts. Raphael, Nicholas and Irene

Having contended on Lesvos for the sake of Christ God, you have sanctified the island since the discovery of your sacred relics, O blessed ones; for what reason we honour you, O God-bearing Raphael, together with Nicholas and virgin Irene, as our divine protectors and intercessors with the Lord.

The house where the icons are located, the Bible – this is a small Church of God. Once I was in a house and saw the owner washing a lamp in the sink. St Paisios of Mt Athos

Stand for the reading of the Synaxarion.
Synaxarion
On April 8 we commemorate the holy Apostles of the Seventy, Herodion, Agabus, Rufus, Phlegon, Asyncritus, and Hermes.(1st century)
On this day we also commemorate our righteous Father Celestine, Pope of Rome.(432)
On this day the holy martyr Pausilipus of Heraclea in Thrace (ca. 117-138)
On this day we also commemorate our righteous Father Philaret of Seminara (Filarete of Calabria), Calabria (ca. 1070)
Our Father among the Saints Niphon the Wonderworker, Bishop of Novgorod. (+1157)
Our righteous Father Rufus the Obedient, Recluse of the Kiev Caves. (14th century)
On this day the holy new martyr John the Koulikas, who witnessed in the year 1564, died by hooks.
On this day St. Pafsilipos reposed in peace.
On this day the holy new martyr John the Naukleros (the shipmaster, “the Navigator”), who witnessed on the island of Kos in the year 1669, died by fire.
Repose of Righteous Helen Voronova (1916), disciple of Elder Barsanuphius of Optina Monastery.
On the same day, Repose of righteous Christophoros Vafiadis of Vryoula (or Vourla) in Asia Minor (1989)

St Paisios of Mt Athos

Reverence for God must determine all aspects of our being.

— Geronde, how does reverent behavior in the temple help us?”
–When you go to the temple, say in your mind: “Where am I going? The temple is the house of God. If, when we come to a worldly house, we wipe our feet, and sit down modestly, how should we behave in the house of God where Christ is sacrificed? Christ has redeemed us from sin; he heals and nourishes us with His all-Holy Body. All these terrible and divine events, when we remember them again, help us to behave with reverence in the temple. But at the divine Liturgy, I notice that even at the most Holy moments there are people whose minds are really far from the Lord!
From lack of reverence, we are possessed by an unclean spirit. Previously, people who were ill took oil from their lamps, anointed them and recovered. Now the lamp is lit just as a formality, just for illumination, and the oil is poured into the sink when the lamp is washed.
Once I was in a house and saw the owner washing a lamp in the sink. “Where does the water go?” “To the sewer,” she says. “I see —” I say — ” what is it, that you take an olive oil from the lamp and anoint your child crosswise when it is ill, and then pour all the oil from the lamp into the sewer? What excuse do you find for this? After all, you don’t pour clean water into a filthy bucket and drink from it, and you don’t put clean underwear in the closet along with dirty ones? And how will God’s blessing come to your house?»
In modern homes, there is no place to throw away some consecrated thing, for example, a piece of paper in which the antidor was wrapped, and previously it was usually buried somewhere in a clean place.
In one house, which I once had to visit, the iconostasis was arranged under the stairs, although there was plenty of space. And in another house, the owner arranged an iconostasis in front of a sewer pipe. “Well —” I asked her,” how did you come up with the idea of making an iconostasis in such a place?” So how will Grace come after that? For this, even what we have is taken away from us.
And here’s another thing to be careful: you have something with crosses on the couch, but you can not sit on the crosses and step on them. Jews make shoes with crosses, often depicted not only on the outside of the sole, but also on the inside — under the heels and soles. And you pay money and trample on crosses! 

- ”Why, Geronde, is reverence so rare in our times?”
 -Because people have stopped living spiritually. They interpret everything through worldly logic and cast out of the divine grace. And before, what awe! Grannies, very simple and reverent, they fell to the ground in front of the mules of the monastery and bowed to them when the monks came down on their mules on business. “These are the mules of the Mother of God,” said the grannies, ” and let us bow to them!” If they showed so much reverence for the mules of the monastery of the Most Holy Mother of God, imagine how much reverence they had for Her!
The whole basis is in awe. Someone only touches the wall against which the icon was leaning, and already accepts the grace, and someone can have the best icon, but not get the benefit, because they do not have reverence. One may benefit from the ordinary cross, and the other, without reverence, will not benefit from the life-giving Cross itself.
You should always remember that where icons hang and stand, you can not even raise your voice, nor swear, you can not smoke near the icons in the house!
The house where the icons are located, the Bible – this is a small Church of God, so you need to behave very reverently. We do not need to test the patience of God, the love of God.
Awe is slowly lost, and all the evil we see comes from it. From inattention and indifference to shrines, people often become possessed. One woman became possessed because she poured Holy water into the sink. She had some Holy water left in the bottle. “Ah,” she said, ” this Holy water is not fresh, and I need a bottle.” She poured out the Holy water, and even washed the bottle, and then began to rage.
The grace of God is gone, because grace cannot remain in a person who is not reverent and is indifferent to God.

– And if, father, someone spills the Holy water by mistake?”
– If he put the Holy water in the closet and forgot about it, and accidentally poured it out, then it is half the sin, but if someone else put this Holy water in the closet, and the person who poured it out did not know that it was Holy water, then it is not his fault.
How can the divine Grace approach a person if he does not venerate the Holy place, does not honor it? Grace will only go to those who honor it. “Do not give a Holy thing to dogs,” says the Holy Scripture. Success in faith is impossible if there is no spiritual sensitivity and attention to everything sacred and divine.
You must not give the Lord the worst that you have. Cultivate reverence and modesty as much as you can. This will help you accept the Grace of God. Because, having reverence, spiritual modesty, a person, if he is also humble, accepts divine Grace. If there is no reverence and humility in him, then the Grace of God does not approach him. In the Holy Scriptures it is written: “On whom shall I look, but on the meek and silent and trembling of my words” (Is.66:2).
https://phvieparchy.org/en/st-paisios-of-mt-athos-about-reverence/

Troparion of Apostoles Tone 1

Let us praise and hymn the sixfold choir of Apostles:/ Herodion and Agabus, Rufus and Asyncritus,/ Plegon and holy Hermes;/ they ever entreat the Trinity for our souls.

Troparion of Apostoles Tone 3

Holy Apostles / entreat the merciful God / to grant our souls forgiveness of transgressions.

Apolytikion of St John Tone 3

You are a divine offspring of Kos, who praise your contests, all-praised John the Naukleros, and you emulated the trials of the Athletes, having completed the struggle through fire. Glorious Martyr, entreat Christ God, to grant us the great mercy.

Christ is all-powerful. Christ armed us with His cross. Saint Paisios of Mount Athos

Stand for the reading of the Synaxarion.
Synaxarion
On April 7 we commemorate the holy martyr Calliopius at Pompeiopolis in Cilicia (304)
On this day we also commemorate our father among the saints George, Bishop of Mytilene, the worker of signs and wonders, exiled to Kherson (820)
On this day we also commemorate the holy martyr Rufinus the deacon at Sinope in Pontus (†249-251)
On this day the holy martyr Aquilina died after they tied her hands and burned her body, at Sinope in Pontus(†249-251)
On this day we also commemorate the holy two-hundred martyrs in Sinope who died by the sword.(†249-251)
Saint Hegesippus the Chronicler, of Palestine (c. 180)
On this day our righteous Father George, Patriarch of Jerusalem (807)
Saint Saturninus, Bishop of Verona and Confessor (4th century)
Saint Finan (Finnian) (6th century)
(1492)
On this day our righteous Father Leucius of Volokolamsk.
On this day our righteous Father Serapion, Archbishop of Novgorod(1516), the recovery of whose holy relics we commemorate.(1517)
On this day our righteous Father Daniel of Pereyaslavl-Zalessky. (1540)
The holy New Martyrs George and Aquilina, the Fools for Christ’s sake of Rabrichka.
On this day our righteous Father Gerasimus the Byzantine, Hieromonk, of Patmos (1770)
Repose of Schemamonk Theodore of Svir (1822)
On this day our righteous Father Gabriel, Archbishop of Ryazan and Zaraisk (1862)
On this day our righteous Father Schemamonk Agapitus the Blind, of Valaam Monastery (1905)
On this day we also commemorate our righteous and God-bearing father Savas the new of Kalymnos.

From the Triodion.
On this day, the Third Sunday of the Great Fast, we celebrate the Veneration of the Honorable and Life-giving Cross.

Verses
Let the whole earth venerate the Cross,
Through which it learned to worship Thee, O Word.
Verses: Although dead Mytilene has you,
As a living great protector George.
Verses: You contended with the saints of old Savvas,
And are glorified with them by your numerous miracles.

“An extraordinary transcendence of Chernobyl tragedy”
Elder Savva Ostapenko of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery (+1980)

On the anniversary of our deceased spiritual Father Sabba (or Savva), his spiritual daughter M.T. came to Petsoni from Ovrouts. Here is what she narrated to us. About ten days before the tragedy in Chernobyl, our spiritual Father, Starets Sabba, appeared in her sleep and said to her:
“Mary, soon everything will be poisoned. You will make the sign of the cross over everything by saying: ‘In the name of father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen’.
You will make the sign of the cross over them and then you will say:
“Our Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, bless our food” and you will cross it, repeating: “Mother of God, bless our food and so do all the Saints”.
Once again, you will make the sign of the cross over the food, saying: ‘With the wishes of our Father Sabba, our Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, bless it’, and you will make the sign of the cross over it”.
I narrated everything to my twin sister, who works in a restaurant.
One day, after Father Sabba’s prophecy had been proved right, meat was brought to them in the kitchen of the restaurant. After thorough examination, it was found unsuitable to eat. Then, she remembered my narration of Father Sabba and his words. She took the meat back to her home and did exactly what the wise man had advised her to do. Next, she took it back to the restaurant and gave it for examination, without mentioning anything.
Once the examination had been over, they asked her in amazement: “Where did you get such good quality meat?” Today, we live in Ovrouts, near Chernobyl, and we still follow Father Sabba’s advice, not only me but also my sister as well as all our spiritual sisters; and with God’s mercy, we are alive and healthy!
The  above  is  an  excerpt  from  the  book:  “The  Comforter  Starets  Savvas”  («Στάρετς  Σάββας  ο  παρηγορητής»)  editions  Athos,  Athens  2009.  Translated  from  the  Russian:  Archpriest  John  Fotopoulos.

***

Saint Paisios of Mount Athos

– Geronda, it seems to me that the devil has great power, especially in our times.
– The devil does not have power, but is full of malice and hate. Only God’s love is all-powerful. Satan tries to pass himself off as being all-powerful, but cannot cope with such a role. He appears to be powerful, but in reality he is absolutely powerless. Many of this destructive plans fall apart even before they are put into action. Do you think a good and kind Father would allow some kind of hoodlums to beat up His children?
– But I, Geronda, am afraid of demons.
– Why are you afraid of them? Demons have no power. Christ is all-powerful, while the devil is simply rotten stuff. Do you not wear a cross? Christ armed us with His cross. The enemy has power only when we ourselves lay down our spiritual weapons.
– But why does he fear the Cross so much?
– Because when Christ accepted to be spit upon, humiliated, and beaten, then the devil’s kingdom and power were shattered. In what an extraordinary manner did Christ vanquish him! The devil’s power was destroyed when Christ received the last blow on the head with a cane. Thus, the spiritual means of defense against the devil is patience, while the mightiest weapon against him is humility. The vanquishing of the devil is the most healing balsam that Christ poured out during His sacrifice on the Cross. After Christ’s Crucifixion the devil has become like a snake deprived of its poison. The demons have been deprived of their poisonous powers, and they are now unarmed, while we are armed with the Cross. The demons cannot do absolutely anything to God’s creation, unless we ourselves give them this right. They can only kick up a row, but they have no power.

***

Eldress Galaktia: ” This little cross will be your shield against evil but also your source of blessing.

***

Saint Makarios of Moscow (+ 1563): “Oftentimes, one single sign of the Cross that is made with faith and intense experiences is more powerful than many words of prayer in front of the throne of the Most High. In it exists the light that illuminates the soul, the healing power that heals the sicknesses of the souls and bodies, the mystical power that acts against all harm. Do unclean thoughts and desires disturb your soul? Become encompassed by the sign of the Cross, double and triple this wall, and the unclean thoughts will be tamed. Is your heart tormented from depression and sadness? Are you overcome by fear or are you surrounded by temptations? Do you feel the wiles of invisible enemies? Run to this power of the Cross, and the peace of your soul shall return, the temptation will go away, the consolation of the grace of God and spiritual joy will flood your heart.”

***

When Saint Epiphanios, Archbishop of Cyprus (12 May) was still a young, 10-year old child, an unruly calf seriously wounded him in the thigh, threw him down, and he was unable to get up. A pious Christian, Cleovios, made the sign of the Cross three times on his wounded member and immediately the little Epiphanios was healed and stood up. The same Saint, much later, made the sign of the Cross on the daughter of the king of Persia and relieved her immediately from the demon that tormented her.

I see a large number of white-clad men travelling with him, some in front of him and others behind him, rejoicing that they were surrounding him.
https://iconandlight.wordpress.com/2022/03/25/75198/

In solidarity with all mankind Christ taking upon Himself all the suffering of the world, accepting to die an impossible death has said in the name of all the sufferers, ‘Yes, – we forgive!’ Anthony (Bloom) of Sourozh
https://iconandlight.wordpress.com/2023/03/18/in-solidarity-with-all-mankind-christ-taking-upon-himself-all-the-suffering-of-the-world-accepting-to-die-an-impossible-death-has-said-in-the-name-of-all-the-sufferers-yes-we-forgive-2/

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone

O Lord, save Your people, and bless Your inheritance. Grant victories to the rulers over their adversaries. And through Your Cross preserve Your habitation!

Apolytikion of the Holy Martyr Kalliopios in Plagal of the First Tone

Thou didst blossom like an unfading rose, and gladden Christ’s Church by thy contest, and the fragrance of thine exploits; by thy witness in the stadium, thou didst share in thy Master’s Passion, O blessed Kalliopios.

Apolytikion of St. George of Mytilene in the Third Tone

Thou wast fruitful with the grace of the Spirit like a meadow planted by God, O sacred High Priest of the Mysteries. Thou didst cultivate the souls of the faithful and refresh them with Living Water. O Venerable Father George, pray to Christ our God to grant us His great mercy.

Troparion of St George Tone 3

Like a meadow planted by God / You were fruitful with the grace of the Spirit, / O holy Archpastor of the Mysteries. / You cultivated the souls of the faithful / Refreshing them with living water. / O righteous Father George, / Pray Christ our God to grant us great mercy!

Apolytikion of Saint Gerasimos of Byzantium in the Fourth Tone

In the world you persevered in asceticism, and your words shined with wisdom, having arrived at the utmost of passionlessness, you appeared as the sun in its crossing O blessed one, shining on all who honor you O divinely-minded one. Show them to be shearers of heavenly joy, Venerable Father Gerasimos.

Apolytikion of St. Tikhon of Moscow in the First Tone

Let us praise Tikhon, the patriarch of all Russia, and enlightener of North America, an ardent follower of the Apostolic traditions, and good pastor of the Church of Christ. Who was elected by divine providence, and laid down his life for his sheep. Let us sing to him with faith and hope, and ask for his hierarchical intercessions: Keep the Church in Russia in tranquility, and the Church in North America in peace. Gather her scattered children into one flock, bring to repentance those who have renounced the true faith, preserve our lands from civil strife, and entreat God’s peace for all people.

Apolytikion of Saint Savvas the New of Kalymnos

Let us faithful praise Holy Savvas, the glory and protector of Kalymnos, and peer of the Holy Ascetics of old; for he has been glorified resplendently as a servant of Christ, with the gift of working miracles, and he bestows upon all God’s grace and mercy.

Gospel Reading
Gospel According to Mark 8:34-38; 9:1

The Lord said: “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.”

I saw and felt her love… ”Rejoice, tender love that defeats every longing”

Stand for the reading of the Synaxarion.
Synaxarion
On April 6, we commemorate our holy father Eutychius, Patriarch of Constantinople (582)
On this day we also commemorate the holy 120 martyrs of Persia under Shapur II (c. 344-347)
On this day we also commemorate our righteous mother Platonis of Nisibis, reposed in peace (c. 300-308)
On this day we also commemorate the two holy martyrs of Ascalon, who died after they were buried up to the waist.
On this day our righteous father Gregory of Sinai, who lived as an ascetic in the fourteenth century, died in peace.
On this day our righteous father Gregory, who lived as an ascetic in the vicinity of Great Lavra Monastery on Mt. Athos, instructor of St. Gregory Palamas, in the fourteenth century, died in peace.
On this day our righteous father Equal-to-the-Apostles Methodius of Moravia, Archbishop of Moravia and Enlightener of the Slavs (885)
Saint Aphonios, Bishop of Novgorod (1652)
On this day in the year 1818, the holy monastic martyr Gennadius of Dionysiou, Mt. Athos, contested in Constantinople and was beheaded.
On this day we also commemorate the holy and glorious five Neomartyrs: Manuel, Theodore, George, Michael, and another George, who were from Samothrace and who contested in Makri, Thrace in the year 1835.
Martyrs Peter Zhukov and Prohor Mikhailov (1918
Repose of Hieromonk Arsenius of Valaam Monastery (1853)
Repose of Elder Mardarius of the Nizhni-Novgorod Caves Monastery (1859
Repose of Our righteous Father Savvas Lappas of Hermitage of the Honorable Cross in Kalymnos (1992)
On this day the New Martyr Daniela(Paximade), from Bucharest (b. 1967- † April 6, 2004)

Verses
At the death of Eutychios I honor his words,
And consider him most fortunate.
On the sixth the celestial gate opened for Eutychios.
Verses Platonida bore the breadth of the heavens,
Her virtues shining over the breadth of the earth.
Verses Perceived O Gregory as the consummate standard,
You encourage all to divine prayer.

Having beheld a strange nativity, let us estrange ourselves from the world and transport our minds to Heaven; for the Most High God appeared on earth as a lowly man, because He wished to draw to the heights them that cry to Him: Alleluia!(Akathist Hymn)

St. Maximos Kavsokalyvites St. Gregory the Sinaite

Saint Gregory the Sinaite, one of the great Hesychasts, heard of St Maximos, and hurried to meet him. When they met, St Maximos put aside his usual silence at St Gregory’s pleading, and they discoursed together for many hours. St Gregory asked St Maximos the story of his life, and Maximos told him of the wonders God had accomplished in him since his youth. He said that one day, when still very young, he was praying with tears before the icon of the Mother of God, and as he bent to venerate it a gentle dew-like warmth suddenly filled his chest and heart, producing abundant compunction; and that since then his nous, stationed unshakeably in his heart, had not ceased to invoke the Name of Jesus and that of the Mother of God with unutterable sweetness.

They went on with the following conversation concerning Noetic Prayer:
“In saying the Prayer, are you sometimes rapt in ecstasy?” Gregory asked.
Maximos answered: “I made haste to the desert and have sought solitude for this very thing – in order to find the fruits of prayer in abundance – I mean the pure love of God and the ravishment of the nous by the Lord.”
“What does the nous do when that happens? Does it continue to utter the prayer in the heart?”
“By no means”, replied Maximos. “When the Holy Spirit visits the man of prayer, prayer ceases; for the nous, absorbed completely in the Spirit of God, ceases to act from its own energy. It lets itself be led ‘where the Spirit wills’ (Jn. 3:8), into the immaterial heaven of the divine light, or into other contemplations, or even into an inexpressible conversation with God. For just as wax, which is by nature hard, burns and becomes all fire and all light when brought into contact with fire, although remaining a material quite distinct from it, in the same way, the nous, in so far as it remains in its separate nature, conceives only what is connected to its nature and under its power; but when the divine fire, the Holy Spirit, draws near, it burns with the fire of the Godhead, carried away by the power of the Spirit; every thought and every concept vanishes, and the whole nous, swallowed up by the light of God, becomes divine and radiant light.”

***

Rejoice, Thou Who didst fill the nets of the fishermen!

Elder Savvas Lappas of Hermitage of the Honorable Cross in Kalymnos
and the Celestial Light of the Theotokos

User comments

Father Pavlos Nikitaras (1912-1999) reported that on one moonless night he had gone out with Father Nikephoros for fishing in the bay of Kouvari.
When at 11 o’clock in the evening they pulled out the nets and had to gather the fish, Fr. Pavlos asked Elder Nikephoros a question:
“But how will we gather the fish since there is no light at all?”
The Elder answered him:
“God will take care of it!”
They began to say the Salutations to the Most Holy Theotokos and suddenly a bright disk appeared above them that illuminated the whole place!
Father Pavlos was frightened, fearing that there was a satellite that was going to fall on them, but Elder Nikephoros remained calm reciting the Salutations.
So in this abundant divine light they continued their task, their service, that is, the gathering of the fish from the nets, and only after they threw the nets for the second time in the sea did this celestial disk disappear, as well as the celestial light that was sent by the Most Holy Theotokos to her servants, who said her Salutations.
Once again one finds that modern saintly figures, such as Monk Nikephoros (later Savvas) Lappas, had as their daily habit the reciting of the Salutations, not only every night with Compline, but on every occasion.
So let us, too, find refuge in the Salutations of our Sweetest Mother, always shouting loudly: “Rejoice Bride Unwedded!”
And let us beg her with tears, that this will be the last word we will say while we live in this temporary life, so that our Panagia may receive us directly and lead us to the Sweet light of her Son!
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

***

”Rejoice, tender love that defeats every longing”

A Profound Miracle by the Holy Mother of God
(From – A Monks’s Life)
Fr. Lazarus an anchorite and monk of St. Anthony’s Monastery in Egypt

This is a story of an Australian academic atheist who found faith in the reality of God through the direct intervention of the Theotokos, the Mother of God. Since we are in the midst of the Great and Holy Lent when we chant the Akathist Hymn to the Holy Mother of God, I thought it would appropriate for me to share this wonderful real life story. It is about the direct intervention of the Holy Mother of God in the life of an atheist from Australia who was born into a Christian family. His father was a Methodist and his mother was a Roman Catholic… By the age of sixteen he had lost all faith in the reality of God. One of the reasons that he felt isolated from the world was the fact that he did not receive any consolation from faith, from the Church or from people during his developmental struggles. He suffered a lot during his teenage years. In fact, he appears to have innate monastic tendencies for he had no desire for parties, worldly pursuits and frivolous things that young people of his age did. He felt very much alone even from God because he had abandoned any faith in the reality of God.

… They were as bitter as I was with the loss of my mother. We complained to one another that God was the cause of our misery. After we finished with the service at the cemetery the faithful returned to the Monastery Church for a memorial service. When Lazarus entered the Church he saw a large icon of the Virgin Mary on the wall of the Church. Lazarus says that he had seen icons before but he looked upon them simply as art. He said he had no personal experience with icons. He had no intimate acquaintance with Mary the Theotokos as the Mother of God. He says that he had no understanding of Mary in the Orthodox Church. He knew that the Roman Catholics called her the Virgin Mary but she didn’t mean much to him. After we entered the Church he noticed that the people were making μετάνοιες (genuflections), bowing down to the icon of the Theotokos. He says I was astonished at seeing the people doing this. I was astonished because I always believed that a man does not bow down to anyone or anything. I had learned that a handshake should be enough in greeting another human being. I had not been prepared for μετάνοιες. I did not feel easy with what the people were doing but I wanted to be polite and so I followed their example. I said ok let me do what they are doing. So I made the first μετάνοια. Ι had to bend my knees and bow down putting my forehead on the floor. As I was doing this, I could see the big icon of Mary on the wall in front of me. This particular icon was well-known throughout Australia because it had performed miraculous cures. One of the miracles happened to the wife of a Greek Orthodox priest. At this point, I was not concerned about the icon. I was concerned about making the μετάνοια properly and joining in with the other faithful. As I said before, I then had to put my forehead on the floor. When I was in that position, I would ask you to consider that when making a μετάνοια what position is the body in. You are in a half circle. You are bent over in much the same way as a fetus is in the womb of his mother. I felt that I was in a kind of fetal position. It felt like I was becoming small, weak and helpless. All these emotions overwhelmed me as I made the μετάνοια. Μετάνοια is a physical action. You are weak; you are small and you are as if you are nothing. It is a statement that says that I am not worthy to even lift up my eyes and look at you.

Μετάνοιες is a very eloquent statement of humility. So when I was bending down like this suddenly all of the sadness of my mother’s death started to overflow within me and I started to cry. I was saying within myself: “I lost my mother, I am sad, I need a mother.” I was pouring out my feelings about being motherless…
This time when I complained about being motherless, I heard a voice behind my head saying: “I will be your mother.” I clearly heard the voice. It was a beautiful soft voice but it was clear… I repeated the words of my sadness and the voice came to me again; “I will be your mother.” .

I lifted up my eyes and looked at the icon of the Holy Mother who was in front of me. And then when I lifted up my eyes to look at the Holy Mother she moved out of the icon and seemed to stand in front of me. She appeared to me from the waist up and she was holding Jesus. She appeared as a real presence in front of me. She bent toward me and looked at me right in my eyes. She smiled and said: “I will be your mother” for the third time. When she smiled at me she appeared so loving that she took all the pain out of me.
She gave me a sense of hope and faith. At that very moment I was made new again, I was reborn by her love. It was an electrifying experience that just filled me up with her presence. And then she started to give off a bright light that was so bright that I had to lower my eyes. As I stood up the Holy Mother moved back into the icon and appeared as she was before but her presence was very real to me. I saw and felt her love. That encounter made me dependent upon her for the rest of my life. When I stood up I knew my life was now dedicated only to her. All my pain, all my doubts, all my fears, all my needs for help were I left that Church knowing now that I had a mother who is beautiful, sweet, kind, and generous. All this knowledge about her I got through her love for me…
I abandoned everything in the world for her. My whole monastic commitment fell on me that day with that encounter with the love of the Theotokos. This is how I became a Christian. Where else in the world would I find a loving mother?
Transliterated from the video by:+Fr. Constantine (Charles) J. Simones, Waterford, CT, USA, cjsimones300@gmail.com
http://agiasmos.blogspot.gr/2014/03/a-profound-miracle-by-holy-mother-of-god.html

Troparion of St Eutychios Tone 3

Thou didst live like an angel on earth,/ Eutychios, vessel of grace;/ thy words and deeds confirmed the divine gift bestowed on thee./ By thine intercessions/ preserve the Church from all necessity.

Troparion of St Eutychios Tone 4

The truth of things revealed thee to thy flock as a rule of faith,/ a model of meekness and a teacher of abstinence/ wherefore thou hast attained the heights through humility/ and riches through poverty.// O hierarch Eutychius our father, entreat Christ God that our souls be saved.

Troparion of St Eutychios Tone 4

In truth you were revealed to your flock as a rule of faith, / an image of humility and a teacher of abstinence; / your humility exalted you; / your poverty enriched you. / Hierarch Father Eutychius, / entreat Christ our God / that our souls may be saved.

Troparion of St Gregory of Sinai Tone 5

You reflected the angelic life, / And your soul was a vessel of insight. / O holy Father Gregory, radiant torch of virtues, / The glory of Sinai and Athos and enlightener of the Slavic lands, / Guide us unerringly, that our souls may be saved!

Apolytikion of St Gregory of Sinai Plagal Tone 1

Thou didst reflect the angelic life, and thy soul was a vessel of theoria. O holy Father Gregory, thou radiant torch of virtues, the glory of Sinai and Athos, and enlightener of the Slavonic lands, guide us unerringly, that our souls may be saved.

The Akathist Hymn – Third Stasis

Priest: The new creation revealed the Creator by showing himself to us whom he created, sprouting up from an unseeded womb, while preserving it just as it was, unspoiled, so that beholding the miracle we might extol her by saying:
Rejoice, flower of incorruption;
Rejoice, crown of chastity.
Rejoice, illuminator of the impress. of the resurrection;
Rejoice, for the angelical life you exemplified.
Rejoice, tree with luscious fruit, by which the faithful are sustained;
Rejoice, foliaged tree of beautiful shade beneath which many are sheltered.
Rejoice, you who were pregnant with the guide for the wayward;
Rejoice, you who gave birth to the redeemer of captives.
Rejoice, by whom the righteous Judge is pacified;
Rejoice, forgiveness of many offenders.
Rejoice, robe of those without hope;
Rejoice, tender love that defeats every longing;
Rejoice, O Bride unwedded.
People: Rejoice, O Bride unwedded.

Priest: Seeing the strange childbirth, let us be estranged from the mundane, transporting our mind to heaven. For this purpose the most high God appeared on earth as a lowly man, wishing to attract to heaven those who cry to Him: Alleluia.
People: Alleluia.

Priest: Present below completely but in no way absent from on high was the uncircumscribable Logos. For this was divine condescension and not a change of place. He was born of a God-chosen virgin who heard this that follows:
Rejoice, uncontainable land of God;
Rejoice, doorway of sacred mystery.
Rejoice, unbelievable myth for the unfaithful;
Rejoice, unequivocal boast of the faithful.
Rejoice, all-holy vehicle of Him who rides the Cherubim;
Rejoice, exquisite domicile of Him who mounts the Seraphim.
Rejoice, bringer of opposites to harmony;
Rejoice, joiner of virginity -and childbirth.
Rejoice, through whom sin was nullified;
Rejoice, through whom Paradise was opened.
Rejoice, key of Christ’s kingdom;
Rejoice, the hope of eternal blessings.
Rejoice, O Bride unwedded.
People: Rejoice, O Bride unwedded.

Priest: All Angels were quite amazed by the great deed of Your incarnation. For they beheld the once inaccessible God accessible to all as- a man living among us, while hearing from everyone: Alleluia.
People: Alleluia.

Priest: Eloquent rhetors we see mute as fish before you O Theotokos. For they are at a loss to explain how you had the power to give birth and yet remained a virgin. But we the faithful marveling at the mystery cry out with faith:
Rejoice, vessel of God’s wisdom;
Rejoice, storehouse of God’s providence.
Rejoice, revealer of philosophers as fools;
Rejoice, exposer of the technologists as irrational.
Rejoice, for the fierce debaters are made foolish;
Rejoice, for the creators of the myths have wilted.
Rejoice, breaker of the webs of the Athenians’ logic;
Rejoice, filler of the nets of the fishermen.
Rejoice, drawer of many from the abyss of ignorance;
Rejoice, enlightener of many with knowledge.
Rejoice, ship for those wishing salvation;
Rejoice, harbor for life’s navigators.
Rejoice, O Bride unwedded.
People: Rejoice, O Bride unwedded.

Priest: Wishing to save the world, the creator of all came down to it of his own will. And while being the shepherd as God, for us he appeared like us, as a man; and having called his own, like by like, as God he hears: Alleluia.
People: Alleluia.

Kontakion

O Champion General, we your faithful inscribe to you the prize of victory as gratitude for being rescued from calamity, O Theotokos. But since you have invincible power, free us from all kinds of perils so that we may cry out to you: Rejoice, O Bride unwedded.

Do not despair… have trust in God’s plan. These little legs… how many people they will lead to heaven… Saint Paisios of Mount Athos

Stand for the reading of the Synaxarion.
Synaxarion.
On April 4 we commemorate our righteous Father George of Mount Maleon. (6th century)
On this day we also commemorate the holy martyrs Theodulus and Agathopus of Thessalonica (303)
On this day we also commemorate the holy martyr Ferbutha of Persia, the Consecrated Virgin, sister of the holy Hieromartyr Symeon, Bishop of Persia; and her sister, and her sister’s handmaid. (343)
On this day we also commemorate our righteous father Publius the Egyptian (4th century)
On this day we also commemorate our righteous father Plato, Abbot of the Monastery of Studium. (812)
On this day we also commemorate the three righteous saints, Theonas, Symeon, and Ferbinus, who reposed in peace. (4th century)
On this day we also commemorate our righteous father Zosimas of Palestine (c. 560) who buried devout St. Mary of Egypt.
On this day the righteous Theonas, who was an ascetic in the Monastery of the Pantokrator and later became the Bishop of Thessaloniki, reposed in peace. (1541)
Our Father among the Saints Isidore, Bishop of Seville. (636)
Our righteous Father Joseph the Much-suffering of the Kiev Caves. (14th century)
Our righteous Father Zosimas of Vorbozomba. (1550)
The holy New Hieromartyr Nicetas of Epirus, who was martyred in Serrai of Macedonia. (1808)
On this day we also commemorate the Holy Hieromartyr Basil (Zelentsov), Bishop of Prilutsk, Vicar of Poltava (1930)
On this day we also commemorate the Holy New Confessor Schema-abbess Sophia (Grineva) of Kiev (1941), and her priest Demetrius Ivanov (1934)
On this day we also commemorate the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia: Vasily Agarkov, Vsevolod Academov ,Sergey Vasiliev, Alexander Vvedensky, Nikodim Dvinsky, Mikhail Kopylov, Vladimir Ladinsky, Anatoly Levitin-Krasnov, Vitaly Megorsky, Vasily Orlin, Luka Stupko, Mikhail Erlikh who suffered and received crowns of martyrdom from the godless satanic authorities of communism in Russia.
Repose of Elder Savvas of Little St. Anne’s Skete, Mt. Athos (1908)

Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. (Rev. 14.12)

Saint Paisios of Mount Athos

For God’s glory and the benefit of souls, I would like to tell you a story, a real story. You can find it in the book “A Tear to Ego” («Δάκρυ στο εγώ» in Greek) which is published by Promachos Orthodoxias.

Kostas Melitsos is the hero, one of the heroes next door as we often call them. He grew up in the neighborhoods of Argos. He was born in the 1960s. A child full of joy who loved to wander around the narrow alleys of Argos, to climb the stairs to the castle of Portokalousa, to Saint Marina, to go to the ancient theatre… He loved this city, he loved wandering around all the time. Sometime, however, this spring of his youth got cloudy all of a sudden… As he was diagnosed with a rare disease, as they then said. “Paralysis with neurological ataxia”, how they termed it. Something which means that from here on down, Kostas could not move at all. Still, he prayed ceaselessly for the miracle to happen and he was a very loved child, a whole city was taking care of her Kostas. One would go in the morning to wake him up, to help him prepare, another to prepare food for him, another to clean him, another to read him, another to give him his treatment. A whole city, a whole neighborhood so to say, a big neighborhood would pass by his house and take care of him. He would pass his time with this wheelchair at the cantor’s place at [the church of] St. John the Forerunner in Argos. But also in Mt. Athos where he wished to be all the time and the fathers, without grumbling, would welcome him and host him. Particularly, in Philotheou monastery, he had his own cell. The fathers there had also made a special ramp for him so he could climb with his wheelchair so that he would not feel like a burden to them. So, he would pray in front of all our “Panagies” (icons of Virgin Mary) in Mt. Athos and Panagia Glykophilousa in Philotheou monastery to intercede so that the miracle would happen and he would be able to stand on his feet like old times when he was young.

Once, he finds himself in the beautiful guesthouse (“archontariki”) of Gregoriou monastery. There in Aplotaria. A kind man approaches him, an incredibly wealthy one, one of those who try “to go through the eye of a needle” [Luke 18:25]. He is very caring, he approaches him with love and offers to pay all expenses for Kostas to go to America and perform a cell transplant procedure. As you understand, Kostas was filled with hope and felt like his prayers might have been heard and the big miracle is about to happen. America, suddenly, turned into a really close destination. A shorter trip, even when compared to the Karyes-Panagouda [two locations in Mt. Athos] one, as he could travel easier to America than to Panagouda [where St. Paisios lived]. We all know how difficult terrain the path to Panagouda is. Still, someone had to give his blessing, to make sure that this endeavor of Kostas going to America for the procedure was blessed. None other was the right person for this than the Saint ascetic of Panagouda, the Saint, elder Paisios. The elder was notified, and with love told them: “Tomorrow morning at 5 a.m. tell Kostas to wait for me outside the infirmary at the square in Karyes.” The next day, in the morning, Kostas together with a monk accompanying him, father Timotheos, waited for elder Paisios. Saint Paisios, “as if he broke the doors of fog”, there was an unusual fog on that day in Karyes,

He approached, kneeled in front of Kostas and started patting his feet while saying:
“Little legs, little legs, these little legs… how many people they will lead to heaven… My child, my Kostas, stand up so we can take a walk.”
Kostas is shocked… not because of the words of St. Paisios, but because he can feel for the first time after so many years his blood warming…This frozen blood which all these years would not let him make a single move, now starts warming… and with the help of St. Paisios, Kostas stands on his feet and they start walking.

Father Timotheos was there [to verify the miracle], other people were there who, after seeing elder Paisios, had approached [the scene]. Thus, a lot of people become partakers and witnesses of this incredible, supernatural event of Kostas walking. He was crying and glorifying Panagia Glykophilousa all the time during his walk. Saint Paisios was closing his eyes and praying a lot of times [during the walk]. After making a circle while walking, they reach again the wheelchair. St. Paisios helps Kostas sit again in the wheelchair and Kostas feels abruptly his blood freezing again and his whole body being dead again.

He is saddened… reasonably… he starts looking at the people around him… trying to realize whether this was an ectasis, a vision, a dream… He realizes that a miracle has just happened and he tries to understand why he is confined to the wheelchair again. Saint Paisios, without telling him anything, says: “Do not go to America. They are going to make you a ‘guinea-pig’. You will go back to Argos.” Kostas, shocked as he was, looks St. Paisios in his eyes. St. Paisios has kneeled once more and is patting his feet.

Kostas asks: “Why? … you saw me right before … I was walking, I was fine!”

“MY CHILD, WE TOOK THIS WALK FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND HOW EASY IT IS FOR GOD TO MAKE YOU WELL. HOWEVER, WITH PATIENCE AND BY STAYING IN THIS POSITION, WHILE GLORIFYING GOD FOR HIS PLAN, [IF YOU ONLY KNEW] HOW MUCH YOUR SOUL BENEFITS… KNOW THAT YOU ARE CONSTANTLY IN PARADISE FROM THIS LIFE [ALREADY]. DO NOT FALL INTO DESPAIR. GOD HAS HIS PLAN. HE KNOWS WHY HE HOLDS YOU THERE.”

“Your soul will benefit, your soul will become holy… and next to you, all these people that help you, they will also win Paradise… with you Kostas, do not despair… have trust in God’s plan. All years here [in this life] are countable, the years there [in Paradise] are not countable. These few years are a small drop in the infinite ocean of eternity. These few years that you will be tested, that you will be in pain …”

He was saying all these things while patting his legs and saying to himself:
“These little legs… how many people they will lead to heaven… You and all those people who will stand by your side to help you as “one of the least of Lord’s brethren”. [Matthew 25:40]

Indeed, so it happened. Kostas went back to his room. He lived a lot more years than the doctors expected. He lived half a century. He fell asleep at 52 years old. The ones that saw him in his last moments spoke of a smile that was painted on his lips. I met him a lot of years later, going to his grave with my brother Panagiotis Galanis who was a brotherly friend of his. He was the one that introduced him to me and gifted me a wonderful picture [of Kostas] which we have published in the book.

Kostas has a melancholic face [in the picture] which testifies his patience and his obedience to the encouragement of Saint Paisios. And we know that many souls which helped him, benefited by their acts and “won” paradise as St. Paisios had said. Now, the hug of Kostas is open… because this was his grief all those years… To be able to open his hug and embrace all those people that offered him help and relief in all the things he suffered. His hug looks now like his “first spring” and is wide open for all of us. Let us commemorate him and let us have his blessings and the ones of Saint Paisios!

***

Someone kept begging the Saint Iakovos of Evia, some time passed and he said to him loudly: Hey Elder, don’t you see!!!!! You don’t see the problems!!!! Why don’t you do something!!!!!
So he sees the Elder in his sleep…, he was shining… and tells him: The secret is Patience and Prayer!!!! Everything will be solved!!

Troparion of St George of Maleo Tone 4

Like a divine plant, O righteous George,/ thy virtuous life brought forth holy fruit in abundance./ Thou didst blossom in asceticism like a date palm,/ and nourish Christ’s Church/ with the gifts that were given to thee.

Troparion of St Zosimas Tone 1

Let us the faithful praise Zosimas the offspring of the wilderness,/ the angel in the flesh and boast of monks./ And with him let us also acclaim holy Mary of Egypt, whose life transcended the limits of nature;/ and let us cry to them:/ Glory to Him Who strengthened you; glory to Him Who made you holy;/ glory to Him Who through you works healings for all.

Troparion of St Tigernach Tone 1

O holy Tigernach, thou didst glorify God as Abbot of Clones/ before being called to the episcopate./ As once thou didst shepherd thy flock on earth so now, in company with the Angels in heaven,/ pray to Christ our God to grant us His great mercy.

Always and for everything, even for sorrows, be grateful to the Lord and the Virgin Mary. St. Seraphim of Vyritsa

Stand for the reading of the Synaxarion.
Synaxarion
On April 3 we commemorate our righteous Father Niketas the confessor, Abbot of the Monastery of Medicium. (824)
On this day we also commemorate our righteous Father Joseph the Hymnographer, of Sicily. (883)
On this day we also commemorate the holy martyr Elpidophoros. (3rd century)
On this day we also commemorate the holy martyr Dius.(3rd century)
On this day we also commemorate the holy martyr Bythonius. (3rd century)
On this day we also commemorate the holy martyr Galycus. (3rd century)
On this day we also commemorate our righteous Father Illyrius of Mount Myrsion.
On this day the holy new martyr Paul the Russian, the freedman, who witnessed in Constantinople in the year 1683, died by the sword.
On this day we also commemorate our righteous Father Nectarius of Bezhetsk, Tver (1492)
On this day we also commemorate our righteous Father Seraphim of Vyritsa (†1949)

Verses
Niketas was set free from life, like a trapped sparrow,
With noetic wings he flies off to the heavens.
On the third Niketas was summoned to divine gifts.
Verses
Of the living God you are a divine hymnist Father,
I at your death am a new hymnist.
Verses
With Paul having a common calling and sword,
Is this new athlete Paul, who was a Russian.

“What is my obedience? – told Elder Seraphim. – I’m like a storehouse where people put all their grief in”.

St. Seraphim of Vyritsa

Imitating his heavenly teacher, Venerable Father Seraphim of Sarov, he undertook a new podvig on himself. He would pray in the garden on his knees on the rock before the icon of the Wonderworker of Sarov. This was happening in those days when his health was very bad. The first testimonies of St. Seraphim of Vyritsa praying on the rock are from 1935, when the persecutors descended upon the Church again. For ten years the Elder endured this podvig. In truth it was martyrdom in the name of love for his neighbors. With many hot tears the Holy Elder was praying to God asking revival for the Russian Orthodox Church and for the salvation of the whole world.

People really didn’t know when he was sleeping. Every time when someone opened the door of his cell they found him on his knees crying and praying with his hands to the sky, not noting anything around him.

Fr. Seraphim had many visitors. Many times in the 30’s Chekists [Bolshevik secret police] came to his cell searching his things. Once the Chekists came to arrest the Elder, but people who lived with Fr. Seraphim in the house asked to call for the doctor to confirm his heath condition. When the doctor came he confirmed that the health of Fr. Seraphim was in very serious condition and didn’t allow them to move him to another place. Another time, when the Chekists came again, Fr. Seraphim’s love won them over. Sudden spiritual change in the soul of the man in charge brought them to leave the house without touching the humble Elder.
Lions were obedient to the venerable fathers Anthony the Great and Zosima, bears to St. Sergius of Radonezh and Seraphim of Sarov. And the most cruel cruel animals in the form of humans were obedient to Fr. Seraphim of Vyritsa.

In 1941 Nikolai Muraviov, son of Fr. Seraphim, was arrested and executed. New grief came into the Elder’s life.

Fr. Seraphim knew about the upcoming Second World War and the horrible years of it for Russia. When Nazis attacked Russia, Fr. Seraphim started to pray on the rock in his garden every day. In 1941 Fr. Seraphim was 72 years old and his health was bad, and his relatives would help him walk to that rock, and sometimes they just carried him there. Those close to him asked him to stop this praying on the rock, as they saw how hard it was for him physically. They put the icon on a young apple tree near that rock. He would pray on the rock as long as he could. Sometimes an hour, sometimes two, sometimes several hours. It was impossible to look at his sufferings without tears. They asked him to stop this podvig and pray at his cell, but he didn’t have mercy on himself. God himself helped him to do this podvig! This continued during all four war years for Russia.[V.P. Philimonov, Magazine “Tserkovny Vestnik”
Translated by Mira Parker]

***

Father Seraphim himself many times used to say that he always felt the presence of his protector, the venerable Seraphim of Sarov. He faithfully followed this saint’s example in his life, as we will realize from the following narration.

Neither the individual fates of men nor the fate of Russia itself were hidden from the great Elder. He knew of the coming great war, and openly warned of the dangers approaching the Fatherland. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War [i.e. World War II], Fr. Seraphim took on a new great ascetic struggle, many days of prayer upon a rock, like unto that of St. Seraphim of Sarov. Here is what his relatives tell of this: “In 1941, Grandfather was already almost 76, and could barely get around unassisted. In the garden behind the house, there was a granite boulder behind a small apple tree. On that rock, Fr. Seraphim would offer up his prayers to the Lord. Supporting his arms, or often simply carrying him, people would bring him out there. An icon was affixed to the little apple tree, and Grandfather would stand on his hurt knees on the rock and raise his arms toward Heaven. How difficult that was for him! It was impossible to look upon it all without crying… Fr. Seraphim prayed for as long as he had the strength – sometimes an hour, sometimes two, and sometimes several hours at a time. And he did so day in and day out, throughout the long and exhausting years of war.”

In Vyritsa itself, and as the Elder had prophesied, not one house was destroyed, and not one single person was killed.

There will come a time when not the persecutions but money and the goods of this world will take people far from God. Then many more souls will be lost than in the time of the persecutions. On the one hand, they will be putting gold on the domes and will put the crosses on them and on the other hand everywhere evil and falsehood will reign. The true Church always will be persecuted. They who want to be saved will be saved with illnesses and afflictions. The way in which the persecutions will occur will be very sly and it will be very difficult for one to foresee the persecutions. Dreadful will be that time; I pity those who will be living then.

Always and for everything, even for sorrows, be grateful to the Lord and the Virgin Mary.

***

He’s a convict!
St. Seraphim of Vyritsa

The Dementievs were among St. Seraphim’s spiritual children: the mother (it seems her name was Maria) and her daughter Tatiana. They were from a merchant family, the family’s father maintained a tea shop before the revolution, where a real live Chinaman opened the door for the customers. Dementiev had probed deeply into the secrets of the art of tea, for which purpose he had travelled both to India and China. In the heat of the NEP,[3] they sent Dementiev to places that were under guard, as a member of the leisure class. True, they changed their mind later—the young Soviet Union had to set up a tea business. People from the NKVD came to his wife, “Where is your husband?” She only shrugged her shoulders, “You arrested him—you’re the ones who should know.” And that’s how he disappeared into the northern camps, carrying away the secrets of his tea mastery with him into the permafrost.
But his widow remained to bring up little Tanya. And she raised her. The daughter grew up to be bright, beautiful, and believing.

After the war a certain young man started to court Tanya. His name was Nikolai. A Candidate of Engineering Science,[4] the senior researcher at a serious scientific research institute, who was working in defense. He courted her beautifully and tactfully. Each time he saw her he would bring her flowers and sometimes other presents. He was polite and attentive, he called every day—in general, he was the suitor of suitors. They set a wedding date for the near future.

But Maria, Tatiana’s mother, decided to make a trip to St. Seraphim before this—not so much for advice as for a blessing, so that everything would go well for the young couple. She walked up to Fr. Seraphim and asked:

“Batiushka, do you bless me to give my daughter in marriage?”

“To whom?”

“To a good person.”

“What kind of good person?”

“A good person. An engineer in a defense institute. And he is ready to get married.”

And she said his first and last name. Hearing this, St. Seraphim sighed softly and waved his hand:

“What are you thinking, Matushka? Do you understand who you are giving your daughter to? He’s a convict! A convict! What wedding? What crowning?[5] His prospects are for Vladimirka.[6] The Great Siberian Way is in store for him.”

Maria left Vyritsa feeling completely confused. On the one hand, you couldn’t disobey Batiushka; on the other, she didn’t want to lose a good son-in-law. But most of all the words, “He’s a convict” struck her. She was trying to remember Nikolai’s face and behavior. What was there about them that was like a convict? His appearance was entirely well-meaning… She returned from Vyritsa to Leningrad. She wasn’t going to say anything to her daughter for a while.

And then something strange began to happen. Before, Nikolai had called every day, and came to see Tatiana almost every day. But now, he didn’t call for a whole day, then two, then three—and finally a whole week… Maria and Tatiana began to worry: what does such silence mean just before the wedding? Could he really have changed his mind and gotten cold feet? What an insult to the bride! Or did something happen? They called the apartment where he lived. They couldn’t make any sense out of it, they heard some sort of strange answers: “Who are you? What do you want him for?” They travelled to his apartment and heard, “He doesn’t live here any more.” And the tenants acted kind of strangely and wouldn’t look them in the eye.

Finally Maria decided to take an extreme step—she travelled to Nikolai’s workplace. They greeted her there even more strangely than at his home. Everyone avoided her like the plague. They wouldn’t give her a straight answer to her questions. Finally, the elderly head of personnel felt sorry for her and invited her to his office and related the following to her:

It turns out that a while ago the defense of Nikolai’s doctoral dissertation took place. The dissertation was brilliant. Everyone complimented him on it, until the line came to one elderly professor. He stood up and said, “Friends and colleagues. I don’t care, I only have a little while left to live. I have to tell you the truth about this dissertation. It’s plagiarized. It was copied from the work of our former colleague A.M., whom I supervised.” Everyone was horrified: A.M. had been arrested on Article 58.[7] But the proof of plagiarism was weighty and the matter could not be suppressed. As the subject was about a secret military project, the main points of which were stolen by Nikolai, the case sparked the interest of the appropriate authorities. And it turned out that Nikolai, having become acquainted with the text of A.M.’s dissertation, wrote a report against him to the authorities and also stole his work and his invention. And they arrested Nikolai for this. Thus was fulfilled St. Seraphim’s prophecy, “He’s a convict.”
Deacon Vladimir Vasilik
Translated by Dimitra Dwelley

[3] NEP – New Economic Policy: A policy in the Soviet Union from 1922-1928, which allowed a certain amount of capitalism, to try to save the economy.
[4] A Candidate’s degree was the first post-graduate degree, equivalent to a western Ph.D.
[5] In Russian, svad’ba is “wedding,” but a church wedding is a venchanie—a “crowning,” because in the Orthodox wedding ceremony crowns are held over or put on the couple’s heads.
[6] Vladimirka—the road to Vladimir, that is, the route by which state convicts were sent to Siberia.
[7] Article 58 of the USSR: “counter-revolutionary activity.”
https://orthochristian.com/70731.html

***

Prophecies Of St Seraphim Of Vyritsa (1866-1949)

The Elder used to say, that a time would come when near every believer would be forty unbelievers and they will beg him to save them.

The Lord can wait even a thousand years for just one person to be saved for the number of angels who fell [i.e. the demons] to be made up.

The salvation of the world is from Russia. St Petersburg will become the spiritual centre of the country. There will be more great events in Russia – the opening and glorification of holy relics in St Petersburg – a great joy for the whole world…

The Orient will be baptized in Russia. The whole heavenly world is praying for the enlightenment of the Orient.

The time will come when there will be no persecution, but money and the attractions of this world will draw people away from God and many more souls will perish than during the period of open militant atheism. On the one hand, they will raise up crosses and gild cupolas, but on the other hand, the kingdom of lies and evil will come. The True Church will always be persecuted. Salvation will only be possible through sorrows and illness, persecutions will take on a very refined and unpredictable character. It will be terrible to live to those times.

A time will come when Russia will be torn apart. First they will split her up, then they will start to plunder her wealth. The West will in every way try to further Russia’s destruction and hand over her eastern part to China. The Far East will fall into the hands of the Japanese. Siberia will fall to the Chinese, who will start to settle in Russia, marry Russians and eventually, through cunning and craft, occupy all Siberia as far as the Urals. When China tries to go further, the West will oppose it.

Many countries will fall on Russia, but she will survive, though losing a great part of her territory. That war, foretold by the Holy Scriptures, will bring about the unity of mankind. People will understand that it will be impossible to go on, otherwise every living thing will die. They will elect a single government – this will be the antichamber for the reign of Antichrist. Then the persecution of Christians will begin…

Even in the most difficult times, he who will occupy himself diligently with the Jesus prayer, ascending with the frequent invocation of the Son of God’s name in ceaseless prayer, will be able to be saved easily.

Saint Joseph the Hymnographer, “the sweet-voiced nightingale of the Church”
https://iconandlight.wordpress.com/2019/04/02/saint-joseph-the-hymnographer-the-sweet-voiced-nightingale-of-the-church/

This was from Me. I want you to know that your weakness has need of My strength, and your safety lies in allowing Me to protect you. St Seraphim of Viritsa
https://iconandlight.wordpress.com/2020/03/20/this-was-from-me-i-want-you-to-know-that-your-weakness-has-need-of-my-strength-and-your-safety-lies-in-allowing-me-to-protect-you-st-seraphim-of-viritsa/

Blessed Russia possesses a priceless treasure – it is the keeper of the Holy Orthodox Faith. Holy Russia, which always lived with a foreboding of the heavenly, first of all sought the Kingdom of God and His righteousness… St. Seraphim of Vyritsa
https://iconandlight.wordpress.com/2022/04/03/76404/

The true Church always will be persecuted. They who want to be saved will be saved with illnesses and afflictions. The way in which the persecutions will occur will be very sly and it will be very difficult for one to foresee the persecutions. Saint Seraphim οf Viritsa
https://iconandlight.wordpress.com/2021/04/02/the-true-church-always-will-be-persecuted-they-who-want-to-be-saved-will-be-saved-with-illnesses-and-afflictions-the-way-in-which-the-persecutions-will-occur-will-be-very-sly-and-it-will-be-very-dif/

Troparion of St Nicetas the Confessor Tone 4

Thou wast a firm pillar, O Nicetas,/ and an undaunted guardian of the divine tradition./ Thou wast adorned with holy dispassion/ and didst become an illustrious confessor of the Faith./ Accept the prayers of those who cry to thee, and intercede for them with Christ our God.

Troparion of St Nicetas the Confessor Tone 4

You were a firm pillar and an undaunted guardian of sacred tradition, O Nicetas; / you were adorned with holy dispassion and became an illustrious confessor of the Faith. / Accept the prayers of those who cry to you, / interceding for them with Christ our God.

Troparion of St Joseph the Hymnographer Tone 3

Come, let us acclaim God-inspired Joseph,/ the twelve stringed instrument of the Word,/ and the harmonious harp of grace and lute of heavenly virtues./ He praised and hymned the assembly of the Saints;/ and now he is glorified with them.

Troparion of St. Seraphim of Vyritsa tone 4

As a bright star of the Russian land thou didst shine forth from Vyritsa, O venerable father Seraphim; and guided by the grace of the Holy Spirit, thou hast illumined our country with the light of thy miracles. Thus we flee to thy relics for refuge crying out with compunction: Intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved!

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…

Stand for the reading of the Synaxarion.
Synaxarion
On April 2 we commemorate our righteous Father Titus the Wonderworker. (9th century)
On this day we also commemorate the holy martyrs and brothers Amphianus and Aidesius of Patara, Lycia (306)
On this day we also commemorate the holy virgin martyr Theodora of Palestine (Theodosia of Tyre) (308)
On this day we also commemorate the holy martyr Polycarp of Alexandria (4th century)
On this day the righteous Father Gregory, who struggled in asceticism in the Gulf of Nicomedia, reposed in peace in the year 1240.
Saint Abundius, of Greek origin, he became Bishop of Como in the north of Italy (469)
Saint Nicetius, Bishop of Lyons (Nizier), in Gaul (573)
Saint Musa, a child in Rome who was granted visions, mentioned by her contemporary by St Gregory the Great (6th century)
Saint Constantín mac Cináeda (Constantine I), King of Scotland, slain in a battle against heathen invaders of his country and honoured as a martyr, buried at Iona (877)
On this day the Our righteous Father George of Atsquri Monastery in Georgia (9th-10th centuries)
On this day the Our righteous Father Sabbas, Archbishop of Sourozh, Crimea (11th century)
On this day we also commemorate the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia: Ekaterina Alimova, Alexey Anisimov , Ivan Aprelov, Asafa (Yershova Evdokia), Evdokia Davyskina, Marfa Danilova, Devora (Kienko ), Anastasia Kupriyanova, Elisey Kutsikov,Ioann Lukashevich, Timofey Malukhin, Pavel Milakov who suffered and received crowns of martyrdom from the godless satanic authorities of communism in Russia.

Verses
What is this Titus? Why have you left your life behind?
I have left for another place, the glory of the Lord.
On the second the soul of Titus was taken up by intelligences.
Verses
Theodora is adorned with majesty and beauty,
A well-pleasing gift to the Lord.*
Verses
As a vine-branch of the Lord Polycarp was decapitated,
This greater fruit he brought to Christ.
Verses
Just as a man on a horse wanders Gregory,
You came to dry land, O monstrous strange thing!

Sister Magdalen of Essex

“Parents do most of the practical decision-making that affects children, and their influence is the greatest on a child’s life… If parents are motivated by sound principles, whatever they do is all the better for that. Getting back to basics does a lot to heal any harm already done by parental mistakes… Every one of us… can do something right now to put Christianity into fuller practice, and this will immediately improve our ability to act confidently and wisely as pedagogues.” (pp. 17 – 18)Conversations with Children by Sister Magdalen, Published by the Patriarchal Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist, Essex, England

***

Children and their upbringing
by the Royal Martyr Empress Alexandra Fedorovna

There is no stronger emotion that the one which grips us when we hold our children in our arms. Their helplessness touches the noble strings within our hearts. Their innocence represents a purifying force for us. When there is a newborn in the home, the marriage itself seems to be reborn. The child causes the married couple to become closer than ever before. Silent strings in the heart suddenly come alive. The young parents are faced with new goals, and new desires appear. Life immediately acquires a new and deeper meaning.
A sacred burden is placed in their hands, an immortal life which they must preserve, and this imbues the parents with a sense of responsibility, causes them to think deeply. “I” is no longer the center of the universe. They have a new purpose to attain, a purpose great enough to fill up their entire life.
Our children naturally bring along with them a multitude of cares and concerns, and for this reason there are people who look upon the appearance of children as a misfortune. But it is only cold egotists who can look upon children in such a manner.
It is a momentous thing to take upon oneself the responsibility for these tender young lives, which can enrich the world with beauty, joy, and power, but which can also easily perish; it is a momentous thing to nurture them, form their character, – this is what one should think about when establishing a home. It should be a home in which children will grow up to a sincere and noble life, grow up for God.
No treasures in the world can replace for man the loss of truly incomparable treasures – his own children. There are things which God gives often, and others that are given only once. The seasons of the year pass and return again, new flowers bloom, but youth never comes twice. Childhood and all its possibilities are given only once in a lifetime. Whatever you can do to adorn it, do it quickly.
Parents should be what they wish their children to be – not in words, but in deed. They should teach their children by the example of their own life. The greatest treasure that parents can leave their children is a happy childhood, with tender memories of father and mother. It will lighten the forthcoming days, it will preserve them from temptation, and it will help them face the harsh realities of life after they leave the parental roof.
May God help each mother understand the majesty and glory of her forth-coming endeavor, when she holds at her breast her infant, whom she must nurture and bring up. As far as children are concerned, the parents’ duty is to prepare them for life, for any trials that God may send them. While the parents are alive, the child will always remain a child for them and should treat his parents with love and respect. The children’s love for their parents is expressed in complete trust in them. A real mother finds importance in everything in which her child is interested. She listens just as willingly to his adventures, joys, disappointments, achievements, plans, and dreams as other people listen to a romantic narrative.

Children should learn self-denial. They cannot have everything they want. They should learn to reject their own desires for the sake of other people. They should also learn to be solicitous. Careless people always cause harm and pain, perhaps not intentionally, but simply through negligence. Not much is needed to show concern – a word of encouragement, a little bit of tenderness when the other person seems sad, timely assistance to the one who is tired. Children should learn to be of use to their parents and to each other. They can do this without demanding excessive attention, without fussing others. As soon as they grow up a bit, children should learn to be self-reliant, to make do without the help of others, in order to become strong and independent.
Parents are sometimes at fault for excessive anxiety or non-intelligent and constantly irritating counsels, but sons and daughters must agree that at the base of all this excessive fussing lies deep concern over them.
A noble life, a strong, honest, serious, and God-pleasing character – such is the parents’ highest reward for all the exhausting years of selfless love. May children live in such a manner that parents in their old age can be proud of them. May children fill their declining years with tenderness and affection.
Over each one of us always soars our invisible Guardian Angel.

SONNET XLIII
(This famous sonnet by the English poetess Elizabeth Barrett Browning describes extraordinarily well in verse form that same noble and beautiful love, of which the Empress-Martyr Alexandra speaks in her excerpts.)

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the end of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, – I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! – and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
https://www.holy-transfiguration.org/library_en/fam_marriageAlex1.html

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Saint Porphyrios

A child’s upbringing commences at the moment of its conception. The embryo hears and feels in its mothers womb. Yes, it hears and it sees with its mother’s eyes. It is aware of her movements and her emotions, even though its mind has not developed.

For this reason a mother must pray a lot during her pregnancy and love the child growing within her, caressing her abdomen, reading psalms, singing hymns and living a holy life. This is also for her own benefit. But she makes sacrifices for the sake of the embryo so that the child will become more holy and will acquire from the very outset holy foundations. So you see how delicate a matter it is for a woman to go through a pregnancy? Such a responsibility and such an honour!

What saves and makes for good children is the life of the parents in the home. The parents need to devote themselves to the love of God. They need to become saints in their relation to their children through their mildness, patience and love. They need to make a new start every day, with a fresh outlook, renewed enthusiasm and love for their children. And the joy that will come to them, the holiness that will visit them, will shower grace on their children.

If the parents do not pursue a life of holiness and if they don’t engage in spiritual struggle, they make great mistakes and transmit the faults they have within them. If the par­ents do not live a holy life and do not display love towards each other, the devil torments the parents with the reactions of the children. Love, har­mony and understanding between the parents are what are required for the children. This provides a great sense of security and certainty.

St. Gabriel (Urgebadze)

A young couple once visited St. Gabriel (Urgebadze). The woman was pregnant. St. Gabriel blessed them and said, “My dears, be aware, a child understands everything, therefore read the word of God to him, so he will grow up properly from the very beginning.”
The husband was amazed by what St. Gabriel said and asked, “Yes, but Father, I don’t even understand what’s said through a half-closed door, so how will a child in the womb understand?”
St. Gabriel looked at the woman and addressed the child in his mother’s womb: “Hello baby, I ask you—do you hear the word of God?”
He had just finished saying it when the child began to move so much that the mother grabbed her stomach and couldn’t hide her emotions. Her husband, amazed and already believing what St. Gabriel had said, looked at his wife, astounded.

Apolytikion of St Titus in the Fourth Tone

Dedicated to the Lord from childhood, thou didst live in the world like an Angel and receive grace from God to work miracles. Thou wast a guide of monks and a wise steward, O Titus. Fervently pray to Christ our God for the world.

Apolytikion of St Titus in the Fourth Tone

You forsook the tumult of life; you lived your life in tranquility, O wise one. You have passed over to God, venerable wonderworker, Titus our father.

Apolytikion of St Theodosia Tone 4

Through thy struggles in contest, O noble Theodosia, thou didst offer thy virginity as a gift to God the Word. Now that He has brought thee to the heavenly bridal chamber, entreat Him to deliver us from all misfortune.

Belief in Christ’s love impels us to the fullest possible repentance. “Open to me the doors of repentance, O Giver of Life.”

Stand for the reading of the Synaxarion.
Synaxarion
On April 1 we commemorate our righteous Mother Mary of Egypt. (c. 421)
On this day we also commemorate our righteous Father Macarius the Confessor, Abbot of the Monastery of Pelecete (820)
Saints Hermes and Theodora the martyrs (132)
Saint Melito of Sardis, Bishop of Sardis (177)
On this day we also commemorate the holy martyrs Gerontios and Vasilides.
On this day we also commemorate the holy and righteous Ahaz, King of Judah.
The holy Martyr Abramius of Bulgaria, the translation of whose sacred relics we commemorate.(1229)
Our righteous Father John of Shavteli (John of Black Mountain) and Eulogius the Prophet of Georgia, the Fool for Christ’s sake. (12th-13th century)
Our righteous Father Gerontius, Canonarch of the Kiev Caves.(14th century)
We also commemorate our righteous Father Euthymius of Suzdal, the Wonderworker (1404)
On this day we also commemorate our righteous Father Barsanuphius of Optina. (1913)

Verses
Long ago her spirit was taken away, and her flesh perished,
The earth now hides the dead bones of Mary.
On the first of April Mary died praying in the desert.
Verses
Makarios lived a blessed life,
Now Makarios dwells in a blessed land.

Self-Emptying
Saint Sophrony (Sakharov)

The commandments place us face to face with Absolute Being. All our efforts to observe these commandments inevitably fail. We discover our utter incapacity. We see such artfulness of mind and spirit in ourselves, such horrors in our heart, that we fell destroyed. Dread of falling away from God, in Whom we believe, is immense. We are in anguish over ourselves. Everything that we store by in the past, we cast away, and find ourselves stripped of earthly ties, of our learning, even of our will. We become poor and “empty”. And the worst ordeal of all is that, despite our utmost straining to be faithful to God, there are periods when we feel forsaken by him. Our spiritual poverty, together with the pain of God’s absence, plunges us into despair. It seems as if some terrible curse hangs over us. We suffer, maybe, on every level of our being – spirit, mind, heart, body. Now we understand the tragedy behind the Bible account of the Fall of man, and belief in Christ’s love impels us to the fullest possible repentance. The more profound our repentance, the more clearly do we see into our own previously hidden depths. Realizing the desperate state that we are in, we begin to detest ourselves as we are.

In this manner are we cleansed from the “curse” of our inheritance (Gen 3: 14-19). New, uncreated energy begins to penetrate us; we make our communion with Divine Being. God’s Light comes to embrace us. The Spirit of Truth proceeding from the Father and reposing in the Son descends into our heart as Comforter: “Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted” (Matt. 5: 4).

Man in isolation, as a separate individual, cannot follow after Christ – the panorama spread before him is too grandiose. If he is sound in mind he will not trust himself but seek out reliable witnesses, lest he “should run… in vain” (Gal 2:2). The witnesses, of course, must be chosen from past followers of Christ and contemporaries of the same faith. Would I check with Buddhists or non-Christians whether I understood the Lord’s commandments correctly? S o I started to study the New Testament chiefly, consulting ministers of the Church, professors of Theology. I read the Apostolic Fathers and the great Ascetics, not neglecting the works of recent authors. At the time the latter were not of much direct help. Acquaintance with the writings of the Ascetics, however, did answer my need.

In Christ we meet the Absolute Being. Only through His strength can we overcome all that is incapable of assuming eternity, that is contrary to His Love. It is hard for us at every step to have to admit our unstrength. Our minds are too limited to understand His Sacred Commandments. But sooner or later our dolorous striving after Him will begin to echo with the inspiring appeal of the Eternal Divinity. Not Blissfully yet, but we have come to love Him in His splendor, and this love is stronger than death. Painful as it may be to keep His commandments, we cannot relinquish the goal before us – to become for all eternity the habitation of His Light.

The transition from the corruption inherited from Adam to the realm of Christ’s undeclining Light is a more important event than all other earthly realities. When we begin to hate ourselves (Luke 14:26) it is a sign of approach to this great mystery. It is said: Nothing that defileth shall enter into the Kingdom of the Lamb of God (Rev 21: 27). We put ourselves sternly on trial and without mercy condemn ourselves to hell as being unworthy to God. Only in this way can we repress our disposition to be indulgent towards our weaknesses and easily forgive our transgressions, especially if they occur in thought only. Our gamble is a tremendous one – our whole being lies at stake, the prize is immortality in Eternal Light. “The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matt. 11: 12).
Reference:
Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov), We Shall See Him As He is, translated by Rosemary Edmonds (1988), Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist, Essex.
https://holytrinityfamily.blogspot.gr/2015/05/self-emptying.html#more

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By St. John Maximovitch

“Open to me the doors of repentance, O Giver of Life.”

It is difficult to repent, to change internally, to be reborn. What is needed is a consciousness of the need for change, a desire for it, and grace-filled help is needed. The more consciously and resolutely we begin repentance, the wider we open the doors of the soul, the more successfully we achieve the goal.

An example of such a complete rebirth is St. Mary of Egypt, a sinner known throughout Alexandria since childhood. Where people gathered – there she was for sin. When she was among the pilgrims going to Jerusalem, not for the sake of God but for the sake of entertainment and sin, she confused everyone with her behavior.

The pilgrims went to the temple, and she was with them. Everyone entered, but she could not enter, and for the first time in her life she was embarrassed. She struggled with that feeling and tried to force her way into the temple, but in vain: bound by a sinful life, she could not enter the Holy Temple. Then shame entered her soul for herself, for her life.

Confused, for the first time she prayed repentantly before the icon of the Mother of God, and the Most Holy Theotokos opened the doors of the temple for her. In the morning, she was at the Liturgy and after Communion of the Holy Mysteries, straight from the temple she went into the wilderness, having bought three loaves of bread along the way.

Many years later, the Monk Zosimas found her. She told him about her life and the pain of fighting sin and being reborn. Those torments were so heavy, the attacks of temptations were so swift that she fell to the ground. Then came the days of peace and light. Now she was calm. She asked Saint Zosimas to come to her in a year and give her communion. He came and saw her across the river. She crossed to him on the water, took communion and asked to come back in a year. He came and found her dead, and next to the body was written the day when a year ago the Monk Zosimas gave her communion.

This is an example of the swift determination to change one’s life through repentance, the intensity of the struggle with sins. This is an example of purification and rebirth.

“Open to me the doors of repentance, O Giver of Life.”

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Troparion of St MaryTone Tone 8

In thee, O mother, that which was created according to the image of God was manifestly saved;/ for, accepting thy cross, thou didst follow after Christ;/ and, praying, thou didst learn to disdain the flesh,/ for thou didst transcend it, to take care of thine immortal soul.// Wherefore, with the angels doth thy soul rejoice, O venerable Mary.

Troparion of St MaryTone Tone 8

The image of God was truly preserved in you, O mother, / For you took up the Cross and followed Christ. / By so doing, you taught us to disregard the flesh, for it passes away; / But to care instead for the soul, since it is immortal. / Therefore your spirit, O holy Mother Mary, rejoices with the Angels.

Troparion of St MaryTone 5

Enlightened by the grace of the Cross,/ thou wast seen to be a bright light of repentance,/ dispelling the darkness of passions, O all holy one./ thou didst appear as an angel in the flesh/ to holy Zosimas in the wilderness./ Intercede with Christ for us, O Mary our righteous Mother.

Apolytikion of St Makarios of Pelekete Tone 4

You imitated the zeal of Elias the Tishbite, and the character of the Baptist, and with inspired words, Father Makarios, you rebuked impious emperors, and you made firm the faithful in piety, wherefore having been tested by your afflictions, you gloriously passed over to God.

Apolytikion of St Barsanuphius Tone 1

Abiding in unceasing prayer, embracing both the good and the wicked with love, O holy elders of Optina, ye did serve both God and neighbor. Through vigils, tears, and fasting ye did receive the gift of all manner of miracles. Glory to Him Who hath given us such intercessors. Glory to Him Who hath glorified you. Glory to God Who is wondrous in His saints.