Χριστός ἀνέστη! Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη!
Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!
ХристосВоскрес! Воистину Воскрес!
Kristus (ir) augšāmcēlies! Patiesi viņš ir augšāmcēlies!
ქრისტეაღსდგა! ჭეშმარიტადაღსდგა!
Le Christ est ressuscité! Vraiment Il est ressuscité!
Hristos a înviat! Adevărat a înviat!
Cristo ha resucitado! Verdaderamente, ha resucitado!
Isa dirildi! Hakikaten dirildi!
St. George the Great-martyr,the Trophy-bearer and St. Martyr Polychronia mother of St. George the Trophy-bearer
Commemorated on 23 April – If April 23 falls on or before Great and Holy Pascha, the Feast of St. George is translated to Bright Monday.
Verses
George, cutting down all his foes in battles,
Is gladly cut down of his foes by beheading.
On the twenty-third George’s neck was seized
by the brazen blade.
Hymn of Praise
Saint George the Great Martyr
by St Nikolai Velimirovich
Saint George on a tall horse
Saved the maiden from the dragon,
On his lance, the sign of the Cross,
Holy weapon, invincible,
With that weapon, the dragon he slayed,
The spared maiden, to the father he returned,
With his goodness, he indebted God Himself
With a wreath of glory, God repaid him.
Saint George with a hero’s heart,
All wealth, he distributed to the poor,
Rejected the honor and glory of the world
For the sake of the Name of Christ, the Victor,
Sufferings he embraced; sufferings willingly,
His body crushed for the salvation of the soul,
With his goodness, he indebted God Himself,
With a wreath of glory, God repaid him.
George, the Saint and Victor-bearer
Even now walks with the cross on his lance,
Justice he defends, injustice he punishes,
Whoever invokes him with faith and tears,
Whoever prays to him with a repenting soul,
George, the Saint flies to his aid.
With his goodness, he indebted God Himself,
With a wreath of glory, God repaid him
The Prologue from Ohrid: Lives of Saints by St Nikolai Velimirovich
http://prologue.orthodox.cn/April23.htm
***
Homily:
About the First and Last who lives
Saint Nikolai Velimirovich of Ohrid
“Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, the one who lives. Once I was dead ,but now I am alive forever and ever” (Revelation 1:17-18).
Thus says the Lord Jesus to His beloved disciple John in a vision on the island of Patmos.
Do not be afraid of what!
Do not be afraid of the persecution of the Church by the pagans. Do not be afraid of the tormentors who persecute my faithful on all sides.
Do not be afraid of emperors who raise up persecutions against the Christians.
Do not be afraid of powerful tyrants of this world who mock and ridicule My humility in My death.
Do not be afraid of demons who blind men with passions so that they can’t see the truth which I brought to the world.
Do not be afraid of anything!
How could I not be afraid, O Lord!, Why then should we not be afraid when the entire world is armed to the tooth and assembled against us who are small in number and unarmed?
Do not be afraid for I am the First and the Last, the Alpha and the Omega. All of those forces armed against you are nothing but a whirlwind of the dead. I am before time and I am after time; before the beginning of all and after the end of all things that were created, I Am! They are all locked in one span of time that I measured out to every created thing and outside of this span of time, they cannot extend.
“Do not be afraid, once I was dead but now, I am alive.”
Do not be afraid, not even of death. I am before death and after death. Death is my servant and I permit my servant to serve me in the world. I gave myself up to my servant for three days and ordered him to release me and “now, I am alive.” I am the Master of death as well as of life. I am the Master of time as well as of eternity.
Do not be afraid! “I am alive forever and ever.” And you will be alive with Me. All they who remain faithful to Me and are not afraid will live with Me. “Do not be afraid, I am the Alpha and the Omega” (Revelation 1:8).
O Lord, Eternal and Immortal, allow these holy words of Yours to ring in the souls of Your faithful always whenever a persecution is raised up against Your Holy Church that, holding on to Your right hand, we may not be afraid.
To You be glory and thanks always. Amen.
The Prologue from Ohrid: Lives of Saints by Saint Nikolai Velimirovič of Ohrid
prologue.orthodox.cn/March21.htm
***
Sermon for St. George’s day
Anthony Bloom (Metropolitan of Sourozh)
May 3, 1981
We are keeping this week the feast of St. George, the patron saint of this country, and this is why I want to say a few words in English instead of preaching in Russian as I always do.
When you look at an icon of St. George you see a man who had the courage, the daring, to confront evil not for his own sake, but for the sake of something greater than he, to confront it face to face at the cost, the possible cost, of his own life. The icons of St. George show us the great knight fighting the dragon, while at the gate of her palace the maiden whom he wishes to save, stands waiting either for his victory or her shame and death. Each of us has got within himself something of which this pure maiden could be a symbol: our integrity, our purity, our uprightness, our wholeness and so many other things that make us akin to the living God. And against all these things the powers of evil are unleashed like the dragon of the icon, ready to devour all this beauty so that nothing is left but death, destruction and defeat — not for us alone, but for God. And within each of us there is the greatness and the generosity, the noble spirit of knighthood that can be aroused to fight for all that is pure, all that is noble, all that is great, both for the sake of its own beauty and for the sake of the Lord to whom it belongs as a bride belongs to the beloved and pure bridegroom.
This image of St. George is a call to all of us: evil is rife, evil is not only rampant around us, it is within us, trying to conquer all beauty and wholeness, and we are called to enter into this fight, to fight that evil be defeated, not only for our own sake, not only for God’s sake, but also for the sake of all those whom evil may poison and destroy. Let us look at this icon, mentally at least if we have not got one actually, in the course of this week and ask ourselves: what is there in us which is standing at the door of the king’s palace, at the gates of the Kingdom of God, ready to enter it if only it be freed from the fetters to which evil has subjected it, if only it would be safe from the destruction which evil is attempting to cast upon it. Let us also look at the evil in us and take a stand like the good knight St. George did, and whether it costs us our life, or whether it costs the defeat of evil, let us enter into the arena, let us fight, and may all that is holy, all that is beautiful, great and noble in us be protected, saved, freed, and enter into the palace, into the Kingdom of the living God who is waiting for us with so much love, so much faith, with a hope unshaken. Amen.
Newsletter ¹ 131 1981 May
1981-05-03-1-E-E-S-EM04-158StGeorge
http://masarchive.org/Sites/texts/1981-05-03-1-E-E-S-EM04-158StGeorge.html
St. George the Trophy-bearer, intercede for us all and help us! Pray to God for us! Pray that we labor in the fast with joy, and let God’s light illumine our hearts. Pray that we can learn to live out our Christian vocation in all times and places, and in all circumstances. Through the intercessions of St. George the Great-martyr, the Trophy-bearer and St. Martyr Polychronia mother of St. George the Trophy-bearer and our mother, O Lord, have mercy on us and save us! Amen.
Apolytikion of Great-martyr George the Trophy-bearer: Fourth Tone
Liberator of captives, defender of the poor, physician of the sick, and champion of kings, O trophy-bearer, Great Martyr George, intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.
Great-martyr George the Trophy-bearer (April 23)
Let us praise with hymns our most fervent guide, * guardian, and protector, * and quick helper in all distress, * the glory of the martyrs, * and caster-down of idols; * and let us cry out unto him: * Rejoice, O Great-martyr George!
Kontakion: Fourth Tone
Cultivated by God, you became manifest as an honorable tiller gathering for yourself the sheaves of virtue. For you sowed with tears but reaped with gladness; in the contest you competed with your blood and came away with Christ. By your intercessions, O Holy One, all are granted forgiveness of sins.
Troparion of St George the Trophy-bearer Tone 4
As the deliverer of captives/ and the protector of the poor,/ as the physician of the feeble and combatant of kings,/ holy champion and great martyr George,/ intercede with Christ our God to save our souls.
stichera to the Great Martyr, in Tone IV
Spec. Mel.: “As valiant among the martyrs …”:
O passion-bearer George, * converser with the angels, * dweller with the martyrs, * who art ever the refuge of the sorrowful: * Be thou a haven of tranquility! * Preserve me as I sail upon the sea of life, * and pilot my life, I implore thee, * that with unwavering faith I may bless * thy supernatural struggles.
As I sleep at night; * and when I am awake * illumine my mind, O George, * and instruct me to do the will of the Lord, * that on the day of Judgment * I may find remission of the sins I have committed in my life, * by fleeing to thy protection, O glorious one.
Arrayed in the breastplate of faith, * armed with the shield of grace * and the spear of the Cross, * thou wast invincible to the adversary, O George. * And as a divine warrior, * having conquered legions of demons, * thou dost hold chorus with the angels, * and, entreated by the faithful, * thou dost sanctify and save them, preserving them,
AS I voyage upon the sea, * as I journey o’er hill and plain, * as I sleep throughout the night, do thou keep me safe! * As I wake do thou rescue me, all‐blessed Great Martyr George; deem me worthy to perform * every day the Lord’s holy will, * so that I may find * in the day of dread judgment the remission of all sins that in my lifetime * I have wrought, who now flee unto thee.
Glory …, in Tone VI:
Thou didst live in accordance with the meaning of thy name, as is meet, O warrior George; for, taking the Cross of Christ upon thy shoulders, thou didst work well the ground which had been made barren by the deceit of the devil, and, having uprooted the thorns of idolatrous worship, thou didst plant the vine of the Orthodox Faith. Wherefore, thou dost pour forth healings upon the faithful throughout all the world, and hast been shown to be a righteous laborer of the Trinity. Pray thou, we entreat thee, for peace for the world and the salvation of our souls.
Glory to the Lauds of St George
Glory. Plagal of First Tone, By Theophanes
Spring hath shined forth as the dawn; come, let us celebrate. The Resurrection of Christ hath appeared in splendour, come, let us be glad. The memorial of the prizewinner hath been revealed, making the faithful bright with joy. Come, therefore, O feast lovers, let us mystically keep the festival; for this man, as a good soldier, bravely defied the tyrants and put them to shame, becoming an imitator of Christ the Saviour’s Passion. Unto his own clay vessel he showed no mercy, but cast it naked into the forge, transforming it by means of torments. Let us cry out to him: O prizewinner George, make entreaty that our souls be saved.
Both now. Mode pl. 1d.
It is the day of the Resurrection. Let us shine brightly for the festival, and also embrace one another. Brethren, let us say even to those who hate us, “Let us forgive everything for the Resurrection.” And thus let us cry aloud, “Christ is risen from the dead, by death trampling down upon death, and to those in the tombs He has granted life.”
Christ is risen from the dead, by death trampling down upon death, and to those in the tombs He has granted life. (2)
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