First Sunday after Pentecost - Whosoever Shall Confess Me Before Men

Matthew 10:32-33, 37-38; 19:27-30

From The Explanation of the Gospel of St. Matthew

by Blessed Theophylact, Archbishop of Ochrid and Bulgaria

Note: The Proimion I and the first Oikos below are taken from the link below, while the rest of the text following is an amateur translation from the Greek.

Prooimion I

O Planter of creation, Lord, to You does the entire world bring as an offering the God-bearing martyr Saints, as being nature’s first fruits. At their earnest entreaty, keep Your Church in a state of profoundest peace, through the Theotokos, O Lord abundantly merciful.

Irenaeus of Lyons:

To save us from forfeiting life by losing the Spirit who possesses us, and to exhort us to share in the Spirit, the Apostle declares that it is impossible for flesh and blood to gain possession of the kingdom of God.

In other words: Do not deceive yourselves, for if the Word of God and the Spirit of the Father do not dwell in you, and you lead a life of vanity and carelessness, as though you were merely flesh and blood, you cannot obtain the kingdom of God.

He says this to prevent us from indulging our physical nature and spurning the grafting of the spirit, for when you were a wild olive, he says, you were grafted into the cultivated olive and came to share that olive’s rich sap.

John Chrysostom

As I keep hearing the Letters of the Blessed Paul read, sometimes twice a week and often three or four times when we are celebrating the memory of the Holy Martyrs, I rejoice and enjoy hearing this spiritual trumpet, and my desire is inflamed.

I recognise this voice which is so dear to me and imagine him all but present to my sight and I see him conversing with me.

But I am sad that all people do not know this man as well as they ought. Some are so ignorant of him that they do not even know for certain how many letters he wrote!

And this comes not from inability, but from their not having the will to be continually conversing with this holy man.

Apostolos Glavenas

Peter was born in Bethsaida, close to Lake Gennesaret, where, along with his brother Andrew, who also became an Apostle, they plied the trade of fisherman, together with two other Apostles, James and John, the sons of Zebedee.

In all the Gospel records he’s first mentioned as Simon, while in other books of the New Testament he’s called Simeon. He’s also mentioned a good number of times as Simon Peter, and also as Cephas.

By Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos

SUNDAY of All Saints

On this day, the Sunday after Pentecost, we celebrate the Feast of All Saints who shone forth throughout the inhabited earth, in Asia, Libya, and Europe, North and South, East and West.

Verses

All the friends of my Lord do I hymn.If any would, let him make mention of them all.

by Fr Georges Florovsky

CHRIST HAS CONQUERED THE WORLD. This victory is further unveiled and fulfilled in the fact that He built His Church. In Christ and through Christ the unity of mankind was brought about truly for the first time, for those who believed in His Name become the Body of Christ. And through uniting with Christ they unite likewise with each other in a most sincere concord of love. In this great unity all empirical distinctions and barriers are done away with: differences of birth in the flesh are effaced within the unity of a spiritual birth. The Church is a new people filled with grace, which does not coincide with any physical boundaries or any earthly nation-neither Greeks nor Jews, and a struggle of faith, through the "Mystery of water," through a union with Christ in the "Mysterious font," through the "grace of becoming sons" ; i.e. "sons of God" for Whom were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth." In Holy Christening the one to be enlightened leaves "this world" and forsakes its vanity, as if freeing himself and stepping out of the natural order of things; from the order of "flesh and blood" one enters an order of grace.

St. Nikolai Velimirovich

O how great was the fearlessness of the holy men and holy women! When we read about their lives, both shame and pride is awakened in us unwillingly - shame that we have lagged so far behind them and pride that they are of our Christian race. Neither sickness, nor prison, nor exile, nor suffering, nor humiliation, nor the sword, nor the abyss, nor fire, nor the gallows were able to shake the exalted peace of their souls, firmly attached to Christ, the Helmsman of the universe and human history.

When Emperor Julian apostasized from the Faith and began to make waste of Christianity throughout the entire empire, St. Athanasius the Great quietly spoke of him to the faithful: "The cloud will pass!". And indeed, that dark cloud quickly passed and Christianity lowered its roots even deeper and spread its branches all the more throughout the world. The weakened wickedness of Julian against Christ was ended after several passing years with Julian's cry: "O Nazarene, You have conquered!" O sons of God, why then should we be afraid of anything from which God our Father is not afraid?

The Feast of All Saints Was Inspired By An Empress

The Feast of All Saints, originally dedicated to the martyrs, achieved great prominence in the ninth century, in the reign of the Roman Emperor Leo VI the Wise (886-911). His wife, the Holy Empress Theophano (commemorated on December 16) lived in the world, but was not attached to worldly things. She was a great benefactor to the poor, and was generous to the monasteries. She was a true mother to her subjects, caring for widows and orphans, and consoling the sorrowful. Theophano devoted most of her days to prayers, psalms and hymns to God. She was reportedly the builder or patron of the Monastery of Saint Anastasia the Protector from Potions (Hagia Anastasia Pharmakolytria) in Halki island, the second largest of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara, near Constantinople.

Even before the death of St. Theophano in 893 or 894, her husband start

ed to build a church, intending to dedicate it to Theophano, but she forbade him to do so. It was this emperor who decreed that the Sunday after Pentecost be dedicated to All Saints. Believing that his wife was one of the righteous, he knew that she would also be honored whenever the Feast of All Saints was celebrated.

According to tradition, it was Leo who expanded the feast from a commemoration of All Martyrs to a general commemoration of All Saints, whether martyrs or not.

On the Mystery of the Faith of the Saints

by Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi

You see what a great thing is faith? This is precisely what God asks of humanity. And we continuously hear that beautiful hymn of the Apostle Paul. For it is not simply an epistle, or a letter, which was written by an illumined man. This is a God-revealed hymn: "[All the Saints] through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the mouth of the sword, were made powerful out of infirmities, became strong in battle. Women received by a rising again their dead, and others were tortured, not accepting the redemption, that a better rising again they might receive, and others of mockings and scourgings did receive trial, and yet of bonds and imprisonment; they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tried; in the killing of the sword they died; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins -- being destitute, afflicted, injuriously treated..."(Heb. 11:33-37). And as you know, the splendid hymn continues.

Blessed Theophylact, Archbishop of Ochrid and Bulgaria

Whosoever Shall Confess Me Before Men

Matthew 10:32-33, 37-38; 19:27-30

Ch. 10:32-33. Whosoever therefore shall confess in Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father Who is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father Who is in heaven. He exhorts them to bear witness even unto martyrdom. For belief only within one's soul does not suffice; He desires also the belief confessed with the tongue. He did not say, "Whosoever shall confess Me," but in me, that is, in My strength. For he who confesses does so aided by the grace which is from above. But as for him who denies, Christ did not say "in Me," but whosoever shall deny Me, showing that he denies because he does not have the aid from above. Therefore everyone who confesses that Christ is God will find Christ giving confession of him to the Father, that he is a true servant. But those who deny will hear the words, "I do not know you."

Twenty-first Instruction of Abba Dorotheos.

Abba Dorotheos

It is good, O brethren, to sing the words of the holy God-bearers, for they strive everywhere to instruct us in everything which leads to the enlightenment of our souls. From the words we sing on the feast day, we should always come to understand the meaning of the what is being commemorated, whether it be a feast of the Lord, of the holy martyrs, or of the holy Fathers; in a word no matter what saint or blessed commemoration it is. Thus we should sing with heedfulness and penetrate with our minds into the significance of the words of the Holy Fathers so that we might sing not only with our lips as is said in the Patericon, but that our heart also might sing together with them. From the first hymn of the feast we have learned as we are able something about Holy Pascha; let us look further and see what St. Gregory wishes to teach us about the holy martyrs.

Archpriest John Behr

Some thirty years ago, Karl Rahner claimed that most Christians are “mere monotheists,” that if the doctrine of the Trinity proved to be false, the bulk of popular Christian literature, and the mindset it reflects, would not have to be changed. Unfortunately, this is largely still true.

Defining the doctrine of the Trinity as a mystery that cannot be fathomed by unaided human reason invites a position such as Melanchthon’s: “We adore the mysteries of the Godhead. That is better than to investigate them.” But the danger of not reflecting carefully on what has been revealed, as it has been revealed, is that we remain blinded by our own false gods and idols, however theologically constructed.

So how can Christians believe in and worship the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and yet claim that there is only one God, not three? How can one reconcile monotheism with Trinitarian faith?

INTRODUCTION

The Feast of Holy Pentecost is celebrated each year on the fiftieth day after the Great and Holy Feast of Pascha (Easter) and ten days after the Feast of the Ascension of Christ. The Feast is always celebrated on a Sunday.

The Feast commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, a feast of the Jewish tradition. It also celebrates the establishment of the Church through the preaching of the Apostles and the baptism of the thousands who on that day believed in the Gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ. The Feast is also seen as the culmination of the revelation of the Holy Trinity.

by Fr Thomas Hopko

"When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.

And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.

Then they were all amazed and marvelled, saying to one another, Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?

Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs &endash; we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God" (Acts 2:1-11).

Pentecost. The mosaic dome. Fragment. ST. Mark's, Venice

Archpriest Andrew Phillips

Would you say that Pentecost is the most important feast after the Nativity of Christ?

I think if you want to start an argument among Orthodox, this question might be a good way!

First of all, there is the feast of feasts, Pascha or Easter, the Feast of the Resurrection, which is higher than all other feasts.

Cyril of Alexandria

(on Luke 15:1-10)

God sent not his son into the world, to judge the world, as the Son tells us, but that the world may be saved by him (John 3:17).

But how could the world be saved, caught as it was in the net of sin? By exacting punishment of it?

No, rather, by showing it kindness, so that, God being merciful and forbearing, man’s past sins were forgotten, and those who had not been living worthily began a purer way of life?

Why then, tell me, O Pharisee, do you murmur because Christ does not disdain to consort with publicans and sinners, prudently preparing the way for their conversion? It was for this He emptied himself, and became like to us.

On the day after every Great Feast, the Orthodox Church honors the one through whom the Feast is made possible. On the day following the Nativity of the Lord, for example, we celebrate the Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos (December 26). On the day after Theophany, we commemorate St John the Baptist (January 7), and so on.

Today we honor the all-Holy, good, and life-creating Spirit, Who descended upon the Apostles at Pentecost in the form of fiery tongues in fulfillment of the Lord's pro

mise to send the Comforter to His disciples (JN 14:16). That same Holy Spirit remains within the Church throughout the ages, guiding it "into all truth" (JN 16:13).

By Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos

Monday of the Holy Spirit

On this day, the Monday of Pentecost, we celebrate the All-Holy and Life-Creating and Omnipotent Spirit, Who is God, and One of the Trinity, and of one Honor and one Essence and one Glory with the Father and the Son.

Verses

O every breath, glorify the Spirit of the Lord,

Through Whom the impudence of evil spirits is put to flight.

ON THE HOLY PENTECOST

SERMON BY ST. JOHN (MAXIMOVICH, +1966) OF SHANGHAI AND SAN FRANCISCO

The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit share one nature, one essence, one substance. That is why the Three Faces are the Trinity, one-in-substance. Humans also have one nature, one substance.

But while God is the Indivisible Trinity, divisions occur in mankind constantly… The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit have common thought, common will, common actions. What the Father desires, the Son also desires, and the Holy Spirit also desires. Whatever the Son loves, so do the Father and the Holy Spirit also love. Whatever is pleasing to the Holy Spirit, is pleasing to the Father and Son. Their actions are also common among them, all act in conjunction and in accord.

SUNDAY OF THE HOLY PENTECOST

ON SATURDAY EVENING

AT SMALL VESPERS

By Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos

SUNDAY of Pentecost

On this day, the eighth Sunday of Pascha, we celebrate Holy Pentecost.

Verses

In a mighty wind doth Christ distribute the Divine SpiritIn the form of fiery tongues unto the Apostles.In one great day, the Spirit was poured forth upon the Fishermen.

by St. Gregory Palamas

On How the Holy Spirit Was Manifested and Shared Out at Pentecost; Also About Repentance

1. A SHORT while ago, with the strong eyes of faith, we beheld Christ ascending, no less clearly than those accounted worthy to be eye-witnesses, nor are we less favoured than they. "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed", says the Lord (John 20:29), referring to those who have found assurance through hearing, and see by faith. Recently we saw Christ lifted up from the ground bodily (Acts 1:9). Now, through the Holy Spirit sent by Him to His disciples, we see how far Christ ascended and to what dignity He carried up the nature He assumed from us. Clearly He went up as high as the place from which the Spirit sent by Him descended. He Who spoke through the Prophet Joel showed us whence the Spirit comes, saying, "I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh" (Joel 2:28), and to Him David addressed the words, "Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth" (Ps. 104:30). It follows that at His Ascension Christ went up to the Father on high, as far as His Fatherly bosom, from which comes the Spirit. Having been shown, even in His human form, to share the Father's glory, Christ now sent forth the Spirit Who comes from the Father and is sent by Him from heaven. But when we hear that the Spirit was sent by the Father and the Son, this does not mean that the Spirit has no part in their greatness, for He is not just sent, but also Himself sends and consents to be sent.

By St. Theodore the Studite

By the grace of the Most Holy Spirit, we have been vouchsafed to celebrate Holy Pentecost — the descent of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ said of this descent: "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter (that is, the Holy Spirit), will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you. When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth" (Jn. 16:7-13). This, His promise and benefit, is so great that we cannot even comprehend it: for the Lord promised to send not an Angel, not a man, but the Holy Spirit Himself.

By St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite

Meditation on Pentecost

during which the Holy Spirit wrought in the Apostles

1) a change of mind, 2) a change of heart, and 3) a change of tongue.1

By St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite

2. Consider, my beloved, the change the Holy Spirit wrought in the hearts of the Apostles, who in the beginning were so fond of life, such lovers of the flesh, and such cowards, that in order to protect their lives, one of them deserted his Teacher during His Passion and ran away naked: "And there followed Him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body... And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked" (Mk. 14:51-52).5 Another one denied Him, and all the rest departed: "And they all forsook Him, and fled" (Mk. 14:50).

It is a common misconception that Pentecost is the birthday of the Church. The following section from the Pentecostarion translated by Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Brookline, MA speaks of the actual significance of Pentecost and what it means for our ecclesiology.

Such, therefore, are the reasons for today's feast: the coming of the All-holy Spirit into the world, the completion of the Lord Jesus Christ's promise, and the fulfilment of the hope of the sacred disciples, which we celebrate today. This is the final feast of the great mystery and dispensation of God's incarnation. On this last, and great, and saving day of Pentecost, the Apostles of the Saviour, who were unlearned fishermen, made wise now of a sudden by the Holy Spirit, clearly and with divine authority spoke the heavenly doctrines. They became heralds of the truth and teachers of the whole world. On this day they were ordained and began their apostleship, of which the salvation of those three thousand souls in one day was the comely and marvellous first fruit.

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

I. Origin and Revelation of the Church

Through the centuries there have appeared many heretical teachings which distorted the revealed truth, and which the holy Fathers confronted "with the sling stone of the Spirit", that is to say, by the power of the Holy Spirit. And this is so because the holy Fathers were the bearers of the pure Tradition of the Church.

Among these heresies are those of Arianism, the Pneumatomachs who fought against the Spirit, the Nestorians, the Monophysites, the Monothelites, the Iconoclasts, etc. All these heresies refer chiefly to the Person of Christ, but also to that of the Holy Spirit, and of course they disturb the foundations of man's salvation. For if Christ is not consubstantial with the Father, but is God's first creature, and if the Holy Spirit is not true God, man's salvation is put in doubt, the possibility of deification is cut off.

The Purified Heart as a Foundation for the Mystical Ladder: Prayer, Confession, and Deification

1. “Purify your hearts...”

LET US GATHER once again, all ye assemblies of those who love God, Christ, and the Comforter!

The deifying Grace of the Holy Trinity calls us, today, to the upper chamber of Pentecost: to a sacred banquet!

And it enlightens the Holy Fathers to remind us that there is a sacred order:

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

When the Most High came down and confounded tongues of men [Babel], He divided the Nations. When He dispensed the Tongues of Fire [Pentecost], He called all to unity, and with one voice we glorify the Most Holy Spirit.

Proverbs 14:12 says: "There is a way that seems right to men, but in the end it leads to death." Whenever human beings forget how limited we are and try to take the initiative in our dealings with God, what inevitably follows is disaster. An example is the story of the Tower of Babel that we are told in Gen 11 where human beings decided to build a tower that would reach to heaven. In this way they would have access to God whenever they wanted, in this way they could manipulate God. But in the process of building the human bridge to heaven God came and confused their languages. They began to speak different languages, there was no more communication, no more understanding among them, and they could no longer work together. The result was the proliferation of languages and human misunderstanding.

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said to you" (John 14:26).

What practical meaning do these words have, if not that it is necessary that we pray daily that the Holy Spirit be sent to us just as we pray every day for our daily bread? God is willing to send us the Holy Spirit every day but He seeks that we pray daily for the Holy Spirit. For as in regard to bread which is at one time abundant and at another time scarce, so it is also in regard to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to us and departs from us, according to our zealousness and our slothfulness in prayer, according to our good deeds and our patience. That is the reason why the Church established that morning services begin with an invocation of the Holy Spirit: "O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, Come!", and after that comes the prayer: "give us this day our daily bread!" Why? Because, without the Holy Spirit we do not even know how to use bread as it should be used for our salvation.

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"The Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me" (John 15:26).

God's Son sent God the Holy Spirit into the world to testify about Him until the end of time. "He will testify of Me."

How will God the Spirit testify about God the Son? God the Spirit will testify in many ways:

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21).

This is witnessed by the Apostle Peter who himself was a holy man of God, a rock of faith and a soldier of the Cross. As a holy man of God he, by his own personal experience, explains how the holy men of God spoke and what they said and he says: "They spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." However, they did not speak according to their own reasoning nor according to their own memory nor according to their own speculation nor according to their own eloquence but rather they spoke from the Spirit and according to the Holy Spirit. The wisdom of God flowed through them and the truth of God was revealed through them. Holy Scripture was not written with "the false pen of the scribes" (Jeremiah 8:8), but was written by the servants and the chosen ones of the Holy Spirit of God. Neither was Holy Scripture written by men whose writing was a vocation, but rather it was written by the saints of God, directed and compelled by the Spirit of God. Often, not even wanting and, at times even protesting, they had to write as the Holy Prophet Jeremiah witnesses saying: "I will not make mention of Him, nor speak any more in His Name. But His word was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing and I could not stay" (Jeremiah 20:9).

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God" (1 Corinthians 2:12).

Brethren, the spirit of this world is the spirit of pride and cruelty and the Spirit of God is the Spirit of meekness and gentleness. The apostle of God asserts that the followers of Christ did not receive the spirit of this world rather the Spirit "which is of God" i.e., who proceeds from God the Father as a sweet-smelling fragrance as from flowers and as a good fragrance pours out on the soul of man making it mighty, bright, peaceful, thankful and pleasant.

"The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:16).

He who has the Spirit of God in himself - only he has the witness that he is the child of God. Without the Spirit of God there is no such witness. Not even the entire universe can give this witness. The universe, alone, without the Spirit of God - what else does it witness to us other than that we are its slaves, its victims, which it unmercifully swallows? In essence, the pagans thought that also.

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, where by you are sealed unto the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30).

Brethren, "The Seal of the Gift of the Holy Spirit" is recited over all of us who are baptized by water and Spirit. The Spirit of God is given to us not because of our merits, no one should ever think that, but according to the mercy of the Living God. Even in normal relations between men, happy is the one who gives the gift and happy is also he who receives the gift. Giving is joy on both sides. The greater the gift, the greater the joy. God rejoices when He gives the Grace of His Holy Spirit: why then should men not rejoice who receive Him? The needy one who receives usually rejoices more than the rich man who gives; why then should not miserable men rejoice who receive this enormous gift from the rich God?

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, where by you are sealed unto the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30).

Brethren, "The Seal of the Gift of the Holy Spirit" is recited over all of us who are baptized by water and Spirit. The Spirit of God is given to us not because of our merits and, no one should ever think that, but according to the mercy of the Living God. Even in normal relations between men, happy is the one who gives the gift and happy is also he who receives the gift. Giving is joy on both sides. The greater the gift, the greater the joy. God rejoices when He gives the Grace of His Holy Spirit: why then should men not rejoice who receive it? The needy one who receives usually rejoices more than the rich man who gives; why then should not miserable men rejoice who receive this enormous gift from the rich God?

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us" (Romans 5:5).

Love is joy and love anoints the heart of man with joy. Brethren, love is power and love anoints the heart of man with power. Love is peace and love anoints the heart of man with peace. And from joy, power and peace, courage is born and love anoints the heart of man with courage.

The love of God, as a fragrant oil, is shed abroad in our hearts by no other than the Holy Spirit, the All-gentle and All-powerful Spirit. Completely undeserved by us, the Spirit of God is shed abroad in us: the love of God in our hearts in the Mystery [Sacrament] of Chrismation. However, in time we neglect this love and by sin we alienate ourselves from God and fall into the disease of spiritual paralysis. And the Holy Spirit unwilling to abide in an impure vessel, distances Himself from our heart. When the Holy Spirit distances Himself from us, then joy, power, peace and courage also departs from us immediately. We become sorrowful, weakened, disturbed and fearful. But the All-good Spirit of God only distances Himself from us but does not abandon us completely. He does not abandon us but He offers to us who are sick remedies through the Mystery of Repentance and the Mystery of Holy Communion. When we again cleanse ourselves through the Mysteries [Sacraments] of Repentance and Communion then He, the Holy Spirit of God, again abides in us and the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. We fall, we rise, we fall and we rise! When we fall, the Spirit of God stands by us and raises us if we desire to be raised. However, when we are raised, the Spirit of God stands within us all until we, by sin and foolishness, do not desire to fall. Thus, we in this life interchangeably become a fertile field and a wilderness, sons of repentance and prodigal sons, fullness and emptiness, light and darkness.

O All-Good Holy Spirit of God, do not depart from us either when we want You and when we do not want You. Be with us all the time until our death and save us for life eternal.

The Responsibility of Being A Temple of the Holy Spirit

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit Who is in you, Whom you have from God and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price" (1 Corinthians 6: 19-20).

For what, brethren, did our bodies become the temple of the Holy Spirit? Because, we are purchased at a price. The Lord Jesus purchased us with His cares, labors, sufferings and death. Because of this price we were made worthy to become the temple of the Holy Spirit.

“Creation shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption”(Romans 8:21).

“But we, the pious, cry unto Thee, O Comforter, in a God-inspired manner: ‘Blessed art Thou, O Renewer of the universe.”’1

The Great Feast of Pentecost, provides us with the opportunity to delve further into what is also a great Mystery of the last times: the renewal of the universe.

The Church was engendered on earth by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of transforming the earth into a Church — to Baptize the earth in the waters of the Incarnation of the Word and in the fiery flames of Pentecost.

By Bishop Kallistos Ware

My grandmother long ago once wondered, “Why is the Holy Spirit never mentioned in sermons? Hearing of Him is like hearing news of an old friend one hasn’t heard of in a long time.” We will hear of news of this old friend today. St Symeon the New Theologian wrote this invocation to the Holy Spirit:

Come, true light.

Come, life eternal.

Come, hidden mystery.

Come, treasure without name.

Come, reality beyond all words.

Come, person beyond all understanding.

Come, rejoicing without end.

Come, light that knows no evening.

Come, unfailing expectation of the saved.

Come, raising of the fallen.

Come, resurrection of the dead.

Come, all-powerful, for unceasingly you create, refashion and change all things by your will alone.

Come, invisible whom none may touch and handle.

Come, for you continue always unmoved, yet at every instant you are wholly in movement; you draw near to us who lie in hell, yet you remain higher than the heavens.

Come, for your name fills our hearts with longing and is ever on our lips; yet who you are and what your nature is, we cannot say or know.

Come, Alone to the alone.

Come, for you are yourself the desire that is within me.

Come, my breath and my life.

Come, the consolation of my humble soul.

Come, my joy, my glory, my endless delight.

By Fr. Stephen Freeman

Glory to God for All Things

From the Feast of Pentecost:

The arrogance of building the tower in the days of old

led to the confusion of tongues.

Now the glory of the knowledge of God brings them wisdom.

There God condemned the impious for their transgression.

Here Christ has enlightened the fishermen by the Spirit.

There disharmony was brought about for punishment.

Now harmony is renewed for the salvation of our souls.

by Saint Justin Popovich

The attributes of the Church are innumerable because her attributes are actually the attributes of the Lord Christ, the God-man, and, through Him, those of the Triune Godhead. However, the holy and divinely wise fathers of the Second Ecumenical Council, guided and instructed by the Holy Spirit, reduced them in the ninth article of the Symbol of Faith to four — I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. These attributes of the Church — unity, holiness, catholicity (sobornost), and apostolicity — are derived from the very nature of the Church and of her purpose. They clearly and accurately define the character of the Orthodox Church of Christ whereby, as a theanthropic institution and community, she is distinguishable from any institution or community of the human sort.

by Saint Justin Popovich

What is Christ the God-Man? What in Him is God and what man? How is God known in the God-Man, and how is man? What has God given to us men in and with the God-Man? The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, tells us all the truth there is about Him, about God in Him and man in Him and all that is given us through Him. All this immeasurably transcends everything that the human eye has ever seen, the ear has ever heard, or has ever entered into the heart of man (I Cor. 2:9; cf. Jn 15:26; 16:13; I Cor. 2:4; Eph. 3:5).

By Hieromonk Tychon of Stavronikita

“I believe … In one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.” (The Nicene Creed)

The Church is one. Since she is the living Body of Christ and Christ is one, so the Church cannot be anything but one. Indeed, it was for this reason that the Lord came; to unite us with God and each other - a unity that had been severely shaken after the fall of Adam and Eve and their obedience to the devil whose aim was none other than to separate us from God and our fellow man. The Lord came so as to call us all to unite, and the place where this two-fold unity is achieved is the Church, His theanthropic Body. In the Church we are united with God and our brothers, since we became members of the same Body.

St. John Chrysostom answers this question briefly when he writes:

They say: 'We can pray at home.' Thou art deceiving thyself, O man! Of course, one can pray at home. But it is impossible to pray there as in church, where such a multitude of hearts are uplifted to God, merging into one unanimous cry. Thou wilt not be so quickly heard while praying to the Master by thyself, as when praying together with thy brethren, for here in church there is something greater than in thy room: Agreement, unanimity, the bond of love, and finally here are the prayers of the priests. The priests stand before us, then, so that the prayers of the people, being weak, would be united to their more powerful prayers and together with them ascend to heaven. The Apostle Peter was freed from prison, thanks to the common prayers offered for him.... If the Church's prayer was so beneficial for the Apostle Peter and delivered such a pillar of the faith from prison, why, tell me, dost thou disdain its power and what kind of justification canst thou have for this. Hearken unto God Himself, Who says that the multitude of people who pray to him with fervor moves Him to have mercy. He says to the Prophet Jonah: 'Shall I not spare Nineveh, that great city, in which dwell more than 120 thousand people.' He did not simply mention the multitude of people but that thou mightest know that prayer together has great power.

St. John of Kronstadt adds:

Here in church is the one thing needful; here is a refuge from vanity and the storms of life; here is the calm harbor for souls seeking salvation; here is incorrupt food and drink for souls; here is the light, which enlightens every man who comes into the world; here is pure spiritual air; here is the well of living water springing up into everlasting life (John 4:14); here the gifts of the Holy Spirit are distributed; here is the cleansing of souls. The reading and singing in church are performed in a sacred language; all Orthodox Christians must learn it, in order to comprehend the sweet sayings of their mother, who is preparing her children for heaven, for eternal life.... Here in church, a man will come to know the true nobility of his soul, the value of life and its aim or his assigned path; here he dispels the fascination of worldly vanity and worldly passions by acquiring sobriety in his soul; here he comes to know his destiny, both temporal and eternal; here he comes to know his bitter, profound fall and seduction by sin; here the Savior is to be found, ;particularly in His holy and life, creating Mysteries, and His salvation; here a man comes to know his true relationship with God and his neighbor or with his family and the society in which he lives. The church is an earthly heaven, the place where the closest union with the Divinity occurs; it is a heavenly school which prepares Christians for heavenly citizenship, teaching them about the ways of heaven, about the dwellings of heaven; it is the threshold of heaven; it is the place for common prayer, for thanksgiving, for glorifying the Triune God, Who created and preserves everything; it is unity with the angels. What is more precious and more honorable that the church? Nothing. During the divine service, as on a chart, the whole destiny of the human race is depicted, from beginning to end. The divine service is the alpha and omega of the destiny of the world and of men.

Homily on Pentecost by St. John Chrysostom

The Great and Holy Feast of Pentecost

Let us spiritually extol the grace of the Holy Spirit in spiritual hymns, since spiritual grace has on this day shown upon us from heaven. Though our words are too weak to express adequately the greatness of this grace, we shall praise its power and activity to the extent of our abilities; for the Holy Spirit probes all things, even the depths of divinity.

We are celebrating the day of Pentecost, the day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, the day of the hope of perfection, the end of expectation, the longing for salvation, the fulfillment of prayer and the image of patience. Today the Spirit Who acted to scatter the nations in the time of Heber has formed tongues of fire among the Apostles. His action of old led to the confusion of the nations, in order to restrain the will of man from its brazenness and consequent chastisement; on this occasion, however, amidst fiery tongues, the deeds wrought by the activity of the Holy Spirit served to preserve us as recipients of preaching, in fulfillment of the will of God.