THE SPIRITUAL EXALTATION OF THE CROSS

St. Theophan the Recluse

From: Letters on the Spiritual Life

The Exaltation of the Lord’s Cross has arrived. Then the Cross was erected on a high place, so that the people could see it and render honor to it. Now, the cross is raised in the churches and monasteries. But this is all external. There is a spiritual exaltation of the cross in the heart. It happens when one firmly resolves to crucify himself, or to mortify his passions—something so essential in Christians that, according to the Apostle, they only are Christ’s who have crucified their flesh with its passions and lusts (cf. Gal. 5:24). Having raised this cross in themselves, Christians hold it exalted all their lives. Let every Christian soul ask himself if this is how it is, and let him hearken to the answer that his conscience gives him in his heart. Oh, may we not hear, “You only please your flesh in the passions; your cross is not exalted—it is thrown into the pit of the passions, and is rotting there in negligence and contempt!”

Archpriest Andrew Phillips

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

As Orthodox Christians we all know how important the Cross is in our Faith. The Cross is the central fact of the Faith, it is not only where Christ was crucified, as we have heard in today's Gospel, but it is also where Christ is risen from the dead. It is also written elsewhere in the Gospels that by losing our life through the Cross, we save our life. In other words if we live for Christ, we will save our life. However, if we live for ourselves, we will lose our life. This is the law of our being and we can see it in all areas of human life.

The spoilt child who lives for himself will not share his toys. Thus he is lonely and bored, he has no-one to play with. His life is lost.

The Mystery of the Cross and the Resurrection of Christ

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

Christ's sacrifice on the Cross at Golgotha, which is closely linked to the Resurrection of Christ, is the central point in the teaching and life of the Church. And we also speak of the mystery of the Cross and Resurrection of Christ in regards to the victory of Christ over sin, the devil and death.

There is a distinction between "the bodily Crucifixion and Resurrection of the incarnate Word of God" and "the mystery of the power of the Cross and the Resurrection of Christ, witnesses of which were the Prophets and some Apostles before the sacrifice on the Cross at Golgotha." Despite this distinction, there is a close relationship between the mystery of the Cross and the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross at Golgotha.

The Meaning of the Cross and the Resurrection

The following interview was conducted by George Vassiliou with His Eminence Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos. It was originally published in Επίκαιρα της Αιτωλοακαρνανίας, then republished inParemvasis (April 1998).

What is the meaning of Orthodox Holy Week?

Holy Week in the Orthodox Church is the center of its life, its heart. It is preceded by a period of fifty days of asceticism, fasting and prayer, and after Pascha there follows another period of fifty days. In the first period the primary meaning is our preparation for a worthy veneration of the Cross and Resurrection of Christ, and in the second period that which dominates is the struggle to process with spiritual "digestion" this heavenly food. If one examines that every Sunday we celebrate the Cross and Resurrection of Christ, then they can understand that the spirit and atmosphere of Holy Week dominates more than half of the annual cycle and, to express myself better, the message of Holy Week and Pascha permeates throughout the year.

The Cross, the Preserver of the Universe

By St. John Maximovitch

In the prophet Ezekiel (9:6) it is said that when the Angel of the Lord was sent to punish and destroy the sinning people, it was told him not to strike those on whom the “mark” had been made. In the original text this mark is called “tau,” the Hebrew letter corresponding to the letter “T,” which is how in ancient times the cross was made, which then was an instrument of punishment.

And so, even then was foretold the power of the Cross, which preserves those who venerate it. Likewise by many other events in the Old Testament the power of the Cross was indicated. Moses, who held his arms raised in the form of a cross during the battle, gave victory to the Israelites over the Amalekites. He also, dividing the Red Sea by a blow of his rod and by a transverse blow uniting the waters again, saved Israel from Pharaoh, who drowned in the water, while Israel crossed over on the dry bottom (Exodus, Chs. 14, 17).

Elder Paisios on Demons and the Power of the Cross

Elder Paisios was asked the following regarding demons (called "tagalakia" by some Greeks) and the power of the Cross:

- Elder, my thoughts tell me that the devil, especially nowadays, has a lot of power.

- The devil has evil and hatred, not power. The love of God is all-powerful. Satan tries to appear all-powerful, but he does not succeed. He seems strong, but he is completely weak. Many of his destructive plans are spoiled before they even begin to be manifested. Would a very good father allow some punks to hit his children?

- Elder, I'm afraid of tagalakia.

- What is there to fear? Tagalakia have no power. Christ is all-powerful. Temptation is rotten to the core. Don't you wear a Cross? The devil's weapons are weak. Christ has armed us with His Cross. Only when we discard our spiritual weapons, then the enemy has power. An Orthodox priest showed a small Cross to a magician, which made the demon he invoked through his magic tremble.

On the Precious and Life-Giving Cross

Saint Iosif the Confessor

a) Today is the feast of the Cross; let the choirs of angels rejoice. The Cross appears; let the whole congregation of the Church reverence it. The divine power of the Cross is elevated; let the hosts of demons be put to flight. But, divine cross, the inexpressible spectacle of the angels, the boast of the faithful, the royal sceptre- I speak to you as though you were a living thing- you, of course, have brought to us the joyful tidings of salvation. Through you, the barred gates of Paradise have been opened again.

EXALTATION OF THE CROSS

September 14/27. The Exaltation of the Cross is one of the twelve great feasts in the yearly Church cycle. It commemorates two historical events: first, the finding of the Life-giving Cross in the year 326, and second, its recovery from Persia in 628.

History of the Feast

The ceremony of exalting the Cross. Photo: G.Balayants / Expo.Pravoslavie.RuIn the first centuries of Christianity, during the years of persecution, the pagans wished to destroy all evidence of the life of Jesus Christ, and the Cross on which He was crucified disappeared. With the conversion of Emperor Constantine the Great, Christians were at liberty to worship openly and build churches. The emperor's mother, St. Helen, longed to find the True Cross of Christ. She traveled to Jerusalem and was told by a very old Jew that the Cross was buried beneath the temple of the pagan goddess Venus, built in 119 AD by the Roman Emperor Hadrian.

THE EXALTATION OF THE CROSS

Archpriest Andrew Phillips

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

As Orthodox Christians we all know how important the Cross is in our Faith. The Cross is the central fact of the Faith, it is not only where Christ was crucified, as we have heard in today's Gospel, but it is also where Christ is risen from the dead. It is also written elsewhere in the Gospels that by losing our life through the Cross, we save our life. In other words if we live for Christ, we will save our life. However, if we live for ourselves, we will lose our life. This is the law of our being and we can see it in all areas of human life.

The Transfiguration of the Saviour

Professor of Theology at the University of Thessaloniki Georgios I. Mantzaridis

The Transfiguration of the Saviour occupies a central position in the Orthodox Church and theology. It is the event that reveals the glory of the Church and of the faithful. It is the evidence of the new situation that entered history through the advent of Christ.

Moses and the Vision of God

Professor of Theology at the University of Thessaloniki Georgios I. Mantzaridis

The vision of God is presented in the Holy Scriptures in two different forms which appear to be mutually exclusive. Some passages characterize the vision of God as an impossibility. In the book of Exodus, for example, God tells Moses: “You cannot see My face; for no man can see My face and live,”[1] while the psalmist notes that God “made darkness His hiding place.”[2] In the New Testament, the Apostle and Evangelist John writes: “No one has ever seen God”[3], And the Apostle Paul adds that God is He “whom no one has ever seen or can see”[4].

The Parable of the Husbandmen

Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga and Borovsk   

The Lord spake this parable: “There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: and when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent them his son, saying, ‘They will reverence my son.’ But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.’ And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, which will he do unto those husbandmen?” They say unto Him, “He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their season.” Jesus saith unto them, “Did ye never read in the Scriptures, ‘The Stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes’?” (St. Matthew 21:23-42). 

On The Nativity of the Mother of God

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

I should like to say a few words about the greatness of this feast. When a man surveys this world in which we live, which is so vast, seemingly boundless, and looks at himself in it, he feels very small and insignificant. And if he adds to this the hardness and coldness of men, he may sometimes feel extremely vulnerable, helpless and unprotected both before people and before the terrifying vastness of the world.

Encomium to the Most Holy Mother of God-1

Saint Epifanios

Wishing to speak, wretch that I am, about the blinding radiance of the Mother of God, her dread and inconceivable powers, the mystery of the heavens and the world, the wonder, the mercy seat, and attempting to refer to the sublime vision and to the miracle in detail, moved to do so by the leaping of my heart, I was seized with great terror and fear. Because the recollection of the dread vision concerning the person of the Mother of God, having filled my soul with terror and brought fear to my heart, did not merely punish me a little, but tormented me greatly. My memory of the very great vision castigates my mind because it does not have the power to speak, since I am dealing with an inconceivable mystery. Who is able to refer to such a mystery?

On the Birth of Our Most Holy Lady, the Mother of God

Saint Photios the Great

Today, the Virgin Mother is born from a barren mother and the palace is bedecked for the coming of the Lord Christ. Today, the bonds of sterility are broken and the gates of the Virgin are barred. Because, as the barren womb was dead for the purposes of child-bearing and yet, against all hope, brought forth a wonderful fruit, so, by the same token, incorruptible virginity is pledged and the miracle of birth-giving is heralded with works obvious to all. Because child-bearing without the intervention of a man is a supernatural miracle, as is the preservation of virginity after birth. Another person who overcomes the laws of nature is the barren woman who conceives in her old age and gives birth.

The Reversal of the Barrenness of Saint Anna

by V. Rev. Fr. Cherubim Apostolou, Elder of the Skete of Saint Anna, Mount Athos (Feast of St. Anna, 2005)

"She who was barren bore the Theotokos, nurturer of our life."(Kontakion on the Birth of the Theotokos)

Saint Anna, the ancestor of God, is the precious vessel chosen by the Holy Spirit. The good and blessed tree that is the standard of natural development, which our Lord Himself confirmed, saying: “Are grapes harvested from thorns, or figs from thistles?" (Matt. 7.16) Every good tree brings forth good fruit, but the bad tree brings forth bad fruit. “A sound tree cannot bear unsound fruit, nor can an unsound tree bear sound fruit” (Matt. 7.18). Saint Anna is the good tree and her lovely and most sweet fruit is our Panagia. The most beautiful fruit of human production. What the Evangelist Luke says of the parents of St. John the Forerunner pertains also to Saint Anna and her husband Joachim: “They were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless” (Luke 1.6). Saint Anna was virtuous in the eyes of God, and, of course, her life was pure. She walked always in accordance with the will of the Almighty, in accordance with His soul-nurturing commandments. Saint Anna, who bore the all-holy Theotokos, she who was barren and without creative power, whose womb was opened in advanced age by the Lord, to transform the disgrace of barrenness to the joy of a unique fertility, was a descendant of the tribe of David. Her parents, the priest Mathan and Anna, were pious and god-fearing and lived in Bethlehem. Mathan was a priest at the time of Cleopatra and the Persian King Soporus, before Herod Antipater, and had three daughters, Maria, Sovi, and Anna. Of these, Maria married in Bethlehem and bore the midwife Salome, Sovi also married in Bethlehem and bore Elisabeth. Anna was married in Galilee and bore the Lady Theotokos. This honor was bestowed upon her by the gift-granting Lord as a reward for her piety and her charitable works toward orphans and the poor.

The Conception by St. Anna of the Most Holy Theotokos

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

The righteous Joachim and Anna were childless for fifty years of their married life. In their old age the Archangel Gabriel appeared to each one of them separately, telling them that God had heard their prayers and that they would give birth to a daughter, Mary. Then St. Anna conceived by her husband and after nine months bore a daughter blessed by God and by all generations of men: the Most-holy Virgin Mary, the Theotokos.

The Relics of Saint Anna, Grandmother of our Lord

On Bearing a Child Through the Aid of Saint Anna

St. John the Damascene: On the Chaste Couple Joachim and Anna

Homily: The Reversal of the Barrenness of Saint Anna

The Veneration of Sts. Joachim and Anna According to Elder Paisios

The Error of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin

The Nativity of the Theotokos

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

The Holy Virgin Mary was born of aged parents, Joachim and Anna. Her father was of the lineage of David, and her mother of the lineage of Aaron. Thus, she was of royal birth by her father, and of priestly birth by her mother. In this, she foreshadowed Him Who would be born of her as King and High Priest. Her parents were quite old and had no children. Because of this they were ashamed before men and humble before God. In their humility they prayed to God with tears, to bring them joy in their old age by giving them a child, as He had once given joy to the aged Abraham and his wife Sarah by giving them Isaac. The Almighty and All-seeing God rewarded them with a joy that surpassed all their expectations and all their most beautiful dreams. For He gave them not just a daughter, but the Mother of God. He illumined them not only with temporal joy, but with eternal joy as well. God gave them just one daughter, and she would later give them just one grandson-but what a daughter and what a Grandson! Mary, Full of grace, Blessed among women, the Temple of the Holy Spirit, the Altar of the Living God, the Table of the Heavenly Bread, the Ark of God's Holiness, the Tree of the Sweetest Fruit, the Glory of the race of man, the Praise of womanhood, the Fount of virginity and purity-this was the daughter given by God to Joachim and Anna. She was born in Nazareth, and at the age of three, was taken to the Temple in Jerusalem. In her young womanhood she returned again to Nazareth, and shortly thereafter heard the Annunciation of the Holy Archangel Gabriel concerning the birth of the Son of God, the Savior of the world, from her most-pure virgin body.

Homily On The Nativity Of The Most Pure Theotokos

By St. Dimitri, Metropolitan of Rostov

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

The Lord, Who lives in the heavens, wishing to appear on earth and abide with men, first prepared a dwelling place of His glory: His Most Pure Mother. For it is the custom of kings that in whatsoever city they desire to live, a place of residence be prepared for them beforehand. And as the palaces of earthly kings are constructed by the most skilled craftsmen, of the most costly materials, and on the most elevated sights, which are more beautiful and spacious than all the other dwellings of men, in the same manner the palace of the King of Glory must be erected [3 Kings 6]. In the Old Testament, when God desired to dwell in Jerusalem, Solomon built a temple for Him, employing Hiram, a most wise master, who possessed full knowledge of every art and science, and was skilled in every enterprise. He constructed the temple with materials of great value: with costly stone, with aromatic woods of cedar and cypress brought from Lebanon, with pure gold, and upon a high place: that is, upon Mount Moriah [2 Chr. 3]. The temple was of great beauty. On its walls were portrayed the likeness of cherubims, and of various trees and flowers. The temple was so spacious that the whole Israelite people could be accommodated without crowding, and the glory of the Lord would descend in fire and a cloud [2 Chr. 7]. Nevertheless, that temple did not suffice to contain within itself the Uncontainable God, for even though Solomon built Him a temple, "The Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands. 'What house will ye build me', saith the Lord: 'or what is the place of my rest?'" [Acts 7]

On the Nativity of the Theotokos - Various Church Fathers

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone

Your birth, O Theotokos, brought joy to the whole world, for from you dawned the sun of righteousness, Christ our God. Freeing us from the curse, He gave us His blessings. Abolishing death, He granted us eternal life.

St. Romanos the Melodist

* O mystery brought about on earth! After the birth, Anna prayed to our God and Maker Who knows all things in advance: "You have heard me, O Lord, as you have heard Hannah who was accused before Eli of being drunk" [1 Sam. 1:14]. She promised Samuel, after his birth, to the Lord to become priest. Just as formerly you have given me too a gift, the barren woman gives birth to the Mother of God and the nurse of our life.

DISCOURSE ON THE NATIVITY OF THE MOST HOLY MOTHER OF GOD

St. Andrew of Crete

The Nativity of the Mother of God. Fresco in Studenica Monastery.The present feastday is for us the beginning of feastdays. Serving as boundary limit to the law and to foretypes, it at the same time serves as a doorway to grace and truth. "For Christ is the end of the law" (Rom 10:4), Who, having freed us from the writing, doth raise us to spirit. Here is the end (to the law): in that the Lawgiver, having made everything, hath changed the writing in spirit and doth head everything within Himself (Eph 1:10), hath taken the law under its dominion, and the law is become subjected to grace, such that the properties of the law not suffer reciprocal commingling, but only suchlike, that the servile and subservient (in the law) by Divine power be transmuted into the light and free (in grace), "so that we—sayeth the Apostle—be not enslaved to the elements of the world" (Gal 4:3) and be not in a condition under the slavish yoke of the writing of the law. Here is the summit of Christ's beneficence towards us! Here are the mysteries of revelation! Here is the theosis [divinisation] assumed upon humankind—the fruition worked out by the God-man.

WALKING ON THE WATER: HOW CAN WE BELIEVE IN THE IMPOSSIBLE?

Igumen Nektary (Morozov), Elena Balayan

How can modern man believe in God and trust in Him, how can we feel what goes beyond the boundaries of the five human senses: Elena Balayan talks with Igumen Nektary (Morozov). (From their recent book, About the Church, Without Prejudice.)

-Inevitably awaiting anyone who takes an interest in Church life are the so-called questions of faith, regarding things that go beyond the boundaries of the natural laws of the world’s existence. These things are: the resurrection of the dead, the immaculate conception, the incarnation of God, and eternal life itself--all that is impossible to explain by the usual order of things. A person may think about them and arrive at a dead end, because he cannot understand how these things can be. How could someone physically rise from the dead? After all, such things don’t happen. How can one live eternally, what would we do during that eternity--it’s beyond comprehension! How can these questions be answered? Should we think about them and try to somehow come to grips with them, or simply accept them as a matter of faith and stop troubling ourselves?

The Rich Young Man

Archbishop Andrei (Rymarenko, 1893-1978)   

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures: and that He was seen of Cephas [that is, Peter], then of the twelve: after that, He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once…. After that, He was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all, He was seen of me also, as to one born out of due time,” said the Apostle Paul. “For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am” (I Cor. 15:1-11).

Church and Time

  Professor of Theology at the University of Thessaloniki Georgios I. Mantzaridis

Today is New Year’s Day for the Church (1st day of Indictos), so we publish an article of Emeritus Prof. G. Mantzarides on the role of time on christian spirituality.

CHURCH AND TIME

The coming of Christ brought the kingdom of God into the world, and the place where the kingdom of God is made mani­fest is the Church. It is the Church that introduces eternity into history and offers history the perspective of eternity. The Church is the Body of Christ, which transcends place and time and joins mankind to a communion that is beyond time, a transcendent communion where all things are present in the Holy Spirit. In the Church, time and the whole cosmos are redeemed. Whatever God has offered to the world is to be found in the Church and passed on to man for his salvation and regeneration.

On the Transfiguration

St. Anastasios of Sinai 

Upon Mount Tabor, Jesus revealed to his disciples a heavenly mystery. While living among them he had spoken of the kingdom and of his second coming in glory, but to banish from their hearts any possible doubt concerning the kingdom and to confirm their faith in what lay in the future by its prefiguration in the present, he gave them on Mount Tabor a wonderful vision of his glory, a foreshadowing of the kingdom of heaven. It was as if he said to them:“As time goes by you may be in danger of losing your faith. To save you from this I tell you now that some standing here listening to me will not taste death until they have seen the Son of Man coming in the glory of his Father. “Moreover, in order to assure us that Christ could command such power when he wished, the evangelist continues: Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter, James and John, and led them up a high mountain where they were alone. There, before their eyes, he was transfigured. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. Then the disciples saw Moses and Elijah appear, and they were talking to Jesus.

Excerpt from the homily on the Dormition of the Theotokos

by St. Germanos of Constantinople

“It is time, my Mother,” says the Lord, “to take you to myself. Just as you have filled the earth and all who dwell in it with joy, O you who enjoy such grace, come, and make the heavens joyful once again. Make my Father’s dwelling-place radiant; be a spiritual guide for the souls of the saints. For when they see your glorious passage here to my side, escorted by angels, they will be convinced in their faith that their own place, too, through you, will be to dwell here in my light. Come, then, in exultation; rejoice now, as you rejoiced at the angel’s greeting. In every way you now have the dignity of your title, ‘full of grace.’ As when you were about to conceive me you were invited to rejoice, so rejoice again in my desire to take you to myself. Do not be disturbed at leaving behind the corruptible world, with all its desires. Forget about its power of corruption. For you will not leave those who live in the world bereft of your protection; but just as I, who am not of the world, watch over those who live in it and take care of them, so your patronage will not be taken away from those who live in the world, until its consummation.

Staying Afloat on the Sea of Life

Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov) 

But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me (Matthew 14:30).

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!

Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord!

Today we had offered for our attention the wondrous and for us very precious account from the Gospel of the Lord’s miraculous walking on the sea and of His deliverance of His disciples, who were perishing in the waves of the sea, and of the Apostle Peter, who was trying to walk over the waves.

What is faith? – Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

Fr. Antony Hughes

And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.

Staying Afloat on the Sea of Life

Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov)  

But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me (Matthew 14:30).

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!

Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord!

Today we had offered for our attention the wondrous and for us very precious account from the Gospel of the Lord’s miraculous walking on the sea and of His deliverance of His disciples, who were perishing in the waves of the sea, and of the Apostle Peter, who was trying to walk over the waves.

After the miraculous feeding of the five thousand people with five loaves and two fishes, the Evangelist Matthew relates: And straightway Jesus constrained His disciples to get into a ship, and to go before Him unto the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, He was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a spirit”; and they cried out for fear. But straightaway Jesus spoke unto them, saying, “Be of good cheer: it is I, be not afraid.” And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water.” And He said, “Come.” And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid: and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, “Lord, save me.” And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him, and said unto him, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped Him, saying, “Of a truth Thou art the Son of God.” And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret(Matthew 14:22-34).

A Guide to the Heart-The Most Holy Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary

"Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the House of David. The virgin's name was Mary (Mariam in Hebrew). And having come in, the angel said to her,"Rejoice highly favoured one, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women!" 

Then the angel said to her, Do not be afraid Mary for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew). He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the Throne of His father David. And He will reign over the House of Jacob forever and of His kingdom there will be no end. Then Mary said to the angel, How can this be since I know no man? And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the Power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, also that Holy One who will be born will be called the Son of God". From the Gospel of Luke 1:26-35

On Forgiveness: Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost

Fr. Robert Miclean 

Matthew 18:23-35

Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

On The Nativity of the Mother of God

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

I should like to say a few words about the greatness of this feast. When a man surveys this world in which we live, which is so vast, seemingly boundless, and looks at himself in it, he feels very small and insignificant. And if he adds to this the hardness and coldness of men, he may sometimes feel extremely vulnerable, helpless and unprotected both before people and before the terrifying vastness of the world.

Yet at the same time if a man looks at himself not in relation to his surroundings, but goes deep into himself, he will there discover such an expanse, such depths, that the whole created world is too small to fill it. Man sees the beauty of the world — and the vision does not completely satisfy him; he learns an enormous amount about God's creation — and the knowledge does not fill him to the brim. Neither human joy nor even human sorrow can completely fill a man, because in him is a depth that exceeds everything created; because God made man so vast, so deep, so limitless in his spiritual being, that nothing in the world can finally satisfy him except God Himself.

On the Birth of Our Most Holy Lady, the Mother of God – 1

Today, the Virgin Mother is born from a barren mother and the palace is bedecked for the coming of the Lord Christ. Today, the bonds of sterility are broken and the gates of the Virgin are barred. Because, as the barren womb was dead for the purposes of child-bearing and yet, against all hope, brought forth a wonderful fruit, so, by the same token, incorruptible virginity is pledged and the miracle of birth-giving is heralded with works obvious to all. Because child-bearing without the intervention of a man is a supernatural miracle, as is the preservation of virginity after birth. Another person who overcomes the laws of nature is the barren woman who conceives in her old age and gives birth.

The Birth of Mary and the Deification of Man

Andrew of Crete: 

The present day solemnity is a line of demarcation, separating the truth from its prefigurative symbol, and ushering in the new in place of the old.

Paul – that Divine Trumpeter of the Spirit – exclaims thus about this: “For anyone that be in Christ, ye are remade a new creature; the old passeth away and behold all is become new” (2 Cor 5:17);

“for the law hath perfected nothing adducing for a better hope, whereby we draw nigh to God” (Heb 7:19). The truth of grace hath shown forth brightly.

Let there now be one common festal celebration in both heaven and on earth. Let everything now celebrate, that which is in the world and that beyond the world.

The Significance of the Birth of the Mother of God in Nazareth

Dimitri of Rostov:

The place where the Most Blessed Virgin was born was a little town in the land of Galilee called Nazareth, which was subject to the city of Capernaum. It was inglorious and obscure, and its inhabitants were held in disdain, even as it was once said of Christ, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth” (Jn. 1)?

But the Lord, “Who dwells on high and looks down on things that are lowly” (Ps. 112), was well pleased that His Most Pure Mother be born not in Capernaum, which in its pride was lifted up to heaven, but rather in humble Nazareth, indicating that that “which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God” (Lk. 16), while that which is despised and disdained by them is regarded by Him as lofty and honorable.

Moreover, by its very name Nazareth hints the height of the virtues of the Most Pure Virgin. For as by His nativity in Bethlehem, which name means “House of Bread”, the Lord mystically signified that He is the Bread come down from heaven for the life and strength of men.

BELIEVING IN THE GOOD

Priest Dimitry Shishkin

In nearly every person’s biography—internal or external—there is something shameful, something terrible and torturous to remember, but which inevitably comes back to his memory and feelings him from time to time, poisoning his entire existence. Even if there be a person who self-contentedly announces that there never has been anything like that in his life, then most likely the memory of any shameful deeds and desires are simply eclipsed in him by his self-assurance, which cannot endure to admit his spiritual bankruptcy. Even worse, it is often the most “correct” people who are the cruelest tyrants, only they stubbornly refuse to understand this, like a blind man who refuses to believe in the existence of light.