HOMILY ON THE DEDICATION OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE

Commemorated September 13/26

St. Dimitry of Rostov

On this day we celebrate the dedication of the glorious and great new temple of Jerusalem - not the one which King Solomon built on Mount Moriah [2 Chron. 3] but rather the one which the pious Emperor Constantine and his praiseworthy mother Helen wondrously built on Mount Golgotha after cleansing and renewing that holy place which was once defiled by impious idolatry.

ANCIENT WITNESSES ON THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE

Sepulchre in Jerusalem could be said to be the main church of holy Orthodox. The building includes both Golgotha where our Lord was crucified, and His holy grave, or sepulchre, where He rose again from the dead for the salvation of the world. As such, countless millions of pilgrims have traveled to the Holy Land to venerate the sites in this holy church, since its founding in 326 by the order of Emperor St. Constantine the Great, which is celebrated by the Orthodox Church every year on September 13/26.

THE CROSS AS THE WAY OF LIFE

Fr. Stephen Freeman

Our lives make sense. This may not always seem to be true, but it is. For each of us, there are inner principles that guide our decisions and prioritize our actions. Life is not entirely random.

Much of that inner sense of things is not conscious. The day becomes very busy, and we can’t stop and analyze each action and think about its meaning and purpose. Sometimes, you just have to drive the kids to school, go to the store, the doctor, two other places, and do a dozen things at home and have dinner on the table. Our inner sense on many days is just survival.

THE LARGEST PIECE OF THE TRUE CROSS OF CHRIST—HOLY MONASTERY OF XEROPOTAMOU, MOUNT ATHOS

Xeropotamou, thirteen pieces of the True Cross of Jesus Christ are treasured, four large pieces in ancient reliquaries and nine smaller pieces which are also housed in reliquaries with other relics of saints.

HOMILY ON THE FEAST OF THE BEHEADING OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST

St. Justin Popovic

Today is a little Great Friday, a second Great Friday. For today the greatest man among those born of women, John, the Holy Forerunner and Baptiser of the Lord, is murdered. On Great Friday, people murdered God, crucified God. On today’s holy great feast, people murdered the greatest of all men. It is not I who chose to use the expression “the greatest.” What are my praises of the great and glorious Forerunner of the Lord, whom the Lord praised more than anyone among men, more than any of the apostles, the Angels, the Prophets, the Righteous Ones, the Sages? For the Lord declared of him:

Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist… (?atthew 11: 11).

In all Creation, there exists no greater praise.

“Thy birth, O Theotokos, has proclaimed joy to the whole world…”

Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery

A homily of the abbot of the Great and Holy Monastery of Vatopedi, Archimandrite Ephraim, in the refectory of the monastery at the Feast of the Mother of God on September 8th.

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The Panagia has a central place in divine worship. Feasts of the Mother of God frame the ecclesiastical year; it begins with the feast of the Birth of the Theotokos, and ends with the feast of the placing of the Holy Girdle of the Theotokos.