#Holy Monastery of Gregoriou

[religious-extremist]

[portraitsofsaints]

Saint Gregory the Great 

Doctor of the Church

540-604

Feast Day: September 3 (New), March 12 (Trad)

Patronage: teachers, students, musicians, singers and England

St. Gregory the Great was Pope from 590 to 604 and is known for his contributions to the Liturgy of the Mass. He built 6 monasteries in Sicily and founded a seventh in his home in Rome. He is one of the four great Doctors of the Latin Church and the first monk to become Pope. Despite his bodily ails and the frightful times he lived in, it has been said that no teacher of equal eminence has arisen in the Church.

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase here: (website)

[scotianostra]

31st of August is the Feast day of St Aidan.

Not much is known about Aidan’s early life, it is thought he was born in Connach Ireland.

St. Aidan began his life of service on the Isle of Iona, the monastery at Iona was established by Irish monks under St. Columba, during the so-called “dark ages.” About a century later, in St. Aidan’s time, the monastery had become a major center of Gaelic Christianity and was receiving and sending monks across Europe.

By this time, Christianity in Northern England was largely replaced by the paganism of both native Britons and the Anglo-Saxon conquerors. The Kingdom of Northumbria (northern England and south-east Scotland) had just been reconquered by King St. Oswald of Northumbria. There was no Scotland or England as such back then, and no real borders Oswald brought the two Northumbrian kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira once again under a single ruler, and promoted the spread of Christianity,the North of Bernica are now part of the South of Scotland.

Oswald took back his father’s throne at the Battle of Heavenfield, where he prepared by praying before a wooden cross, legend says it was a relic of the True Cross. Next, Oswald beheld a vision of St. Columba who promised victory if his generals would be baptized. At council, all agreed to be baptized the night before and victory came to Oswald.

Oswald’s Northumbrian kingdom was small but remarkably diverse. Such was it you could hear at least four languages within the kingdom’s borders and there was a mix of church ruins and pagan sites dotting the landscape. While Christianity was initially brought to Britain by Roman saints, and strengthened by Sts. Gregory and Augustine of Canterbury, it had fallen away from the Britons with the Anglo-Saxon invasions.

When Oswald was killed in battle in 642, Aidan worked equally well with Oswin, king of Deira. Aidan preached widely throughout Northumbria, travelling on foot, so that he could readily talk to everyone he met. When Oswin gave him a horse for use in difficult terrain, Aidan gave it to a beggar soliciting alms. Oswin was angry until, as Bede recounts, Aidan asked if the son of a mare was more precious to the king than a son of God. Oswin sought Aidan's pardon, and promised never again to question or regret any of his wealth being given away to children of God. Both Oswald and Oswin are venerated in England as saints and martyrs.

Scores of Scottish and Irish monks assisted Aidan in his missionary work, building churches and spreading Celtic Christian influence to a degree that Lindisfarne became the virtual capital of Christian England. The saint also recruited classes of Anglo-Saxon youths to be educated at Lindisfarne. Among them was Saint Eata, abbot of Melrose and later of Lindisfarne. In time, Eata's pupil, Saint Cuthbert, also became bishop of Lindisfarne.

Aidan lived a frugal life, and encouraged the laity to fast and study the scriptures. He himself fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays, and seldom ate at the royal table. When a feast was set before him he would give the food away to the hungry. The presents he received were given to the poor or used to buy the freedom of slaves, some of whom entered the priesthood. During Lent Aidan would retire to the small island of Farne for prayer and penance. While there in 651, he saw smoke rising from Bamburgh, which was then under attack by the pagan King Penda of Mercia. He prayed for the wind to change, and many of the besiegers were destroyed by fire.

When Oswin was killed in 651 by his treacherous cousin Oswy, king of Bernicia, Aidan was grief-stricken. The saint outlived Oswin by a mere twelve days, dying in a shelter he had erected against the wall of his church in Bamburgh.

The first pic shows tomb of St Aidan, St Aidan's Church, Bamburgh, the second is a stained glass window depicting Aidan at the Monastic Chapel, Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, New York.

[orthodoxydaily]

SAINTS&READING TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2024

november 19_november 6

St PAUL THE CONFESSOR, ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE (350).

Saint Paul the Confessor, Archbishop of Constantinople, was chosen to the patriarchal throne after the death of Patriarch Alexander (+ 340), when the Arian heresy had again flared up. Many Arians were present at the Council, which selected the new Archbishop of Constantinople. They revolted in opposition to the choice of Saint Paul, but the Orthodox were in the majority at the Council.

The emperor Constantius, ruling over the Eastern half of the Roman Empire, was an Arian. He was not in Constantinople for the election of the Archbishop, and so it took place without his consent. Upon his return, he convened a council which illegally deposed Saint Paul, and the emperor banished him from the capital. In place of the saint they elevated Eusebius of Nicomedia, an impious heretic. Archbishop Paul withdrew to Rome, where other Orthodox bishops were also banished by Eusebius.

Eusebius did not rule the Church of Constantinople for long. When he died, Saint Paul returned to Constantinople, and was greeted by his flock with love. But Constantius exiled the saint a second time, and so he returned to Rome. The Western emperor Constans wrote a harsh letter to his Eastern co-ruler, which he sent to Constantinople along with the holy exiled archpastor. The threats worked, and Saint Paul was reinstated upon the archepiscopal throne.

But soon the pious emperor Constans, a defender of the Orthodox, was treacherously murdered during a palace coup. They again banished Saint Paul from Constantinople and this time sent him off in exile to Armenia, to the city of Cucusus, where he endured a martyr’s death.

When the Archbishop was celebrating the Divine Liturgy, Arians rushed upon him by force and strangled him with his own omophorion. This occurred in the year 350. In 381, the holy Emperor Theodosius the Great solemnly transferred the relics of Saint Paul the Confessor from Cucusus to Constantinople. In 1326, the relics of Saint Paul were transferred to Venice.

Saint Athanasius the Great, a contemporary of Saint Paul, writes briefly about his exiles, “Saint Paul the first time was sent by Constantine to Pontus, the second time he was fettered with chains by Constantius, and then he was locked up in Mesopotamian Syngara and from there moved to Emesus, and the fourth time to Cappadocian Cucusus in the Taurian wilderness.”

Part of the Saint's skull is in the Holy Monastery of Simonópetra on Mount Athos. The Saint's incorrupt relics are in the Roman Catholic church of Saint George of Greater Venice. A fragment of the Saint's relics is located in the Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra in Saint Petersburg.

REPOSE OF St HERMAN, BISHOP OF KAZAN (567)

Saint Herman, Archbishop of Kazan, lived during the sixteenth century. He was born in the city of Staritsa and descended from the old boyar nobility of the Polevi. In his youth, Gregory (his baptismal name) was tonsured at the Joseph-Volokolamsk monastery under Igumen Gurias, where he later became Archbishop of Kazan (December 5). (Saint Gurias was head of the monastery from 1542 to 1551).

At the monastery Saint Herman occupied himself with copying books, and he was a close friend of Saint Maximus the Greek (January 21), who was living there in confinement. In 1551 the brethren of the Staritsa Dormition monastery, seeing his piety, chose him as their archimandrite.

Taking up the governance of this monastery with a pastoral zeal, Saint Herman concerned himself with its internal and external order, for he was a model of humility and meekness. He exhorted all to observe their monastic commitment strictly, and he introduced into his monastery the Rule of Saint Joseph of Volokolamsk (October 18).

But after two and a half years Archimandrite Herman left the Staritsa monastery, leaving its direction to the hieromonk Job (June 19), who afterwards was to become the first Patriarch of Moscow, and was an ascetic and sufferer for the Russian Land.

Saint Herman’s love for solitary struggles brought him to return to his original Volokolamsk monastery, where he strove toward salvation as a simple monk. However, when the new heretic Matthew Bashkin (who refused to acknowledge the Holy Mysteries and denied faith in the Holy Trinity) appeared at Moscow, Saint Herman and his own father (who had received tonsure at the Volokolamsk monastery with the name Philotheus) were summoned to the Moscow Council of 1553. The Council censured the heretic Bashkin and resolved to send him for correction to Saint Herman at the Volokolamsk monastery, since Saint Herman was known for his holy life and zeal for the faith in Christ.

In 1555, after the taking of Kazan, an archepiscopal See was established there. Saint Gurias, the former igumen of Volokolamsk monastery, was chosen as archbishop. He was entrusted with building the Dormition monastery in the city of Sviyazhsk for missionary purposes. By decree of Saint Gurias, Saint Herman was appointed as head of this new monastery in Sviyazhsk. A stone cathedral was built with a belltower and monastic cells. The igumen of the monastery lived very frugally in a cramped cell beneath the cathedral belltower. Saint Herman particularly concerned himself with acquiring a library for the monastery.

Soon his monastery became famous for its good works, and it became a center of enlightenment for the Kazan region.

On March 12, 1564, after the repose of Saint Gurias, Saint Herman was consecrated Bishop of Kazan. The short duration of his tenure there was marked nonetheless by his efforts to build churches and to enlighten the people of the region with the light of Christ.

In 1566, Ivan the Terrible summoned Saint Herman to Moscow and ordered that he be elected to the Metropolitan cathedra. At first, Saint Herman refused to have this burden imposed upon him. The Tsar would not tolerate any objection, however, and the saint was obliged to settle into the Metropolitan’s quarters until his elevation to the position of Metropolitan.

Seeing injustice among those of the Tsar’s inner circle, Saint Herman, true to his pastoral duty, attempted to admonish the Tsar. “You are not yet elevated to Metropolitan, and already you place constraints upon my freedom,” the Tsar told him through his aides. He ordered Saint Herman expelled from the Metropolitan’s quarters and that he be kept under surveillance.

The saint lived in disgrace for about two years, and died on November 6, 1567. They buried him in the church of Saint Nicholas the Hospitable. In 1595, at the request of the inhabitants of Sviyazhsk, the relics of the saint were transferred from Moscow to the Sviyazhsk Dormition monastery. Saint Hermogenes, then Metropolitan of Kazan, visited his grave.

Saint Herman is commemorated on September 25 (the first translation of his relics in 1595) and June 23 (the second translation of his relics in 1714).

Source: Orthodox Church in America_OCA

Colossians 2:20-3:3

20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations- 21 Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle, 22 which all concern things which perish with the using-according to the commandments and doctrines of men? 23 These things appear as wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

1 If you were raised with Christ, seek those things above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Luke 12:42-48

42 And the Lord said, "Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? 43 Blessed is that servant his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I tell you that he will make him ruler over all he has. 45 But if that servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. 47 And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

[orthodoxadventure]

A new Orthodox church was formally opened in Jordan on Sunday, February 18, by His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem.

The Patriarch was joined by His Highness Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, Chief Advisor to His Majesty the King of Jordan for Religious and Cultural Affairs, for the opening of the Three Holy Hierarchs Orthodox Church, within the Orthodox Center project next to the Holy Theotokos, Life-Giving Spring Monastery in Dibeen, Jerash Governorate, reports the Jerusalem Patriarchate.

His Eminence Archbishop Christophoros of Kyriakopolis also attended the opening. He emphasized that “the church will meet the needs of young people, and will be a place for holding conferences, meeting intellectually and culturally, and serving the local community.”

He also thanked Mr. Issa Nassif Odeh, who made a generous donation to complete the construction of the church.

The new church is the first in Jordan to be named for the Three Holy Hierarchs—Sts. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom.

The church combines traditional Jordanian geometric designs “with a Byzantine architectural spirit.”

The first Divine Liturgy will be celebrated on Friday, February 23.

The Patriarchate of Jerusalem site currently lists 40 other monasteries and churches in Jordan.

An historic Divine Liturgy was celebrated in a Byzantine-era church in Petra, Jordan, for the first time in 1,500 years last month.

[Source: OrthoChristian.com]

[anastpaul]

Saint of the Day – 13 February – Saint Stephen of Rieti (Died c590) Abbot

Saint of the Day – 13 February – Saint Stephen of Rieti (Died c590) AbbotDied in c590 of natural causes. Also known as – Stefano, Stfan, Stefanus. The Roman Martyrology reads: “At Rieti, the Abbot St Stephen, a man of wonderful patience, at whose death, as is related by the blessed Pope, St Gregory, the holy Angels were present and visible to all.” The Monastery in Rieti We know almost nothing…

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (July 31)

On July 31, the Universal Church marks the feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

The Spanish saint is known for founding the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits, as well as for creating the “Spiritual Exercises” often used today for retreats and individual discernment.

St. Ignatius was born into a noble family on 23 October 1491 in Guipuzcoa, Spain. He served as a page in the Spanish court of Ferdinand and Isabella.

He then became a soldier in the Spanish army and wounded his leg during the siege of Pamplona in 1521.

During his recuperation, he read “Lives of the Saints.”

The experience led him to undergo a profound conversion, and he dedicated himself to the Catholic faith.

After making a general confession in a monastery in Montserrat, St. Ignatius proceeded to spend almost a year in solitude.

He wrote his famous “Spiritual Exercises” and then made a pilgrimage to Rome and the Holy Land, where he worked to convert Muslims.

St. Ignatius returned to complete his studies in Spain and then France, where he received his theology degree.

While many held him in contempt because of his holy lifestyle, his wisdom and virtue attracted some followers, and the Society of Jesus was born.

The Society was approved by Pope Paul III in 1540, and it grew rapidly.

St. Ignatius remained in Rome, where he governed the Society and became friends with St. Philip Neri.

St. Ignatius died on 31 July 1556, probably of the "Roman Fever," a severe variant of malaria that was endemic in Rome throughout medieval history.

An autopsy revealed that he also had kidney and bladder stones, a probable cause of the abdominal pains he suffered from in later life.

He was beatified by Pope Paul V on 27 July 1609 and was canonized by Pope Gregory XV on 12 March 1622.

The Jesuits remain numerous today, particularly in several hundred universities and colleges worldwide.

On 22 April 2006, Pope Benedict XVI presided over a Eucharistic concelebration for the Society of Jesus.

He addressed the fathers and brothers of the Society present at the Vatican Basilica, calling to mind the dedication and fidelity of their founder.

“St. Ignatius of Loyola was first and foremost a man of God who in his life put God, his greatest glory and his greatest service, first,” the Pope said.

“He was a profoundly prayerful man for whom the daily celebration of the Eucharist was the heart and crowning point of his day.”

“Precisely because he was a man of God, St Ignatius was a faithful servant of the Church,” Benedict continued, "recalling the saint's special vow of obedience to the Pope, which he himself describes as 'our first and principal foundation.”

Highlighting the need for “an intense spiritual and cultural training,” Pope Benedict called upon the Society of Jesus to follow in the footsteps of St. Ignatius.

They should continue his work of service to the Church and obedience to the Pope so that its members “may faithfully meet the urgent needs of the Church today.”

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Today in Christian History

Today is Thursday, June 29th. It is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 185 days remain until the end of the year.

1073: Consecration of Gregory VII (Hildebrand). His reign will be marred by continual skirmishing with Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV.

1315: (traditional date) Death by stoning of mystic and missionary Raymond Lull in Bougie, North Africa (Tunisia). He had been persuaded by a vision to seek the conversion of Muslims, had founded a school to train men to the task, and had studied Islamic culture.

1629: Samuel Skelton and Francis Higginson, Presbyterian reverends, arrive on the ship Talbot to Massachusetts, the first clergymen of that sect in what will become the United States.

1770: John Beck, born to missionaries in Greenland, returns to his land of birth, having completed his formal education in Europe. He will serve as a Moravian missionary in Greenland for over fifty years.

1794: Bishop Asbury preaches the dedicatory sermon for Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, founded by Richard Allen and fellow African-Americans after they were segregated from white worshipers in St. George’s Church, Philadelphia.

1861: At Casa Guidi (in Florence, Italy) toward morning the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning seems to be in an ecstasy. She tells her husband of her love for him, gives him her blessing, and raises herself to die in his arms. “It is beautiful,” are her last words. Among her poems is the sonnet “Speak low to me, my Saviour, low and sweet.”

1864: In a ceremony that fills Canterbury Cathedral beyond capacity, Samuel Adjai Crowther is consecrated as the first African bishop of the Church of England.

1875: The first Keswick convention opens, a holiness movement that spreads around the world. Delegates had met for prayer the day before.

1881: Convinced that he is the long-awaited Mahdi, Muhammad Ahmad, a Sufi Muslim in Kordofan (then a province of Sudan) proclaims “There is no God but God, and Muhammad is the Prophet of God, and Muhammad al-Mahdi is the successor of God’s Prophet!” He soon imprisons Christian missionaries and in 1885 will massacre many of the Christians in Khartoum.

1900: Pastor Meng is seized and beheaded at Pao ting Fu, having refused to flee, declaring he will stand by foreign missionaries whose lives are threatened.

1979: Repose (Death) of Archbishop Andrew (Father Adrian) of New Diveyevo Monastery in Jordanville, New York. Born in the Ukraine, he had been forced to flee his native land because of Soviet persecution, eventually migrating to the United States where he established an Orthodox monastery. He was sought out for his deep spirituality.

[troybeecham]

Today, the Church remembers Saint Clare of Assisi, Monastic.

Ora pro nobis.

St. Clare (Chiara in Italian) was one of the first followers of Saint Francis of Assisi. She founded the Order of Poor Ladies, a monastic religious order for women in the Franciscan tradition, and wrote their Rule of Life, the first set of monastic guidelines known to have been written by a woman. Following her death, the order she founded was renamed in her honor as the Order of Saint Clare, commonly referred to today as the Poor Clares.

She was born in Assisi (July 16, 1194 – August 11, 1253 AD), and was the eldest daughter of Favorino Sciffi, Count of Sasso-Rosso, and his wife Ortolana. Traditional accounts say that Clare's father was a wealthy representative of an ancient Roman family, who owned a large palace in Assisi and a castle on the slope of Mount Subasio. Ortolana belonged to the noble family of Fiumi, and was a very devout woman who had undertaken pilgrimages to Rome, Santiago de Compostela and the Holy Land. Later in life, Ortolana entered Clare's monastery, as did Clare's sisters, Beatrix and Catarina.

As a child, Clare was devoted to prayer. Although there is no mention of this in any historical record, it is assumed that Clare was to be married in line with the family tradition. However, at the age of 18 she heard Francis preach during a Lenten service in the church of San Giorgio at Assisi and asked him to help her to live after the manner of the Gospel. On the evening of Palm Sunday, March 20, 1212, she left her father's house and accompanied by her aunt Bianca and another companion proceeded to the chapel of the Porziuncula to meet Francis. There, her hair was cut, and she exchanged her rich gown for a plain robe and veil.

Francis placed Clare in the convent of the Benedictine nuns of San Paulo, near Bastia. Her father attempted to force her to return home. She clung to the altar of the church and threw aside her veil to show her cropped hair. She resisted any attempt, professing that she would have no other husband but Jesus Christ. In order to provide the greater solitude Clare desired, a few days later Francis sent her to Sant' Angelo in Panzo, another monastery of the Benedictine nuns on one of the flanks of Subasio. Clare was soon joined by her sister Catarina, who took the name Agnes. They remained with the Benedictines until a small dwelling was built for them next to the church of San Damiano, which Francis had repaired some years earlier.

Other women joined them, and they were known as the "Poor Ladies of San Damiano". They lived a simple life of poverty, austerity and seclusion from the world, according to a Rule which Francis gave them as a Second Order.

San Damiano became the center of Clare's new religious order, which was known in her lifetime as the "Order of Poor Ladies of San Damiano". San Damiano was long thought to be the first house of this order, however, recent scholarship strongly suggests that San Damiano actually joined an existing network of women's religious houses organized by Hugolino (who later became Pope Gregory IX). Hugolino wanted San Damiano as part of the order he founded because of the prestige of Clare's monastery. San Damiano emerged as the most important house in the order, and Clare became its undisputed leader. By 1263, just ten years after Clare's death, the order had become known as the Order of Saint Clare.

In 1228, when Gregory IX offered Clare a dispensation from the vow of strict poverty, she replied: "I need to be absolved from my sins, but not from the obligation of following Christ." Accordingly, the Pope granted them the Privilegium Pauperitatis — that nobody could oblige them to accept any possession.

Unlike the Franciscan friars, whose members moved around the country to preach, Saint Clare's sisters lived in enclosure, since an itinerant life was hardly conceivable at the time for women. Their life consisted of manual labor and prayer. The nuns went barefoot, slept on the ground, ate no meat and observed almost complete silence.

For a short period, the order was directed by Francis himself. Then in 1216, Clare accepted the role of abbess of San Damiano. As abbess, Clare had more authority to lead the order than when she was the prioress and required to follow the orders of a priest heading the community. Clare defended her order from the attempts of prelates to impose a rule on them that more closely resembled the Rule of Saint Benedict than Francis' stricter vows. Clare sought to imitate Francis' virtues and way of life so much so that she was sometimes titled ‘alter Franciscus’, another Francis. She also played a significant role in encouraging and aiding Francis, whom she saw as a spiritual father figure, and she took care of him during his final illness.

After Francis' death, Clare continued to promote the growth of her order, writing letters to abbesses in other parts of Europe and thwarting every attempt by each successive pope to impose a rule on her order which weakened the radical commitment to corporate poverty she had originally embraced. Clare's Franciscan theology of joyous poverty in imitation of Christ is evident in the rule she wrote for her community and in her four letters to Agnes of Prague.

In 1224, the army of Frederick II came to plunder Assisi. Clare went out to meet them with the Blessed Sacrament in her hands. Suddenly a mysterious terror seized the enemies, who fled without harming anybody in the city.

In her later years, Clare endured a long period of poor health. She died on 11 August 1253 at the age of 59. Her last words as reported to have been, "Blessed be You, O God, for having created me."

O God, whose blessed Son became poor that we through his poverty might be rich: Deliver us from an inordinate love of this world, that we, inspired by the devotion of your servant Clare, may serve you with singleness of heart, and attain to the riches of the age to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

[immerlein]

hello ms immerlein, hope you're doing well. i'm a simple inquirer into the orthodox church and i wanted to ask if you could go into detail about what marriage is, in the faith. my boyfriend is the type who thinks "why can't we just get married at a courthouse?" but because having a wedding is important to me, he'd ultimately like to go with a 'proper' one. i'm glad that he cares about me enough to allow me to make the decision, but i don't know how to convince him that marriage is indeed something sacred. ideally i'd want to have our wedding at an orthodox parish, but as he isn't (yet, maybe sooner or later) a christian i'm content with waiting

Hi there :)

Thanks for your question; it's great to hear your boyfriend respects your feelings on something as important as this. I will say, though, that you might have a hard or impossible time getting married to a non-Christian in an Orthodox church, so you would need to discuss it with a priest. By the way you've phrased your ask you do seem to know that, but just clarifying in case :) I agree that marriage is sacred and a very beautiful mystery of the Church. It is taken seriously, entered into seriously, and only broken under the most serious of circumstances (the Church allows remarriage, with conditions). The whole idea is that you marry to be "companions on the journey from earth to heaven" (St John Chrysostom) and "attain holiness". "The purpose of marriage is to unite two persons into a bond of love for their mutual companionship, support, enjoyment, and fulfillment. While the couple, on their own, already is a family, giving birth to and nurturing children is an important purpose of marriage." - goarch.org

I'm going to include some other quotes from Saints/Church Fathers/theologians that I think speak to the theology of marriage better than my own words could.

Marriage is a sacrament and a state of grace: “Marriage is not only a state of nature but a state of grace. Married life, no less than the life of a monk, is a special vocation, requiring a particular gift or charisma from the Holy Spirit; and this gift is conferred in the sacrament of Holy Matrimony.” (Ware, Timothy (1993-04-29). The Orthodox Church)

“Marriage is the key of moderation and harmony of desires, the seal of a deep friendship… United in the flesh, one spirit, they urge each other on by the good of their mutual love. For marriage does not remove God, but brings all closer to Him, for it is God Himself Who draws us to it.” - Saint Gregory the Theologian

Elder Aimilianos of Simonos Petros Monastery on Mt. Athos wrote: “When two people get married, it’s as if they're saying: Together we will go forward, hand in hand, through good times and bad. We will have dark hours, hours of sorrow filled with burdens, monotonous hours. But in the depths of the night, we continue to believe in the sun and the light.”

"There are two misunderstandings about marriage which should be rejected in Orthodox dogmatic theology. One is that marriage exists for the sole purpose of procreation...is has never been a teaching of the Church. On the contrary, according to St John Chrysostom, among the two reasons for which marriage was instituted,  it is the first reason which is the most important: 'as for procreation, it is not required absolutely by marriage...’ In fact, in Orthodox understanding, the goal of marriage is that two should become one, in the image of the Holy Trinity, Whose three Persons are essentially united in love... In the Orthodox Church, there is no understanding of sexual union as something unclean or unholy. This becomes clear when one reads the following prayers from the Orthodox rite of Marriage: 'Bless their marriage, and vouchsafe unto these Thy servants ... chastity, mutual love in the bond of peace ... Preserve their bed unassailed ... Cause their marriage to be honourable. Preserve their bed blameless. Mercifully grant that they may live together in purity .. :. Sexual life is therefore considered compatible with 'purity' and 'chastity', the latter being, of course, not an abstinence from intercourse but rather a sexual life that is liberated from what became its characteristic after the fall of Adam. The ultimate goal of marriage is the same as that of every other sacrament, deification of the human nature and union with Christ. This becomes possible only when marriage itself is transfigured and deified." - taken from the writing of Metropolitan Hilarion.

I hope this helps! Take care and all the best :)

[starlingtravel]

Religious pilgrimage in Armenia  

Armenia is a country with a rich religious history, and it is known for its numerous religious pilgrimage sites. The predominant religion in Armenia is Christianity, specifically the Armenian Apostolic Church, which is one of the oldest Christian denominations in the world. Here are some important religious pilgrimage destinations in Armenia:

Etchmiadzin Cathedral: Located in the city of Vagharshapat, this cathedral is the spiritual center of the Armenian Apostolic Church. It is considered one of the oldest churches in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Khor Virap: This monastery is located near the border with Turkey and offers a stunning view of Mount Ararat. It is famous for its connection to Saint Gregory the Illuminator, who was imprisoned here for 13 years before converting Armenia to Christianity. Pilgrims visit Khor Virap to see the underground chamber where Saint Gregory was imprisoned and to offer prayers.

Geghard Monastery: This ancient complex is partly carved into the rock and is known for its unique architectural and cultural significance. The main chapel, Surb Astvatsatsin, is particularly revered by pilgrims. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a popular pilgrimage destination.

Noravank Monastery: Located in a picturesque red rock canyon, Noravank is an important pilgrimage site for Armenians. It is dedicated to St. John the Baptist is known for its stunning Surb Astvatsatsin Church and the Surb Karapet Church. Pilgrims come here to attend religious services and enjoy the natural beauty of the area.

Tatev Monastery: Tatev is a historic monastic complex and a popular pilgrimage destination. The Tatev Monastery is known for its scenic location on a plateau overlooking the Vorotan Gorge. Pilgrims visit the monastery to attend church services, explore the historic buildings, and ride the Wings of Tatev, the world's longest reversible aerial tramway, to reach the site.

Haghpat and Sanahin Monasteries: These two medieval monastic complexes are UNESCO World Heritage Sites and are important pilgrimage destinations for their historical and architectural significance. They are located in the Lori region of Armenia.

Akdamar Island: While not in Armenia but in neighboring Turkey, Akdamar Island is a pilgrimage destination for Armenians due to its Surb Khach (Holy Cross) Church, a medieval Armenian Apostolic church located on the island in Lake Van. It is a place of great religious and cultural significance for Armenians.

When visiting these religious pilgrimage sites in Armenia, it's important to be respectful of the religious customs and traditions of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Visit Starling Travel Club and check out the current travel conditions and any entry requirements. Embark on a transformative 8-day journey through Armenia's spiritual heritage with our religion tour.  

[portraitsofsaints]

Saint Gregory the Great 

Doctor of the Church

540-604

Feast Day: September 3 (New), March 12 (Trad)

Patronage: teachers, students, musicians, singers and England

St. Gregory the Great was Pope from 590 to 604 and is known for his contributions to the Liturgy of the Mass. He built 6 monasteries in Sicily and founded a seventh in his home in Rome. He is one of the four great Doctors of the Latin Church and the first monk to become Pope. Despite his bodily ails and the frightful times he lived in, it has been said that no teacher of equal eminence has arisen in the Church.

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase here: (website)

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"Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Pray for Us!" #SaintoftheDay  #OraProNobis

📷 Gregory of Nyssa in the Holy Monastery of Saint Nicholas Anapafsas at Meteora, Greece / #Wikipedia.  #Catholic_Priest #CatholicPriestMedia

[orthodoxydaily]

SAINTS&READING: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2024

october 5_october 18

VENERABLE FATHERS AND MOTHERS OF THE KLARJETI WILDERNESS ( 9th.c.)

For centuries the region of Tao-Klarjeti in southwestern Georgia was known for its holiness, unity and spiritual strength. The cultural life and faith of Kartli were nearly extinguished by the Arab-Muslim domination from the 8th to 10th centuries. Tao-Klarjeti, however, which had been emptied by a cholera epidemic and the aftermath of the Islamic invasions, filled with new churches and monasteries, becoming a destination for many Christian ascetics. St. Ekvtime Taqaishvili wrote that “Every monastery included a school and a seminary where the Christian Faith, philosophy, Greek and other foreign languages, chant, calligraphy, fine arts, jewelry making, and other disciplines were taught. Countless priests, translators, miniaturists, and jewelry makers developed their craft in these schools.” The prayers of the Tao-Klarjeti monastics multiplied and were lifted up to the heavens like holy incense. Hagiographical works were written, original hymns composed, and theological texts translated.

he literature of this period was thoroughly infused with the spirit of the Georgian people. Tao-Klarjeti reinvigorated the soul of the Georgian people and redirected the lost back to the true path.       St. Gregory of Khandzta, a priest of great virtue and wisdom, spearheaded this spiritual revival. He was a good shepherd to his flock and the builder of many churches. The Lives of St. Gregory of Khandzta and the other holy fathers and mothers of Tao-Klarjeti are recounted in St. George Merchule’s work The Life of St. Gregory of Khandzta. George Merchule labored in the Khandzta wilderness in the 10th century. His epithet, “Merchule,” means “the theologian” or literally “the knower of the law.”

George Merchule also gave the Church the Life of Holy Catholicos Nerse III, an Armenian of descent. Nerse confessed to the Orthodox Faith and labored in Tao-Klarjeti with the Georgian fathers. (At that time, many Orthodox Armenians fled to Tao-Klarjeti after being exiled from their homeland.) In the first half of the 7th century, St. Nerse laid the foundations of Ishkhani Church and labored there in holiness.

Holy Catholicos Hilarion was the founder and abbot of Tsqarostavi Church and a disciple of Gregory of Khandzta. He arrived at Khandzta Monastery with his spiritual father, St. David, Abbot of Midznadzori Monastery, and St. Zachariah, the builder of Beretelta Church. Those who witnessed the fathers’ unity and piety abandoned the world to join them in offering their lives to God. In the middle of the 9th century St. Hilarion was enthroned as Catholicos of Kartli in recognition of his wisdom and holiness. He followed Gabriel II (ca. 830–850) and was succeeded by Arsenius I “the Great” (ca. 860–887) in this most honorable role.

 St. Stephen of Tbeti was the first bishop of Tbeti. He was a major writer and hagiographer in the Church of his time and a brilliant figure of the Tao-Klarjeti literary school. St. Stephen is credited with authoring the narrative The Martyrdom of St. Gobron.       From his childhood, St. Zachariah of Anchi was filled with love and fear of God. Strict in his discipline but free from every constraint of this world, he led the life of a shepherd like St.David the Psalmist. As a child, St. Zachariah would gather his friends and precisely relate the words and scenes he had witnessed in churches and monasteries. Once, the bishop of Anchi observed this unusual pastime and reported seeing a pillar of light descend from the heavens and alight atop St.Zachariah’s head.

 When he reached a mature age, St. Zachariah became the spiritual leader of his brothers. Through his prayers many miracles were performed: he stopped the stone wall of a collapsing building from crashing to the ground, eliminated the troublesome birds and grasshoppers from the monastery’s vineyard, and killed two venomous snakes that were keeping his frightened brothers from the vineyard. Filled with good faith and virtue, St. Zachariah was later consecrated bishop of Anchi.

 St. Macarius of Anchi served as bishop of Anchi following the repose of St. Gregory of Khandzta in 861.

St. Ezra of Anchi, of the noble Dapanchuli family, labored in holiness during the 10th century.

St. Sava of Ishkhani was a cousin and one of the closest companions of St.Gregory of Khandzta. Along with two other friends, Christopher and Theodore, the young Sava accompanied Gregory of Khandzta to Klarjeti on a quest for the ascetic life. At first, the young monks settled at Opiza Monastery and labored there with great zeal, and afterward, they moved to Khandzta.       Once, St. Sava made a pilgrimage with St. Gregory to Byzantium, where he learned the typica of the local monasteries. On the way back to Tao-Klarjeti, God revealed to them His will for Sava to restore Ishkhani Church, which had been destroyed by Arab-Muslim invaders. St. Sava desired to begin this holy task immediately, but he continued on the way with St. Gregory at the latter’s insistence. Later, Gregory assigned two monks to help Sava restore the church and sent the three of them to Ishkhani. By God’s grace, the brothers restored the church and monastery and the number of monks who labored there multiplied. Before long their abbot, St. Sava, was consecrated bishop of Ishkhani.

 St. John the New Martyr for Christ labored at Khandzta Monastery. While he was journeying to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage, the Saracens captured him in Baghdad and attempted to torture him into a denial of the Christian Faith. But by shedding his blood St. John demonstrated his immutable fidelity to the Faith of our Savior.

 St. Theodore, Founder of Nedzvi Monastery, and St. Christopher, Founder of the Dviri Monastery of St. Cyricus, were spiritual sons of St. Gregory of Khandzta and the first men to join him in his holy labors. With St. Gregory they labored first at Opiza and later at Khandzta Monastery. These holy fathers journeyed to Abkhazeti to increase the fullness of the Faith in that region, and on their way, in Samtskhe, an aristocrat named Mirian entrusted them with the care and upbringing of his son, the six-year-old Arsenius (later Holy Catholicos Arsenius the Great).

Eventually St. Gregory of Khandzta desired the return of Theodore and Christopher, and he traveled to Abkhazeti to find them. St. Gregory took with him his young disciple Ephraim (later the bishop and wonderworker of Atsquri). When he met the brothers in Abkhazeti, St. Gregory entrusted them with Ephraim’s upbringing and made them vow not to leave Khandzta Monastery until Ephraim and Arsenius had matured.

 When Ephraim and Arsenius reached manhood, they were “perfected in wisdom,” and Theodore and Christopher left Khandzta to establish the Nedzvi and Dviri Monasteries. There, each father labored until the day of his repose.

Holy Fathers George, Amona, Peter, and Macarius labored in the wilderness of Opiza. Abba George was abbot of Opiza’s St. John the Baptist Monastery during the two years St. Gregory of Khandzta and his companions labored there. Fr. George was the third abbot of the monastery (he was succeeded by St. Andria and St. Samuel).  Through God’s grace Abba George recognized the pilgrims’ faith and received them, not as pupils, but as honorable and wise elders. Witnessing the ascetic feats of the venerable fathers of Opiza, St. Gregory increased in virtue and humility, and acquired inner peace. (History has preserved a Holy Gospel from the Opiza Wilderness that has been dated to the year 913, around the time that Abba George was laboring there.)

In the second part of the 9th century, St. Serapion of Zarzma founded Zarzma Monastery in Samtskhe. St. Serapion’s nephew, St. Basil, later performed great ascetic feats and worked miracles at that monastery. St. Basil authored The Life of Serapion of Zarzma and recounted the lives of the other venerable fathers of Zarzma as well.

 St. George, “a brilliant and kindhearted man of great virtue,” succeeded St. Serapion as abbot of Zarzma Monastery. After St. George, the Venerable Abbot Michael began building a second church in Zarzma in fulfillment of St. Serapion’s prophecy. St. Paul, who followed Michael as abbot of the monastery, completed the construction of this second church.

 The holy and righteous St. Khvedios labored as a hermit in the caves of the Khandzta Wilderness. God revealed to him the news of St. Gregory’s arrival, and he received Gregory and his brothers with great joy. He blessed them, while receiving a blessing himself from St. Gregory of Khandzta. Then, rather than journeying on with St. Gregory and the other brothers, St. Khvedios retired to his secluded cave, since he had taken a vow before God to live his whole life in solitude. After the holy father reposed, his dwelling place filled with a sweet fragrance.

 St. Epiphanius was a wonderworker and a spiritual son of St. Gregory of Khandzta. This venerable father was truly clad in the armor of righteousness, and he was an inspiration to many. According to St. Gregory’s instructions, he became an example of obedience for the other brothers of the monastery. St. Epiphanius’s prayers healed many who were afflicted by terminal illnesses.       St. Matthew labored in the Khandzta Wilderness. After the abbess of Mere Monastery reposed, he took upon himself leadership of the women’s monastery and for forty years set an example of life lived in the fullness of the Faith. He was so strict in his asceticism that, for those forty years, he never once shared a meal with the mothers, nor did he receive a single object from any of their hands. When St. Matthew reached an advanced age, he became diseased in the flesh, but he declined the nuns’ offers to care for him. Instead he asked his relative, also a monk, to attend to him in his time of need.

      St. Zenon was born in Samtskhe to a family of aristocrats. He was raised in fear of God, and he desired to enter monastic life from his youth. Before this desire was fulfilled, however, his sister was kidnapped by a certain godless man. Zenon set off to pursue the abductor on horseback, but while he was riding, the devil began to assault him with anxieties. “I am a respectable man,” he thought, “but the one whom I am following is dishonorable. If I catch and kill him, I will destroy my soul, but if I turn back, shame will come upon me.”  And so, at that very moment, St. Zenon turned back to fulfill his lifelong desire. He was tonsured a monk and later became a disciple of St. Gregory of Khandzta  St. Zenon, the “Treasure of Virtue, Holy Model of Asceticism and Gate of the Klarjeti Wilderness,” reposed at an advanced age.

St. John, Abbot of Khandzta, is celebrated for having completed the construction of the new church at Khandzta, which his predecessor, St. Arsenius, had begun. Both holy fathers reposed in the Khandzta Wilderness.

 St. Theodore the Abbot and his brother St. John both labored at Khandzta Monastery. St. George Merchule recognizes the brothers as co-authors of The Life of St. Gregory of Khandzta; however, historians believe they were contributors rather than coauthors.

 The monk St. Gabriel ministered to the infirm and elderly monks of Khandzta Monastery. St. Gabriel verbally recounted the Lives of the great Church Fathers and admonished his brothers to follow the same strict disciplines as the fathers who had gone before them.

St. Demetrius was raised by the blessed St. Febronia and later became one of St. Gregory of Khandzta’s first disciples. He is commemorated among the holy fathers for having attained the heights of the monastic struggle and for working wonders, both in this life and after he had been received into Abraham's bosom.

SS. Arsenius and Macarius, “good monks full of wisdom and the gift of wonder-working,” were relatives of St. Ephraim of Atsquri. They labored together at St. Sabbas Monastery in Jerusalem and regularly corresponded with the Khandzta monks. Sts. Arsenius and Macarius deeply loved Christ and longed to serve their motherland and mother Church.

 St. Shio the Wonderworker “shone upon the land of Kartli like the North Star in the morning sky.” According to Basil of Zarzma, St. Shio was the spiritual father of St. Michael of Parekhi.       SS. Basil and Markelus, “abounding and brilliant in virtue,” were disciples of St. Michael of Parekhi. St. Basil was buried in Parekhi next to his spiritual father. Both fathers worked miracles from their graves and healed the infirmities of the faithful who came to seek their blessings.

Venerable Father David, “an image of the angels” and builder of many monasteries, labored as abbot of Midznadzori Monastery. He was the spiritual father of the holy catholicos Hilarion.

Endowed with many gifts of grace, St. Jacob was a prominent figure in the tenth-century Georgian Church. He labored first in Shatberdi, and later near Midznadzori Gorge, where he shone forth as the brightest of stars.

Venerable Sophronius the Great was the restorer of the Shatberdi Church and a famous writer, but his literary works have not been preserved.

St. George Merchule counts him among the wise and holy fathers whose stories are worthy of telling. St. Gregory of Shatberdi labored at the same monastery. Several tenth-century manuscripts he copied at Shatberdi Monastery have been preserved, including the Notebooks of the Shatberdi Wilderness and the Gospels of Hadishi, Jruchi, and Parekhi.

 St. Zachariah built the famous Beretelta Monastery, setting an example of wisdom and holiness for the fathers who labored there after him.

 St. Febronia labored at Mere Monastery in Samtskhe. She was a close friend of St. Gregory of Khandzta. He sent to her a certain woman whom King Ashot Kuropalates (later the holy martyr) had taken as his mistress to instruct her in the Christian Faith. St. Febronia denied the king’s pleas to return the woman to the royal palace.  Angels often visited St. Febronia to inform her of God’s holy will. St. Temestia labored with St. Febronia at Mere Monastery. She ministered to St. Matthew, the monastery's spiritual father for forty years. St. Temestia remarked that her relationship with Father Matthew was so chaste and innocent that the holy father would not even permit himself to receive the holy incense directly from her hands.

St. Anatole (also called Antonios) labored in seclusion at Mere Monastery. Angels often appeared to the holy mother, who herself led a life equal to that of the bodiless powers. Angels informed both venerable Temestia and Anatole of the repose of their abbot, St.Matthew.

St. Anastasia labored among the holy mothers in remarkable sanctity and humility. She descended from an Abkhaz family and was known in the world as Bevreli. As a queen (the wife of King Adarnerse), she was often called upon to protect the interests of Mere Monastery. King Adarnerse later grew cold towards Bevreli, so she left the world and was tonsured a nun named Anastasia. St. Anastasia bore the most difficult labor at the monastery: she gathered firewood and carried it from the forest. She wore only rags and prayed constantly.  Once, King Adarnerse fell ill and sent messengers to Persati Monastery, where Anastasia was laboring, asking forgiveness on his behalf. St. Anastasia prayed for the sick king: “May Christ forgive all his sins and heal him in soul and body.” King Adarnerse was soon healed of his infirmity.  Abounding in holiness and humility, St. Anastasia labored at Persati Monastery to the end of her earthly life. God granted her the gift of wonder-working both during her life on earth and after her repose.

 St. Anastasia’s own sons, Gurgen and Sumbat, were cured of their diseases at her grave, and afterwards many more who came with faith received healing from the holy mother.

 The historical region of Tao-Klarjeti has been inhabited by ethnic Georgians throughout history and even up to the present day. However, since 1921, when the Communists annulled the independence of the Georgian Republic, Tao-Klarjeti has been a Turkish possession. God endowed this region with abundant sunshine and clear air, free from cruel heat and bitter frost. The local climate heightens the beauty of this wondrous region.But Tao-Klarjeti has been transformed into a battlefield countless times throughout history: it has witnessed victory and defeat, destruction and restoration, treason and selfless loyalty. It has remained an inseparable part of the unified Georgian nation through all these trials. Even though, today, Tao-Klarjeti is located within the borders of a foreign government and its Georgian dioceses are often referred to as belonging to the Armenian Church, the historical truth must be upheld.

On October 17, 2002, the Georgian Apostolic Church nominally restored the dioceses of Klarjeti and Lazeti to its own jurisdiction and declared the incumbent bishop of Akhaltsikhe to be their spiritual leader. On the same day, the Georgian Church canonized the holy and venerable fathers and mothers who labored in those regions under the leadership of St. Gregory of Khandzta. Only a few of the God-fearing laborers, among them Holy Catholicos Nerse II, were Armenian by descent. Still, they had converted to Orthodoxy and preached the true Faith in the wilderness with the Georgian fathers.

© 2006 St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood.

Ephesians 4:17-25

17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 20 But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. 25 Therefore, putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor," for we are members of one another.

Matthew 5:14-19

14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.,15, Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.,16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. 17 Do not think I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or title will not pass from the law until all is fulfilled. 19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

[orthodoxadventure]

2nd Sunday of Great Lent: St Gregory Palamas

Commemorated on March 31

O luminary of Orthodoxy, support and teacher of the Church, ideal of monks and invincible champion of theologians, O wonderworker Gregory, boast of Thessalonika and herald of grace, always intercede for all of us that our souls may be saved.

This Sunday was originally dedicated to Saint Polycarp of Smyrna (February 23). After his glorification in 1368, a second commemoration of Saint Gregory Palamas (November 14) was appointed for the Second Sunday of Great Lent as a second “Triumph of Orthodoxy.”

Saint Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica, was born in the year 1296 in Constantinople. Saint Gregory’s father became a prominent dignitiary at the court of Andronicus II Paleologos (1282-1328), but he soon died, and Andronicus himself took part in the raising and education of the fatherless boy. Endowed with fine abilities and great diligence, Gregory mastered all the subjects which then comprised the full course of medieval higher education. The emperor hoped that the youth would devote himself to government work. But Gregory, barely twenty years old, withdrew to Mount Athos in the year 1316 (other sources say 1318) and became a novice in the Vatopedi monastery under the guidance of the monastic Elder Saint Νikόdēmos of Vatopedi (July 11). There he was tonsured and began on the path of asceticism. A year later, the holy Evangelist John the Theologian appeared to him in a vision and promised him his spiritual protection. Gregory’s mother and sisters also became monastics.

After the demise of the Elder Νikόdēmos, Saint Gregory spent eight years of spiritual struggle under the guidance of the Elder Nikēphóros, and after the latter’s death, Gregory transferred to the Lavra of Saint Athanasius (July 5). Here he served in the trapeza, and then became a church singer. But after three years, he resettled in the small skete of Glossia, striving for a greater degree of spiritual perfection. The head of this monastery began to teach the young man the method of unceasing prayer and mental activity, which had been cultivated by monastics, beginning with the great desert ascetics of the fourth century: Evagrius Pontikos and Saint Macarius of Egypt (January 19).

Later on, in the eleventh century Saint Simeon the New Theologian (March 12) provided detailed instruction in mental activity for those praying in an outward manner, and the ascetics of Athos put it into practice. The experienced use of mental prayer (or prayer of the heart), requiring solitude and quiet, is called “Hesychasm” (from the Greek “hesychia” meaning calm, silence), and those practicing it were called “hesychasts.”

During his stay at Glossia the future hierarch Gregory became fully embued with the spirit of hesychasm and adopted it as an essential part of his life. In the year 1326, because of the threat of Turkish invasions, he and the brethren retreated to Thessalonica, where he was then ordained to the holy priesthood.

Saint Gregory combined his priestly duties with the life of a hermit. Five days of the week he spent in silence and prayer, and only on Saturday and Sunday did he come out to his people. He celebrated divine services and preached sermons. For those present in church, his teaching often evoked both tenderness and tears. Sometimes he visited theological gatherings of the city’s educated youth, headed by the future patriarch, Isidore. After he returned from a visit to Constantinople, he found a place suitable for solitary life near Thessalonica the region of Bereia. Soon he gathered here a small community of solitary monks and guided it for five years.

In 1331 the saint withdrew to Mt. Athos and lived in solitude at the skete of Saint Savva, near the Lavra of Saint Athanasius. In 1333 he was appointed Igumen of the Esphigmenou monastery in the northern part of the Holy Mountain. In 1336 the saint returned to the skete of Saint Savva, where he devoted himself to theological works, continuing with this until the end of his life.

In the 1330s events took place in the life of the Eastern Church which put Saint Gregory among the most significant universal apologists of Orthodoxy, and brought him great renown as a teacher of hesychasm.

About the year 1330 the learned monk Barlaam had arrived in Constantinople from Calabria, in Italy. He was the author of treatises on logic and astronomy, a skilled and sharp-witted orator, and he received a university chair in the capital city and began to expound on the works of Saint Dionysius the Areopagite (October 3), whose “apophatic” (“negative”, in contrast to “kataphatic” or “positive”) theology was acclaimed in equal measure in both the Eastern and the Western Churches. Soon Barlaam journeyed to Mt. Athos, where he became acquainted with the spiritual life of the hesychasts. Saying that it was impossible to know the essence of God, he declared mental prayer a heretical error. Journeying from Mount Athos to Thessalonica, and from there to Constantinople, and later again to Thessalonica, Barlaam entered into disputes with the monks and attempted to demonstrate the created, material nature of the light of Tabor (i.e. at the Transfiguration). He ridiculed the teachings of the monks about the methods of prayer and about the uncreated light seen by the hesychasts.

Saint Gregory, at the request of the Athonite monks, replied with verbal admonitions at first. But seeing the futility of such efforts, he put his theological arguments in writing. Thus appeared the “Triads in Defense of the Holy Hesychasts” (1338). Towards the year 1340 the Athonite ascetics, with the assistance of the saint, compiled a general response to the attacks of Barlaam, the so-called “Hagiorite Tome.” At the Constantinople Council of 1341 in the church of Hagia Sophia Saint Gregory Palamas debated with Barlaam, focusing upon the nature of the light of Mount Tabor. On May 27, 1341 the Council accepted the position of Saint Gregory Palamas, that God, unapproachable in His Essence, reveals Himself through His energies, which are directed towards the world and are able to be perceived, like the light of Tabor, but which are neither material nor created. The teachings of Barlaam were condemned as heresy, and he himself was anathemized and fled to Calabria.

But the dispute between the Palamites and the Barlaamites was far from over. To these latter belonged Barlaam’s disciple, the Bulgarian monk Akyndinos, and also Patriarch John XIV Kalekos (1341-1347); the emperor Andronicus III Paleologos (1328-1341) was also inclined toward their opinion. Akyndinos, whose name means “one who inflicts no harm,” actually caused great harm by his heretical teaching. Akyndinos wrote a series of tracts in which he declared Saint Gregory and the Athonite monks guilty of causing church disorders. The saint, in turn, wrote a detailed refutation of Akyndinos’ errors. The patriarch supported Akyndinos and called Saint Gregory the cause of all disorders and disturbances in the Church (1344) and had him locked up in prison for four years. In 1347, when John the XIV was replaced on the patriarchal throne by Isidore (1347-1349), Saint Gregory Palamas was set free and was made Archbishop of Thessalonica.

In 1351 the Council of Blachernae solemnly upheld the Orthodoxy of his teachings. But the people of Thessalonica did not immediately accept Saint Gregory, and he was compelled to live in various places. On one of his travels to Constantinople the Byzantine ship fell into the hands of the Turks. Even in captivity, Saint Gregory preached to Christian prisoners and even to his Moslem captors. The Hagarenes were astonished by the wisdom of his words. Some of the Moslems were unable to endure this, so they beat him and would have killed him if they had not expected to obtain a large ransom for him. A year later, Saint Gregory was ransomed and returned to Thessalonica.

Saint Gregory performed many miracles in the three years before his death, healing those afflicted with illness. On the eve of his repose, Saint John Chrysostom appeared to him in a vision. With the words “To the heights! To the heights!” Saint Gregory Palamas fell asleep in the Lord on November 14, 1359. In 1368 he was canonized at a Constantinople Council under Patriarch Philotheus (1354-1355, 1364-1376), who compiled the Life and Services to the saint.

[Text from OCA]

Now is the time for action! Judgment is at the doors! So let us rise and fast, offering alms with tears of compunction and crying: “Our sins are more numerous than the sands of the sea; but forgive us, O Master of All, so that we may receive the incorruptible crowns.”

Holy and divine instrument of wisdom, radiant and harmonious trumpet of theology, we praise you in song, O divinely-speaking Gregory. As a mind standing before the Primal Mind, guide our minds to Him, Father, so that we may cry aloud to you: “Rejoice, herald of grace.”

[silvestromedia]

SAINTS NOVEMBER 17

Martyrs of Paraguay, Roman Catholic Jesuit Priests and Martyrs. Three Spanish Jesuits - Roch Gonzalez, Aiphonsus Rodriguez, Juan de Castilo - who were slain in missions called “reductions,” including the main site on the Jiuhi River in Paraguay. They were at All Saints Mission there when they were murdered Feastday: November 17

Bl. Josaphat Kocylovskyj, Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr. He was sent to the Capaivca labor camps (Kiev region), where he underwent continuous pressure to move to the Russian Orthodox Church. He died in the same camp as a result of cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 71 years, Feastday: Nov. 17

St. Hugh of Lincoln. Hugh of Lincoln was the son of William, Lord of Avalon. He was born at Avalon Castle in Burgundy and was raised and educated at a convent at Villard-Benoit after his mother died when he was eight. He was professed at fifteen, ordained a deacon at nineteen, and was made prior of a monastery at Saint-Maxim. While visiting the Grande Chartreuse with his prior in 1160 A, D, It was then he decided to become a Carthusian there and was ordained. After ten years, he was named procurator and in 1175 A.D. became Abbot of the first Carthusian monastery in England. This had been built by King Henry II as part of his penance for the murder of Thomas Becket. His reputation for holiness and sanctity spread all over England and attracted many to the monastery. He admonished Henry for keeping Sees vacant to enrich the royal coffers. Income from the vacant Sees went to the royal treasury. He was then named bishop of the eighteen year old vacant See of Lincoln in 1186 A.D. - a post he accepted only when ordered to do so by the prior of the Grande Chartreuse. Hugh quickly restored clerical discipline, labored to restore religion to the diocese, and became known for his wisdom and justice.

He was one of the leaders in denouncing the persecution of the Jews that swept England, 1190-91A.D., repeatedly facing down armed mobs and making them release their victims. He went on a diplomatic mission to France for King John in 1199 A.D., visiting the Grande Chartreuse, Cluny, and Citeaux, and returned from the trip in poor health. A few months later, while attending a national council in London, he was stricken and died two months later at the Old Temple in London on November 16. He was canonized twenty years later, in 1220 A.D., the first Carthusian to be so honored.

St. Hilda, 614-680 A.D. Benedictine abbess, baptized by St. Paulinus. She was the daughter of a king of Northumbria, England, and is considered one of England’s greatest women. At age thirty three Hilda entered Chelles Monastery in France, where her sister was a nun. At the request of St. Aidan, she returned to Northumbria and became abbess of Hartlepool. In time she became the head of the double monastery of Streaneschalch, at Whitby. She trained five bishops, convened the Council of Whitby, and encouraged the poet Caedmon.

Bl. Salomea of Poland, Roman Catholic Nun and Poor Clare abbess. The daughter of a Polish prince, she was betrothed at the age of three to Prince Coloman of Hungary, son of King Andrew II. She became a widow in 1241 when Coloman was killed in battle. She then entered the Poor Clares, founding a convent at Zawichost (later moved to Skala). She later became the abbess of the convent and died there Feastday: Nov. 17

ST. ELISABETH OF HUNGARY, FRANCISCAN TERTIARY, Nov. 17 When she died at the early age of 24, Elizabeth of Hungary was already considered a saint by many. Widowed at a young age, Elizabeth became a Third Order Franciscan. Despite her noble birth, she embraced Franciscan poverty, assisted the poor, and ministered to the sick. Nov 17

ST. GREGORY THAUMATURGUS, BISHOP OF NEOCESAREA Born in 213, the young pagan Gregory (originally Theodore) became a Christian and a bishop so renowned for his preaching and for the miracles worked by his hands that people called him “Thaumaturgus,” “wonder-worker.” His feast day is celebrated on November 17. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/11/17/st--gregory--thaumaturgus--bishop-of--neocesarea.html