You are on page 1of 26

Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria & All Africa

Archdiocese of Good Hope


All Glory, Honour and Worship to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
now and forever, and unto the Ages of ages. Amen. Remembering also our Most
Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed and Glorious Lady, Maria, Theotokos, yet Ever Virgin,
together with all the Saints. And let us commit ourselves and one another and our
whole Life to Christ our God. Amen.

2 May 2016
St Athanasios of Egypt
& St George the Great Holy Martyr & Trophy Bearer
(FEAST

TRANSFERRED FROM

23 APRIL)

Also the Feast of St Jeremiah, Holy Prophet of God St Paphnutios the Abbot of Borov Monastery St Euthymios, St
Ignatios & St Akakios of Mount Athos of Mount St Makarios the Metropolitan & Hieromartyr of Kiev St Bata the
Persian St Tamara, Queen of Georgia St Nicephoros of Chios St Panaretos of Cyprus St Gerasimos of Boldino
St Isidora, Holy Martyr St Zosimas II of Kumurdo, Georgia

PASCHAL HYMN TONE (5) PLAGAL 1

Hristos Anesti, ek nekron, Thanato Thanaton patisas, Christ

is Risen from the dead; By Death trampling


upon Death, and has bestowed Life to those in the
Tombs.(3)

Ke tis en tis mnimasin, Zoin harisamenos (3)

FIRST PASCHAL ANTIPHON PSALM 65/66 - TONE 2


STIHOS 1:

Alalazate to Kyrio pasa i Gi.

Tes Presvies tis Theotokou, Soter, Soson imas.


S T I H O S 2 : Psalate di to Onomati Aftou - dote Doxan

VERSE 1:

Shout to God, all the Earth!

Through
en

enesi Aftou.

the Intercessions of the Theotokos, O


Saviour, Save us.
V E R S E 2 : Sing now to His Name give Glory to His Praise!

Ipate to Theo, Os fovera ta Erga Sou. En to plithi


tis Dinameos Sou psefsonte Se i ehthri Sou.

VERSE 3:

Pasa i Gi proskinisa tosan Si ke psalatosan Si,


psalatosan di to Onomati Sou.

VERSE 4:

STIHOS 3:

STIHOS 3:

Say to God: How fearful at Thy Works; in the


magnitude of Thy Power, Thine enemies will lie to
Thee.

Let all the Earth worship Thee, and sing to Thee;


let them sing to Thy Name.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy
Spirit, now and forever, and to the Ages of ages.

Doxa Patri ke Io ke Agio Pnevmati, ke nin ke ai ke is

Amin
Tes Presvies tis Theotokou, Soter, Soson imas.

Amen
Through

tous Eonas ton eonon.

the Intercessions
Saviour, Save us.

of

the

Theotokos,

SECOND PASCHAL ANTIPHON PSALM 66/67 TONE 2

O Theos ikterise imas ke Evlogise imas. Epifane


to prosopon Aftou ef imas, ke eleise imas.

May God be Gracious to us, and Bless us; may


He cause His Face to shine upon us.

STIHOS 1:

VERSE 1:

Soson

imas Iie Theou, O A N A S T A S E K N E K R O N


psallontas Si: Allilouia!
S T I H O S 2 : Tou gnosne en ti Gi tin Odon Sou - en pasin
Ethnesi to Sotirion Sou.
STIHOS 3:
Exomologisasthosan Si Lai, O Theos exomologisasthosan Si Lai pantes.
STIHOS 4:
Evlogise imas O Theos - ke fovithitosan Afton
panta ta perata tis Gis.

Soson

imas Iie Theou, O A N A S T A S E K N E K R O N


psallontas Si: Allilouia!
Doxa Patri ke Io ke Agio Pnevmati, ke nin ke ai ke is
tous Eonas ton eonon.

Amin

Son of God, W H O A R O S E F R O M T H E D E A D , Save us


who sing to Thee: Alleluia

That we may know Thy Way on the Earth - Your


Salvation among the Gentiles.
V E R S E 3 : Let the Peoples give Thanks to Thee, O God let
all the Peoples praise Thee.
VERSE 2:

May God Bless us and let all the ends of the


Earth fear Him.

VERSE 4:

Son of God, W H O A R O S E F R O M T H E D E A D , Save us


who sing to Thee: Alleluia!
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy
Spirit, now and forever, and to the Ages of ages.

Amen
THIRD PASCHAL ANTIPHON PSALM 67/88 TONE (5) PLAGAL 1

Anastito O Theos, ke diaskorpisthitoan i ehthri


aftou, ke figetosan apo prosopou aftou i misountes
Afton.
Hristos Anesti, ek nekron, Thanato Thanaton patisas,
Ke tis en tis mnimasin, Zoin harisamenos
STIHOS

Let God Arise, and let His enemies be scattered, and


let those who hate Him flee from before His Face.

VERSE

Christ

is Risen from the dead; By Death trampling


upon Death, And has bestowed Life to those in the
tombs

BRIGHT MONDAY FIRST MONDAY AFTER HOLY PASCHA ST ATHANASIOS

OF

ALEXANDRIA 2 MAY 20161

Os eklipi kapnos eklipetosan, os tikete kiros apo


prosopou piros.
STIHOS Outos apolounte i amartoli apo prosopou tou Theou.
Kei Dikei evfranthitosan.
STIHOS

Afti i imera, in epiisen O Kyrios. Agalliasometha ke


evfranthomen en afti.

STIHOS

As smoke vanishes, so let them vanish, as wax melts


before the fire.
VERSE So shall the sinners perish from the Sight of God.
And let the Righteous be glad.
VERSE

This is the day the Lord made let us greatly rejoice


and be glad therein.

VERSE

ISODIKON SMALL ENTRANCE HYMN TONE 2

En

Ekklisies evlogite ton Theon, Kyrion ek Pigon Israil.


Soson imas, Iie Theou, O Anastas ek nekron.

Bless God in the churches, let the Lord from the Fountains
of Israel. Save us, O Son of God, Who arose from the
dead.

AFTER THE SMALL ENTRANCE


RESURRECTION APOLYTIKION TONE 2

Ote katilthes pros ton Thanaton, i Zoi i Athanatos, tote ton

When

Thou condescended to Death, O Life Immortal,


Thou slayed Hades with the lightning flash of Thy
Divinity. When also Thou raised up the dead from the
subterranean abodes, all the Powers of Heaven cried
aloud: O Life-giver, Christ our God, Glory to Thee!

Adin enekrosas ti astrapi tis Theotitos. Ote de ke tous


tethneotas ek ton katahthonion
anestisas, pase e
Dinamis ton Epouranion ekravgazon. Zoodota Hriste, O
Theos imon, Doxa Si!

PASCHAL APOLYTIKION - TONE 2

Esfragismenou

tou Mnimiatos, i Zoi ek Tafou anetilas


Hriste O Theos, ke ton thiron keklismenon, tis Mathites
epestis, i panton Anastasis. Pnevm evthes di afton
egkenizon imin, kata to Mega Sou Eleos.

Life, Thou rose from the Sepulchre, even though the


Tomb was secured with a seal, O Christ God. And
although the doors had been bolted, Thou went to Thy
Disciples, O Resurrection of all. Through them Thou
Renew a Right Spirit in us, according

FESTAL APOLYTIKION HOLY MYRRHBEARERS TONE 2

Tes

Myroforis Ginexi, Para To Mnima Epistas, O Angelos


Evoa: To Myra Tis Thanitis Iparhi Armodia, Hristos De
Diafthoras Edihthi Allotrios; Alla Kravgasate: Anesti O
Kyrios, Parehon To Kosmo To Mega Eleos!

The

Angel standing by the Tomb cried to the


Myrrhbearing Women: Myrrh is fitting for the dead, but
Christ has been shown to be a Stranger to corruption.
But cry aloud: The Lord has Risen, granting the
world His Great Mercy!

FESTAL APOLYTIKION ST ATHANASIOS TONE 3

Stylos gegonas Orthodoxias, thiis dogmasin ipostirizon, tin Thou

became a Pillar of Orthodoxy, strengthening the


Church with Divine Dogmas, O Hierarch Athanasios.
For by preaching that the Son is One in Essence with
the Father thou put Arius to shame. O Venerable
Father, to Christ our God pray earnestly, entreating
that Great Mercy be on us bestowed.

ekklisian Irarha Athanasie: to gar Patri ton Ion


Omoousion, anakirixas katishinas Arion. Pater Osie,
Hriston ton Theon iketeve, dorisasthe imin to Mega
Eleos.

PASCHAL KONTAKION HOLY MYRRHBEARERS TONE 2

To

Here tis Myroforis fthengxamenos, ton thrinon tis


promitoros Evas katepafsas, ti Anastasi Sou Hriste O
Theos. Tis Apostolis de tis Sis kirittin epetaxas. O Sotir
Exanesti tou Mnimatos!
PROKEIMENON PRAYER

In saying: Rejoice! to the Myrrhbearers, Thou allayed the


lament of the First Mother, Eve, at Thy Resurrection, O
Christ our God. And Thou ordered Thy Apostles to
proclaim: the Saviour has Risen from the Tomb!
OF

AZARIAH TONE 4

Blessed art Thou, O Lord God of our Fathers, for Thou art Praiseworthy and Exalted beyond measure unto the Ages.
For Thou art Righteous in all Thou did for us, all Thou brought upon us and on Jerusalem, the Holy City of our Fathers...
THE EPISTLE

OF

ST PAUL

TO THE

HEBREWS 13 : 7 - 16

Brethren: remember those who rule over you - those who spoke to you the Word of God. Consider the outcome of their
Lives, and imitate their Faith.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings. It is
Good that the heart be Strengthened by Grace not by foods, which have not benefitted their adherents.
We have an Altar - from which those who serve the Tabernacle have no right to eat. The bodies of those animals,
whose blood is brought into the Sanctuary by the High Priest as a Sacrifice for sin are burnt outside the Camp.
Jesus also suffered in order to Sanctify the People through His own Blood, outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth
to Him outside the Camp, to bear the abuse He endured. Here we have no Lasting City, but we seek that which is to
come. Through Him then, let us continually offer up a Sacrifice of Praise to God that is: the Fruit of lips that
Confessed His Name.
Share what you have - do not neglect to do Good. Such Sacrifices are pleasing to God.
THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING

TO

ST MATTHEW 5 : 14 19

At that time, our Lord said to His Disciples: You are the Light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor
do men light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let you
Light so shine before mankind, that they may see your Good Works and Glorify your Father Who is in Heaven.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil
them.
Truly, I say to you: until Heaven and Earth pass away, not an iota, nor a jot, will pass from the Law until all is
accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these Commandments and teaches mankind likewise,
shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven. Those who do them and teach them shall be called great in
the Kingdom of Heaven.
ST HERMAN

OF

ALASKA ON SPIRITUAL STRUGGLES

A True Christian is made by Faith and Love for Christ. Our


sins do not in the least hinder our Christianity,
according to the Word of our Saviour Himself Who
said: ... not the Righteous have I come to Call, but
sinners, to Salvation. There is more Joy in Heaven over
one who Repents than over ninety Righteous.
Likewise concerning the sinful woman who touched His
Feet, He said to the Pharisee, Simon: ...to one who has
Love, a Great Debt is forgiven, but from one who has
no Love, even a small debt will be demanded!

From these Judgments we should Hope and Rejoice and not in the least accept an inflicted despair. Here
one needs the Shield of Faith.
Sin, to one who Loves God, is nothing other than an arrow
from the enemy in Battle. The True Christian is a
Warrior fighting his way through the regiments of the
unseen enemy to his Heavenly Homeland.
According to St Paul, our Homeland is in Heaven,
and...our Warfare is not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities and powers of
wickedness under Heaven (EPHESIANS 6:12)

2. B R I G H T M O N D A Y F I R S T M O N D A Y A F T E R H O L Y P A S C H A S T A T H A N A S I O S

OF

ALEXANDRIA 2 MAY 2016

Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria & All Africa


Archdiocese of Good Hope
All Glory, Honour and Worship to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and unto the Ages
of ages. Amen. Remembering also our Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed and Glorious Lady, Maria, Theotokos, yet
Ever Virgin, together with all the Saints. And let us commit ourselves and one another and our whole Life to Christ our
God. Amen.

5 May 2016
St Irene the Great Holy Martyr of Thessalonika
Also the Feast of St Euthymios of Maditou - St James of Zhelezny Bor St Ephraim the New
Holy Martyr

PASCHAL HYMN TONE (5) PLAGAL 1

Hristos Anesti, ek nekron, Thanato Thanaton patisas, Christ

is Risen from the dead; By Death trampling


upon Death, and has bestowed Life to those in the
Tombs.(3)

Ke tis en tis mnimasin, Zoin harisamenos (3)


FESTAL APOLYTIKION

- ST IRENE THE GREAT MARTYR - TONE 4:

Irinis

The steps of the Prince of Peace, following O Noble One,

ton arhonta, ihnilatousa semni, Irinis Eponimos, di


epipnias Theou, edihthis paneffime;
si gar tou
polemiou, tas enedras figousa, ithlisas iper fisin, os
parthenos fronimi; dio Megalomartis Irini, irinin imin
etise.
FESTAL APOLYTIKION

the namesake of Peace, by the prompting of God,


thou became O Most Blessed One; for having escaped
the snares of the devil, supremely thou contended, as
a most prudent virgin; wherefore, O Great Martyr
Irene, ask for Peace for all of us!

OF A

Amnas Sou Iisou, krazi megali ti foni. Se Nimfie mou


potho, ke Se zitousa athlo, ke sistavroume, ke
sinthaptome to Vaptismo Sou. Ke Pasho dia Se, os
Vasilefso Sin Si, ke thnisko iper Sou, ina ke ziso en Si.
All os thisian amomon, prosdehou tin meta pothou
tithisan Si. Aftis presvies, os eleimon, Soson tas psihas
imon.

FEMALE HOLY MARTYR

Thy Lamb, O Jesus, cries to Thee with a loud voice:

O my
Bridegroom, Thee I Love; and seeking Thee I now suffer
everything in search of Thee, and am crucified and
buried with Thee in Baptism; and suffer for Thy sake,
so that I may reign with Thee, and give my life for
Thee, that I may Live with Thee; but accept as Pure
Sacrifice, the one who desired to give her life for you.
Through her Intercessions, O Most Compassionate,
Save our souls.

PASCHAL IPAKOI TONE 4

Prolavouse

ton orthron e peri Mariaim, ke evrouse ton


ithon apokilisthenta tou mnimatos, ikouson ek tosou
Angelou: Ton en Foti aidio iparhonta, meta nekron ti
zitite os Anthropon? Vlepete ta entafia spargana.
Dramete, ke to kosmo kiriate, os igerthi O Kyrios,
thanatosas ton Thanaton. Oti iparhi Theou Iios, tou
Sozontos to genos ton anthropon.

When

the Women with Mary had gone before dawn and


found that the stone had been rolled away from the
sepulchre, they heard from the Angel: Why do You
seek among the dead, as mortal man, the One Who
exists in Everlasting Light? See the grave wrappings in
the Tomb. Run and proclaim to the world that our Lord
has Risen, and put Death to death; for He is the Son of
God Who Saves mankind.

PASCHAL KONTAKION TONE (8) PLAGAL 4

ke en Tafo katilthes, Athanate, alla tou Adou kathiles tin


Dinamin. Ke anestis os Nikitis, Hriste O Theos, ginexi
Myroforis fthegxamenos Herete, ke tis Sis Aposlis irinin
doroumenos, O tis pesousi parehon Anastasin.

Although

Thou went down into the Tomb, O Immortal


One, Thou brought down the dominion of Hades; and
Thou rose as Victor, O Christ our God; and Thou called
out: Rejoice! to the Myrrh-Bearing Women, and
granted Peace to Thine Apostle, O Lord, Who to the
Fallen grant Resurrection.

FESTAL KONTAKION - ST IRENE THE GREAT MARTYR TONE 3

Parthenias

kallesi, pepikilmeni Parthene, ke Martion


stemmasi, Stefanothisa Irini, emati tou martiriou
errantismeni, thavmasi katastrafthisa ton iamaton,
evsevos Martis edexo, vraveion Nikis tis Sis Athliseos.

INSTEAD

Osi is Hriston Evaptisthite, Hriston enedisasthe.

OF THE

Allelouia!

Doxa Patri ke Io ke Agio Pnevmati, ke nin ke ai ke is


Amin
Hriston enedisasthe.

PRIEST

As many of you as were Baptised into Christ have put


on Christ. Alleluia!
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the
Holy Spirit, now and forever, and to the Ages of ages.

PEOPLE

Amen
Have put on Christ.

Allelouia!

BRIGHT THURSDAY FEAST

pure and virginal beauty,


Thou became fairer still in Thy brave Contest, O
Virgin; for when Thou, in Thine own spilt blood, was
stained and reddened, O Irene, Thou overthrew
ungodly error. Hence, Thou hast received the Prizes of
Thy Good Vict'ry from Thy Creator's right Hand.

THRICE HOLY HYMN

(3)
tous Eonas ton eonon.

Being fair adorned before with

PEOPLE

OF

ST IRENE

THE

GREAT HOLY MARTYR

OF

Allilouia!

THESSALONIKA 5 MAY 2016

3.

Dynamis!
Kelefson, Despota!
Evlogimenos O erhomenos en Onomati Kyriou.
Evlogison, Despota, tin Ano Kathedran)
Evlogimenos i, O epi Thronou Doxis tis Vasilias

DEACON

Sou, O
Kathimenos epi ton Heroubim, pantote, nin ke ai ke is
tous eonas ton eonon.

Amin)
Me Dynamis!
Osi is Hriston Evaptisthite, Hriston enedisasthe.

Power!
With thy Blessing, Master.
PRIEST Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord.
DEACON Master, Bless the Throne on High.
PRIEST Blessed art Thou on the Throne of Glory of
PRIEST

Thy
Kingdom, seated upon the Cherubim always, now and
forever, and to the Ages of ages.

Amen
CHOIR With Power!
PEOPLE As many of
DEACON

Allelouia!

you as were Baptised into Christ have


put on Christ: Alleluia!

FESTAL PROKEIMENON PSALM 46/47 TONE 3

Sing Praises to our God!

All you Nations:


THE ACTS

Sing, sing Praises to our King! Sing Praises!


clap your hands! Shout to God with the voice of rejoicing.

OF THE

APOSTLES ACCORDING

TO

ST LUKE

2 : 38 43

In those day, Peter said to the people: Repent, and be Baptised every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the
Forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit. For the Promise is to you and to your children,
and to all who are far off everyone whom the Lord our God Calls to Him.
With many other words he Testified, and exhorted them, saying: Save yourselves from this crooked generation!
Those who received his word were Baptised, and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They devoted
themselves to the Apostles Teaching and Fellowship, to the Breaking of Bread, and to the Prayers.
Fear came upon every soul - many Wonders and Signs were done through the Apostles.
THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING

TO

ST JOHN 3 : 1 15

At that time, there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nikodemos, a Ruler of the Judeans. He went to Jesus by night, and
said to Him: Rabbi, we know that thou art a Teacher Who has come from God, for no one can do these Signs that Thou
does, unless God is with Him. Jesus answered him: Truly, truly, I say to you: unless one is Born from Above, he
cannot behold the Kingdom of God.
Nikodemos said to Him: How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter into his mothers womb a second time, and
be born? Jesus replied: Truly, truly, I say to you: unless one is Born of Water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the
Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh, is flesh, and that which is Born of the Spirit, is spirit.
Do not marvel that I said to you You must be Born from Above. The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the
sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes. So it is with everyone who is Born of the
Spirit.
Nikodemos said to him: How can this be? Jesus answered him: Art Thou a Teacher of Israel, yet Thou doest not
understand this? Truly, truly, I say to Thee: We speak of what We know, and bear Witness to what we have seen, yet
you do not receive our Testimony. If I have told you earthly things, and you do not believe, how - if I tell you
Heavenly Things - can you believe? No one has Ascended into Heaven but He Who Descended from Heaven the
Son of Man Who is in Heaven.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him
may have Eternal Life.
ST IRENE

THE

GREAT HOLY MARTYR

A Christian in fourth-century Persia had to endure various


factions that shared a common hatred and persecution
of the followers of Jesus Christ.
St Irene (whose name means Peace,) was confronted by
the full wrath of our Lords enemies by choosing to
follow Christ our Saviour despite such an extremely
hostile environment of soothsayers and snake
charmers, and she faithfully served God in a manner
that brought her Sainthood.
Born during the reign of St Constantine the Great in the
Persian city of Magydos, St Irene was the daughter of
Licinios the Governor - a cruel, obsessive ruler who
reared his only child in an ornate palace. At the age of
eight she began her education in the grand manner of
the times, and accordingly she studied for ten years,
under the tutelage of Apellianos, Tutor who was
renowned for his Wisdom and intellect.
An Angel of the Lord appeared to St Irene one day, and
told her that she had been chosen to be the voice of our
Saviour among her own people, and when she informed
the venerable Apellianos of this, he was in awe, but he
warned her that her Path ahead would be strewn with
obstacles and that the Sacred Journey would be
extremely arduous and perilous. Nevertheless, she was
confident that her Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ would
sustain her.
At first Licinios had attributed St Irenes desire for a Life in
Christ to be a mere whim of youth, but he vehemently
urged her to give up such madness, and when her
declarations of Love for Christ continued unabated, he
sternly warned her that he would no longer tolerate her
rejection of paganism in favour of Christianity.
When she failed to comply to his order, he flew into an
insane rage, threatening to have her trampled to death
in the arena by wild horses, but while he was making
the necessary arrangements for her arrest and death

BRIGHT THURSDAY FEAST

OF

ST IRENE

THE

OF

THESSALONIKA

sentence, Licinius himself was accidently trampled by


the frenzied animals.
St Irene hastened to her father, and as he lay mortally
wounded ,she besought our Lord to spare her wicked
father.
By Divine Grace, due to the Intercessory Prayers of St Irene,
Licinios recovered, Repented, and was Baptized into the
Christian Faith, for which he was promptly removed
from office by Sedecian, the Persian King.
Turning his attention to St Irene, whom he considered a
sorceress, Sedecian stated that he would restore her
father to his post and allow her to go free if she
renounced Christ. She declined and was arrested and
imprisoned, being subjected to inhuman torture until
Sedecians death, when she was released.
Miraculously restored to health, St Irene carried the Divine
Truth of the Holy Gospel of our Lord God throughout
the land, converting thousands to Christianity. Three
consecutive successors to Sedecian: Savor, Numerianus
and Savorian, all failed to halt St Irenes advancement of
Christianity. Further imprisonment, torture and abuse
of mind and body failed to make her renounce Christ so
she was condemned to beheading by sword.
On 5 May, 384, St Irene was Perfected, and although she
was not a biblical scholar, her very nature is an
expression of Holy Scripture as evident in every aspect
of her Life in Christ: she not only turned the other
cheek, but went to the aid of the parent who would have
destroyed her, and, except for her intervention, would
have thereby destroyed himself. She saved her fathers
life in order that he might save his own soul thereafter.
While preaching she faced many dire threats, yet, by
Divine Grace, she outlived three Emperors, and she won
the Love and respect of men and women alike.
ORTHODOX SAINTS

GREAT HOLY MARTYR

OF

BY

GEORGE POULOS

THESSALONIKA 5 MAY 2016

4.

Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria & All Africa


Archdiocese of Good Hope
All Glory, Honour and Worship to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and unto the
Ages of ages. Amen. Remembering also our Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed and Glorious Lady, Maria,
Theotokos, yet Ever Virgin, together with all the Saints. And let us commit ourselves and one another and our whole
Life to Christ our God. Amen.

6 May 2016
The Life-giving Spring
Also the Feast of St Job the Long Suffering St Micah of Radonezh St Barbaros the
Soldier, St Bacchos, St Callimachos & St Dionysios of Morea St Barbaros of Thessaly St Stava, First Archbishop of
Serbia St Seraphim of lebadeia St Sophia of Klisoura Dramas

PASCHAL HYMN TONE (5) PLAGAL 1

Hristos Anesti, ek nekron, Thanato Thanaton patisas, Christ

is Risen from the dead; By Death trampling


upon Death, and has bestowed Life to those in the
Tombs.(3)

Ke tis en tis mnimasin, Zoin harisamenos (3)

ISODIKON SMALL ENTRANCE HYMN TONE 2

En

Ekklisies evlogite ton Theon, Kyrion ek Pigon Israil.


Soson imas, Iie Theou, O Anastas ek nekron.

Bless God in the churches, let the Lord from the Fountains
of Israel. Save us, O Son of God, Who arose from the
dead.

AFTER THE SMALL ENTRANCE


IPAKOE TONE 4

Prolavouse

ton orthron e peri Mariam, ke evrouse ton


lithon apokilisthenta tou mnimatos, ikouon ek tou
Angelou. Ton en Foti edio iparhonta, meta nekron ti
zitite os anthropon?
Velpete ta entafia spargana.
Dramete, ke to kosmo kirixate, os igerthi O Kyrios,
Thanatosas ton Thanaton. Oti iparhi Theou Iios, tou
Sozontos to genos ton anthropon.
TO

OUR

When the Women, with Mary, had gone before dawn, and
they found that the ston had been rolled away from the
Sepulchre, they heard from the Angel: Why do You
seek among the dead, as a mortal Man, the One Who
exits in Everlasting Light? Behold the Grave Wrappings
in the Tomb! Hasten, and to the world proclaim: the
Lord has Risen and put Death to death! For He is the
Son of God Who Saves mankind!

LADY THEOTOKOS TONE 1

Naos Sou, Theotoke, anedihthi Oaradsos, os potamous


aizoous, anavlizon iamata. O proserhomeni Pistos, os
zoodohou ek Pigis, risin antloumen, ke zoin tin Eonion.
Presvevis gar Si, to ek Sou tehthenti Sotiri Hristo,
sothine tas psihas imon.

Thy Church, O Theotokos, is like Paradise, since it pours


forth Healings and Cures like Ever-living Rivers. We
come to It with Faith, and we draw Strenth and Eternal
Life from Its Water, through Thou who art the Spring
that received Life Himself. For Thou Intercede with
Christ our Saviour, Who was Born of Thee, and Thou
Entreat Him to Save our soul.

FESTAL KONTAKION TONE (8) PLAGAL 4

I ke en Tafo katilthes Athanate, alla tou Adou kathiles tin Although


Dinamin. Ke anestis os Nikitis, Hriste O Theos, Gynexi
Myrofori fthegxamenos, Herete! ke tis Sis Apostolis
Irinin doroumenos, O tis pesousi parehon Anastasin.

INSTEAD

Osi is Hriston Evaptisthite, Hriston enedisasthe:

OF THE

Thou went down into the Tomb, O Immortal


One, Thou brought down the dominion of Hades; and
Thou Rose as Victor, O Christ our God. And Thou
called out: Hail! to the Myrrhbearers, and granted
Peace to Thine Apostles, O Lord, Who to the fallen
grants Resurrection.

THRICE HOLY HYMN

Allelilouia!

(3)

As many of you as were Baptised into Christ have put on


Christ: Alleluia! (3)

Doxa Patri ke Io ke Agio Pnevmati, ke nin ke ai ke is

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy

Amin
Hriston enedisasthe: Allelouia!
Dynamis!
Dynamis!
Osi is Hriston Evaptisthite, Hriston enedisasthe:

Amen
Have put on Christ: Allilouia!
With Power!
With Power!
As many of you as were Baptised into Christ have put on

tous Eonas ton eonon.

Allilouia!

Spirit, now and forever, and to the Ages of ages.

Christ: Allilouia!
PROKEIMENON PSALM 103/104 TONE 4

O Lord, Thy Works shall be greatly magnified! Thou made all things in Wisdom!
Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God Thou art Exceedingly Magnified!
BRIGHT FRIDAY FIRST FRIDAY AFTER HOLY PASCHA LIFE-GIVING SPRING 6 MAY 2016

THE ACTS

OF THE

ST PETER HEALS

APOSTLES ACCORDING

LAME

MAN IN THE

TO

ST LUKE 3 : 1 8

POWERFUL DIVINE NAME

OF OUR

SAVIOUR

In those days, Peter and John were going up to the Temple at the Hour of prayer, the Ninth Hour. And a man lame from
birth was being carried. He was laid daily at the gate of the Temple, which is called Beautiful, to beg for Alms from
those who entered the Temple.
Seeing Peter and John about to enter the Temple, he asked them for Alms. Peter directed his gaze at him, with John, and
said: Look at us. He fixed his attention upon them, expecting to receive something from them.
Peter said: Silver and gold I do not have. What I have, I give to you. In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth get up and
walk! And he took him by the right hand and raised him up. Immediately his feet and ankles were strengthened, and
leaping up, he stood, and walked.
And he entered the Temple with them, walking, and leaping, and praising God.
THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING

ST JOHN 2

TO

OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST CLEANSES HIS FATHERS TEMPLE

IN

12 22
JERUSALEM

At that time, our Lord Jesus went to Capernaum with His Mother and His Brothers and His Disciples, and they remained
there for a few days.
And the Passover of the Judeans was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And in the Temple He found the sellers of
oxen, and sheep, and pigeons, and the money-changers conducting their business. And, having made a whip of cords,
He drove them all out of the Temple with the sheep and oxen. And He poured out the coins of the money-changers
and overthrew the tables. And to those who sold doves He said: Take these away from here! Do not make My
Fathers House a house of merchandise!
His Disciples remembered that it was written: The Zeal for Thy House hath consumed Me!
The Judeans responded, and said to Him: What Sign dost Thou show us, seeing that Thou doest these things? Answering,
Jesus said to them: Destroy this Temple, and in Three Days I Will Raise It up. The Judeans replied: Forty six years
it took to build this Temple, and Thou wilt raise it up in three days?
However, He spoke of the Temple of His Body. When, therefore, He was Risen from the dead, His Disciples remembered
that He had said this to them. And they believed the Scriptures, and the Word that Jesus had spoken.
BRIGHT FRIDAY - THE FEAST

The Feast of the Life-giving Spring which is kept on the


Friday of Bright Week has its origins in the 5th century.
It is the Feast that commemorates the Consecration of the
Church of the Life-giving Spring outside Constantinople.
The very large and beautiful church named in honour of
our Ever Blessed Lady, the Theotokos of the Life-giving
Spring, was built about the middle of the fifth century
by the Emperor Leo the Great (457-474), outside
Constantinople.
Emperor Leo was a pious man and before he became
Emperor, he had encountered a blind man, who being
tormented by extreme thirst, had asked him to help him
find some water with which to refresh himself.
St Leo felt compassion for him and went in search of a
source of water, but found none. As he was about to
cease his search, he heard a soft female voice telling
him there was water nearby.
He looked again, and found none.
Then he heard the voice again - this time addressing him as
"Emperor" - which instructed him to a place that had a
small muddy pool in the midst of the densely wooded
area.
The voice told St Leo to take some of that muddy water and
anoint the blind man's eyes with it, and when he had
done so, the blind man received his sight.
After St Leo became Emperor, as the Most Holy Theotokos
had prophesied, he had a Temple constructed over the
Miraculous Spring, whose waters continued to work
many Healings, and even resurrections from the dead,
through the Intercessions of the Theotokos, which is
how it came to be called the "Life-giving Spring."
Justinian the Great (527-565) was also cured by the waters
of The Life-giving Spring and in gratitude built a new
Temple even larger than the first, which was destroyed
by earthquakes and rebuilt by other grateful Emperors.
After the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453, the
Temple was razed to the ground and the great stones
and various building materials were salvaged and used
to build the mosque of Sultan Beyazt.
Nothing remained of that ancient beauty, except for a small
Chapel, almost completely buried in the ruins, which
had twenty-five descending steps and a transom
window on the roof, which allowed a little light to shine
inside.
Toward the western wall of the Chapel was the Holy Lifegiving Spring, surrounded by a railing.
In 1821 even that small remnant was destroyed.
The Sacred Spring was buried and had disappeared
altogether.
However, in the days of Sultan Mahmud, when those who
were subject to him rejoiced in the freedom to practise
their Faith, permission was sought by the Orthodox
Christian Community to rebuild at least the Chapel.

OF THE

LIFE-GIVING SPRING

Permission was granted to rebuild the Temple, and it was


Consecrated on Bright Friday in 1835.
Tragically, on the night of 6-7 September 1955, along
with 73 other Orthodox Christian churches in
Istanbul, it was desecrated and burnt to the ground by
rampaging Turks.
Eventually, the Temple has been restored yet once again,
but not like its former magnificence.
O Most Holy Theotokos of the Life-giving Spring, Save us!
ON GUARDING OUR HEART
ST NICEPHOROS THE HESYCHAST

We must look for a Master who is not himself in error: his


Lessons will show us when we go astray
If you can find no one, pray to God in contrition of heart
and with tears, appeal to Him in your nakedness and do
what I shall tell you.
You know that we breathe in and out, only because of our
heartSo, as I have said, sit down, recollect your mind,
draw it-I am speaking of your mind-in your nostrils;
that is the path the breath takes to reach the heart.
Drive it, force it to go down to your heart with the air you
are breathing in. When it is there, you will see the Joy
that follows: you will have nothing to regret. As a man
who has been away from home for a long time cannot
restrain his joy at seeing his wife and children again, so
the spirit overflows with Joy and unspeakable delights
when it is United again to the soul
Next you must know that as long as your spirit abides
there, you must not remain silent nor idle. Have no
other occupation or meditation than the cry of: Lord
Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me! Under
no circumstances give yourself any rest. This practice
protects your spirit from wandering and makes it
impregnable and inaccessible to the suggestions of the
enemy and lifts it up every day in Love and desire for
God.
But if, in spite of all your efforts, Brethren, you do not
succeed in entering your heart as I have directed, do
what I tell you and with Gods Help you will achieve
your end.
You know that mans reason has its seat in the breast.
In fact it is in our breast that although our lips are silent,
we speak, make decisions, compose Prayers and Psalms,
etc
After putting all thoughts away from this rational power (it
can be done; you need only to will it), present to it the
Prayer, Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me, and
force it to utter these words interiorly, excluding all
other thoughts.
When in time you will have mastered this practice, it will
undoubtedly open for you the entrance to the heart.
(PG 147, 961-966; CF. WRITINGS FROM THE PHILOKALIA, PP. 32-34).

6. B R I G H T F R I D A Y F I R S T F R I D A Y A F T E R H O L Y P A S C H A L I F E - G I V I N G S P R I N G 6 M A Y 2 0 1 6

Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria & All Africa


Archdiocese of Good Hope
All Glory, Honour and Worship to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and unto
the Ages of ages. Amen. Remembering also our Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed and Glorious Lady, Maria,
Theotokos, yet Ever Virgin, together with all the Saints. And let us commit ourselves and one another and our
whole Life to Christ our God. Amen.

Tone 1

8 May 2016
First Antipaschal Sunday
The Belief of St Thomas

Also the Feast of St John the Beloved Apostle, Evangelist & Theologian St Arsenios the
Great of Rome St Arsenios the Lover of Labour of Kiev Far Caves Monastery St Pimen
the Ascetic of Kiev Far Caves Monastery St Tamara, Venerable Queen of Georgia

PASCHAL HYMN TONE (5) PLAGAL 1

Hristos Anesti, ek nekron, Thanato Thanaton patisas, Christ

is Risen from the dead; By Death trampling


upon Death, and has bestowed Life to those in the
Tombs.(3)

Ke tis en tis mnimasin, Zoin harisamenos (3)

RESURRECTION GOSPEL 1 MATTHEW 28: 16 20


THE GREAT DIVINE COMMISSION

OF OUR

ETERNAL LORD JESUS CHRIST

ISODIKON SMALL ENTRANCE-

En

Ekklisies evlogite ton Theon, Kyrion ek Pigon Israil.


Soson imas, Iie Theou, O Anastas ek nekron.

HYMNS TONE 2

Bless God in the churches, let the Lord from the Fountains
of Israel. Save us, O Son of God, Who arose from the
dead.

AFTER THE SMALL ENTRANCE


PASCHAL APOLYTIKION - TONE 2

Esfragismenou

tou Mnimiatos, i Zoi ek Tafou anetilas


Hriste O Theos, ke ton thiron keklismenon, tis Mathites
epestis, i panton Anastasis. Pnevm evthes di afton
egkenizon imin, kata to Mega Sou Eleos.

Life, Thou rose from the Sepulchre, even though the


Tomb was secured with a seal, O Christ God. And
although the doors had been bolted, Thou went to Thy
Disciples, O Resurrection of all. Through them Thou
Renew a Right Spirit in us, according

FESTAL APOLYTIKION ST JOHN BELOVED APOSTLE & THEOLOGIAN - TONE 2

Apostole

Hristo to Theo igapimene, epitahinon, Rise laon


anapologiton. Dehete Se prospiptonta, O epipesonta to
stithi katadexamenos, on iketeve, Theloge, ke epimonon
Nefos ethnon diaskedase, etoumenos imin Irinin, ke to
Mega Eleos.

Apostle, Beloved of Christ our God, hasten to Deliver


us, who have no excuse. He accepts Thy Supplications,
for He condescended at the Supper to allow Thee to
lean against Him. Entreat Him, O Theologian, that He
scatter the persistent Cloud of hostile Nations, and
pray for us, for Peace and Great Mercy.

PASCHAL KONTAKION TONE (8) PLAGAL 4

ke en Tafo katilthes Athante, alla tou Adou kathiles tin


dinamin. Ke Anestis os Nikitis, Hriste O Theos, Gynexi
Myroforis fthegxamenos, Herete! Ke tis Sis Apostolis
Irinini doroumenos, O tis pesousi parehon Anastasin.

Although Thou went into the Tomb, O Immortal, yet Thou


brought down the dominion of Hades; and Thou Rose
as Victor, O Christ our God. And Thou called out:
Hail! to the Myrrhbearing Women, and granted Peace
to Thine Apostles, O Lord Who to the fallen grants
Resurrection.

PASCHAL PROKEIMENON - PSALM 18/19 TONE (8) PLAGAL 4

Their Proclamation went forth into all the Earth, and their words to the ends of the world.
The Heavens declare the Glory of God; the firmament shows the Creation of His Hands.
THE FIRST UNIVERSAL EPISTLE

OF

ST JOHN 1 : 1 7

Brethren: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we
have looked upon, and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life -(and the Life was made manifest,
and we saw It, and Testify to It, and proclaim to you the Eternal Life, Who was with the Father, and Who was made
manifest to us) - that which we have seen and heard, we proclaim also to you, so that you may have Fellowship
with us. And our Fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ.
And we are writing this so that our Joy may be complete.
And this is the Message that we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, for God is Light and in Him is no Darkness
at all.
If we say we have Fellowship with Him and we walk in Darkness, we lie, and do not Live according to the Truth. If we
walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, we have Fellowship with one another, and the Blood of Jesus, His Son,
Cleanses us from all sin.

ANTIPASCHA 1ST SUNDAY AFTER HOLY PASCHA THE BELIEF

OF

ST THOMAS 8 MAY 2016

7.

THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING

TO

ST JOHN 20 : 19 31

On the evening of that day the first day of the week the doors being shut where the Disciples were for fear of the
Judeans, Jesus came and stood among them, and said to them: Peace be with you! And when He had said this,
He showed them His Hands and His Side.
The Disciples were glad when they beheld our Lord.
Jesus said to them again: Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, even so, I send you. And having said this, He
breathed on them, and said to them: Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you
retain the sins of any, they are retained.
Thomas one of the Twelve, who was called the Twin was not with them when Jesus came.
The other Disciples told him: We have seen our Lord! He said to them: Unless I see in His Wrists the imprint of the nails,
and place my finger in the marks of the nails, and place my hand in His Side, I will not believe!
And eight days later, His Disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus
came, and stood amidst them, and said: Peace be with you!
To Thomas He said: Put your finger here, and see My Wrists; and stretch forth your hand, and place it in My Side, and
do not be unbelieving, but believe! And answering, Thomas said to Him: My Lord and my God!
Jesus said to him: Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen, yet believe!
Many other Signs were done by Jesus in the presence of His Disciples, which are not written in this book. These are
written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing, you may have Life in
His Name.
FIRST ANTIPASCHA SUNDAY THE BELIEF

Christ is Risen! Truly, He is Risen!


Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: Throughout Bright
Week we lived in the Paschal Joy of our Resurrected
Saviour; and our Joy - just like that of the Holy
Apostles - was mixed with confusion.
Not long ago we had remembered the Death of Him Who
is the Source of Life, but now we Rejoice, having been
raised to Life by Him Who had been in the Tomb!
Just like the Holy Disciples and Apostles during the first
days after the Resurrection, we vividly remembered
the Passion of Christ during the Reading of the 12 Holy
Gospel accounts; our Lords Death and the Taking
Down of His Body from the Cross, which we symbolized
by the bringing out of His Shroud; our Saviours Burial,
when we carried His Shroud in a Procession around
the church; and the long hours awaiting the Miracle
of Resurrection on Great and Holy Saturday of Great
Stillness.
Although from very early in the morning on the Day of the
Resurrection the Good News of the Resurrection was
carried throughout Creation - by the Holy Angels of
God in Heaven and the Holy Myrrhbearers on Earth and even the hired guards of the Sanhedrin who had
reported the Divine Miracle! - our Lords Apostles and
Disciples being overwhelmed by fear and doubt, hid
themselves behind locked doors ...for the fear of the
Jews... (MARK 16:6 - LUKE 24:9 - MATTHEW 28:11 & JOHN 20:19).
Their fear and doubt was not altogether surprising, for
they had personally witnessed the Greatest Event in
the history of mankind: ordinary human beings had
killed the Lord our God, Who had told them that He
would Rise from the dead on the Third Day!
And, Truly indeed! He had Risen from the dead and has
Saved the dying human race from the grasping claws
of Hades!
However, after our Beloved Lord had been betrayed and
unjustly arrested, almost all His Apostles and Disciples
forgot His prophesies concerning the things that were
about to take place.
Consequently, they would not believe the Holy
Myrrhbearers
glorious
Proclamation
of
the
Resurrection. (MARK 16:11 & LUKE 24:11)
They even hesitated when confronted behind locked
doors by our Risen Lord Jesus Christ! (LUKE 24:25)
That unbelief is due to a condition of our human
weakness for we are incapable of encompassing
the Magnitude of the Miracle that occurred on that
Holy Pascha morning, which is clearly reflected in the
now familiar words of St Thomas the Apostle whom
Christ had nicknamed the Twin due to always being
double-minded i.e. having a need to clarify and
ascertain everything he heard : ...Unless I see the
nail marks in His Wrists and put my finger upon the
imprint of the nails, and put my hand into His Side, I
will not believe!. (JOHN 20:25)
People often erroneously and unfairly refer to St Thomas
as doubting, not really considering the depth and
the height of the so-called doubt of this Holy
Apostle.
His doubt was certainly not the same as that of the
Judeans who yelled mockingly about our Saviour
Whom they had so unjustly crucified: Let Him come

8.

OF

ST THOMAS

down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him!


(MATTHEW 27:42)

Neither was the incredulity of St Thomas similar to that


which we hear from our unbelieving contemporaries
who say: If there is a God, let Him show Himself to all,
and we will believe in Him and live happily ever
after!
The Scribes and Pharisees knew much about our Lord
Jesus Christs Divine Miracles and Truth - and must
have suspected Who Jesus of Galilee or Jesus of
Nazareth really was!
Yet whenever they were confronted by the Divine Truth
and the Very Presence of Christ our Lord and Saviour,
they stubbornly became even more blasphemous,
and sunk deeper into their arrogant, egocentric
wickedness!
When they heard that Christ had Healed a man born
blind born without eyes by creating healthy eyes
with His Saliva and clay - instead of lifting Praises of
Joy and Thanksgiving to God for His Great Mercy,
they spewed out curses and blasphemy in their ever
increasing Spiritual Blindness: This Man is a sinner!
(JOHN 9:24)

They dared to maliciously accuse our Almighty Creator:


... Thou were steeped in sin at birth! (JOHN 9:34).
When they heard that our Most Loving and
Compassionate Lord Jesus had resurrected a fourday-dead, decomposing man St Lazaros of Bethany
- and, thus unable to deny nor doubt Christs True
Divinity, the Judean Elders decided ...to kill Lazaros
as well! (JOHN 12:10)
Finally, after being faced with the undeniable Truth of
our Lord Jesus Christs Miraculous Resurrection, and
having heard the first-hand accounts of their paid
guards at the sealed Tomb, who had fallen to the
ground, trembling and terrified, in the presence of a
shining Angel of God - and having seen the Empty
Tomb - the Elders bribed the soldiers to remain silent
or to lie about the True Resurrection of Christ thereby
deceiving the people further and deepening their
blasphemy!. (MATTHEW 28:4 &11-14)
Our contemporary Pharisees and Scribes also further
deepen their wicked blasphemy even though
having encountered our Resurrected Lord but
stubbornly refusing to believe.
St Thomas the double-minded but extremely faithful
Apostle of Christ is certainly not like any of these
unbelievers who have chosen to reject the Divine
Truth and Reality of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ!
His faithfulness and Sacrificial Love for our Lord Jesus is
clearly evident, for, having accompanied Him for
three years, together with the other Holy Apostles and
close Disciples, St Thomas understood very well the
dangerous threats of the arrogant Scribes and
Pharisees.
When our Saviour decided to go to Jerusalem, they tried
to persuade Him not to do so due to that impending
peril of arrest and execution. (JOHN 11:8).
However, St Thomas said to the others: Let us also go,
that we may die with Him (JOHN 11:16).
Those are definitely not the words of a doubter!

ANTIPASCHA 1ST SUNDAY AFTER HOLY PASCHA THE BELIEF

OF

ST THOMAS 8 MAY 2016

Furthermore, after the Ascension of our Lord, St Thomas


went to preach the Holy Gospel throughout the most
distant, and most difficult places to reach going as
far as India, where he would eventually be Martyred
for his unwavering Christian Faith.
A week after His Resurrection, our Saviour appeared
again to His faithful Disciples specifically when St
Thomas was with them.
However, His devoted Apostle only needed that
verification the Presence of our Resurrected Lord to
make his heartfelt Confession: My Lord and my God!
Only eight days earlier he had been incredulous of his
fellow Disciples statements, voicing his concern in a
typical fashion.
Upon seeing and hearing the words of our Resurrected
Lord, St Thomas had no need to actually touch or
examine the Wounds of Christ!
In His desire to Save all mankind, our Lord Jesus Christ
voluntarily suffered every type of public humiliation
and degradation - being mocked, being spat upon,
being slapped and beaten, being unjustly and most
brutally scourged over the back and even the front of
His Body, being stripped naked, and being nailed to
the cross!
He was even willing to allow others to poke at and to
examine His Wounds with their fingers after His
Glorious Resurrection although none of them did so.
G LORY

TO

G OD

F OR

If anyone awaits our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ,


nothing will prevent Him from coming to us not even
locked and bolted doors and windows! (JOHN 20:26).
But what will He find when He enters our heart and soul?
Will He hear our heartfelt, most Joyous Confession of
Faith: My Lord and my God! or will He find
mocking, spitting, slapping, beating, scourging,
nakedness, crucifixion and rejection from us?
Will we crucify Him again and again by means of our
arrogant disobedience and total disregard of
Repentance-Confession scourging Him brutally with
our stubborn, wilful unrepented sins, and rejection?
Or will we Worship Him with all our Love, Humility and
Obedience, Embracing Him and Praising Him with all
our Joy and Thanksgiving like His faithful Apostle, St
Thomas?
O Lord, through the Intercessory Prayers of Thy Holy
Apostle, St Thomas, grant us Humility, Obedience and
unwavering Faith - and Strengthen and Confirm our
weak belief.
Amen.
R EVEREND F ATHER S ERGEI S VESHNI KOV (A PRIL 2009)
HTTP :// WWW . PRAVMIR . COM / ARTICLE _593. HTML

A LL T HINGS T HE W ORK

Do we cooperate in our Salvation? Do our efforts make a


difference?
These questions lie at the heart of a centuries-old
religious debate in Christianity. Classically, the
Protestant reformers said, No, to these questions,
arguing that we are Saved solely and utterly by Gods
Grace - His unmerited Favour.
The Catholic Church replied that ...Faith without
Works... is dead and that Faith alone is insufficient.
This debate, with various twists and turns, has continued
down through the centuries of Christian culture.
At one point, there were complaints of cheap Grace,
where the exaltation of Pure Grace over Works led to a
very complacent and lazy Christianity.
There were also periods of extreme reaction, with guiltdriven excesses of devotion.
Eastern Orthodoxy is a late-comer to this debate, but it is
not a stranger. Contemporary Orthodox are quick to
latch on to the doctrine of synergy and take sides
against the cheap Grace of Protestant Evangelicalism.
Classically, Orthodox thought holds both that we are
Saved through the Action of God (Divine Grace), but
that we necessarily cooperate in that Work
(synergy=cooperation).
For many converts, this balance has seemed attractive
and a needed corrective to the feel-good theology of
contemporary Christian culture. But it has a dark side.
That dark side is found in the echoes of the guilt-ridden
spectres of works-righteousness.
How much cooperation is enough? For it is obvious that
we do not pray as we should nor do we give as we
should or do anything as we should.
If our cooperation is required, are we failing? For many
the answer is inevitably, Yes. We never do enough
anywhere, at any time. Our life is often haunted with
disapproval and shame - well-worn paths that rarely
let us venture into Joy.
But it is a mistake to embrace synergy as part of the
classical Protestant/Catholic debate. It was an answer
to a question asked in a very different context and in
centuries
that
long-pre-dated
the
modern
conversation.
Synergy is not a talking-point within the Grace-versusWorks debate.
Synergy is certainly an affirmation of the human role in
Salvation.
Its most famous example is found in the Yes of the
Mother of God at the Incarnation of Christ. Her
acceptance and embrace of the Heavenly
Announcement are seen as necessary components in
God-becoming-Man.
God does not impose Himself upon human freedom. Our
free response is required for the Life of True
Personhood that is the hallmark of Salvation.

THAT

S AVES F ATHE R S T EPHE N

FREEMAN

Synergy is properly seen as response rather than Work.


The whole Life of Salvation is marked by Grace and is
gracious in all its aspects.
Consider this statement of St. Paul: ... to him who works,
the wages are not counted as Grace but as debt. But
to him who does not work but believes on Him Who
Justifies the ungodly, his Faith is accounted for
Righteousness (ROMANS 4:4-5)
There is a kind of Work that has no wages and does not
belong to the world of debt described by St. Paul. And
it is this sort of Work that is encompassed in the
term synergy. That work can be described
as gracious response.
It is worth noting two instances in which the Work of our
Spiritual Life is described: ...Then they said to Him:
What shall we do, that we may work the Works of
God? Jesus answered and said to them: This is the
Work of God, that you believe in Him Whom He sent.
(JOHN 6:28-29)

And: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in


everything give thanks; for this is the Will of God in
Christ Jesus for you. (1THESSALONIANS 5:16-18)
In the first case, Work is equated with believing. It
means that the Work we do is to Love Christ and to
keep His Commandments.
In the second case, the Will of God is fulfilled by giving
thanks for all things.
The dynamic of Saving Grace in our Life is marked by
becoming like God: God gives graciously and freely.
We receive graciously and freely by giving thanks for
all things.
In this manner, our own Work is itself marked by a kind
of Grace. (We cannot hear the meaning of Grace in
English, but in the Greek, it also carries the meaning
of Gift. (it is the same word)) (It also means Joy. mp)
Gifts are never given with an expectation of return they
are gracious and free. But they are only rightly
received with Thanksgiving. This is true of the Life of
Grace in the believer.
There is a highly moralized version of synergy, in which
God is seen to grant us Grace, but we must do
something to make it effective.
In this model we are always judging the results of our
cooperation with Grace, and assuming that the lousy
outcomes we see, are simply our fault. This
experience becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of
failure and remorse - a distortion of Grace-filled
Synergy.
I have written (and been criticized for it) about the
unmoral Christian. My intention has been to unmask
and disarm this false notion of synergy. We indeed
are not saved through the works that Protestants tend
to criticize.

ANTIPASCHA 1ST SUNDAY AFTER HOLY PASCHA THE BELIEF

OF

ST THOMAS 8 MAY 2016

9.

The Work we do is largely a state of heart from which all


subsequent Grace-empowered Actions flow. That state
of heart is best described as grateful Thanksgiving.
The Eucharistic Life is the True Existence of the Christian.
Thanksgiving is the first of all Works and the sine qua
non (outcome) of our Spiritual Life. Everything that
proceeds from our Thanksgiving works towards our
Salvation. That which does not proceed from our
Thanksgiving tends to work towards our destruction.
There has grown up a virtual cottage industry of
Orthodox commentary (particularly on the internet
where all of us can self-publish).
This commentary (including that of some Priests) is often
marked
by
poor
Theological
training
or
understanding, by argument and debate, and by an
extreme lack of Experience in the actual Guidance of
souls towards Healing and Salvation. That is to say
much of it is worthless and some of it is actually
damaging.
This can especially be true in discussions of synergy. The
wrong treatment of such Pastoral matters can
produce despair and distrust in naive readers whose
expectations have been raised through the reading of
the Lives of the Saints, and yet whose experience is
marked by the same repeated moral failures that
they have always known.
Well-intentioned but ignorant writers argue that what is
needed is yet more moral goading. I have been
criticized for possibly lightening the moral load or
suggesting that all moral effort is of no use.
One form of moral effort (the most common) is indeed of
no use. It belongs to the same category as the works
criticized by Protestant theology.
We pray, with no understanding, labouring to complete a
Prayer Rule that amounts to little more than going
through the motions.
We Fast as though every slip were a matter of sin in need
of Confession. Some go so far as to carefully search
through the labels on every grocery product, seeking
for tale-tell signs of milk products, having invented
for themselves a new Yoke of Bondage that turns
Orthodox Fasting into a new version of Kosher!
In short, there is a form of Asceticism that is ill-taught and
ill-practiced, which produces either despairing
Christians or oppressive Pharisees (sometimes in one
and the same person)!
The grounding of our Christian Life is Thanksgiving.
If we cannot Fast with Thanksgiving, our Fast will be of
little use.
The same extends to all Christian practices and
Commandments.
The essential Work of our Christian Life is grateful
Thanksgiving.
It is for this reason that Father Alexander Schmemann
wrote: Anyone capable of Thanksgiving is capable
of Salvation.
There are very deep forms of Asceticism, but even these
are rightly rooted in Thanksgiving.
THE WAY

OF

In the 20th century, perhaps no Saint is better known for


his Ascetical Achievements than St Silouan of Mount
Athos, who was known to have endured some 15
years of the experience of Hell in his Prayers.
At its depth, he heard Christ say: Keep your mind in Hell
and despair not.
His interpreter and biographer, Elder Sophrony of Essex,
however, is reported to have said, If you will give
God Thanks always and for all things, you will fulfill
the saying, Keep your mind in Hell and despair
not.
The first Duty of a Spiritual Father is to lead a soul into the
practise of giving Thanks.
In this manner we acquire the Spirit of Peace and are
able to sustain our Christian Life.
But without Thanksgiving, we will only fall into despair or
delusion.
Thanksgiving is the Foundation of our Christian Life.
When this is understood and in place, other things
can be properly understood.
For example, it is common to read in the Spiritual Writings
of Orthodoxy (and to hear in the Services) terms such
as self-loathing.
This is quite common, for example, in Elder Sophronys
work.
It is very easily taken in the wrong way and those without
a proper Foundation will likely come away with a
terrible distortion.
Self-loathing, in the sense that it is used, is not brought
about by the contemplation of our sins (a moral
condemnation and disgust with the self).
It is rather brought about by the contemplation of Gods
Love and His Fullness of Being.
It is only as we see ourselves in the Light of God Himself,
that we can achieve self-loathing that Elder
Sophrony describes.
But even this is Joyful, because it takes place in the
Gracious Presence of the Grace-giving God.
Thanksgiving, as Gracious Gift, draws us into the Very Life
of the Holy Trinity. For it is that Life that is described by
St John Chrysostom in his Liturgy, when the celebrant
Priest prays:
...but account me, Thy sinful and
unworthy servant, worthy to offer gifts to Thee. For
Thou art the Offerer and the Offered, the Receiver and
the Received, O Christ our God, and to Thee we
ascribe Glory, together with Your Father, Who is
without beginning, and Thine All Holy, Good, and
Life-creating Spirit, now and ever and unto Ages of
ages...
It is this Gifting Life of the Offerer and the Offered, the
Receiver and the Received that we enter as we rightly
give Thanks always, for all things.
This is our Work - our True Synergy, without which we
cannot be Saved.
FATHER STEPHEN FREEMAN ANCIENT FAITH BLOG 22/04/2015

http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/78855.htm

LOVE DEMANDS CONSTANT VIGILANCE ELDER PORPHYRIOS

Elder Porphyrios tells us that Vigilance is Passionate Love An intense yearning for Christ.
When we are Spiritually Vigilant we are careful about
everything we do.
We avoid laziness, we make efficient use of our efforts,
and seek to do all things in ways that lead to more
harmony.
We pay attention to the details of things - even the way
we may open the latch on a gate (This is an example
the Elder uses).
This effort must be constant and careful.
We need to pay attention to our soul.
The more we seek God the more Vigilant we become.
It is with constant Vigilance that we enter the Spiritual
World.
We acquire Remembrance of God though the Jesus
Prayer: O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy

on me, a sinner, through the Prayers of the Church,


through the Hymns, by bringing to mind the Acts of
God, and by recalling passages from Holy Scripture,
and from other Spiritual Books.
We Experience Christ and we take off!
We feel great Joy and have Wondrous Spiritual
Experiences.
Then we gradually become captives of Good - captives
of Christ. And when we become captives of Good, we
cannot speak evil, we cannot hate and we cannot tell
lies
They (the demons) cannot enter when our room is full of
our ether-borne Spiritual FriendsI mean the Angels,
the Saints, the Martyrs and above all Christ.
( W O U N D E D B Y L O V E )

ON VIGILANCE & HONESTY - PROTOPRESBYTER SERGEI CHETVERIKOV

If we are Vigilant and Honest with ourselves, we would


see that our life is a web - a huge network of such
small but significant wicked moments, which
comprise a significant part of our existence.

10.

If we ignore this, thinking that this is all normal, it means


that we have not yet begun to live the Christian Life!

ANTIPASCHA 1ST SUNDAY AFTER HOLY PASCHA THE BELIEF

OF

ST THOMAS 8 MAY 2016

Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria & All Africa


Archdiocese of Good Hope
All Glory, Honour and Worship to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and unto
the Ages of ages. Amen. Remembering also our Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed and Glorious Lady,
Maria, Theotokos, yet Ever Virgin, together with all the Saints. And let us commit ourselves and one another
and our whole Life to Christ our God. Amen.

Tone 2

15 May 2016

nd

2 Sunday After Holy Pascha


The 8 Holy Myrrhbearers, St Nikodemos & St Joseph of
Arimathea
Also the Feast of St Pachomios the Great, Founder of Coenobitic Monasticism - St
Achilios of Larisis - St Isaiah the Bishop & Wonderworker of Rostov - St Demetrios the
Crown Prince of Uglich & Moscow St Isaiah the Wonderworker of Kiev Near Caves
Monastery St Pachomios the Abbot & St Silvanos the Venerable of Nerekhta St Euphrosynos the Abbot and
Wonderworker & St Serapion of Pskov St Achilles, Bishop of Larissa, Thessaly

PASCHAL HYMN TONE (5) PLAGAL 1

Hristos Anesti, ek nekron, Thanato Thanaton patisas, Christ

is Risen from the dead; By Death trampling


upon Death, and has bestowed Life to those in the
Tombs.(3)

Ke tis en tis mnimasin, Zoin harisamenos (3)

RESURRECTION GOSPEL 4 LUKE 24 : 1 - 12


THE HOLY MYRRHBEARERS WITNESS

THE

EMPTY TOMB

OF OUR

RESURRECTED LORD

ISODIKON SMALL ENTRANCE HYMN TONE 2

En

Ekklisies evlogite ton Theon, Kyrion ek Pigon Israil.


Soson imas, Iie Theou, O Anastas ek nekron.

Bless God in the churches, let the Lord from the Fountains
of Israel. Save us, O Son of God, Who arose from the
dead.

DIVINE LITURGY HYMNS & READINGS AFTER


RESURRECTION APOLYTIKION

THE

SMALL ENTRANCE

TONE

Ote katilthes pros ton Thanaton, i Zoi i Athanatos, tote ton When Thou descended unto Death, O Lord, Who Thyself
Edin enekrosas ti astrapi tis Theotitos, ote de ke tous
tethneotas ek ton katahthonion anestisas, pase e
Dinamis ton epouranion ekravgazon. Zoodota Hrist O
Theos imon, Doxa Si.

art Immortal Life, then Thou mortified Hades by the


Lightning Flash of Thy Divinity. Also when Thou
raised the dead from the netherworld, all the Powers of
Heaven were crying out: O Giver of Life Christ our
God - Glory to Thee!

PASCHAL APOLYTIKION OF ST JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA & THE HOLY MYRRH-BEARERS

evshimon Iosif, apo tou xilou kathelon, to ahranton Sou


Soma, sindoni kathara, ilisas ke aromasin, en mnimati
keno, kidevsas apetheto; alla trimeros anestis Kyrie,
parehon to kosmo to Mega Eleos!

Tes

Myroforis Ginexi, para to Mnima epistas, O Angelos


evoa: To Myra tis thnitis iparhi armodia, Hristos de
diafthoras edihthi allotrios; alla kravgasate: Anesti O
Kyrios, parehon to kosmo to Mega Eleos!

The

noble Joseph taking down Thy spotless Body from


the Tree, wrapped it in a clean shroud with sweet
spices and laid it for burial in a new tomb; but on the
third day Thou arose, O Lord, granting the world Thy
Great Mercy!

The

Angel standing by the Tomb cried to the Myrrhbearing Women: Myrrh is fitting for the dead, but
Christ has been shown to be a stranger to corruption.
But cry aloud: The Lord has Risen, granting the world
His Great Mercy!

PASCHAL KONTAKION UNTIL

ASCENSION DAY

I ke en Tafo katilthes athanate, alla tou Adou kathiles tin Although Thou descended in the grave, O Immortal One,
dinamin; ke Anestis os nikitis, Hriste O Theos, Ginexi
Miroforis fthengxamenos: Herete! Ke tis sis Apostolis
Irinin doroumenos, O tis pesousi parehon Anastasin.

yet Thou destroyed the power of Hades; and Thou


arose as Victor, O Christ our God! To the Myrrhbearing Women Thou said: Rejoice! And to Thine
Apostles Thou granted Thy Peace: the One Who grants
Resurrection to the fallen ones

PROKEIMENON PSALM 117/118 TONE 2

The Lord is my Strength and my Song, and He became my Salvation.


The Lord Chastened and corrected me, but He did not give me up to Death

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER HOLY PASCHA THE HOLY MYRRHBEARERS 15 MAY 2016

11

THE ACTS

OF THE

APOSTLES ACCORDING
DEACONS

ARE

TO

ST LUKE 6 : 1 7

ORDAINED

In those days, when the number of Disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the
Hellenists because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.
The Twelve summoned the multitude of Disciples and said: It is not desirable that we should leave the Word of God
and serve tables. Therefore, Brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit
and Wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. We will give ourselves continually to Prayer and the
Ministry of the Word. And their words pleased the whole multitude.
And they chose Stephen, a man full of Faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip Prochoros, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and
Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the Apostles; and when they had prayed they laid hands
on them.
And the Word of God spread, and the number of Disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the
Priests were Obedient to the Faith.

The Hebrews referred to the local Jewish Christians in


Jerusalem who spoke Aramaic, while the Hellenists
were Greek-speaking Jewish Christians from other
parts of the Hellenised world who had settled in
Jerusalem.
St John Chrysostom noted that this particular complaint
showed a lack of order among the quickly growing
multitude of Faithful Christians, even though the
neglect of the Hellenistic widows and orphans was
certainly not malicious or intentional.
So it is evident that various problems that faced the early
Church arose not only from outsiders, but also due to
dissension or misunderstanding from within.
However, these various initial difficulties were quickly
resolved due to the mutual respect and Love of one
another within the Holy Church of Christ.
 PROBLEMS HAVE ALWAYS ARISEN DUE TO THE HUMAN FACTOR
WHEN OUR EGOS AND SELFISHNESS DOMINATE AND RULE OUR
EMOTIONS AND ACTIONS.

However, these MUST always be very quickly Repented,


resolved and forgiven, so that we may CONTINUE TO
FOCUS ON OUR FAITHFUL AND TRUE WORSHIP OF ALMIGHTY
GOD, WHILE CONSTANTLY CORRECTING AND REPENTING OUR
OWN PERSONAL FLAWS, which is the entire Purpose of this
earthly life, before Eternity.
The term Disciples generally refers to all Faithful
Believers and Followers of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ, and not only to His Twelve Apostles or those
who were close to Him and who accompanied Him
during His Public Ministry.
 To be A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST means that we are really
trying to LEARN ALL THE SACRED TEACHINGS AND
COMMANDMENTS OF CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR SO THAT WE CAN
APPLY THEM TO OUR EVERY WORD, THOUGHT AND DEED:
THIS IS LIFE IN CHRIST, WHICH TAKES MUCH EFFORT AND A
FAITHFUL WILLINGNESS TO OBEY GOD AT ALL TIMES.
While THE MINISTRIES OF THE WORD AND OF SERVING widows
(and orphans) are important Sacred Tasks, they

THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING


TH

UNNAILING &

BURIAL

OF OUR

CRUC

CANNOT BE PERFORMED BY THE SAME PEOPLE AND STILL RECEIVE


PROPER ATTENTION.

Therefore, the Holy Church developed diversified


Ministries.
In the Orthodox Church to this very day, our Bishops and
Presbyters (Priests) are Called to focus on Prayer and
the Ministry of the Word of God, while the other
essential ministries of Christs Holy Church are
accomplished by Deacons and the laity (the people
or congregation) of each Parish.
DEACONS WHO ARE CALLED TO SERVE ARE REQUIRED TO BE NOT
ONLY SPIRITUAL, BUT ALSO FULL OF WISDOM, WHICH IS
ESSENTIAL FOR MANAGING THEIR SACRED TASKS.
While the multitude submitted the names of the first
Seven Deacons, THE HOLY APOSTLES OF CHRIST ORDAINED
THEM.
Thus the synergy between Laity and Clergy was
demonstrated in the selection of these Church
Servants and leaders.
Whether these first chosen Deacons held the Liturgical
Office of Deacon, or whether their Diaconate was
more Service-oriented, THEY RECEIVED THEIR SACRED
OFFICE BY MEANS OF HOLY ORDINATION BY THE DIVINELY
AUTHORISED APOSTLES OF CHRIST.
 THE INCREASE IN NUMBERS OF FAITHFUL DISCIPLES OF CHRIST
ONLY OCCURS WHEN THREE GREAT PILLARS OF CHURCH
LIFE ARE FULLY IN PLACE:
WORSHIP
EVANGELISM
CHARITY/LOVE
Furthermore, this wonderful Growth occurs WHEN EXTERNAL
AND INTERNAL STRUGGLES OR PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN
ADDRESSED, RESOLVED AND REPENTED.
THE FIRST PRESBYTERS (PRIESTS) WERE CHRISTIAN CONVERTS WHO
HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN HEBREW PRIESTS but they had not
necessarily been Ordained into the Priestly Ministry
within the Christian Church after their Conversion to
the New Covenant of God.

TO

ST MARK 15 : 43 16 : 8

IFIED

LORD & SAVIOUR, JESUS CH

RIST

At that time, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the Council, who was also himself looking for the Kingdom of
God, took courage and went to Pilate, and asked for the Body of Jesus.
Pilate wondered if He were already dead and, summoning the Centurion, he asked him whether He was already dead.
And when he learnt from the Centurion that He was dead, he granted the Body to Joseph.
And he bought a linen shroud, and taking Him down, wrapped Him in the linen shroud, and laid Him in a Tomb that had
been hewn out of rock. And he rolled a stone against the door of the Tomb.
Mary Magdalene and Mary, the Mother of Joses saw where He was laid. And when the Sabbath had past, Mary Magdalene
and Mary, the Mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might go to Anoint Him.
And very early on the first day of the week they went to the Tomb when the sun had risen. And they were saying one to
another: Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the Tomb? And looking up, they saw that the stone had
rolled back for it was very large. And entering the Tomb, they saw a young Man sitting on the right side dressed in a
white robe. And they were amazed.
He said to them: Do not be amazed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth Who was crucified. He has Risen He is not here. Behold
the place where they laid Him. But go tell His Disciples, and Peter - that He is going before you to Galilee. There you
will see Him, as He told you.
And they went out and fled from the Tomb, for trembling and astonishment had come upon them. And they said nothing
to anyone - for they were afraid.
The mother of Joses - Joses was one of St Joseph the
Betrothal also one of Her stepsons. Likewise Mary,
Betrotheds sons from his late wife, Salome, sister of
the mother of James also refers to our Lady,
St Anna. In other words, this is an oblique reference
Theotokos, while Salome was a sister of Joses, and
to our Lady Theotokos who always maintained a
thus a cousin and stepdaughter of our Lady
humble and low-key role in the background of Her
Theotokos.
Beloved Son and Gods Mission on Earth. Joses was
The first day of the week is Sunday now known as
Her cousin and by Mosaic Law according to Her
the Lords Day.

12.

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER HOLY PASCHA THE HOLY MYRRHBEARERS 15 MAY 2016

If His Faithful Apostles had buried Christ, doubters and


enemies of Divine Truth could claim that His Most
Precious Body had simply been hidden away by
them and that there was no Resurrection.
 ST JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA, BEING BOTH A COUNCIL MEMBER
(OF THE SANHEDRIN) AND AN ACKNOWLEDGED GOOD
AND JUST MAN TOGETHER WITH ST NIKODEMOS ALSO
OF GOOD REPUTATION AND SOCIAL STATUS - REFUTES
ANY POSSIBILITY THAT OUR LORDS BODY WAS MERELY
REMOVED AND HIDDEN BY HIS FAITHFUL APOSTLES AND
DISCIPLES.
As a wealthy and highly prominent, respected member
of Hebrew society, St Joseph of Arimathea was able
to personally approach the Roman Governor,
Pontius Pilate, to request the Body of Christ, Whom
Pontius Pilate had already acknowledged as having
been unjustly tried, punished and condemned to
death by crucifixion.
 The fact that Pontius Pilate ...marvelled that He was
already dead... confirms the Divine Truth that
CHRIST PANTOKRATOR CHOSE THE EXACT HOUR OF HIS
DEATH, HAVING SACRIFICED HIMSELF FREELY AND
WILLINGLY FOR THE SAKE OF ALL HUMANITY.
Usually crucifixion victims suffered for a very long time,
sometimes for days, before dying but when the
Sabbath Day was approaching, Hebrew criminals
legs were shattered so that they quickly died from
the most painful green fracture injuries, YET AS
PROPHESIED, NOT A BONE OF OUR LORD WAS BROKEN!
 The Spiritual Significance of a New Tomb that had
been hewn out of rock and where no one had
ever lain before is that CHRIST SUFFERED A DEATH
UNLIKE ANY OTHER HUMAN BEING DEATH WITHOUT
SPIRITUAL OR PHYSICAL CORRUPTION A DEATH LEADING
TO ETERNAL VICTORY OVER THE TOMB ITSELF.
Furthermore, the description of the New Tomb
according to several sources, clearly shows that IT
WAS A VERY SPECIAL TOMB FIT FOR A MOST IMPORTANT
PERSON AND WHO IS MORE IMPORTANT AND INFLUENTIAL
THAN OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST OUR ONE AND ONLY
ETERNAL HIGH PRIEST AND KING OUR ONLY ETERNAL GOD
INCARNATE!
 Another fact to be considered is that NOT ONLY WAS A
HUGE, HEAVY ROCK PLACED - WITH MUCH EFFORT - AT THE
ENTRANCE TO THE TOMB AND THEN SEALED, BUT TWO
ROMAN GUARDS STOOD WATCH AS WELL, because the
devious Hebrew leaders had alleged that
Christs Body would be removed by His Disciples
so that they could then proclaim His Resurrection
from the dead as He had truthfully and precisely
foretold.
 AFTER CHRIST HAD RESURRECTED, A POWERFUL EARTHQUAKE
announced the Glorious Event by BREAKING THE
SEALS, ROLLING AWAY THE ROCK blocking the
entrance and REVEALING TO ALL MANKIND THE EMPTY
TOMB, containing only the discarded Shroud
(Soudarion)
and carefully folded Facecloth
(Mandylion).
 THE ROCK DID NOT ROLL AWAY SO THAT CHRIST COULD EXIT
THE TOMB BUT ONLY TO REVEAL TO MANKIND THAT HE
HAD TRULY RISEN!
The terrified guards who also witnessed the Empty
Tomb - ran away in fear of the punishment they
faced from the Roman authorities, but were later
paid by the Hebrew authorities to blatantly lie to
everyone that the Disciples had removed the Body
of Christ after knocking them unconscious!

Habitual liars, thieves and deceivers always accuse others of their


own sins and they REJECT Divine Truth the Absolute Truth
because it is something that is totally alien to them.
CHRIST DIED JUST BEFORE THE SABBATH SO THE USUAL BURIAL
CUSTOMS OF THE HEBREWS COULD NOT BE COMPLETED by
His Mother and Disciples, and they had to return on
the first day of the week Sunday to do so.
ST JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA AND ST NIKODEMOS HAD UNNAILED
OUR LORD FROM HIS CROSS AND WRAPPED HIS NAKED BODY
IN A FOURTEEN FOOT LONG FINE LINEN CLOTH that
became the Burial Shroud, also gathering up any
bloody soil that surrounded the Cross, to be buried
with Him.

THEY HAD CARRIED HIM TO THE TOMB AND WRAPPED HIM WITH
OTHER LINEN STRIPS SOAKED WITH THE 100 POUNDS OF
BITTER ALOES THAT ST NIKODEMOS SUPPLIED.
THE MANDYLION OR FACE CLOTH WAS GENTLY AND
RESPECTFULLY PLACED OVER HIS FACE AS SOON AS THEY TOOK
HIM DOWN FROM THE CROSS, WHICH REMAINED UNDER THE
OUTER BURIAL CLOTHS, which were soaked with bitter
aloes and dried as hard as concrete.
Therefore, when St Peter and St John saw the folded
Mandylion, they were amazed (and even more so
when they noticed the Image of Christ upon it
which became known as the Holy Icon Not-MadeBy-Hands the first Holy Icon of our Lord Jesus
Christ, which was copied many times by others over
the years. mp)

St Joseph of Arimathea and St Nikodemos showed their absolute


faith, honour and worship of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour
by all their actions: going directly to Pontious Pilate for
permission to Unnail our Lord from the Cross, purchasing the
best quality of fine linen available in which to wrap His
Precious Body, donating a newly hewn Tomb carved from solid
stone and in a beautiful garden again nothing but the best
resting place for Christ our Saviour and their own personal
attention to all the necessary Burial Rites, including the supply
of 100 pounds of Bitter Aloes!
St John the Divine Apostle, our Ever Blessed Lady Theotokos and
Her close companion, St Mary Of Magdala watched and
witnessed our Lords Burial.
ACCORDING TO OLD COVENANT LAW, THE BODIES OF THE
DECEASED WERE NOT WASHED BUT ANOINTED WITH AROMATIC
OILS and in the cases of violent death, all blood
and body parts were carefully gathered, wrapped
and buried together with the rest of the body.
Although the Apostles and Disciples had gone into
hiding for fear of the Roman and Hebrew
authorities, the eight devoted Holy Myrrh-bearing
Women, led by our Most Blessed Lady Theotokos
bravely went to fulfil their Sacred Duty out of their
profound Love and Respect for Christ our Lord and
Saviour.

Our Lady Theotokos was the legal Mother of St Joseph the


Betrotheds seven children - St James, St Joses, St Jude, St
Simon, St Salome (mother of St John and St James), St Ester
and another daughter, who were actually Her cousins and
probably much older than Her.
Since She preferred and insisted on remaining humbly in the
background of Her Beloved Son and Lord, the Apostles,
Disciples and Evangelists respectfully referred to Her in obscure
ways such as ...the Mother of Joses... or ...the Mother of
James and Salome,.. etc.
The Angel of God possibly Archangel Gabriel who is
the Angelic Messenger and Bearer of Good Tidings
from God to us human beings specifically
mentioned St Peter, which revealed our Lords
special Care and Love even for one of His Apostles
who had denied Him at a crucial time.
According to St Theophylact the deeply repentant and
sorrowful St Peter would have said of himself: I
denied the Lord, and therefore I am no longer His
Apostle! Yet the Angels words showed that our Lord
God had already forgiven St Peter and still Loved
him as before.
This is another Divine Teaching that clearly shows us
that WHENEVER AND WHATEVER WE TRULY REPENT WITH ALL
SORROW AND HUMILITY, WE ARE FORGIVEN BY GOD WHO
LOVES US - EVEN THE WORST OF SINNERS - FOR HE DOES NOT
REQUIRE
OR
DESIRE
ANYONE
TO
SUFFER
ETERNAL
CONDEMNATION AND PERPETUAL SPIRITUAL DEATH.
For this reason, WE MUST NEVER DARE TO JUDGE ONE ANOTHER
AND NOT EVEN OURSELVES FOR GODS DIVINE LOVE AND
GRACE IS FAR BEYOND ANYTHING WE CAN BEGIN TO
UNDERSTAND OR APPRECIATE.
Our Blessed Lady Theotokos and Mary Magdalene ...
said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid... does
not mean that they never told the others what they
had experienced so early on that first Resurrection
Day.
 OUR LADY THEOTOKOS ...KEPT MANY THINGS TO HERSELF...
THROUGHOUT HER LIFE, ONLY SPEAKING OF THEM WHEN
IT BECAME NECESSARY TO DO SO and in order to
confirm the Absolute Truth of Christs Holy Gospel
and His sinless Life on earth as God Incarnate

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER HOLY PASCHA THE HOLY MYRRHBEARERS 15 MAY 2016

13

and Perfect Man AND THEN ONLY TO THOSE WHO


WOULD FULLY APPRECIATE AND UNDERSTAND THEM.
Only after our Risen Lord Jesus Christ had appeared to
the other Holy Apostles and faithful Disciples, did
they speak of their experiences of that very early
Sunday morning Holy Pascha.
 THE STATEMENT THAT ...THEY WERE AFRAID... MIGHT HAVE
REFERRED TO THE ENORMOUS SHOCK OF NOT ONLY
WITNESSING THE OPENED TOMB WITH THE ABANDONED
BURIAL CLOTHS AND THE PRESENCE OF THE ANGEL OF
GOD, BUT ALSO A RELUCTANCE TO TELL THE OTHERS WHO
MIGHT NOT HAVE BELIEVED THEM and being men

the Apostles would have thought the Myrrhbearing Women were merely hysterical or
delusional due to their intense grief.

 AS THE ADORING MOTHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, OUR


LADY THEOTOKOS WOULD HAVE BEEN INDESCRIBABLY
TRAUMATISED BY HAVING WITNESSED CHRISTS TERRIBLE
SUFFERING,
HOWEVER, SHE WAS ALSO DEEPLY FAITHFUL AND FILLED WITH
DIVINE GRACE THAT ENABLED HER - MORE THAN ANYONE
ELSE TO APPRECIATE AND UNDERSTAND ALL THINGS
PERTAINING TO ALMIGHTY GOD AND HIS DIVINE WILL FOR
ALL HUMANITY.
IN HER PROFOUND WISDOM AND LOVE FOR GOD AND HER FELLOW
MANKIND, SHE WOULD KEEP MANY THINGS ESPECIALLY THE
DIVINELY MYSTERIOUS THINGS TO HERSELF, knowing that
others would either not understand or would
misinterpret or blaspheme them.

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER HOLY PASCHA THE HOLY MYRRHBEARERS

Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!


Today the Holy Orthodox Church commemorates that
remarkable group of people called the Holy Myrrh
Bearers, who - because of their Love of our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ, were not afraid - were not
terrorized by the fear that hung over Jerusalem after
the Crucifixion of our Saviour.
Their Love overcame that fear.
Their Love overcame
their worries. Their Love overcame the natural horror
of having personally witnessed Him, Who was the
centre of their Life crucified in such a brutal and
humiliating way.
Their Love of God did not allow fear to overcome their
soul.
Their Love of God overcame any concern for their own
circumstances even though both St Joseph of
Arimathea and St Nikodemos were prominent
members of their Judean society - and it certainly did
not do their reputations any good at all to be
associated with a condemned and crucified
Criminal!
All of these worldly concerns - all of these natural, normal
social fears became totally insignificant and
unimportant to them because they Loved our Lord
Jesus Christ with all their heart and soul!
Todays Holy Gospel Lesson, and the Holy Icon depicting
these faithful Holy Myrrhbearers, as well as St
Nikodemos and St Joseph of Arimathea, should be
enough for us to understand the meaning and
significance of this special Lord's Day this
commemoration of these Faithful and devoted Holy
Disciples of our Lord and Saviour.
The Holy Orthodox Church has dedicated this Sunday to
these Holy Myrrhbearers and Faithful Disciples of
Christ who are our good role models - whom we not
only Commemorate today with Hymns and Praises,
but even more essentially whom we must strive to
imitate.
Every one of us who regard ourselves as being Orthodox
Christians should strive to become as dedicated to
our Lord God as they were.
We should all want to be His Holy Myrrhbearers by means
of our absolute devotion to His Most Holy Body His
Holy Church i.e. devoted to our Life in Christ!
First of all we need to prepare a worthy Sacred Place to
accommodate His Divine Body within our own body

within our own heart and soul - by preparing


ourselves correctly and properly to receive His Holy
Communion thereby offering our Saviour a worthy
place of rest for His Sanctifying Body and Blood.
Furthermore, we have another way of serving our Lord
God - by supporting, by assisting wherever necessary,
and by ministering to the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ
- that is His Holy Church and all Her members by
means of our Love towards each other, which is
expressed not only financially but according to
various other essential requirements.
Every one of us as Orthodox Christians who are in
reality Faithful Disciples of Christ must always be
ready to help and to fulfil the Works of our Lord Jesus
Christ in His Holy Church for the Salvation of all
mankind.
By faithfully serving the Holy Church of Christ our Lord
and Saviour, we serve the Eternal Salvation not only
of our own soul, but also of the souls of our Brethren in
Christ - of our children, of our grandchildren, and of
the world at large that still needs to hear our Lords
Divine Truth, Teachings and Commandments, so that
they, too, may apply it to their daily existence and
make this temporary life an Eternally Blessed and
Holy Life in Christ.
Therefore on this Sunday of the Holy Myrrhbearers, let us
all dedicate ourselves whole-heartedly to Service of
Christ and His Holy Church, in whatever way that is
possible for us.
Let us eagerly and without fail support the Sacred
Labours of our Holy Church by first of all preparing
ourselves properly and correctly to receive the Holy
Mysteries, and then by each one of us using our own
God-given Talents, strengths, and abundant Blessing
that God has granted us - dedicating them as a
priority to the Service of the Church.
In this way we become by Grace, Myrrhbearers for Christ
Faithfully serving the Body of Christ, and sharing in
the Blessings of others who do the same.
Christ is Risen! Truly, He is Risen!
Archpriest Anthony Gavalas
http://gnisios.narod.ru/abg030428.html

TRUE CHRISTIAN - FATHER DAMASCENE CHRISTENSEN

True Christian Love is not just a feeling or a pleasant


disposition of the soul.
It is a self-sacrificing, ceaseless, life-long act of heroism
unto death.
It is fiery yet dispassionate, not dependent on anything, not
on being loved in return or having a kinship of blood.
One no longer thinks of receiving something for oneself.
One can be spat upon and reviled, and yet in this suffering
there is such a deep, profound Peace that one finds it
OUR LORD

IS

IN

EVERY CHRISTIAN ST JOHN

Remember that our Lord Jesus Christ is in every Christian.


When our neighbour comes to us we must always have
great respect for him, because our Lord is in him, and
often expresses His Will through him: It is God Who
works in you both to will, and to do of His Good
Pleasure (PHILIPPIANS 2:13)
Therefore, we must
not begrudge anything to our
Brethren, but do unto them as though unto our Lord -

14.

impossible to return to the lifeless state one was in


before the suffering.
One Blesses Life and all that is around one, and this
Blessing becomes universal.
Such Love can only come from God.
This is the only Love that Christ is truly interested in - the
Love He came to Earth to show and teach humanity.
With this Love He gave up His Spirit on the Cross.
OF

KRONSTADT

especially as we do not know in whom our Lord will


come and visit us.
We must be impartial to all, be kind to all, sincere and
hospitable, remembering that sometimes God speaks
even through unbelievers, or disposes their heart
towards us, as it happened in Egypt when the Lord
gave Joseph favour in the sight of the keeper of the
prison. (GENESIS 39:21).

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER HOLY PASCHA THE HOLY MYRRHBEARERS 15 MAY 2016

Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria & All Africa


Archdiocese of Good Hope
All Glory, Honour and Worship to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and unto the
Ages of ages. Amen. Remembering also our Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed and Glorious Lady, Maria, Theotokos,
yet Ever Virgin, together with all the Saints. And let us commit ourselves and one another and our whole Life to Christ
our God. Amen.

21 May 2016
St Constantine & St Helena Equal to the Apostles
Also the Feast of St Constantine & his sons, St Michael & St Theodore, Wonderworkers of
Murom - St Cassian the Greek of Uglich

PASCHAL HYMN TONE (5) PLAGAL 1

Hristos Anesti, ek nekron, Thanato Thanaton patisas, Christ

is Risen from the dead; By Death trampling


upon Death, and has bestowed Life to those in the
Tombs.(3)

Ke tis en tis mnimasin, Zoin harisamenos (3)

ISODIKON SMALL ENTRANCE HYMN TONE 2

En

Ekklisies evlogite ton Theon, Kyrion ek Pigon Israil.


Soson imas, Iie Theou, O Anastas ek nekron.

Bless God in the churches, let the Lord from the Fountains
of Israel. Save us, O Son of God, Who arose from the
dead.

AFTER THE SMALL ENTRANCE


RESURRECTION APOLYTIKION TONE 2

Ote katilthes pros ton Thanaton, i Zoi i Athanatos, tote ton

When

Thou condescended to Death, O Life Immortal,


Thou slayed Hades with the lightning flash of Thy
Divinity. When also Thou raised up the dead from the
subterranean abodes, all the Powers of Heaven cried
aloud: O Life-giver, Christ our God, Glory to Thee!

Adin enekrosas ti astrapi tis Theotitos. Ote de ke tous


tethneotas ek ton katahthonion
anestisas, pase e
Dinamis ton Epouranion ekravgazon. Zoodota Hriste, O
Theos imon, Doxa Si!

PASCHAL APOLYTIKION OF ST JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA


& THE HOLY MYRRH-BEARERS TONE 2

evshimon Iosif, apo tou xilou kathelon, to ahranton Sou


Soma, sindoni kathara, ilisas ke aromasin, en mnimati
keno, kidevsas apetheto; alla trimeros anestis Kyrie,
parehon to kosmo to Mega Eleos!

Tes

Myroforis Ginexi, para to Mnima epistas, O Angelos


evoa: To Myra tis thnitis iparhi armodia, Hristos de
diafthoras edihthi allotrios; alla kravgasate: Anesti O
Kyrios, parehon to kosmo to Mega Eleos!

The

noble Joseph taking down Thy spotless Body from


the Tree, wrapped it in a clean shroud with sweet
spices and laid it for burial in a new tomb; but on the
third day Thou arose, O Lord, granting the world Thy
Great Mercy!

The

Angel standing by the Tomb cried to the Myrrhbearing Women: Myrrh is fitting for the dead, but
Christ has been shown to be a stranger to corruption.
But cry aloud: The Lord has Risen, granting the world
His Great Mercy!

FESTAL APOLYTIKION ST CONSTANTINE & ST HELENA


TONE (8) PLAGAL 4

Tou Stavrou Sou ton tipon en Ourano theasamenos, ke os Thine Apostle among the Rulers, who once beheld in the
O Pavlos tin klisin ouk ex anthropon dexamenos, O en
Vasilefsin, Apostolos Sou Kyrie, Vasilevousan polin ti hiri
sou paretheto in perisoze dia pantos en Irini, Presvies tis
Theotokou, Mone Filanthrope.

sky the Image of Thy Cross, and who like Paul, received
his Calling not from man, once entrusted the Ruling
city into Thy Hands. We Entreat Thee to Restore it in
Peace forever, at the Intercessions of the Theotokos, O
Lord Who Loves mankind.

FESTAL KONTAKION HOLY MYRRHBEARERS TONE 2

To

Here tes Myroforis fthegxamenos, ton thrinon tis


promitoros Evas katepafsas, ti Anastasi Sou, Hriste O
Theos, tis Apostolis de tis Sis kirittin epetaxas: O Sotir
Exanesti tou Mnimatos!

In

saying Hail! to the Myrrhbeares, Thou allayed the


lament of the first Mother, Eve, at Thy Resurrection, O
Christ our God. And Thou ordered Thine Apostles to
proclaim: The Saviour has Risen from the Sepulchre!

THE MATINS HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING


OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

IS THE

TO

ST JOHN 10 : 9 16

ONLY WAY

At that time, our Lord Jesus Christ said: I Am the Door: by Me if anyone enters in, he shall be Saved, and shall go in
and out, and find pasture. The thief comes to steal and to kill, and to destroy. I Am come so that they might have
Life, and so that they might have it more abundantly. I Am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd gives His Life
for the Sheep.
But he that is a hireling, and not the Shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the
Sheep, and flees. And the wolf catches them, and scatters the sheep. For the hireling flees, because he is a hireling,
and does not care for the Sheep.
I Am the Good Shepherd, and know My Sheep, and Am known by My own. As the Father knows Me even so know I the
Father; and I lay down My Life for the Sheep. And other Sheep I have that are not of this Fold; them also I must
bring, and they will hear My Voice; and there will be one Flock and one Shepherd.
ST CONSTANTINE & ST HELENA EQUALS

TO THE

APOSTLES 21 MAY 2016

15

MATINS PROKEIMENON PSALM 18/9 TONE (8) PLAGAL 4

Their proclamation went forth into all the Earth, and their words to the ends of the world.
The Heavens declare the Glory of God; the firmament shows the Creation of His Hands.
THE ACTS

OF THE

APOSTLES ACCORDING TO ST LUKE 26 : 1 & 12 20


ST PAUL DEFENDS HIMSELF

In those days, Agrippa the King said to Paul: You are permitted to speak for yourself.
So Paul stretched out his hand and answered for himself: ... while thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with
authority and commission from the Chief Priests, at midday along the road, I beheld, O King, a Light from Heaven that
was brighter than the sun shining around me and those who journeyed with me. We had all fallen to the ground, when I
heard a Voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language: Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting Me? It is
difficult for you to kick against the goads. I said: Who art Thou, Lord? He said: I Am Jesus, Whom you are
persecuting. But Rise and stand on your feet. I have Appeared to you for this Purpose to make you a Minister and
a Witness both of the Things that you have seen and of the Things that I will yet reveal to you.
I will Deliver you from the people and from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you to open their eyes - in order to turn
them from Darkness to Light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive Forgiveness of sins and
an Inheritance among those who are Sanctified by Faith in Me.
Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the Heavenly Vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem,
and throughout all the region in Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should Repent, and turn to God, doing Work
befitting Repentance.
THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING
THE DOOR &

THE

TO

ST JOHN 10 : 1 9

GOOD SHEPHERD

At that time, our Lord Jesus said to the Judeans: Truly, truly, I say you, he who does not enter the Sheepfold by the
Door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. He Who enters by the Door is the Shepherd
of the Sheep. To Him the Doorkeeper opens, and the Sheep hear His Voice. And He Calls His own Sheep by name
and leads them out. And when He brings out His own Sheep, He goes before them. And the Sheep follow Him, for
they know His Voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the
voice of strangers.
This illustration was used by Jesus, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.
Jesus said to them again: Truly, truly, I say to you: I Am the Door of the Sheep. All who ever came before Me are
thieves and robbers, but the Sheep did not heed them. I Am the Door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be Saved and
will go in and out and find Pasture.
ST CONSTANTINE & ST HELENA EQUAL TO THE APOSTLES
St Constantine the Great was born in Naissos (Nis, Serbia)
the heretical teachings of Arius were condemned by
circa 274.
all the Holy Fathers who attended the Council.
After he defeated Emperors Maxentios and Licinius, he
St Constantine the Great was Baptized on his deathbed
became the sole Ruler of the entire Roman Empire.
by Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, and Reposed in
According to the historians Eusebios and Lactantios, on
Christ shortly afterwards in 337 in Nicomedia.
the eve of the battle against Maxentios, Emperor
His mortal relics were buried in the Church of the Holy
Constantine beheld in the daylight sky a bright,
Apostles in Constantinople, a church that had been
shining Cross with the inscription in Greek letters: By
constructed under his authority and sponsorship.
this sign you will conquer!
HIS MOTHER: ST HELENA THE RIGHTEOUS EMPRESS
The following night, during his sleep, St Constantine had
Flavia Julia Helena was born in the Province of Bithynia.
a Vision of Christ, telling him to put the Sign of the
In 293, the Roman General, Constantios Chloros,
Cross on all the banners and flags that would be
encouraged by Emperor Diocletian, divorced his
carried onto the battlefield.
legal wife, the Righteous Empress, Helena, who
Emperor Constantine obeyed our Lords Commandment
refused to re-marry and withdrew from public life,
and beyond all expectation, his army defeated the
while remaining close to her son, Constantine.
opposing forces.
After her son had become the sole Emperor of the Roman
The Triumphal Arch of Constantine, now preserved in
Empire, she was responsible for the finding of the True
Rome, carries the inscription: Instinctual divinitatis
and Life-giving Holy Cross of our Lord and Saviour,
which is translated: By Divine Inspiration, which is
Jesus Christ.
how Victory over the powerful but ungodly Emperor
After the site had been excavated at Golgotha, a cave
Maxentios was won.
containing three cross bars was exposed, as well as a
The most important achievement of Emperor Constantine
sign board identifying the King of the Jews.
was the Edict of Milan (313) whereby Christianity was
To discover which one of the three crosses belonged to
recognized as one of the religions of the Roman
Christ, they touched each one to the body of a dead
Empire.
man.
Before this, many Christians were persecuted and were
When the True Cross of Christ touched the corpse, the
martyred for their Faith.
man was instantly restored to life, rose up and
Christianity eventually became the state religion (of the
Glorified God.
Roman Empire) during the reign of Theodosios the
On 14 September
326 St Makarios the Bishop of
Great (379-395).
Jerusalem elevated the Holy Life-giving Cross in front
of the enormous crowd of faithful Christians, which
After the Edict of Milan in 313, St Constantine exempted
ever since then is Commemorated as the Feast of the
Christian churches from taxes, granted them the right
Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
to receive donations and gave Bishops the right to
St Constantine and his Faithful mother,
St. Helena,
judge those who did not want to be judged by the
authorised and sponsored the structure of many
state/civil law.
Temples and Monasteries throughout the Holy Land
St Constantine also removed from Roman Law the
and elsewhere - the most important of which are the
criminal penalties that were contrary to the spirit of
Church of the Holy Sepulchre or ...the
Christianity, such as crucifixion, the crushing of feet
Resurrection, in Jerusalem, and the Church of the
and stigmatization (being branded with red hot iron
brands, and many other cruel punishments that had
Nativity in Bethlehem.
been practised under the pagan Roman Law.
HTTPS://ORTHODOXWORD.WORDPRESS.COM/2010/05/21/SAINTSEmperor Constantine convened the First Ecumenical
CONSTANTINE-AND-HIS-MOTHER-HELEN-EQUALS-TO-THE-APOSTLES/
Council of Nicaea (325), where, after long discussions,
ST SILVANOS

Our Lord greatly Loves the Repenting sinner and mercifully


presses him to His Bosom: Where were you, My child?
I was waiting a long time for you.
Our Lord Calls all to Himself with the Voice of the
Gospel, and His Voice is heard in all the world:

16.

THE

ATHONITE

Come to Me, My Sheep. I created you, and I Love you.


My Love for you brought Me to Earth, and I suffered
all things for the sake of your Salvation, and I want
you all to know My Love, and to say, like the Apostles
on Tabor: Lord, it is good for us to be with Thee!

ST CONSTANTINE & ST HELENA EQUALS

TO THE

APOSTLES 21 MAY 2016

Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria & All Africa


Archdiocese of Good Hope
All Glory, Honour and Worship to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and
unto the Ages of ages. Amen. Remembering also our Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed and Glorious Lady,
Maria, Theotokos, yet Ever Virgin, together with all the Saints. And let us commit ourselves and one another
and our whole Life to Christ our God. Amen.

Tone 3

22 May 2016
Third Sunday After Holy Pascha
The Paralytic at Sheeps Pool, Bethesda

Also the Feast of St Vasiliskos, Bishop of Comana - St Dimitrios & St Paul New Martyrs
Holy Fathers of the 2nd Ecumenical Council - St John Vladimir, Great Holy Martyr & Miracle Worker of Serbia - - St Paul
of Lavra, Mount Athos - St Melchizedek, King of Salem St James, Wonderworker of Novgorod

PASCHAL HYMN TONE (5) PLAGAL 1

Hristos Anesti, ek nekron, Thanato Thanaton patisas, Christ


Ke tis en tis mnimasin, Zoin harisamenos (3)

is Risen from the dead; By Death trampling


upon Death, and has bestowed Life to those in the
Tombs.(3)

ISODIKON SMALL ENTRANCE HYMN TONE 2

En

Ekklisies evlogite ton Theon, Kyrion ek Pigon Israil.


Soson imas, Iie Theou, O Anastas ek nekron.

Bless God in the churches, let the Lord from the Fountains
of Israel. Save us, O Son of God, Who arose from the
dead.

AFTER THE SMALL ENTRANCE


RESURRECTION APOLYTIKION TONE 3

Eufrenestho

ta Ourania, agaliastho ta epigia, oti epiise


Kratos, en vrahioni Aftou, O Kyrios, epatise to Thanato
ton Thanaton, prototokos ton nektron egeneto, ek ilias
Adou errisato imas, ke parshe to kosmo to Mega Eleos.

Let the Heaven sing for Joy, and let everything on Earth e
Glad. For with His Arm the Lord has worked Power.
He trampled Death underfoot by means of Death; and
He became the Firstborn of the dead. From the maw of
Hades He Delivered us; and He granted the world His
Great Mercy.

RESURRECTION KONTAKION TONE (8) PLAGAL 4

I ke en Tafo katilthes Athanate, alla tou Adou kathiles tin Although Thou went down into the Sepulchre, O Immortal
dinamin. Ke anestis os Nikitis, Hriste O Theos, Gynexi
Myroforis fthegxamenos, Herete! Ke tis Sis Apostolis
Irinin doroumenos, O tis pesousi parehon Anastasin.

One, Thou brought down the dominion of Hades; and


Thou Rose as Victor, O Christ our God, and Thou
Called out Hail! to the Myrrhbearing Women, and
granted Peace to Thine Apostles, O Lord, Who to the
fallen grant Resurrection.

RESURRECTION PROKEIMENON PSALM 46/47 TONE 3

Sing Praises to our God! Sing Praises! Sing Praises to our King! Sing Praises!
O Clap your hands, all you Nations. Shout to God with the voice of Rejoicing.
THE ACTS

OF THE

APOSTLES ACCORDING

TO

ST LUKE 9 : 32 42

In those days, it came to pass, as Peter passed throughout the quarters, he went down also to the Saints who dwelt at
Lydda. There he found a certain man named Aeneas, who had been bed-ridden for eight years, suffering from
palsy. And Peter said to him: Aeneas: Jesus Christ makes Thee whole! Arise, and make Thy bed.
And he immediately arose. And behold! all who dwelt at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and turned to the Lord.
And at Joppa there was a certain Disciple named Tabitha, which is translated as Dorcas. She was full of Good Works
and Almsgiving, which she had done.
And it came to pass in those days that she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper
chamber. And due to the fact that Lydda was close to Joppa, and the Disciples had heard that Peter was there,
they sent two men to him, requesting him to hasten to them. Peter arose and went with them.
When he arrived, they took him into the upper chamber. And all the widows stood around him, weeping, and showing
him the cloaks and garments that Dorcas had made while she was with them.
After putting them all outside, Peter knelt down, and prayed. And turning to the body, he said: Tabitha! Arise! She
opened her eyes, and when she beheld Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand, and helped her up, and when he
had called the Saints and widows, he presented her to them, alive.
And it became known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in our Lord.
Lydda is approximately 25 miles northwest of Jerusalem
The later use of the term, referring to Holy People who
and Sharon was a region north of Lydda along the
lived particularly exemplary lives and who have been
Mediterranean coastline.
Canonised (Glorified) by the Holy Church of Christ
THE TERM SAINTS REFERRED TO ALL CHRISTIAN BELIEVERS, for all
does not negate this primary meaning.
who believe in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ with
St Peter was able to completely heal the paralysed
their whole heart AND WHO ARE SANCTIFIED BY THE HOLY
Aeneas BY INVOKING THE AMAZING DIVINE HEALING POWER
SPIRIT ARE BY DEFINITION SAINTS.
3RD SUNDAY AFTER HOLY PASCHA SUNDAY THE PARALYTIC

OF

SHEEP POOL, BETHESDA 22 MAY 2016

17

OF OUR LORD THROUGH HIS HOLY NAME, WHICH CONTINUES IN


CHRISTS HOLY CHURCH TO THIS VERY DAY.

GOSPEL AND LEADING MANY SOULS TO SINCERE REPENTANCE


AND ETERNAL LIFE IN CHRIST.
St Peters raising St Tabitha from the dead parallels
Christs raising the daughter of the Synagogue Ruler,
Jairus, from death.

The Divine Signs or Miracles of the Holy Apostles of Christ


convinced many witnesses and others who then
turned to the Lord.
THESE DIVINE SIGNS OR MIRACLES PROVE THE GREAT MERCY AND
POWER OF ALMIGHTY GOD THUS CONFIRMING CHRISTS HOLY
THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING

THE PARALYTIC

AT THE

SHEEPS POOL

IS

HEALED

TO

AFTER

ST JOHN 5 : 1 15

38

YEARS BY OUR

LORD JESUS CHRIST

At that time our Lord Jesus went up to Jerusalem. There is in Jerusalem, by the Sheep Gate, a pool, which is called in
Hebrew: Bethesda, having five porches.
In these lay a great multitude of sick people: blind, lame and paralysed waiting for the moving of the water. An Angel
went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water. Whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the
water, was made well of whatever disease he had.
A certain man was there who had an infirmity for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he
already had been in that condition for a long time, He said to him: Do you want to be made well? The sick man
answered Him: Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am going, another
steps down before me. Jesus said to him: Rise. Take up your bed and walk. And immediately the man was made
well, took up his bed and walked.
That day was the Sabbath. The Hebrews, therefore, said to him who was cured: It is the Sabbath! It is not lawful for you to
carry your bed! He answered them: He Who made me well said to me: Take up your bed and walk. They asked
him: Who is the Man Who said to you: Take up your bed and walk? But the one who was healed did not know Who it
was. Jesus had withdrawn a multitude being in that place.
Afterwards Jesus found him in the Temple and said to him: Behold! You have been made well. Sin no more, lest a
worse thing come upon you.The man departed and told the Judeans that it was Jesus Who had made him well.
This Divine Healing was the Third Sign or Miracle that St
WE USUALLY HAVE TO CORRECT SOMETHING TO DO WITH OUR OWN
PERSONAL SPIRITUAL CONDITION BEFORE WE ARE ABLE TO RECEIVE
John the Divine Apostle recorded in his Holy Gospel.
OR EXPERIENCE GODS DIVINE GRACE AND MERCY:
 IT EXEMPLIFIES THE DIVINE POWER OF CHRIST OUR LORD TO
WE NEED TO REPENT OUR SINS, TO HUMBLE OURSELVES, TO LEARN
RESTORE A PERSON TO WHOLENESS TO FULL HEALTH,
OBEDIENCE TO GOD, TO FORGIVE OTHERS, TO DO UNSELFISH AND
DESPITE THE DEGREE OF AFFLICTION.
LOVING (CHARITABLE) ACTS OF MERCY WITHOUT EXCEPTION,
LEARN TO BE PATIENT, KIND, GENTLE, GENEROUS, DEVELOP A
The Feast, which is referred to, was the Old Covenant
POSITIVE ATTITUDE AND TO FULFIL ALL OUR SACRED DUTIES AND
Pentecost also known as the Feast of Weeks, which
COMMITMENTS WITH WILLING AND EAGER HEARTS.
celebrates the granting of the Divine Law the Ten
Commandments of God to St Moses on Mount Sinai.
 ALTHOUGH IT MAY SEEM STRANGE THAT OUR LORD ASKED THE
(THE REFERENCES TO THE LAW OF MOSES LATER IN THIS CHAPTER
PARALYSED MAN IF HE WANTED TO BE HEALED, IT WAS A
CONFIRM THIS INTERPRETATION OF OUR HOLY CHURCH FATHERS..)
MOST RELEVANT QUESTION FOR SEVERAL REASONS:
The double-basin Pool of Bethesda, which was believed to
It made public the fact that THE SICK MAN KEPT HIS FAITH
have had miraculous curative powers, has been reEVEN IN A SITUATION THAT WAS SEEMINGLY HOPELESS, for
discovered about 100 yards North of the Temple area,
how could a paralytic ever be the first into the
near to the Sheep Gate.
water?
The water for this high-ground pool came from
Our Lord drew attention away from the water and
underground springs and was used to wash the
towards THE NEED WE ALL HAVE FOR THE HELP AND
SACRIFICIAL LAMBS before they WERE SLAUGHTERED AS
ENCOURAGEMENT OF OTHERS, WHICH IS FULFILLED IN
BLOOD OFFERINGS FOR THE ATONEMENT AND FORGIVENESS OF
CHRIST HIMSELF, Who became Man in order to heal
SINS ACCORDING TO THE OLD COVENANT LAW.
all ailing and fallen mankind.
 THE POOL OF BETHESDA FUNCTIONED AS A TYPE OF HOLY
NOT EVERYONE WHO IS ILL ACTUALLY DESIRES HEALING, for
BAPTISM:
sadly, some prefer to remain infirm in order to
UNDER THE OLD COVENANT, ALTHOUGH A GREAT MULTITUDE
have an excuse or licence to complain, to avoid
WAITED to enter the water for physical healing after
any responsibility for their lives, or to continue
an Angel of God had touched it and stirred it up,
drawing the pity of others!
ONLY ONE PERSON WAS HEALED AT A TIME.
Although Mosaic Law did not specifically forbid the
The water was special because IN AN INDIRECT MANNER IT
carrying of burdens on the Sabbath, it was prohibited
WAS PART OF THE BLOOD SACRIFICES of the Holy Temple of
and explicitly forbidden in Rabbinical Teachings.
Jerusalem, since the sacrificial animals were
 JEREMIAH 17 : 23 The Lord said: ... if you will not
cleansed in the water.
hear Me so as to Sanctify the Sabbath Days, and
However, DIVINE GRACE WAS LIMITED TO THE FIRST PERSON
bear no burdens, nor enter the gates of
WHO ENTERED THE WATER BUT NOT TO THE REST.
Jerusalem on the Sabbath Days, then I will
 GODS NEW COVENANT BAPTISM IS GRANTED TO ALL NATIONS
kindle a fire in her gates. It will consume the
AS A DIRECT PARTICIPATION IN CHRISTS OWN SACRIFICIAL
streets of Jerusalem and will not be quenched.
DEATH WITHOUT THE MEDIATION OF HIS ANGELS.
St Jeremiah the Holy Prophet of God delivered the Word of
Holy Baptism of the New (Bloodless) Covenant GRANTS
the Lord which commanded that Israel stop violating
US ALL HEALING OF THE BODY AND OF THE IMMORTAL SOUL,
the Sabbath Day. The Reward for Obedience to God is
AS WELL AS THE DIVINE PROMISE OF ETERNAL RESURRECTION
a gathering of the nations into Jerusalem to offer
OF THE BODY.
sacrifice and although this was done after the Exile, it
Furthermore, DIVINE GRACE OF THE NEW COVENANT IS
was not completely fulfilled until the Gentiles joined
INEXHAUSTIBLE AND IS OFFERED TO ALL WHO SEEK IT.
the procession on the Day of Pentecost.
The Truth that Christ is Lord over the Sabbath is made
 According to St John Chrysostom, OUR LORD JESUS
clear by His Command to the Paralytic and by the
CHRIST SINGLED OUT THE MAN WHO HAD SUFFERED FOR
mans unhesitating Obedience to Him.
THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS PATIENTLY WAITING TO BE HEALED
As is often the case in the Holy Gospel according to St
IN ORDER TO TEACH US TO PERSEVERE AND TO HAVE
John, HEBREWS REFERS TO THE LEADERS - and not to the
PATIENCE, WHILE BEING A JUDGEMENT OR CONDEMNATION
people in general WHOSE MALICE IS QUITE EVIDENT
AGAINST THOSE WHO LOSE HOPE OR PATIENCE ALTOGETHER
BECAUSE THEY FOCUSED SOLELY ON THE VIOLATION OF THE
THOSE WHO DESPAIR WHO LOSE ALL HOPE AND FAITH IN
SABBATH RATHER THAN ON THE GREAT MIRACLE OF THE LONGGODS
DIVINE
PROVIDENCE
because
their
SUFFERING PARALYTIC.
circumstances are not according to their own will
and desires and especially when we have only
 THE GENUINE AND PROFOUND FAITH OF THE MAN IS
minor problems that can be easily resolved if we
DEMONSTRATED BY HIS IMMEDIATELY GOING TO THE TEMPLE
make an effort to do so.
TO OFFER HIS HEARTFELT THANKSGIVING AND WORSHIP,
instead of going home, or anywhere else to show
 GOD DOES EVERYTHING IN HIS OWN TIME AND ACCORDING TO
off his healed body.
HIS OWN DIVINE WILL BECAUSE ONLY HE KNOWS WHAT IS
BEST FOR US AND HOW TO HELP US.

18. 3 R D S U N D A Y A F T E R H O L Y P A S C H A S U N D A Y T H E P A R A L Y T I C

OF

SHEEP POOL, BETHESDA 22 MAY 2016

Furthermore, ALL MIRACULOUS HEALINGS HAD TO BE CONFIRMED


BY THE TEMPLE PRIESTS, FOLLOWED BY VARIOUS CLEANSING
AND SACRIFICIAL RITES ACCORDING TO MOSAIC LAW.
While there is a general connection between sin and
suffering, this connection is not always one to one, for
the innocent often suffer while the guilty seem to be
spared earthly consequences.
Nevertheless, OUR SINS USUALLY LEAD DIRECTLY TO MOST OF THE
SUFFERING OF THIS WORLD OUR OWN SUFFERING AND EVEN
WORSE - THE SUFFERING OF OTHERS DUE TO OUR SELFISH OR
THOUGHTLESS ACTIONS.
Christs dire warning: Sin no more... was NOT ONLY
ADDRESSED TO THE HEALED MAN, BUT TO EACH AND EVERY ONE
OF US!
 SIN CAUSES SPIRITUAL DEATH, WHICH ONLY REPENTANCE CAN
RESOLVE BY RETURNING US TO SPIRITUAL LIFE IN CHRIST.

However, IF WE STUBBORNLY REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE,


CONFESS AND REPENT OUR SINS THEY WILL DESTROY OUR
SOUL leading to a far worse consequence than

any terrible, painful or disabling affliction of the


body!
Our only hope is to RESIST ALL TEMPTATION AND SIN BY
BESEECHING THE LORD OUR GOD FOR HIS DIVINE STRENGTH
AND ASSISTANCE.
THE HEALED PARALYTIC DID NOT REPORT OUR LORD JESUS TO
THE HEBREW LEADERS IN A MALICIOUS MANNER BUT AS A
WITNESS OF CHRISTS ABSOLUTE GOODNESS, for even
though those misguided leaders were only
interested in the violation of the Sabbath, the
restored man emphasised that it was our Lord
Jesus Who had healed him, without saying
anything about carrying his bed i.e. WITHOUT
BLAMING CHRIST FOR CAUSING HIM TO BREAK THE SABBATH.

THIRD SUNDAY AFTER HOLY PASCHA THE LONELY PARALYTIC

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Christ is Risen! Truly, He is Risen!
Today is Sunday of the Paralytic according to the
Orthodox Liturgical Calendar for the Holy Gospel
Lesson appointed for today, recounts the Healing by
our Lord Jesus Christ of a lonely Paralytic at the Sheep
Pool, Bethesda.
The ruins of the Pool of Bethesda are located in the
Muslim quarter of old Jerusalem, just behind the
beautiful Church of St Anna, which stands next to the
site of the house in which the Righteous parents of our
Lady Theotokos St Joachim and St Anna - had lived,
and where She had been born.
In the first century the Romans had totally destroyed
Jerusalem, and so, until the 19th century, there was
no visible, above-ground evidence of Bethesda.
As a result, sceptical biblical scholars decided that both
the place and the account in the Holy Gospel were
fiction.
They erroneously believed that the Holy Gospel
according to St John was actually written long after
the death of St John the Beloved Apostle of Christ by
someone who was unfamiliar with the layout and
geography of Jerusalem at the time of Christ!
However, archaeologists eventually discovered the ruins
under much rubble of a holding tank that exactly
corresponds to the Pool of Bethesda in St. Johns
account!
Further digging confirmed this.
Of course this did not stop the sceptics, who have
continued to maintain their impious and even
unscientific views of Holy Scripture in general.
Nevertheless, the ruins of the Bethesda Pool are there:
and
have
been
verified
by
erudite
Scientists/Archaeologists to be the original Five Porch
Pool of Bethesda as mentioned by St John the Beloved
Apostle and Theologian of Christ.
It was also referred to as the Sheep Pool because was
where the sacrificial sheep were washed and
inspected for any blemishes or disfigurements, before
being offered to God at the Temple.
There were five marble porches or porticos surrounding
the pool, where great numbers of sick and diseased
people gathered, waiting for the miraculous
troubling of the waters.
According to Judaic belief, every so often, an Angel of
God would descend and stir up the waters, and the
first person to enter the water would be healed.
There was more to this story, for when Adam was
expelled from Eden he took with him two seeds from
the Tree of Life, one of which he planted in what
centuries later became a suburb of Jerusalem. That
seed grew into the Tree that became the Wood of the
Cross, and on that site stands an Orthodox Monastery
dedicated to the Holy Cross.
Others believe that the Three Holy Angels (the Holy Trinity) stuck
Their staffs of pine, cedar and cypress into the ground outside
Abrahams tent at the ancient Oaks of Mamre, when he hosted
Them. These were left behind and grew into one Tree from
which the Cross-bar of our Saviours Cross was cut. When
Solomon built his Great Temple, it was cut down but rejected by

OF

SHEEP POOL, BETHESDA

the builders, many generations later was used to to Crucify our


Lord Jesus Christ on Golgotha. mp]
The other seed, however, was accidentally dropped by
Adam, and the waters of a spring immediately rose to
the surface and covered it, eventually becoming the
Pool of Bethesda, or the Sheep Pool.
And thus, each year, on the anniversary of Adams
having dropped this Seed there, an Angel from
Heaven descended and stirred the water into a
whirlpool, seeking the Seed.
Because the Holy Angels of God are filled with Grace that
is so powerful, they are able to perform Miracles even Healing dire or terminal illnesses.
Nevertheless, our Lord, by His own Divine and Creative
Power Heals us - and His Healing of the lonely
Paralytic reminds us most forcefully that all of us - to
one degree or another, and in one way or another also suffer various types of Spiritual Paralysis!
Many people suffer from an intellectual or mental
paralysis for they stubbornly reject significant
Spiritual Knowledge, education or any Holy
Teachings that might change their Spiritual Life for
the better and thereby become more fulfilled and
closer to the Lord our God with all His Divine Blessings.
Sadly, this describes the majority of people in our modern
society - including many of those who attend our very
left-leaning and agnostic colleges and universities who are considered as being well educated.
They have rejected our Lord Jesus Christ and His Absolute
Divine Truth His Teachings and Commandments.
They have rejected our Eternal Saviour Who alone is
...the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and they have
tightly shut their heart and their mind to anything that
is Divinely Miraculous and to the Holy Church of
Christ, which is Eternally founded upon the rock-solid
Faith of our Lords original Holy Apostles and
Disciples.
And finally, there are those of us who make little or no
effort to appeal to our Lord for the Spiritual Healing of
all our ailments.
We make little or no attempt to cooperate with the
Powerful Grace and Energy that our Triune God
grants us every moment of the day!
We arrogantly think that we are in control of this
temporary life.
We might confess our sins but we do not truly Repent, for
we continually repeat our wicked words, thoughts
and deeds, which in the Light of Divine Truth exposes
our complete lack of True Repentance, as well as our
lack of Love for God and His Divine Commandments.
We wilfully choose to ignore our critical need to strive
ceaselessly to avoid temptations, and to change our
bad habits and sinful lifestyle!!
We choose to ignore the Truth that the Lord our God is
Sovereign over all Creation on Earth and in Heaven!
Christ our Lord revealed the Truth of the lonely Paralytics
sad circumstances, which had been the consequence
of his guilt. Thus He severely cautioned against
further wickedness - the consequences of which
would be far worse!
Although not all physical illness is due to our sins - or
those of others - Christ our Saviour clearly tells us that
some serious ailments and even death - certainly

3RD SUNDAY AFTER HOLY PASCHA SUNDAY THE PARALYTIC

OF

SHEEP POOL, BETHESDA 22 MAY 2016

19

are due to human wickedness, carelessness and


selfishness.
Beloved Brethren: we all know without any doubt nor
debate that all Spiritual Illness is the consequence
of our wicked words, thoughts and deeds!
Sins that we repeatedly commit; sins against which we
constantly struggle; sins that we try to overcome
without seeking our Lords Strength and Great Mercy,
sins that we justify to ourselves and others all of
these plant a lethal seed of Spiritual Disease deep
within us, that increases throughout our short life-span
- becoming stronger and more noxious unless we
realise our powerlessness and that only the Lord our
God can help us to overcome these sins, Heal our
broken spirits and Restore us to our former created
state, thereby enabling us to continue our Journey
towards Eternity in a proper, peaceful and joyful
manner.
We receive Divine Healing, and Grace, and Strength,
through the Holy Mysteries of the Orthodox Church
WATCH

Watchfulness is an essential action to guard us from


our automatic reactions to thoughts stimulated by
our senses.
The Greek word that is translated as Watchfulness is
Nepsis. derived from Nepho, which means to
guard, inspect, examine, watch over and keep
under surveillance.
Watchfulness has been described by Elder Ephraim of
Philotheou as ...the axe that shatters the large
trees, by hitting their roots. When the root is struck,
it cannot spring up (revive) again.
St Hesychios commented: Watchfulness is a continual
fixing and halting of thought at the entrance to the
heart...
If we are conscientious in this, we can gain much
Experience and Knowledge of Spiritual Warfare.
This involves an effort to intercede on our thoughts,
forcing them to be examined - to shine the
Commandments of our Lord on them.
He sees this as Spiritual Warfare, which emphasizes the
nature of this effort.
We all know that warfare requires having effective
weapons that are stronger and more powerful than
those of the enemy.
St Paisios the Elder of Mount Athos cautioned us about
some of the consequences of not being Watchful:
When our soul lives carelessly without Watching
over its thoughts, it will consequently fill up with
dirty and sly thoughts!
As a result, people start developing psychological
problems which gradually pile up....
Some people, while they are found in this situation and
come face to face with the problem itself, do not
realize it, and thus are unable to humbly Confess to
their fall to their Spiritual Father.
Instead, they look for a secular solution and consult a
Psychiatrist,
who
will
inevitably
prescribe
medication...
The only solution is to become aware of the problem
and Confess it to a Spiritual Father and then humbly
and Obediently follow his advice.
These days, people have lost control over their life, and
they do not know what they are doing!
GOING BEYOND WORDS

IN

in particular worthily-received Holy Communion and


sincere and frequent Confession.
However, we must never overlook the fact that our Lord
Jesus Christ acts directly on our soul.
This direct contact between our Saviour and our troubled
soul is often overlooked, underestimated, or ignored.
This Divine Healing comes specifically through an active
and mature Prayer Life as well as through a
broken, contrite heart that fully realises that none of
us can achieve anything worthwhile and necessary to
our Eternal Life and this temporary existence without Christ for ...a broken and a contrite heart,
God will not despise.
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Christ is risen! Truly He is Risen!
HTTP://WWW.PRAVMIR.COM

FULNESS

The reason being that they do not wish to be Guided.


They want to be undisturbed they want to follow
their own free will, which will eventually bring their
total destruction...
When we use our freedom and independence without
taking into consideration our human weakness, we
becomes deceived!
We experience and interpret everything by using our
own logic.
Instead of Gods Grace, human logic rules our life, and
consequently, our mind becomes confused!
This is terrible!
It is essential to build and strengthen our self-control
self-discipline.
Most importantly, we have to learn to harness the
actions of our mind, which tends to run wild and
unchecked.
This condition forces us to rely on mental programming
that needs to be severely changed in order to live
the Christian Life to LIVE IN CHRIST!
This is what being Watchful is about.
Being Watchful means that we have the necessary selfdiscipline where we are able to guard our Inner
Sanctuary from being invaded by thoughts
stimulated by our senses that lead us to sinful
actions.
Spiritual Watchfulness is an ability to intervene in the
process of choosing how to act - based on any kind
of stimulus that leads to a thought.
Spiritual Watchfulness is essential to our Spiritual Welfare and
Development because thereby we are able to correct ourselves
and each other so that we stay on the Straight and Narrow Path
of Christ, which leads towards Eternal Life and the Kingdom of
Love.
But it requires Spiritual Guidance from our Spiritual Fathers and
Teachers who are experienced in such matters.
However, we must be willing to do our part with Humility and
Obedience to all our Lords Teachings and Commandments.
Life in Christ is not a solo endeavour, but a Communal Journey!
HTTP://ORTHODOXWAYOFLIFE.BLOGSPOT.CO.ZA/2009/06

PRAYER ST THEOPHAN

When you begin to establish a routine Prayer Life, the


words are important.
To start, we recite Prayers from a Prayer Book and say
them verbally. But this is only the beginning of
Prayer...
It is like learning a language - we first learn the words
and forms of the language from books but we do not
stop at this point. We move on to converse freely in
the language.
The same is true with Prayer.
We become accustomed to reading our Prayers from
books - using the Prayer passed down to us by Our
Lord, and those composed by our Holy Fathers who
had achieved the art of Prayer. Yet we must not stop
at this, for it is necessary to extend ourselves further.
Once we have become accustomed to turn our ears and
hearts to God using these guidelines and aids given to

THE

RECLUSE

us by others, we should then also attempt to bring


something of our own to God...
We should try to pass on into our own Prayerful
Conversation with God - to raise ourselves towards
Him, to open ourselves to Him, to Confess to Him the
contents and needs of our soul.
Prayer should be an unceasing offering of oneself to our
Lord.
In order to achieve this, it is necessary to begin - as often
as possible during the day - by calling out to God
from our heart with few words - according to our
personal needs and in ways appropriate to the events
surrounding us.

20. 3 R D S U N D A Y A F T E R H O L Y P A S C H A S U N D A Y T H E P A R A L Y T I C

THE PATH

OF

OF
BY

PRAYER: FOUR SERMONS ON PRAYER


ST THEOPHAN THE RECLUSE

SHEEP POOL, BETHESDA 22 MAY 2016

Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria & All Africa


Archdiocese of Good Hope
All Glory, Honour and Worship to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and unto the
Ages of ages. Amen. Remembering also our Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed and Glorious Lady, Maria,
Theotokos, yet Ever Virgin, together with all the Saints. And let us commit ourselves and one another and our whole
Life to Christ our God. Amen.

25 May 2016
Mid Pentecost
Third Finding of the Venerable Head of St John the Baptist
Also the Feast of St Therapon of Cyprus & St Urbanos of Rome

PASCHAL HYMN TONE (5) PLAGAL 1

Hristos Anesti, ek nekron, Thanato Thanaton patisas, Christ

is Risen from the dead; By Death trampling


upon Death, and has bestowed Life to those in the
Tombs.(3)

Ke tis en tis mnimasin, Zoin harisamenos (3)

PASCHAL PROKEIMENON PSALM 131/132

There I shall cause to spring up a horn for David; there I prepared a Lamp for My Anointed.
Remember David, O Lord, and all his Meekness.
PASCHAL MATINS GOSPEL - LUKE 7 : 17 30

At that time, a report concerning Jesus spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country. And the
Disciples of John told him of all these things. And John, calling to him two of his Disciples, sent them to the Lord,
saying: Art Thou He Who is to come, or shall we look for Another?
When the men had gone to Him, they said: John the Baptist has sent us to Thee, saying: Art Thou He Who is to come, or
shall we look for Another? In that hour He cured many of diseases and plagues, and evil spirits, and on many who
were blind, He bestowed sight. And He answered them: Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind
receive sight, the lame walk, lepers are Cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have Good
News preached to them. And Blessed is he who takes no offence at Me.
When the Disciples of John had departed, He began to speak to the crowds concerning John. What did you go out into
the wilderness to behold? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man vested in soft
clothing? Behold! Those who are gorgeously apparelled and live in luxury are in Kings courts. But what did you
go out to see? A Prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a Prophet! This is he of whom it is written: Behold, I send
My Messenger before Thy Face, who shall prepare Thy Way before Thee. I tell you: among those born of women,
none is greater than John! Yet he who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than him.
When they heard this, all the people and the Tax Collectors Justified God, having been Baptised with the Baptism of John.
The Pharisees and the Lawyers rejected the Purpose of God for themselves, not having been Baptised by him.
ISODIKON SMALL ENTRANCE HYMN TONE 2

En

Ekklisies evlogite ton Theon, Kyrion ek Pigon Israil.


Soson imas, Iie Theou, O Anastas ek nekron.

Bless God in the churches, let the Lord from the Fountains
of Israel. Save us, O Son of God, Who arose from the
dead.

AFTER THE SMALL ENTRANCE


PASCHAL APOLYTIKION MID-PENTECOST - TONE (8) PLAGAL 4

Mesousis

tis eortis, dipsosan mou tin psihin, evsevias


potison namata oti pasi Sotir evoisas.
O dipson,
erhestho pros me ke pineto. I Pigi tis Zois, Hriste O
Theos: Doxa Si!

Midway through the Feast, grant drink to my thirsty soul


from the Waters of True Faith. For to all, Thou our
Saviour cried aloud: Let whosoever is Thirsty come to
Me and drink! As the Fountain of Life, O Chist our
God: Glory to Thee!

FESTAL APOLYTIKION ST JOHN

Os

Thion thisavrisma, egkekrimmenon ti Gi, Hristos


apekalipse tin kephalin sou imin, Profita ke Prodrome.
Pantes oun sinelthontes, en ti taftis evresi, asmasi
theigoris, ton Sotira imnoumen ton Sozonta imas ek
fthoras tes ikesies Sou.

THE

BAPTIST TONE 4

Christ has revealed to us Thy Sacred Head once again a


Most Holy Treasure hidden underground for so long, O
Prophet and Forerunner. Wherefore we have assembled
for the Feast of its Finding, singing our God-Inspired
Hymns in Praise of our Saviour Who Saves us from
destruction.

FESTAL KONTAKION MID PENTECOST TONE 4

Tis

Eortis tis nomikis mesazousis, O ton apanton Piitis ke


Despotis, pros tous parontas eleges, Hriste O Theos.
Defte ke arisasthe, idor athanasias.
Othen Si
prospiptomen, ke Pistos ekvoomen. Tous iktirmous Sou
dorise imin. Si gar iparhis pigi tis Zois imon.

MID PENTECOST WEDNESDAY MIDWAY

The Feast, according to the Law, at its Midpoint, O Christ

BETWEEN

our God, as the Creator and Master of everything, Thou


said to all those who were present: Come, so that you
might draw from Me the Waters of Immortality.
Hence, with Faith, we cry to Thee, as we prostrate
ourselves before Thee. Thy tender Mercies grant to us,
we pray. Thou art the Fountain, and Source of Life, O
Lord.

HOLY PASCHA & PENTECOST 25 MAY 2016

21

FESTAL PROKEIMENON PSALM 63/64

TONE

(7) VARYS/GRAVE

The Righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall Hope in Him.
Hear my voice, O God, in my Supplication.
THE SECOND EPISTLE OF ST PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 4: 6 15
THE POWER

OF THE

HOLY APOSTLES

Brethren: It is the God Who Commanded light to shine out of darkness, Who has shone in our hearts to grant the Light of
the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Sight of Jesus Christ. We have this Treasure in earthen vessels so that the
excellence of the Power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are
perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed always carrying about in
the body the dying of our Lord Jesus so that the Life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who Live are
always Delivered to Death for Jesus sake, so that the Life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
So then Death is working in us, but Life in you.
We have the same Spirit of Faith, according to what is written: I believed and therefore I spoke... and we also believe.
Therefore speak - knowing that He Who raised up our Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with
you. All things are for your sakes, that Grace, having spread through the many, may cause Thanksgiving to abound to
the Glory of God.
THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING

TO

ST JOHN 7 : 14 - 30

At that time, about the middle of the Feast, Jesus went up into the Temple and taught. And the Judeans marvelled, saying:
How does this Man know letters, having never studied? Jesus answered them and said: My Doctrine is not Mine, but
His Who sent Me. If anyone wills to do His Will, he shall know concerning the Doctrine - whether it is from God or
whether I speak on My own Authority. He who speaks from himself, seeks his own glory; but He Who seeks the
Glory of the One Who sent Him, is True, and no unrighteousness is in Him. Did Moses not give you the Law? And
none of you keeps the Law! Why do you seek to kill Me?
The people answered and said: Thou hast a demon! Who is seeking to kill Thee? Jesus answered and said: I did one
Work, and you all marvel. Moses gave you Circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the Fathers), and on
the Sabbath you Circumcise a man. If a man receives Circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the Law of Moses
should not be broken, why are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? Do not
judge according to appearance, but judge with Righteous Judgement!
Some of them who were from Jerusalem said: Is this not He Whom they seek to kill? And behold! He speaks boldly, and
they say nothing to Him! Do the Rulers know indeed that this is Truly the Christ? Yet we know where this Man is from.
When the Christ comes, no one will know where He is from.
Jesus cried out, as He taught in the Temple, and said: You both know Me, and you know where I Am from! And I have
not come of Myself, but He Who sent Me is True, Whom you do not know! I know Him, for I Am from Him, and He
sent Me.
They sought to take Him; and no one laid a hand on Him, for His Hour had not yet come.
THE FEAST

OF

MID-PENTECOST

The fifty days following Pascha until the Feast of Pentecost


are known as the period of the Pentecostarion in the
Orthodox Church.
At the mid-point between these Great Feasts of Pascha and
Pentecost, on the twenty-fifth day, which is always a
Wednesday, is one of the most Beloved Feasts for
devout Orthodox Christians - Mid-Pentecost.
Mid-Pentecost is to the Pentecostarion what the Third
Sunday of Great Lent - Sunday of the Holy, Life-giving
Cross - is to the period of Great Lent.
These Feasts help us to focus on the central theme of the
entire period, for the mid-point of Great Lent reminds
us to bear the Cross of Christ bravely so that we may
daily die with Christ in order to experience His
Victorious Resurrection, while the mid-point of the
Pentecostarion Enlightens us regarding the theme of the
Fifty Days after Holy Pascha, which is the Acquisition
of the Holy Spirit, which is poured out as a Divine Gift
upon all Faithful Disciples of Christ who partake of the
Living Waters of our Saviour Himself.
The central theme woven throughout the period of the
Pentecostarion therefore is water, which becomes the
central theme according to the Holy Gospel of St John
that is read in its entirety - naturally following the Acts
of the Apostles that are also read entirely during this
period.
Living Water is mentioned on Pascha itself in the joyous
Canon of the Feast of Feasts written by St John the
Damascene when he invites us to "...drink a New
Drink... ... not brought forth from a barren rock... as
mentioned in the Old Testament, but which "...springs
forth from the grave of Christ."
During the Paschal Divine Liturgy the Priest processes with
the Gospel, chanting loudly: "In the Congregations
Bless God, the Lord from the Well-springs of Israel!"
(PSALM 67:27)

After Renewal or Bright Week, there are two Sundays that


abolish all doubts concerning the Resurrection of Christ
- Sunday of St Thomas and Sunday of the Holy
Myrrhbearers that encourage us to partake of the
Living Water that only our Resurrected Lord Jesus
Christ can give us.
As we approach Pentecost, the theme of water is often
mentioned in the Hymns and Sacred Lessons: the
Sheeps Pool of Bethesda and the lonely Paralytic,

22.

MID PENTECOST WEDNESDAY MIDWAY

AND THE

PENTECOSTARION

Jacobs Well and St Photini, the Samaritan Woman, and


the Pool of Siloam and the man born without eyes.
During this festive period we learn a lot concerning "Living
Water" which, if partaken of we will never thirst again,
for It is our Saviour Himself - the Baptismal Waters,
and the Cup of Life (Holy Eucharist), which is for the
remission of sins and Life Everlasting.
On Pentecost Sunday Divine Grace is rained upon our
parched soul and body so that we may be Spiritually
Fruitful: "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and
drink.
Finally, the Pentecostarion concludes with the Feast of All
Saints, Commemorating those who partook of the
"Waters of Piety" - Spiritual Harvest of the Outpouring
of God the Holy Spirit.
Mid-Pentecost stands in the middle of the fifty-day period
from Pascha to Pentecost as a Mighty Flowing River of
Divine Grace with these two Great Feasts as Its Source.
Pascha and Pentecost are united in Mid-Pentecost for
without Pascha there is no Pentecost, and without
Pentecost, there is no Purpose to Pascha.
The Feast of Mid-Pentecost is celebrated for an entire week
until the following Wednesday, making it an Eight Day
Feast, during which the Hymns of Mid-Pentecost are
joined with those of Pascha, and the Lesser Blessing of
the Waters is performed on Mid-Pentecost Wednesday,
and wherever possible, with a Procession with the Holy
Cross to a natural water spring.
The Living Water theme not only invokes water, but even
more central to the Gospel chronology it honours Christ
as our Teacher and Divine Wisdom as He revealed
Himself between the accounts of the lonely Paralytic of
Bethesda and the Blind Man born without eyes:"...about
the middle of the Feast Jesus went up into the Temple,
and taught...: My Doctrine is not Mine, but His Who
sent Me. If anyone wills to do His Will, he shall know
concerning the Doctrine - whether it is from God or
whether I speak on My own Authority. (JOHN 7:14-30)
The Festal Icon portrays the young Lord Jesus Christ
teaching Temple Elders, when He first revealed Himself
as an Extraordinary Teacher or Rabbi. Traditional
Orthodox Icons always depict our Lord larger than the
Elders, thereby honouring His Superior Spiritual Status.

BETWEEN

HTTP://WWW.PRAVOSLAVIE.RU/ENGLISH/46565.HTM

HOLY PASCHA & PENTECOST 25 MAY 2016

Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria & All Africa


Archdiocese of Good Hope
All Glory, Honour and Worship to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and unto the
Ages of ages. Amen. Remembering also our Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed and Glorious Lady, Maria,
Theotokos, yet Ever Virgin, together with all the Saints. And let us commit ourselves and one another and our whole
Life to Christ our God. Amen.

Tone 4

29 May 2016
th

4 Sunday After Holy Pascha


The Samaritan Woman (St Photini) at Jacobs Well
Also the Feast of St Theodosia, Virgin Martyr, of Tyre - St Alexandra of Alexandria - St John,
Fool-For-Christ & Wonderworker of Ustiug - Holy Fathers & Mothers of Atchara, Georgia St Theodosia the Nun & Virgin
Martyr of Constantinople

RESURRECTION GOSPEL 7

- JOHN 20 : 1 - 10

PASCHAL HYMN TONE (5) PLAGAL 1

Hristos Anesti, ek nekron, Thanato Thanaton patisas, Christ

is Risen from the dead; By Death trampling


upon Death, and has bestowed Life to those in the
Tombs.(3)

Ke tis en tis mnimasin, Zoin harisamenos (3)

ISODIKON SMALL ENTRANCE HYMN TONE 2

En

Bless God in the churches, let the Lord from the Fountains

Ekklisies evlogite ton Theon, Kyrion ek Pigon Israil.


Soson imas, Iie Theou, O Anastas ek nekron.

of Israel. Save us, O Son of God, Who arose from the


dead.

AFTER THE SMALL ENTRANCE


RESURRECTION APOLYTIKION TONE 4

To

When

fedron tis Anastaseos kirigma, ek tou Angelou


Mathouse e tou Kyriou Mathitrie, ke tin progonikin
apofasin aporripsase, tis Apostolis kavhomene elegon.
Eskilefte O Thanatos, igerthi Hristos O Theos,
doroumenos to kosmo to Mega Eleos.

the Women Disciples of our Lord had learnt from


the Angel the Joyful Message of the Resurrection, and
had rejected the Ancestral Decision, they cried aloud
to the Apostles triumphantly:
Death has been
despoiled! Christ our God has Risen! Granting to the
world His Great Mercy!

FESTAL APOLYTIKION MID PENTECOST TONE (8) PLAGAL 4

Mesousis

Midway through the Feast, grant drink to my thirsty soul

tis Eortis, dipsosan Mou tin psihin, efsevias


potison namata oti pasi Sotir evoisas.
O dipson,
erhestho pros me ke pineto. I pigi tis Zois, Hriste O
Theos: Doxa Si

from the Waters of True Faith. For to all Thou, our


Saviour, cried aloud: Let whoever is Thirsty to come to
Me, and drink! As the Fountain of Life, O Christ our
God: Glory to Thee!

PASCHAL KONTAKION TONE (8) PLAGAL 4

I ke en Tafo katilthes Athanate, alla tou Adou kathiles tin Although

Thou went down into the Sepulchre, O


Immortal, Thou brought down the dominion of Hades,
and Thou rose as Victor, O Christ our God: and Thou
called out Hail! to the Myrrhbearing Women, and
grant Peace to Thine Apostles, O Lord, Who to the
fallen grant Resurrection.

dinamin. Ke anestis os nikitis, Hriste O Theos, Gynexi


Myroforis fthegxamenos, Herete! ke tis Sis Apostolis
Irini doroumenos, O tis pesousi parehon Anastasin.

PROKEIMENON PSALM 103/104

TONE

O Lord, Thy Works shall be Magnified greatly! Thou made all things in Wisdom!
Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, Thou art exceedingly Magnified!
THE ACTS

OF THE

THOUSANDS

APOSTLES ACCORDING
OF

SOULS CONVERT

TO

TO

ST LUKE 11 : 19 30

CHRISTIANITY AFTER PENTECOST

Those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen, travelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and
Antioch, preaching the Word to no one but the Judeans. Some of them were from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when
they went to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the Hand of the Lord was with them,
and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.
News of these things was heard by the Church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. When
he went and saw the Grace of God, he was glad. And he encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they
should continue with the Lord, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and Faith. And a great many people
were added to the Lord.
Barnabas departed for Tarsos to seek Saul. And when he had found him, he took him to Antioch.
So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the Church and taught a great many people. The Disciples were
first called Christians in Antioch.
In those days Prophets went from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabos, stood up and showed by the
Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout the world - which also had happened in the days of
Claudius Caesar. The Disciples - each according to his ability - determined to send relief to the Brethren dwelling in
Judea. This they did, and sent it to the Elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
4TH SUNDAY AFTER HOLY PASCHA THE SAMARITAN WOMAN (ST PHOTINI) 29 MAY 2016

23

The Evangelisation of the Gentiles caused a significant


amount of conflict in the early Church.
Even though Christ had Commanded His Holy Apostles to
preach His Holy Gospel universally to all Nations it
took a while for this to be put properly into practice.
Much debate arose over what requirements from the Old
Covenant Law if any the Gentile Christians would
have to follow.
The Hellenists referred to actual Greeks, not to
Hellenistic Hebrews (I.E. GREEK SPEAKING HEBREWS)
The Holy Church of Christ in Antioch was instrumental
in bringing untold numbers of Gentiles to our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Two key Truths are revealed in the fact that St Barnabas
was ...sent out to Antioch:
1. HOLY APOSTLES OF CHRIST were sent forth to preach the
Holy Gospel of Christ but they NEVER WORKED
INDEPENDENTLY OR IN ISOLATION FROM THE BODY OF THE
HOLY CHURCH.
2. THE HOLY CHURCH OF ANTIOCH NEEDED THE SEAL OF HOLY
APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY IN ORDER TO BECOME INTEGRATED
INTO THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH OF CHRIST.
ST BARNABAS REVEALED HIS GENUINE HUMILITY BY SEEKING THE
HELP OF ST PAUL (Saul) a humble recognition of his
own personal limitations, and his TRUE COMMUNION
WITH AND DEPENDENCE ON THE OTHER HOLY APOSTLES OF
CHRIST.
TWO KEY ELEMENTS OF LITURGICAL WORSHIP INCLUDED THE
EUCHARISTIC (THANKSGIVING) ASSEMBLY COMMUNAL
WORSHIP AND THE CORRECT TEACHING OF THE HOLY
GOSPEL OF CHRIST.
 The fact that the Disciples of Christ were first called
Christians in Antioch is more than just historical
Truth.
It
demonstrates
that
CHRISTS
COMMANDMENT TO PREACH HIS HOLY GOSPEL AMONG
THE GENTILES AS WELL, WAS FIRST FULLY REALISED IN
ANTIOCH.
St John Chrysostom commented: IT WAS (IN ANTIOCH) FOR
THE FIRST TIME THAT PEOPLE WERE ACCOUNTED WORTHY OF
THAT NAME.

 The Prophets were Christian Believers within the Holy


Church who had the Divine Gift of Prophecy.
 1 CORINTHIANS 12:29
ARE ALL APOSTLES? ARE ALL
PROPHETS? ARE ALL TEACHERS? ARE ALL WORKERS OF
MIRACLES?
There has always been a wonderful Hierarchy of Honour in
the Holy Church of the New Covenant which continues
to this very day and will continue unabated, until
Eternity.

The Apostolic Work of the Bishops sets the pace for all the
rest of Christs Holy Flock and WHEN THE OVERSIGHT IS
IN CORRECT WORKING ORDER, THE REST OF CHURCH IS FREE
TO FUNCTION AT OPTIMAL LEVEL FOR THE GLORY, HONOUR
AND WORSHIP OF GOD.
Yet, even with all the Divine Gifts in place and operative,
there is something far more excellent THE LOVE OF
GOD, which IS THE TRUE SIGN OF THE PRESENCE OF THE
HOLY SPIRIT.
 1 CORINTHIANS 14:3 HE WHO PROPHESIES SPEAKS

 1

EDIFICATION AND EXHORTATION AND COMFORT TO


MANKIND.
CORINTHIANS 14: 29 LET TWO OR THREE PROPHETS SPEAK,
AND LET THE OTHERS JUDGE.

God is not the Author of confusion - and the Truly


Spiritual can control themselves, since GENUINE
SPIRITUALITY IS MANIFESTED IN PREPAREDNESS, PROPRIETY
AND ORDER, COURTESY AND SELF-CONTROL/DISCIPLINE.
 WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT IS PRESENT, THERE IS DIVINE
PEACE AND UNDERSTANDING.
 EPHESIANS 4: 11 (CHRIST) HIMSELF GRANTED some to be
Apostles, some Prophets, some Evangelists, and some
Pastors and Teachers, for THE EQUIPPING OF THE SAINTS FOR
THE WORK OF MINISTRY, FOR THE EDIFYING OF THE BODY OF
CHRIST UNTIL WE ALL COME TO THE UNITY OF THE FAITH AND
OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST...
THE HOLY SPIRIT BESTOWS HIS DIVINE GIFTS IN ORDER TO FORM
ONE COHESIVE, HARMONIOUS GROUP WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR
EQUIPPING TEACHING, GUIDING AND PREPARING OTHERS - FOR
THE SACRED TASK OF CHRISTS HOLY MINISTRY.
EVERY FAITHFUL CHRISTIAN HAS THE SACRED TASK OF GUIDING,
HELPING AND ENCOURAGING ONE ANOTHER as we all journey
through this preparatory period of earthly life towards
Eternity because - whether we are believers or not ALL
HUMANITY WILL ENTER ETERNITY.
 The great famine that was predicted, did indeed happen
throughout the known world in 44 51 having
begun in Judea and spreading as far as Greece and
Italy.
The principle of giving each according to his ability is one
that continues to this day in our Holy Church.
 The Elders (the bearded ones) were the Presbyters
(Priests) who were Ordained by the Holy Apostles and
put in charge of the local Parish churches, which had
initially been founded by the Holy Apostles.
Since those days, the Orders of the Holy Ministry or Holy
Priesthood of Christ consist of the Bishops (the Apostles
and their direct successors), the Presbyters or Priests, and
the Deacons.

THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING


THE SAMARITAN WOMAN

TO
AT

ST JOHN 4 : 5 42

JACOBS WELL

At that time, our Lord Jesus went to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph.
Jacobs Well was there. Wearied as He was with His journey, Jesus sat down beside the well. It was about the Sixth
Hour. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her: Give Me a drink. For His Disciples had
gone into the city to buy food. The Samaritan Woman said to Him: How is it that Thou a Judean ask a drink of
me a woman of Samaria? For Judeans had no dealings with Samaritans.
Jesus answered her: If Thou knew the Gift of God, and Who it is Who is saying to Thee: Give Me a drink, Thou
would have asked Him and He would have given Thee Living Water. The Woman said to Him: Sir, Thou hast
nothing with which to draw water, and the well is deep. Where dost Thou get that Living Water? Art Thou greater
than our Father, Jacob, who gave us this well, and drank from it himself and his sons, and his livestock?
Jesus said to her: Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the Water that I shall
give, will become a Spring of Water welling up to Eternal Life. The Woman said to Him: Sir, give me this Water,
that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.
Jesus said to her: Go fetch Thy husband, and come here. The Woman answered him: I have no husband. Jesus
said to her: Well said: I have no husband. Thou hast had five husbands, and now he whom Thou hast is not
Thy husband. This Thou said truly.
The Woman said to Him: Sir, I perceive that Thou art a Prophet. Our Fathers worshipped on this mountain. And you
say that Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Jesus said to her: Woman, believe Me: for the Hour is coming when neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, wilt
you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know - we worship what we know, for Salvation is from the
Judeans. But the Hour is coming and now is when the True Worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and
Truth and thus, for such the Father seeks to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship
in Spirit and Truth.
The Woman said to Him: I know that the Messiah is coming He Who is called Christ. When He comes, He will show us
all things. Jesus said to her: I, Who speak to Thee, Am He.
And when His Disciples returned, they marvelled, for He was speaking to a woman. Yet none said: What seekest
Thou? or Why art Thou talking to her?
The Woman left her water jar, and departed to the city, and said to the people: Come see a Man Who told me all that I
ever did. Can this be the Christ? They went out of the city, and went to Him.
Meanwhile, the Disciples besought Him, saying: Rabbi, eat. He said to them: I have Food to eat of which you do not
know. The Disciples said to one another: Has anyone brought Him food?
Jesus said to them: My Food is to do the Will of Him Who sent Me, and to accomplish His Work. Do you not say:
There are yet four months, then comes the harvest? Behold, I tell you: lift up your eyes and see how the fields
are already white for Harvest! He Who Reaps receives Wages, and gathers Fruit for Eternal Life, so that the

24.

4TH SUNDAY AFTER HOLY PASCHA THE SAMARITAN WOMAN (ST PHOTINI) 29 MAY 2016

Sower and the Reaper may Rejoice together! For here the saying holds True, for One Sows, Another Reaps. I
sent you to Reap that for which you did not Labour others Laboured and you have entered into their Labour.
Many Samaritans from that city believed in Him because of the Womans Testimony: He told me all that I ever did.
When the Samaritans went to Him, they asked Him to stay with them and He stayed there two days. And many more
believed because of His Word. They said to the Woman: It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for
we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed Christ, the Saviour of the world!
The Old Testament does not mention Jacobs Well although
St Athanasios the Great taught us: The commonwealth of
St Jacob did dwell in the area. (GENESIS 33:19)
Israel was the School of the Knowledge of God for all
Wells had great significance because of their rarity and their
nations.
More importantly, our Lord Jesus Christ testified that THE
priceless value in desert life. Therefore, wells came to
symbolise life itself. (PSALM 35:910; PSALM 45:4; ISAIAH 55:1)
MESSIAH WHO WAS PROPHESIED AMONG THE HEBREWS, HAS
RISEN FROM THE HEBREWS.
Jacobs Well has been maintained as a Holy Shrine by the
WHILE THE GIFT OF THE SALVATION IN CHRIST IS TO ALL NATIONS,
Greek Orthodox Christian Church to this very day and
IT HAS COME FROM WITHIN JUDAISM.
pilgrims still drink from it. (ST PHILOMENOS THE NEW MARTYR
OF JACOBS WELL GAVE HIS LIFE FOR ITS PROTECTION AND
The Hour refers to THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST
PRESERVATION IN 1979. mp)
AND TO THE OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AT HOLY
Our Lord Jesus was wearied from His journey - meaning
PENTECOST, which inaugurated the Worship of our New
that IN HIS HUMAN NATURE, HE, TOO, SUFFERED hunger,
Covenant with Almighty God.
thirst, tiredness - THE SAME WEAKNESSES OF OUR OWN HUMAN
I, Who speak to you, Am He, is literally translated: I AM
CONDITION.
(EGO EIMI) Who speaks to you. I Am is the Divine Name
The Sixth Hour is midday 12:00 the hottest part of the
of God and its use indicates A THEOPHANY OR DIVINE
day, when most inhabitants of hot areas rest from the
REVELATION OF GOD HIMSELF.
heat.
The use of this Most Holy Name by a mere man would have
THE SAMARITAN WOMAN WAS THE EARLIEST EVANGELIST (BESIDES
been considered as the worst blasphemy ever
THE APOSTLES) WHO TESTIFIED TO THE ADVENT OF CHRIST.
punishable by stoning to death! (JOHN 8:58; MARK 14:62)
TOGETHER WITH HER TWO SONS AND FIVE DAUGHTERS (SOME SAY
However, as our Lord Jesus Christ is Truly Divine the Son of
SISTERS,) SHE BROUGHT THOUSANDS OF SOULS TO CHRIST.
God and thus one of the three Persons of the Almighty
AFTER THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST SHE WAS BAPTISED WITH THE NAME
Godhead the Holy Trinity HIS OWN USE OF THIS DIVINE
OF PHOTINI (THE ENLIGHTENED ONE,) AND WENT TO CARTHAGE
NAME REVEALS HIS TRUE UNITY WITH GOD THE FATHER AND
TO SPREAD THE HOLY GOSPEL. SHE WAS EVENTUALLY MARTYRED
GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT.
WITH HER ENTIRE FAMILY BY ORDER OF EMPEROR NERO BY BEING
 He most certainly reveals that HE IS INDEED GOD
THROWN INTO A VERY DEEP WELL. WE COMMEMORATE HER MEMORY
INCARNATE!
ON 20 MARCH AND ON THE FIFTH SUNDAY OF HOLY PASCHA. mp
His Apostles marvelled not only because our Lord Jesus
The Samaritans were a mixed breed of Judeans and pagans,
spoke with a Samaritan, but that HE SPOKE WITH AN
and thus were traditional enemies of Israel.
UNACCOMPANIED
WOMAN,
WHICH
WAS
POTENTIALLY
Although they also worshipped the God of Israel and awaited
SCANDALOUS FOR THEM BOTH!
the Advent or Coming of the Messiah the Christ they
 CHRIST IS ABOVE ALL SOCIAL NORMS AND CUSTOMS, SO HE
accepted only the first five Books of the Old Testament
TREATED ALL WOMEN WITH THE HIGHEST OF RESPECT,
Scriptures the Pentateuch.
THEREBY SHOWING THEIR VALUE AND IMPORTANCE IN
They had built their own temple on Mount Gerizim, which the
EARTHLY AND HEAVENLY LIFE. (JOHN &;53-8:11; LL:20-30; 20:
Israelites had destroyed in 128 BC.
11-18 & LUKE 8:1 3)
On many occasions CHRIST IS MISUNDERSTOOD BY PEOPLE DUE TO
In the ordinary sense, living water means, fresh, flowing
water from a stream or spring, rather than from a
OUR LIMITED HUMAN EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE.
Nevertheless, THROUGH THESE MISUNDERSTANDINGS, OUR LORD
stagnant pond or cistern.
Christs use of the term LIVING WATER MEANT THE DIVINE
FULFILS HIS DIVINE ROLE AS MESSIAH BY DOING THE WILL OF
GRACE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT THAT LEADS US TO ETERNAL LIFE,
HIS HEAVENLY FATHER AND THIS IS HIS SPIRITUAL FOOD.
Our Lord Jesus, by His own Perfect Example, has taught us to
WHICH NOT ONLY REMAINS IN A FAITHFUL PERSON BUT IS SO
ABUNDANT THAT IT OVERFLOWS AND AFFECTS OTHERS IN THE
PERFORM/OBEY THE DIVINE WILL OF GOD THROUGHOUT OUR
LIFE WITHOUT BEING DISTRACTED BY EARTHLY CARES such as
BEST POSSIBLE MANNER.
However, St Photini misunderstood our Lord Jesus and thus
hunger, shelter and comfort. (JOHN 6:27; MATTHEW 4:4; 6:25-33)
enquired whether He was greater that St Jacob, the
According to St John Chrysostom, when Christ commanded
ancient Patriarch who was a type of Christ because he had
His Apostles to Behold He wanted them to witness the
received the Vision of the Divine Ladder, which our Lord
approaching multitude of white clad Samaritans who
Jesus Christ fulfilled. (GENESIS 28:12)
were ready and eager to believe in Christ Jesus.
Furthermore, just as St Jacob gave this Well for earthly life,
Our Lord compared these Samaritans (RELATIVE TO THE HEBREWS)
CHRIST GRANTS US THE WELL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT FOR
to fields of crops that were ready to harvest.
ETERNAL LIFE.
In addition, our Lords command to Behold! is also
Since our Lord Jesus knew that St Photini was living in sin,
addressed to all Faithful Christians to all Faithful
and as He was aware of her five previous husbands, she
Disciples of Christ to LOOK AT THOSE AROUND US AND TO
assumed Him to be a Holy Prophet but since the
SHARE HIS HOLY GOSPEL WITH ANYONE WANTING TO RECEIVE IT
Samaritans did not accept or recognise any Prophets after
REGARDLESS OF ETHNICITY OR SOCIAL STATUS.
St Moses, THE ONLY PROPHET THEY EXPECTED WAS THE
St John Chrysostom believed that THOSE WHO SOWED AND
MESSIAH Whom St Moses had foretold. (DEUTERONOMY 18:
THOSE WHO REAPED WERE THE HOLY PROPHETS OF THE OLD
15-18)
COVENANT AND THE HOLY APOSTLES OF THE NEW COVENANT
CHRISTS INSIGHT INTO EVERY HUMAN BEINGS HEART, which is
RESPECTIVELY.
repeatedly mentioned throughout the Holy Gospels,
The Holy Prophets sowed the Seeds of Faith in preparation
EMPHASISES HIS DIVINE NATURE.
for the Advent of the Messiah, yet they did neither
Our Lord Jesus was indeed the expected Holy Prophet, so He
witnessed it nor reap the Spiritual Fruit of their Holy
could settle the historical argument about where True
Labours.
Worship was to be offered.
The Apostles who did witness and experience the Presence of
However, OUR LORD JESUS REFUSED TO ANSWER SUCH AN EARTHLY
God Incarnate, did not prepare either the Hebrews nor the
QUESTION AND ELEVATED THE DISCUSSION TO THE ONE WHOM
Gentiles yet, after the Resurrection and especially after
WE WORSHIP: ALMIGHTY GOD HIMSELF.
Pentecost, they drew millions of souls to Faith in Christ
our Lord and Saviour, in their own lifetime.
 According to our Lord Jesus Christ the Eternal, Only
The fact that these Samaritans were amongst the first to
Begotten Word and Son of God - GOD IS SPIRIT AND
recognise and to acknowledge our Lord Jesus as the
CANNOT BE CONFINED TO ANY PARTICULAR LOCATION:
Saviour of the world, shows us exactly how HIS HOLY
GOD IS OMNIPRESENT HE IS EVERYWHERE!
GOSPEL IS FOR ALL PEOPLE OF EVERY NATION THROUGHOUT THE
 THOSE WHO RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT AND BELIEVE IN JESUS
ENTIRE WORLD.
CHRIST THE SON AND WORD OF GOD THE FATHER
WORSHIP GOD WITH PURITY OF HEART.
Our Lord Jesus Christ affirmed that TRUE REVELATION COMES
FROM JUDAISM: Salvation is of the Hebrews.
4TH SUNDAY AFTER HOLY PASCHA THE SAMARITAN WOMAN (ST PHOTINI) 29 MAY 2016

25

4TH SUNDAY AFTER HOLY PASCHA THE SAMARITAN WOMAN

Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!


Brethren: the Great Feast of Holy Pascha has already
reached midway, and is now approaching its Leavetaking (Apodosis.)
The Church of Christ - our Guide to Salvation condescending to the infirmity of our weakened souls,
once again Calls us to the Source of Living Waters, to
the Word of God, which alone can quicken our soul,
spirit, and body.
Every Sunday we all look into the Immeasurable,
Fathomless Depths of this Well, so that everyone can
draw the Water of Life from it according to his
strength and ability.
Contemplating the depths of what happened at Jacobs
Well, we see with awe that this Source of Life has
continued to function up to this very day!
How many travellers passed through the desert and, with
parched lips, arrived at Jacobs Well and quenched
their thirst! How many times a day did the Samaritans
and others draw life-sustaining water from that well
from which the ancient Forefather, Jacob, and all his
dependants and his innumerable descendants had drunk.
However, our Saviour pointed out a profound Truth:
Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst
again... (JOHN 4:13)
That single meeting at Jacobs Well between Christ and
the Samaritan Woman was the most significant
Encounter with our Living God - for at that well of
temporal water, the hitherto unknown Source of
Eternal Life was first revealed and secured for all
mankind, forever!
For the first time Christ revealed Himself to be the Eternal,
Inexhaustible Well of Living Water, flowing into Life
Eternal an Eternal Source that can never run dry, for
It is independent of human effort, and nothing can
cloud Its crystal clarity nor poison Its Life-giving
Properties!
This Source is Gods Holy Church, and Its Living Water is
the infinite Power of Gods Grace that Forgives,
Enlightens, and Sanctifies every person who comes to
It.
Indeed, it was at this Encounter that for the first time, at
the beginning of His Public Ministry, our Lord openly
identified Himself as the long-awaited Divine Messiah
-the Saviour of the worldour God: I Am.
Jesus Christ - both God and Mancame to seek and Save
those who are perishing, by planting the first Seeds of
the Evangelic Word among people who belonged in
its Faith - not to the Jewsalthough they also awaited
the Coming of the Messiahnor to the pagans, for He
did not identify Himself as the Christ of God to the
spiteful Jews, but to a (despised) Samaritan Woman.
Although she did not know the Truth, she was humble,
honest, eager, and willing to accept and embrace His
Teachings and Commandments wholeheartedly,
leading others to Him as well!
Despite not knowing the True God, the Samaritans lived
their beliefs even though they were clumsy and
unconscious, which was evident from the question of
where and how to worship God properly as voiced by
the humble Samaritan Woman.
The Jews shunned and avoided the Samaritans whom
they despised for their corrupted religious practises,
yet for our Saviour, there was none other more worthy
to received His Divine Truth His Teachings and
Commandments - for the Samaritans not only
accepted them, by lived by them!
His Love for the Samaritans was so obvious that the ageold tribal hatred was conquered by it.
From that time onwards - neither in Jerusalem, where the
Jews worshipped, nor on Mount Gerizim, where the
Samaritans gathered, nor in Athens, where an Altar to
the Unknown God stood, but everywhere - wherever
there is a human heart tormented by Spiritual Thirst thirsting for Absolute, Divine, Perfect Truth - thirsting
for Almighty God we will indeed meet and worship
Him in Spirit and Truth!
No created source can ever satisfy this Spiritual Thirst of
our spirit - only the Living Water of Jesus Christs
Divine Truth His Teaching and our unwavering Faith
in Him as the Redeemer of the world.

26.

AT

JACOBS WELL

The Samaritan Woman believed Him, and, through her


Encounter, He immediately became the Source of
Living Water for innumerable other souls.
Leaving behind all her earthly cares - forgetting her
indispensable water pot and her need for water, she
carried the Life-giving Truth of Christ to her fellow
citizens, who hastened out to Jacobs Well to welcome
the Source of Living Water- and have Encountered our
True, Living God they believed and they lived, from
that moment on, IN CHRIST: Now we believe - not
because of thy saying - for we have heard Him
ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the
Saviour of the world! (JOHN 4:42)
The Samaritan Womans Testimony to our One, True and
Living God grew in her to Sanctity, and she and her
entire family lived in Christ, and led others to True
Belief. St Photini eventually accepted a Martyrs end
for her preaching of Christ, being thrown into a very
deep well.
The Saviour of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ, is the
same yesterday, today, and forever! Yet this Divine
Source of Life is forgotten, rejected or ignored by so
many!
His Divine Truth remains unheard, unappreciated and
unaccepted: I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life!
Our Lord had taught this Divine Truth to His Chosen
People, which has stood the test of all the centuries,
but they refused to believe and their Spiritual
Blindness made His Divine Truth irreconcilable and
impossible for them!
Denial and rejection of Divine Truth is a terrible disease
that has brought us to the brink of catastrophe! It
breeds so many sects, heresies, and divisions around
the Well of Life, the Church of God! It kills the Spirit of
Life in us!
The worst affliction of mankind is caused by all the lies,
the blasphemies and deceptions of the evil one that
mankind has embraced - rather than living by Gods
Divine
Truth

His
Divine
Teachings
and
Commandments.
True worshippers worship in Truth. We can be bad, we
can be much more sinful than the Samaritan Woman,
but we cannot be liars, we should not be liars!!
God can and does Save everyone who seeks His
Salvation, but He is powerless when we become
enmeshed in lies!!
Christ can save the Repentant sinner, but He cannot help
us when we lie and refuse to Repent!
When we are exhausted by our Spiritual Thirst - sick and
poisoned by toxic atheistic ideas and opinions, we
must seek the Living Waters of Christ to revive our
weakening spirit and strengthen our tired flesh, for we
all need to see ourselves clearly - without selfishness,
false pride and lies! For only then can our Lord, Who
is Truth, Righteousness, and Life, teach us to worship
Him in Spirit and Truth.
The Thirst for Truth is the primary, vital requirement for
Encountering our Living God.
The Truth of the incomprehensibility of the Holiness of
God and of His Great Mercy will smite (strike) our
heart, and in the Light of His Truth will we see the
actual depth of our sinfulness!
Heart wrenching grief will draw us to the Source of Living
Water - and Gods Grace, with its Life-giving Strength,
will restore us - granting Spiritual Freedom to our soul
as we are freed from the shackles of sin.
In these accelerated times, how many of us are like the
living dead due to a desperate Thirst for Divine
Truth.
The Knowledge of Truth begins quickly for those who truly
Thirst, and seek, and desire to live in Divine Truth, for
our Lord will reveal Himself to them!
The Power and Majesty of God is clearly evident in our
Life in Christ - in the Churchs seven Holy Mysteries
which are the Source of Living Water, flowing into Life
Eternal.
Divine Truth is the Word of God, which is alive and
always active - leading the Thirsting Traveller along
the Path of Life...
Christ is Risen! Truly Christ is Risen! Amen!
ARCHIMANDRITE JOHN (KRESTIANKIN) - 01 / 06 / 2013
http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/46642.htm

4TH SUNDAY AFTER HOLY PASCHA THE SAMARITAN WOMAN (ST PHOTINI) 29 MAY 2016

You might also like