Prayer of Parents for Children
Heavenly Father, eternal salvation of our souls and bodies: grant Your heavenly blessing to my child(ren) (names). In all the changes and chances of this fleeting world, extend Your mighty hand over them to shield them from all physical and spiritual danger and adversity. Fill them with Your Holy Spirit, that he/she/they may always love You and strive to fulfill Your holy will as devout members of Your Church. Grant him/her/them so to please You in this age that he/she/they may finally inherit Your glorious Kingdom in the age to come. For Yours it is to save us, and to You we ascribe glory: to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
#InternationalFamilyDay
Heavenly Father, eternal salvation of our souls and bodies: grant Your heavenly blessing to my child(ren) (names). In all the changes and chances of this fleeting world, extend Your mighty hand over them to shield them from all physical and spiritual danger and adversity. Fill them with Your Holy Spirit, that he/she/they may always love You and strive to fulfill Your holy will as devout members of Your Church. Grant him/her/them so to please You in this age that he/she/they may finally inherit Your glorious Kingdom in the age to come. For Yours it is to save us, and to You we ascribe glory: to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
#InternationalFamilyDay
Through a mother's prayers, an empire was defended and heresy conquered.
The Feast of Equal of the Apostles and Emperor Constantine with his Mother Helen is commemorated on May 21/ June 3. "Having seen the figure of the Cross in the heavens, and like Paul not having received his call from men," Constantine, 4th century emperor of the Roman Empire -- through the influential life and prayers of his mother, St Helen-- ended three hundred years of persecution. Christians could finally practice their faith without fear.
The emperor renounced paganism and moved the capital from ancient Rome, the former center of paganism to the city of Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople.
Christian confessors came out of banishment and churches were built. Yet, various heresies raged during his reign-- the most ruinous being the Arian heresy, which denied the Divine Nature of the Son of God, and taught that Jesus Christ was a mere creature.
The Feast of Equal of the Apostles and Emperor Constantine with his Mother Helen is commemorated on May 21/ June 3. "Having seen the figure of the Cross in the heavens, and like Paul not having received his call from men," Constantine, 4th century emperor of the Roman Empire -- through the influential life and prayers of his mother, St Helen-- ended three hundred years of persecution. Christians could finally practice their faith without fear.
The emperor renounced paganism and moved the capital from ancient Rome, the former center of paganism to the city of Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople.
Christian confessors came out of banishment and churches were built. Yet, various heresies raged during his reign-- the most ruinous being the Arian heresy, which denied the Divine Nature of the Son of God, and taught that Jesus Christ was a mere creature.
By order of the emperor, the First Ecumenical Council was convened in the city of Nicea in 325. There the heresy of Arius was condemned. At the same council, a Symbol of Faith (Creed) was composed. At the emperor's insistence, the term “consubstantial with the Father” was included in confirming the truth of the divinity of Jesus Christ, Who assumed human nature for the redemption of all the human race.
"Having seen the figure of the Cross in the heavens,
and like Paul not having received his call from men, O Lord,
Your apostle among rulers, the Emperor Constantine,
has been set by Your hand as ruler over the Imperial City
that he preserved in peace for many years,
through the prayers of the Theotokos, O only lover of mankind."
Photo: Cross of St. Constantine and St. Helena in Drenovë, Korçë, Albania
"Having seen the figure of the Cross in the heavens,
and like Paul not having received his call from men, O Lord,
Your apostle among rulers, the Emperor Constantine,
has been set by Your hand as ruler over the Imperial City
that he preserved in peace for many years,
through the prayers of the Theotokos, O only lover of mankind."
Photo: Cross of St. Constantine and St. Helena in Drenovë, Korçë, Albania
[Christ] did not say to Zacchaeus, “How short you are!” He did not say to Judas, “How ugly you are!” He did not say to the paralytic, “How paralytic you are!” He did not say to the leper, “You smell bad!”
Christ would always speak to what was real and true in people - that is, to their souls. It was the Soul speaking to souls.
Christ considered it indecent to talk about the bodies of people almost in the same way as mature people consider it indecent to speak to each other about clothes. Therefore, when a person is talking to you, do not think about his body, do not look at his body. But look at his soul, examine his soul, get accustomed to his soul - and then you will understand him.
When you are talking to a person, do not think about either your body or his, but think about both your soul and his. Repeat to yourself, “This is a soul speaking to a soul. A soul is communicating with a soul.” And then you will feel the God is there with the two of you. And you will understand and be understood.
Christ would always speak to what was real and true in people - that is, to their souls. It was the Soul speaking to souls.
Christ considered it indecent to talk about the bodies of people almost in the same way as mature people consider it indecent to speak to each other about clothes. Therefore, when a person is talking to you, do not think about his body, do not look at his body. But look at his soul, examine his soul, get accustomed to his soul - and then you will understand him.
When you are talking to a person, do not think about either your body or his, but think about both your soul and his. Repeat to yourself, “This is a soul speaking to a soul. A soul is communicating with a soul.” And then you will feel the God is there with the two of you. And you will understand and be understood.
St. Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia called St. Evmenios Saridakis (1931-1999) “the hidden Saint of our time” and often confessed to him. “A saint like Elder Evmenios comes along only once every two hundred years.”
As a priest, St. Evmenios (May 23) was afflicted by the harsh test of leprosy but was healed at the Hospital for Infectious Diseases near Athens, where he was blessed to meet and become a disciple and caretaker of the leprosied holy monk Saint Nikephoros.
All those who encountered the grace-filled Fr. Evmenios were struck by his love for every person. He was known for his laughter and also for his tears of compassion. He would be seen exiting the Inner Sanctum during the Liturgy, with his beard soaked by his tears for the suffering.
As a priest, St. Evmenios (May 23) was afflicted by the harsh test of leprosy but was healed at the Hospital for Infectious Diseases near Athens, where he was blessed to meet and become a disciple and caretaker of the leprosied holy monk Saint Nikephoros.
All those who encountered the grace-filled Fr. Evmenios were struck by his love for every person. He was known for his laughter and also for his tears of compassion. He would be seen exiting the Inner Sanctum during the Liturgy, with his beard soaked by his tears for the suffering.
Having seen human suffering, he stayed at the hospital where he was healed. There he was “to begin his pastoral work, in the presence of which, those with theological degrees and ecclesiastic offices ought to kneel” (Greek language book, “Fr. Evmenios, The Hidden Saint Saint of our Time” by Monk Simon).
When his grandmother took young New Martyr Yevgeny (Eugene) Rodionov (May 23) for his first confession, the priest noticed that he was not wearing a cross. During the confession he put on a cross which Eugene steadfastly refused to take off, even when his mother told him he would be ridiculed at school for wearing it.
By 1995, the young man enlisted in the Russian army, and after basic training he was assigned to the border posts of Chechnya-Igusheti, where he was kidnapped and tortured by Chechen Muslims who tried to convert him to Islam, and attempted to coerce him to remove his cross.
Cynically, Yevgeny’s torturers decided to murder him on his nineteenth birthday. In his last moments, he told them: “My cross, I have been carrying it for seven consecutive years, I have never taken it off and never will, no matter what you do to me!” His captors then cut off his head with a knife, but they did not dare to remove the cross from his neck.
By 1995, the young man enlisted in the Russian army, and after basic training he was assigned to the border posts of Chechnya-Igusheti, where he was kidnapped and tortured by Chechen Muslims who tried to convert him to Islam, and attempted to coerce him to remove his cross.
Cynically, Yevgeny’s torturers decided to murder him on his nineteenth birthday. In his last moments, he told them: “My cross, I have been carrying it for seven consecutive years, I have never taken it off and never will, no matter what you do to me!” His captors then cut off his head with a knife, but they did not dare to remove the cross from his neck.
Nine harrowing months later, his heartbroken mother, Lyubov Vasilievna, found the body of her son. Yevgeny Rodionov’s body was then taken for burial to a resting place close to the Church of the Ascension of Christ in Kurilovo, near Moscow. Military and ordinary people come from all over Russia to venerate the hero. His mother said that once a veteran of the Great Patriotic War came to Yevgeny's grave. The old soldier took off the medal "For Courage" and put it on the gravestone.
St. Yevgeny was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage and the Order of Glory to Russia. But his most glorious reward is the Martyr’s Crown. Glory to God in His saints!
St. Yevgeny was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage and the Order of Glory to Russia. But his most glorious reward is the Martyr’s Crown. Glory to God in His saints!
“Faithfulness shall spring from the earth and justice look down from heaven. (Psalm 84 [85]:12)”
The Venerable Head of the Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John was first found on the Mount of Olives, where it had been hidden by Joanna, wife of Chusa, after the Saint's beheading. The second finding was at the city of Emesia during a time of unrest at Constantinople. The third finding came during a period of iconoclastic persecution. In around the year 850, after the veneration of icons was restored, Patriarch Ignatius saw in a vision the place at Komana where the head was buried in the ground. He revealed his vision to the emperor, who sent a delegation to Komana. There the head was found and transferred to Constantinople on May 25/ June 7.
The Venerable Head of the Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John was first found on the Mount of Olives, where it had been hidden by Joanna, wife of Chusa, after the Saint's beheading. The second finding was at the city of Emesia during a time of unrest at Constantinople. The third finding came during a period of iconoclastic persecution. In around the year 850, after the veneration of icons was restored, Patriarch Ignatius saw in a vision the place at Komana where the head was buried in the ground. He revealed his vision to the emperor, who sent a delegation to Komana. There the head was found and transferred to Constantinople on May 25/ June 7.
Part of the Holy Forerunner's head is now on Mt. Athos. The main portion rests at the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady, in Amiens, France. In recent years, Orthodox molebens and sometimes Divine Liturgies have been served there.
"As a divine treasure hidden in the ground was your head revealed to us by Christ, O prophet and Forerunner."
"As a divine treasure hidden in the ground was your head revealed to us by Christ, O prophet and Forerunner."
St. Bede the Venerable of Jarrow in Northumbria (May 27) “lived joyfully, giving thanks to God day and night..."
"He sang antiphons according to our and his custom, and among others this one: 'O King of Glory, Lord of Power, who this day didst ascend as Victor above all the heavens, leave us not orphaned behind Thee, but send us the promised Spirit of the Father, Alleluia.' And when he came to the words 'leave us not orphaned behind Thee', he burst into tears. Then, an hour later, he began to sing again. We wept with him; now we read, then we wept; but we could not read without tears." (Quotes are from multiple sources, complied by Vladimir Moss)
Holy Father Bede, pray to God for us!
http://www.orthodox.net/western-saints/bede-of-jarrow.html
"He sang antiphons according to our and his custom, and among others this one: 'O King of Glory, Lord of Power, who this day didst ascend as Victor above all the heavens, leave us not orphaned behind Thee, but send us the promised Spirit of the Father, Alleluia.' And when he came to the words 'leave us not orphaned behind Thee', he burst into tears. Then, an hour later, he began to sing again. We wept with him; now we read, then we wept; but we could not read without tears." (Quotes are from multiple sources, complied by Vladimir Moss)
Holy Father Bede, pray to God for us!
http://www.orthodox.net/western-saints/bede-of-jarrow.html
May 29, 1453: The fall of Constantinople.
After just 24 hours, the vast majority of the populace had been either raped, despoiled, or enslaved. After seeing the great structures of the city being destroyed, Mehmet II ordered a stop to the traditional three days of rape, pillage, and looting routinely allowed after a conquest.
After just 24 hours, the vast majority of the populace had been either raped, despoiled, or enslaved. After seeing the great structures of the city being destroyed, Mehmet II ordered a stop to the traditional three days of rape, pillage, and looting routinely allowed after a conquest.