"Armed with the power of the Spirit" the Holy Apostle James (April 30/May 13) brother of St John the Theologian, "preached Christ to all" (from the Troparion). James, the brother St John the Theologian, was the first of the Apostles to receive the crown of martyrdom. His beheading at Jerusalem in the year 44 was based on the false witness of his accusers.

With the Apostle Peter and John, his brother, the Apostle James witnessed the Raising of the Daughter of Jairus, the Lord’s Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, and His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Most praised James, ask remission of sins and great mercy for those who sing hymns to you.

He is sold, and very cheap, for it is only for thirty pieces of silver; but He redeems the world, and that at a great price, for the price was His own blood. As a sheep He is led to the slaughter, but He is the shepherd of Israel, and now of the whole world also. As a lamb He is silent, yet He is the is bruised and wounded, but He heals every discase and every infirmity. He is lifted up and nailed to the tree, but by the tree of ife He restores us; indeed, He saves even the robber crucified with Him, indeed He wrapped the visible world in darkness. He is given vinegar to drink mingled with gall. Who? He who turned water into wine, who is the destroyer of the bitter Word, and is proclaimed by the voice of one crying in the wilderness. He is bruised and wounded, but He heals every disease and every infirmity.

He is lifted up and nailed to the tree, but by the tree of life He restores us; indeed, He saves even the robber crucified with Him, indeed He wrapped the visible world in darkness. He is given vinegar to drink mingled with gall. Who? He who turned water into wine, who is the destroyer of the bitter taste, Who is sweetness and altogether desired. He lays down His life, but He has power to take it again ...He dies, but He gives life, and by His death destroys death. He is buried but He rises again; He goes down into hell, but He brings up the souls.

☦️ St. Gregory of Nazianzus. Third Theological Oration, 20. B#7.

Why are you lazy, my pitiful soul? Why are you thinking about unprofitable cares at such a time? Why are you busy with things that pass away? The final hour is at hand and we shall soon be parted from all that is here. While you still have time, get sober and cry, “I have sinned against You, my Saviour. Do not cut me down like that unfruitful fig tree; but, since You are compassionate, O Christ, take pity on me as I cry out with fear: Let us not be left out of the wedding hall of Christ.” —Oikos from the Bridegroom Service

Image by Vladimir Zanoga. Skvoz veka, 1992

More than the harlot have I transgressed, and yet no torrents of tears have I offered You, O Good One. But praying in silence, I fall before You, and with longing I kiss Your immaculate feet, so that You, as Master, will grant forgiveness of trespasses to me who cry out to You, O Savior: From the mire of my sinful burdens deliver me. ~~Kontakion, Bridegroom Service

Saint Ephrem the Syrian casts a net into his soul. Can we dredge up anything less foul in our own?

“After having gained knowledge of the truth, I have become a brawler and an offender. I argue over trifles; I have become envious of and callous toward my neighbor, merciless toward beggars, wrathful, argumentative, obstinate, slothful, irritable. I harbor vile thoughts, I love fancy clothing. And to this day I have many corrupt thoughts and fits of selfishness, gluttony, sensuality, vainglory, arrogance, lust, gossiping, breaking of fasts, despondency, rivalry, and indignation.

I am worthless, but think much of myself. I lie constantly, but get angry with liars. I defile the temple of my body with wanton thoughts, but sternly judge the wanton. I condemn those who fall, but myself fall constantly. I condemn slanderers and thieves, but am myself both a thief and a slanderer. I walk with a bright countenance, although I am altogether impure.

In churches and at banquets I always want to take the place of honor. I see hermits and act dignified; I see monks and I become pompous. I strive to appear pleasing to women, dignified to strangers, intelligent and reasonable to my neighbors, superior to intellectuals. With the righteous I act as if I possess vast wisdom; the unintelligent I disdain as illiterates.

If I am offended, I take revenge. If I am honored, I shun those who honor me. If someone demands of me what is rightfully his, I start a suit. And those who tell me the truth I consider enemies. When my error is exposed, I get angry, but I am not so dissatisfied when people flatter me.

I do not want to honour those who are worthy but I myself, who am unworthy, demand honour. I do not want to tire myself with work, but if someone fails to serve me I get angry with him. I do not want to walk among laborers, but if someone fails to help me in my work I slander him.

I arrogantly deny my brother when he is in need, but when I have need of something, I turn to him. I hate those who are ill, but when I myself am ill I wish that everyone would love me. I do not want to know those who are higher than I, and I scorn those who are lower.

If I abstain from indulging my foolish desires, I praise myself vaingloriously. If I succeed in vigilance, I fall into the snares of conceit and contradiction. If I refrain from eating, I drown in pride and arrogance. If I am wakeful in prayer, I am vanquished by irritability and wrath. If I see virtue in someone, I studiously ignore him.

I have scorned worldly pleasures, but do not abandon my vain desire for them. If I see a woman, I go into raptures. To all appearances I am wise in humility, but in my soul I am haughty. I seem not to be acquisitive, but in reality I suffer from a mania for possessions. And what good is it to dwell on such things? I appear to have forsaken the world, but in fact I still think about worldly things all the time.

During services I always occupy myself with conversations, wandering thoughts, and vain recollections. During meals I indulge in idle chatter. I yearn for gifts. I participate in the sinful falls of others and engage in ruinous rivalry.

Such is my life! With what vileness do I obstruct my own salvation! And my arrogance, my vainglory does not permit me to think about my sores that I might cure myself. Behold my virtuous feats! See how vast are the regiments of sins which the enemy sends to campaign against me! Yet in the face of all this, I who am wretched endeavor to boast of sanctity. I live in sin, but want others to honor me as a righteous man.

In all this I have but one thing to say in my defense: the devil has ensnared me. But this did not suffice to absolve Adam of his sin. Cain was of course also prompted by the devil, but he did not escape condemnation either. What shall I do if the Lord comes to me? I have no means to justify my negligence.

I fear that I shall be numbered among those whom Paul called vessels of wrath, who will share the devil's fate and whom God, because of their contempt for Him, has committed to the passions of degradation. Thus there is the danger that I will be sentenced to the same fate.

If You would save me, who am unworthy, O Merciful Lord, vouchsafe me, a sinner, repentance; enliven my soul deadened by sins, O Giver of Life. Drive out the stony hardness that is in my miserable heart and grant me a fountain of contrition, O You who poured forth life to us from Your life-creating rib.”

☦️ St Ephrem the Syrian

St. Ephraim the Syrian

“Do this in remembrance of me.” On Holy Thursday, the Church celebrates the “birthday” of the the Mystical Supper— the beginning of the New Covenant.

On the night Jesus was betrayed, He celebrates the Passover meal, a perpetual reminder of the Angel of Death “passing over” the Israelite homes marked with the blood of Lambs, sparing them for the journey through the Red Sea towards the promised land.

In the Upper Room in Jerusalem with his disciples, Christ turns bread and wine into His body and blood. The Passover meal is now the Holy Eucharist.

☦️ Saint Melito of Sardis declares that Jesus “is the Passover (πάσχειν) that is our salvation.”

“Difficult times are our lot, but we Christians must choose the Cross. Christ has placed us on His sleigh, and he will take us where He will.”
+St Matrona, the Righteous Wonderworker of Moscow

St Matrona led an ascetic life on her bed of pain. She fasted constantly, slept little, her head resting on her chest. Her forehead was dented from making innumerable signs of the Cross that she made. People from afar, of all ages and conditions, thronged around her to seek her wisdom and her prayers.

St Matrona fell asleep in the Lord in 1952 (April 19/May 2). Miracles continue at her tomb at the women’s monastery of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God

St Luke, Archbishop of Crimea takes us to the scene of “the most horrible of all crimes ever committed on the earth.”

"It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon" (Luke 23:44).

The terrified sun due to what the killers did, killing the Son of God on earth, hid its rays, so that no one would see the most horrible of all the crimes ever committed on earth. Out of fear and trembling, the accursed lips of those who killed the Savior of the world, who had just mocked Him, said: “He saved others, but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. (Matthew 27, 42).

The time has come for the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ to reach its peak. Do you know why the others who were executed on the cross hung on it for days until they died while our Lord died much faster, in just six hours? Did you know that too much pain, which lasts a long time, just this can only cause death?

This is exactly what happened to the Lord Jesus Christ. His torment and suffering were horrible because He was overwhelmed by such an unimaginably great burden of our sins of the whole world, for which He voluntarily sacrificed and redeemed them with His untainted Blood.

The only power that remained in Him was only to say His last words: "I am thirsty" (John 19:28). "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" (Luke 23 46). The earth shook and the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the unfaithful people, who did not accept the Messiah, left, beating their breasts. What did these foolish fanatics think, who had just cried out to Pilate, "Crucify him, crucify him" (Luke 23:21). "His blood is on us and on our children!" (Matt. 27:25). Have they understood that Satan himself was shouting these terrible words with their mouth?

The same people just before the ceremony solemnly welcomed the Lord Jesus Christ, laying their garments on the street and holding palm branches in their hands and shouting, "Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, blessed is the king of Israel!" (John 12:13). This thing is very terrible, it shows how deep the evil spirit can enter the human heart.

But let us leave the foolish fanaticism of the enemies of Christ, who considered it a great sin and the abolition of the Mosaic Law to cure on Sabbath the paralyzed, the sick, those that are heavily ill, the demon-possessed, and the blind. Let us think that another kind of fanaticism has existed in the history of the human race. Let us remember how many imaginary heretics died in the flames of the holy test in Spain. Let us remember the night of St. Bartholomew during which many French Protestants were slaughtered because of their heterodox. Let us remember the rivers of blood shed during the war, when Christians fought against other Christians for 30 whole years.

But let's look around. We see that there are so many not heterodox but people who do not believe in Christ at all. There are also many about whom the apostle Paul said: "Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? ” (Heb. 10: 28-29).

There is nothing we can do to help these unfortunate people. We are only a small flock of Christ and we never forget the tremendous words of our Savior: "Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18: 8). We are all standing before the Epitaph now. During this tremendous moment, Jesus body, the Sacrifice, is taken down from the Cross, which was performed for our sins and the whole world's sin. We see in the Epitaph His dead body full of open wounds. Let this tremendous spectacle cause the love of the Son of God to burn in our hearts, Who suffered so much from the people whom He came to save, but they did not accept Him.

Come all faithful children of Christ to worship the Epitaph, to kiss it with our lips, to touch it with our hearts and to wet it with our tears. Amen".

How, O Life, canst Thou die? Or abide in a grave?
For Thou dost destroy the kingdom of death, O Lord, and Thou raisest up the dead of Hades' realm.

How, O Life, canst Thou die? Or abide in a grave?
For Thou dost destroy the kingdom of death, O Lord, and Thou raisest up the dead of Hades' realm.

At 2:14 pm Jerusalem Time on Holy Saturday 2024, the Holy Fire descended in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

It appeared in the edicule (the small chapel built over the burial place of Christ) about five minutes after the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, entered there, as is the custom, to patiently pray and wait.

https://www.youtube.com/live/q9TB71HVrfI?si=bvCNMxQGFaE3asXd

Christ is Risen! Χριστὸς ἀνέστη! Христосъ воскресе! Христос воскрес! Hristos a înviat! El Messieh kahm! Cristo ha resucitado! Kristo ay nabuhay!

Please respond with a Paschal greeting in your native language!

By Thine own Blood, O Savior, Thou hast ransomed mortal men, and by Thy death Thou hast delivered us from bitter death, granting us eternal life by Thy Resurrection. Give rest, then, O Lord, to all those who have fallen asleep in godliness, whether in wilderness or city, on the sea or land, in every place, both princes, priests and bishops, monks and married people, of every age and line, and count them worthy of Thy heavenly Kingdom.
(from a Vespers Hymn for the Saturday of Souls)

Miniature church at Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery, Rossburn, Manitoba, Canada