When owing to sickness, proceeding from various causes, you feel unwell and indisposed, and when in this condition your prayer is cold, heavy, filled with despondency and even despair, do not be disheartened or despairing, for the Lord knows your sick and painful condition. Struggle against your infirmity, pray as much as you have strength to, and the Lord will not despise the infirmity of your flesh and spirit.
☦️ St John of Kronstadt
☦️ St John of Kronstadt
"Rádonitsa", Day of Rejoicing, is celebrated on Tuesday of St Thomas week. Rádonitsa comes from the word "radost" (joy), brought by Jesus' Resurrection. It is a day for the faithful to gather in cemeteries to proclaim the good news of the Resurrection to the departed.
"Blessed are they whom Thou hast chosen and taken, O Lord. Their memory is from generation to generation. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. Their souls shall dwell with the blessed."
"Blessed are they whom Thou hast chosen and taken, O Lord. Their memory is from generation to generation. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. Their souls shall dwell with the blessed."
Did this 6th-century Irish Saint visit North America?
Our venerable and God-bearing father Brendan the Navigator also called the Voyager (May 16) was a 6th-century Irish monastic and missionary who was possibly the first Orthodox Christian to set foot on what is now Canadian soil.
The historic account of a possible trans-Atlantic voyage is disputed, based on doubts about the ability of a curragh, the sea craft on which Brendan is said to have sailed, to make such a journey. However, in 1976, Irish explorer Tim Severin built an ox leather curragh, a replica of the sort Brendan would have used. Over two summers he sailed from Ireland via the Hebrides, Faroe Islands and Iceland to Newfoundland to demonstrate that the such a voyage was feasible.
Regardless of what was the actual full extent of St Brendan’s journeys, he is the patron saint of sailors and traveller. He is considered one of the "Twelve Apostles of Ireland", said to have been tutored by the great teacher, Finnian of Clonard.
Our venerable and God-bearing father Brendan the Navigator also called the Voyager (May 16) was a 6th-century Irish monastic and missionary who was possibly the first Orthodox Christian to set foot on what is now Canadian soil.
The historic account of a possible trans-Atlantic voyage is disputed, based on doubts about the ability of a curragh, the sea craft on which Brendan is said to have sailed, to make such a journey. However, in 1976, Irish explorer Tim Severin built an ox leather curragh, a replica of the sort Brendan would have used. Over two summers he sailed from Ireland via the Hebrides, Faroe Islands and Iceland to Newfoundland to demonstrate that the such a voyage was feasible.
Regardless of what was the actual full extent of St Brendan’s journeys, he is the patron saint of sailors and traveller. He is considered one of the "Twelve Apostles of Ireland", said to have been tutored by the great teacher, Finnian of Clonard.
At the age of twenty-six, Brendan was ordained a priest and afterwards founded a number of monasteries— the first one was on the Aran Islands. He also travelled to Hinba (Argyll), an island off of Scotland, as well as Wales and finally to Brittany, on the northern coast of France.
St Brendan is a also a patron for boatmen, divers, mariner’s, whales, and portaging canoeists.
“The Divine Likeness has been perfected in thee, O holy Father Brendan, For taking up the Cross thou hast followed Christ, And by thy deeds thou hast taught us to disdain the flesh for it passes away, But to cultivate the soul for it is immortal: Wherefore, O holy father, thy spirit rejoices with the Angels.”
St Brendan is a also a patron for boatmen, divers, mariner’s, whales, and portaging canoeists.
“The Divine Likeness has been perfected in thee, O holy Father Brendan, For taking up the Cross thou hast followed Christ, And by thy deeds thou hast taught us to disdain the flesh for it passes away, But to cultivate the soul for it is immortal: Wherefore, O holy father, thy spirit rejoices with the Angels.”
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.