“We should go to the Liturgy even if we stand there like logs. Someone might say: ‘I'm not what I should be, I don't understand anything there, I can't concentrate.’ But go as you are. An elder says: ‘When you enter a perfumery and then leave, your clothes will smell nice, even if you didn't want them to, even if you didn't buy anything.’ He says the same thing happens when you go to the Liturgy.
Maybe you couldn't do anything spiritual, but it's already something that you went, that you stood there like a log. So tell yourself: ‘I am going as I am – an unpolished log. Because God can work with an unpolished log.’ And if you don't go because you say, ‘I can't concentrate’, things will get worse and worse, and you will never improve.”
Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol
Maybe you couldn't do anything spiritual, but it's already something that you went, that you stood there like a log. So tell yourself: ‘I am going as I am – an unpolished log. Because God can work with an unpolished log.’ And if you don't go because you say, ‘I can't concentrate’, things will get worse and worse, and you will never improve.”
Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol
“Let us bless James, praising him as the messenger of God, for he filled the souls of the pious with wise dogmas. Standing at the throne of glory before the Master, he rejoices with all the angels unceasingly praying for us all.”
Holy James, Son of Alphæus, and one of the Twelve (Oct 9) went with the First-Called Apostle Andrew to many places among the gentiles, where they smashed idols, destroyed pagan temples, healed diverse illnesses, drove from people evil spirits, and brought a great multitude of people to Christ.
He sowed the seed of the word of God in people's hearts, he planted faith and piety. For this, he was called the "Divine Seed". St James finished his apostolic work In the Egyptian city of Ostrachina, where he was crucified by the pagans.
Holy James, Son of Alphæus, and one of the Twelve (Oct 9) went with the First-Called Apostle Andrew to many places among the gentiles, where they smashed idols, destroyed pagan temples, healed diverse illnesses, drove from people evil spirits, and brought a great multitude of people to Christ.
He sowed the seed of the word of God in people's hearts, he planted faith and piety. For this, he was called the "Divine Seed". St James finished his apostolic work In the Egyptian city of Ostrachina, where he was crucified by the pagans.
On the 17th Sunday after Pentecost, we commemorate the Fathers of the Holy, Great, Ecumenical Synod, the Second of Nicaea (7th Ecumenical Council). In harmony, the Fathers declared, “[W]e keep unchanged all the ecclesiastical traditions handed down to us, whether in writing or verbally.”
As the prophets beheld,
As the Apostles have taught,
As the Church has received,
As the teachers have dogmatized,
As the universe has agreed,
As grace has illumined
As truth has revealed,
As falsehood has been dispelled,
As wisdom has presented,
As Christ has triumphed:
This we believe,
This we declare,
This we preach:
Christ our true God, and His saints we honour in words, in writings, in thoughts, in sacrifices, in temples, in icons, on the one hand bowing down and worshipping Christ as God and Master, on the other hand honouring the saints as true servants of the Master of all, and offering to them due veneration.
This is the faith of the Apostles!
This is the faith of the Fathers!
This is the faith of the Orthodox!
As the prophets beheld,
As the Apostles have taught,
As the Church has received,
As the teachers have dogmatized,
As the universe has agreed,
As grace has illumined
As truth has revealed,
As falsehood has been dispelled,
As wisdom has presented,
As Christ has triumphed:
This we believe,
This we declare,
This we preach:
Christ our true God, and His saints we honour in words, in writings, in thoughts, in sacrifices, in temples, in icons, on the one hand bowing down and worshipping Christ as God and Master, on the other hand honouring the saints as true servants of the Master of all, and offering to them due veneration.
This is the faith of the Apostles!
This is the faith of the Fathers!
This is the faith of the Orthodox!
"It was not simply the veneration of the holy images that the Fathers defended [at the 7th Ecumenical Council]…. but, in fact, the very reality of the Incarnation of the Son of God." —Synaxarion
There are many heroes of the faith who are responsible for the final victory of the Iconodules, "venerators of icons" over the Iconoclasts, the "icon-smashers."
The 350 holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council under the holy Patriarch Tarasius in 787. The meeting is commemorated on October 11 (if it is a Sunday), or on the Sunday which follows.
"Round two" in the icon battle erupted again a few years later. It finally ended in 843 with an Endemousa (Regional) Synod called in Constantinople, thanks to Empress Theodora and the Holy Patriarch Methodios. The veneration of icons was solemnly proclaimed at the Hagia Sophia Cathedral.
There are many heroes of the faith who are responsible for the final victory of the Iconodules, "venerators of icons" over the Iconoclasts, the "icon-smashers."
The 350 holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council under the holy Patriarch Tarasius in 787. The meeting is commemorated on October 11 (if it is a Sunday), or on the Sunday which follows.
"Round two" in the icon battle erupted again a few years later. It finally ended in 843 with an Endemousa (Regional) Synod called in Constantinople, thanks to Empress Theodora and the Holy Patriarch Methodios. The veneration of icons was solemnly proclaimed at the Hagia Sophia Cathedral.
The Tsar Ivan the Terrible was feared by everyone. It is said Ivan feared only one person on earth, Basil, the fool (yurodivi) for Christ. Basil was unafraid to address to the Tsar's face his murderous atrocities. Yet, not only did Ivan not harm Basil, he gave him gifts.
This Y.V. Grafov painting "St Basil Miracle Worker of Moscow" calls to mind an old icon of the saint at Moscow's St Basil's Cathedral, showing the saint clad in only a loincloth and beard.
This Y.V. Grafov painting "St Basil Miracle Worker of Moscow" calls to mind an old icon of the saint at Moscow's St Basil's Cathedral, showing the saint clad in only a loincloth and beard.
“Pilgrimage is part of our Christian life … Saint Paraskeva herself was a pilgrim … She travelled and lived in Jerusalem and the Holy Places until she was guided to return to her homeland. Her life was a continuous journey to the Kingdom of Heaven.”
“The entire Christian life is a holy pilgrimage for each of us, in which we travel and strive to draw closer to Jesus Christ and His Truth. He is the One who calls us all to leave behind the daily routine and walk the path of holiness…”
— Archbishop Nikitas Loulias of Thyateira and Great Britain during the celebration of Saint Paraskeva
Annually, pilgrims line in the thousands for up to 24 hours outside St. Paraschiva Metropolitan Cathedral in the city of Iași, Romania, to venerate St. Parascheva’s incorrupt relics, which for centuries have worked countless miracles.
“The entire Christian life is a holy pilgrimage for each of us, in which we travel and strive to draw closer to Jesus Christ and His Truth. He is the One who calls us all to leave behind the daily routine and walk the path of holiness…”
— Archbishop Nikitas Loulias of Thyateira and Great Britain during the celebration of Saint Paraskeva
Annually, pilgrims line in the thousands for up to 24 hours outside St. Paraschiva Metropolitan Cathedral in the city of Iași, Romania, to venerate St. Parascheva’s incorrupt relics, which for centuries have worked countless miracles.
“Truly this was the Son of God” (Mt. 27:54). + Martyr Longinus the Centurion, who stood at the Cross of the Lord
According to Church Tradition, St Longinus (Oct 16/ Oct 29) was the soldier who pierced the side of the Crucified Saviour with a spear, and received healing from an eye affliction when blood and water poured forth from the wound.
St Longinus was later martyred and orders were given by Pilate to cast Longinus' head on a trash-heap outside the city walls. The saint appeared in a dream to a certain blind widow from Cappadocia, who was mourning the death of her son. The saint told her where his head was buried and that she should take it and bury it with her son's body. On touching Longinus' head, the woman was healed of her blindness.
"Longinus, you beheld the King of Glory Who was nailed to the Cross, yet shone on those in darkness ... Glory to Him who granted you a crown!" (from the troparion to the saint)
According to Church Tradition, St Longinus (Oct 16/ Oct 29) was the soldier who pierced the side of the Crucified Saviour with a spear, and received healing from an eye affliction when blood and water poured forth from the wound.
St Longinus was later martyred and orders were given by Pilate to cast Longinus' head on a trash-heap outside the city walls. The saint appeared in a dream to a certain blind widow from Cappadocia, who was mourning the death of her son. The saint told her where his head was buried and that she should take it and bury it with her son's body. On touching Longinus' head, the woman was healed of her blindness.
"Longinus, you beheld the King of Glory Who was nailed to the Cross, yet shone on those in darkness ... Glory to Him who granted you a crown!" (from the troparion to the saint)
“For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. —Hosea 6:6
The Holy Prophet Hosea (Oct 17/ Oct 30) called to repentance his fellow Israelites and warned them of the coming Assyrian captivity. But he also proclaimed the Good News of the Messiah’s coming! Hosea declared the Christ Who would return from out of Egypt (Hos. 11:1; compare Mt. 2:15), that He would be resurrected on the third day (Hos. 6 and especially Hos.6:2; compare with 1 Cor.15:4), and that He would conquer death (Hos.13-14. Compare 1 Cor.15:54-55).
The Holy Prophet Hosea (Oct 17/ Oct 30) called to repentance his fellow Israelites and warned them of the coming Assyrian captivity. But he also proclaimed the Good News of the Messiah’s coming! Hosea declared the Christ Who would return from out of Egypt (Hos. 11:1; compare Mt. 2:15), that He would be resurrected on the third day (Hos. 6 and especially Hos.6:2; compare with 1 Cor.15:4), and that He would conquer death (Hos.13-14. Compare 1 Cor.15:54-55).