Lives of the Saints
1. THE SYNAXIS OF THE MOST HOLY THEOTOKOS
On the second day of Christmas the Christian Church gives glory and praise to the Most Holy Mother of God, who gave birth to the Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ. Her Synaxis is the name of this celebration because on that day all the faithful gather to glorify her, the Mother and Birthgiver of God, and because the service is celebrated solemnly, in assembly, in her honor. In Ohrid from ancient times it was the custom that on the eve of the second day of Christmas, Vespers was only served at the Church of the Most-holy Theotokos called the Chieftain. All the clergy with the people there in assembly glorified the Most Pure Mother of God.
2. COMMEMORATION OF THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT
The wise men-astrologers from the East, having bowed down to the Lord in Bethlehem, departed by the angel's command by another way to their homeland. And wicked King Herod thought to slay all the children in Bethlehem. God saw that intention of Herod's and sent His angel to Joseph. God's angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and commanded him to take the Child and His Mother and flee to Egypt. Joseph did so. Having taken the divine Child and His Most Holy Mother, Joseph first went to Nazareth (Luke 2:39), where Joseph arranged his household affairs and took with him his son James, and then they went to Egypt (Matt. 2:14). And thus were fulfilled the prophetic words: Behold, the Lord riding upon a swift cloud shall come into Egypt (Isa. 19:1). In old Cairo even today they show the cave where the holy family lived, and in the village of Matarea, near Cairo, they point to the tree under which the Most Holy Theotokos with the Lord Jesus rested, as well as a miraculous spring of water beneath that tree. Having lived several years in Egypt, the holy family returned by God's angel's command again to Palestine. And thus was fulfilled another prophecy: Out of Egypt have I called my son (Hos. 11:1). Herod had died, and on his bloody throne sat his son Archelaus, worthy of him in evil. Hearing that Archelaus reigned in Jerusalem, Joseph went to Galilee, to his city Nazareth, where Joseph settled in his house. Galilee was then ruled by another son of Herod, Herod the Younger, who was somewhat milder in evil than his brother Archelaus.
3. VENERABLE EVARESTUS
Reading the works of Saint Ephraim the Syrian, Evarestus from a diplomat became a monk. Very harsh toward himself: Evarestus wore chains on his body and ate dry bread once weekly. Evarestus lived seventy-five years and passed to the Lord around the year 825.
4. SAINT EUTHYMIUS THE CONFESSOR, BISHOP OF SARDIS
Euthymius was present at the Seventh Ecumenical Council. Euthymius spent about thirty years in exile because of icon veneration. Under Emperor Theophilus the Iconoclast, Euthymius was beaten with ox sinews, by which Euthymius died as a martyr in the year 840 and received the crown of glory in heaven.
5. VENERABLE CONSTANTINE OF SYNNADA
As a Jew Constantine converted to Christianity. At baptism Constantine placed a cross on his head, and there remained on his head the miraculous imprint of the cross until his death. Constantine died in Constantinople in the seventh century. Constantine was glorious because of fasting and many miracles. Seven years beforehand Constantine foretold the day of his death.
Hymn of Praise
The boundary between night and the sunny day
Is the dawn, ruddy, ruddy and dewy.
Thou art the rosy dawn, O Virgin God-given,
Precursor of the day, rosy and glorious;
Thou didst restore Eve and return her to Paradise.
Thy help to us sinners also do not deny.
Dry Israel passed through the Red Sea,
From the desert rock a cold spring flows,
The bush was burning, yet could not be consumed—
As the dawn resembles the ruddy evening
So also thou, O Virgin, these prefigurations,
O thou whom the Church calls Mother of God.
To sin unknown, to sin not given,
O Most Pure Mother of our Savior,
Because of Thy purity by God wast Thou chosen
To bring down to earth the eternal Creator:
Therefore power Thou hast for us to pray
And we with joy Thee to hymn and glorify!
“The bush was burning, yet could not be consumed.”
Reflection
A story about the divine Child Christ. When the divine family was fleeing from Herod's sword to Egypt, robbers jumped out onto the road with the intention to plunder whatever they could. Righteous Joseph was leading a donkey on which were some things, and on which the Most Holy Theotokos with her Son on her breast here and there rode. The robbers seized the donkey to lead it away. Then one of the robbers approached the Mother of God to see what she was holding on her breast. Seeing the Child Christ, the robber marveled at His extraordinary beauty, and in amazement said: *If God took upon Himself human flesh, He would not be more beautiful than this child! * And that robber commanded the rest of his companions not to take anything from these travelers. Filled with gratitude toward such a magnanimous robber, the Most Holy Virgin said to him: Know that this Child will reward thee with a good reward because thou hast preserved Him today. After thirty-three years that same robber for his crimes hung on a cross, crucified on the right side of Christ's Cross. His name was Dismas, while the name of that robber on the left side was Gestas. Looking upon Christ the Lord innocently crucified, Dismas repented for all the evils of his life, and while Gestas blasphemed the Lord, Dismas defended Him saying: He has done nothing wrong. Dismas is therefore that wise robber to whom the Lord said: Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise (Luke 23:41-43). And thus the Lord gave Paradise to him who spared Him in childhood.
Contemplation
Contemplate the purity of the Most Holy Theotokos, namely:
1. The immaculate purity of her body, dispassionate and fasted;
2. The immaculate purity of her heart, in which no sinful desire ever dwelt;
3. The immaculate purity of her mind, in which no sinful thought ever dwelt.
Homily
on the Most Holy Virgin Theotokos
And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord (Luke 1:38)
Truly, brethren, behold the true handmaid of the Lord! If a handmaid is she who has replaced her will completely with the will of her master, then the Most Holy Virgin is first among all the handmaids of the Lord. If a handmaid is she who with strained and complete attention looks upon her master, then the Most Holy Virgin is again first among the handmaids of the Lord. Or if a handmaid is she who meekly and silently endures all insults and tribulations expecting reward only from her master, then again the Most Holy Virgin is first and most preeminent of all the handmaids of the Lord. She cared not to please the world, but God; nor did she care to justify herself before the world, but only before God. Obedience itself, attentiveness itself, meekness itself. The Most Holy Virgin could rightly say to God's angel: *Behold the handmaid of the Lord! * The greatest perfection and greatest honor which a woman can attain on earth is to be a handmaid of the Lord. That perfection and that honor Eve in Paradise lost without labor, and that perfection and that honor the Virgin Mary gained with labor outside Paradise.
By the prayers of the Most Holy Virgin Theotokos, O Lord Jesus, have mercy on us. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“The greatest perfection and greatest honor which a woman can attain on earth is to be a handmaid of the Lord.”