The Lives of the Saints
1. SAINT ATHANASIUS THE GREAT, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA
Athanasius was born in Alexandria in the year 296, and from his very childhood had an inclination for the spiritual calling. He was a deacon under Archbishop Alexander, and accompanied him to Nicaea to the First Ecumenical Council. At this Council Athanasius distinguished himself by his learning, piety and zeal for Orthodoxy. He contributed very much to the suppression of the Arian heresy and the establishment of Orthodoxy. He wrote the Symbol of Faith, which was adopted at the Council. After Alexander's death, Athanasius was elected Archbishop of Alexandria. He remained in the office of archbishop for over forty years, although not the entire time on the archiepiscopal throne. Nearly his whole life he was persecuted by heretics. Of the emperors, he was most persecuted by: Constantius, Julian and Valens; of the bishops by Eusebius of Nicomedia, along with many others; and of the heretics by Arius and his followers. He was forced to hide from his persecutors even in a well, in a tomb, in private houses, in deserts. Twice he was forced to flee to Rome. Only before death did he live for a time peacefully as the good shepherd in the midst of his good flock, which truly loved him. Few are the saints who were so ruthlessly slandered and so criminally persecuted as Saint Athanasius. But his great soul patiently endured everything for the love of Christ and finally emerged victorious from all that terrible and prolonged struggle. For counsel, comfort and moral support he often went to Saint Anthony, whom he honored as his spiritual father. The man who formulated the greatest truth had much to suffer for that truth, until the Lord gave him rest in His kingdom as His "faithful servant," in the year 373 (see May 2).
2. SAINT MAXIMUS, ARCHBISHOP OF VLACHO-ZAPLANIAN
Maximus was the son of the Serbian despot Stefan the Blind and Despotess Angelina. He became a monk at the Manasija monastery. Oppressed by the Turks, he fled to Romania where he was consecrated to the vacant throne of the Archbishop of Vlacho-Zaplanian. He reconciled the quarreling voivodes Radul and Bogdan and prevented war between them. In his later years he returned to Krushedol where he built a monastery and where after a longer struggle he reposed on January 18, 1546. His incorrupt and wonderworking relics still lie in that monastery.
Hymn of Praise
Wisdom shone forth through Athanasius,
And God's truth enlightened people.
People came to know: wisdom is not bitter,
But sweet to everyone who drinks it to the depths,
Dear to everyone who suffers for it,
To whom first in the world all hope dies.
Who walks through the world as through an old cemetery,
Thinks of people as of feeble captives,
Of five earthly continents as of five barns,
Of five puddles as of five oceans—
For him Christ is the measure, by which eternity is measured.
And he holds to that measure, established in the faith,
Whoever knows that measure will not abandon it,
For he will not find another for the secrets of the world;
Every other measure, despite all effort
Reaches neither Alpha nor Omega,
But deceives like the moon that glides upon water,
And seems to reach the depths, the depths of the water.
Christ surpasses both ends of the world,
Where the drama ends and where it began.
Of all secrets He is the greatest secret.
From His Nativity to the Cross's Crucifixion
From the Cross's Crucifixion to the Resurrection—
He is the true measure of all God's creatures,
By Him measuring their sufferings amid the world's tumult
God's saints suffered—without suffering.
“For him Christ is the measure, by which eternity is measured.”
Reflection
To the question why God the Son appeared to the world in human flesh and not in the form of some other creature, the wise saint Athanasius answers thus: "If they ask why He did not appear in the form of some better creature, for example: as the sun, or moon, or stars, or fire, or ether, but precisely as man? Let them know that the Lord did not come to show Himself but to heal and teach the afflicted. For to appear only and astonish the spectators would mean to come for display. For the healer and teacher it was necessary not only to come but to serve for the benefit of the sufferers, and to appear in such a way that this (appearance) would be bearable for the sufferers... No creature was in error concerning God except man alone: neither sun, nor moon, nor heaven, nor stars, nor water, nor ether betrayed their purpose, but on the contrary, knowing their Creator and king—the Word, they all remain as they were created; only men withdrew from the good, and exchanged truth for deception, and the honor belonging to God, as well as knowledge of Him, they transferred to devils and men carved from stone... What is there, then, incredible in the fact that the Word (the Son of God) appeared as man to save mankind?" Truly we also ask the unbelievers of our days: in what form would you have wished God to appear if not as man?
“What form would you have wished God to appear if not as man?”
Contemplation
Contemplate the Lord Jesus under slander and shame for the sake of our salvation, namely:
1. Under slander and shame from the scribes and elders of Judea;
2. Under slander and shame from many modern scribes and elders;
3. Under slander and shame from each of us who was baptized in His name but did not fulfill His law.
Homily
on watchfulness
Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning (Luke 12:35)
This is the commandment of Him who knows the weaknesses of our being, and who desires our good more than father and mother. This is the commandment of our man-loving Lord. When a man is ungirded, does not his whole body sag downward? If he girds himself and buckles up, does not his whole body straighten up like a candle? Like a candle, so our soul should stand upright before God. How will the soul stand upright before God if the incontinent flesh weighs it down with earthly passions and lusts? Behold, between the loins is the nest of the chief bodily passions. To gird the loins means to tighten oneself with abstinence and not give the passions free rein. But to gird the bodily loins is not the goal but the means which we use so that we might more easily gird our mind and our heart and our will. Bodily abstinence is the first school of our Christian character; after it comes the higher school, in which we learn abstinence of mind and abstinence of heart and abstinence of will. If we gird our mind, then in its constraint lustful thoughts cannot find room. If we gird our heart, then lustful desires cannot find room in it. If we gird our will, then beastly and demonic evil intentions cannot find room in it.
By the narrow way, brethren, one enters the Kingdom of God. In the constraint of mind and heart and will alone can the candles of all virtues be lit, whose flame rises toward God. By lit candles we should understand Christian virtues.
O Lord, pure and sinless, hearth of all virtues, help us to gird ourselves with abstinence, and by the narrow path to walk toward Thee with lit candles, which Thou hast brought into the world. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“Like a candle, so our soul should stand upright before God. Bodily abstinence is the first school of our Christian character.”