The Lives of the Saints
1. SAINT NICETAS THE CONFESSOR, BISHOP OF CHALCEDON
In his youth he renounced the world and withdrew to monastic asceticism. Having shone with virtue like the sun, he was noticed by the Church authorities and elevated to the hierarchical throne in Chalcedon. As a hierarch he was especially merciful toward the destitute and greatly cared for orphans, widows, and the poor. When the wicked Leo the Armenian rose up against icons, this holy man Nicetas also courageously rose in defense of icons, reproaching the emperor and explaining the significance of icons. For this he endured many humiliations, persecutions, and imprisonments. At last he was driven into exile for his confession of faith, and in labors and sufferings he departed to the Lord, to receive the crown of glory in the Kingdom of God.
2. THE HOLY MARTYR HELICONIS
Born in Thessalonica and raised in Christian piety. In the time of Gordian and Philip she went to Corinth, where she loudly denounced all who offered sacrifices to idols. When the prefect Perinius counseled her to offer a sacrifice to the idol of Aesculapius, the martyr of Christ said to him: "Hear me, I am a handmaiden of Christ, and who Aesculapius is, I do not know. Do as thou wilt." For this she was brought to trial and subjected to terrible tortures. She was cast into fire; from her body much blood poured forth and extinguished the fire, yet she remained alive. She was thrown before lions — the lions did not touch her but fawned around her. Let into a temple supposedly to offer sacrifices to idols, she smashed the idols and thereby further enraged the torturer against her. While she lay all wounded in prison, the Lord Himself appeared to her with the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, healed her wounds, and comforted and strengthened her. Then she was led to the place of execution to be beheaded by the sword. Before the beheading, Heliconis raised her hands on high and prayed to God, that God would receive her and unite her with His sheep in the heavenly fold. When she finished her prayer, a voice was heard from heaven: "Come, draw near, the crown and the throne are prepared for thee!" At last she was beheaded by the sword and received the crown of glory from the Lord, to Whom out of love she sacrificed herself as an innocent and pure lamb.
3. SAINT IGNATIUS, BISHOP OF ROSTOV
As a hierarch he governed the flock of Christ for twenty-six years with great love and compassion. When he died and his body was laid in the church, some saw how he rose from the coffin and ascended into the air above the church, and from on high blessed the people and the city, then returned again to his coffin. And many other miracles occurred at his grave. He departed to the Lord on May 28, 1288.
“When he died and his body was laid in the church, some saw how he rose from the coffin and ascended into the air above the church, and from on high blessed the people.”
Hymn of Praise
Heliconis, brave and bold martyr,
Of pure soul and most beautiful face,
In Corinth, the city of idols,
She proclaimed the word of the one true God:
— O Corinthians, deceived by darkness,
Bound in the bonds of demons,
You bow down to everything and all,
But not to the one God Most High!
God is one, but the idols are many;
God is one, but the devils are many.
One God is the Creator, the Almighty,
The merciful Provider of all creatures.
He created all, He sustains all,
To all that lives He gives the breath of life,
He moves all things by power and wisdom,
He shows mercy with divine compassion.
He is the Lord of both earth and heaven,
To Him alone should worship be given.
O Corinthians, wealthy and renowned,
Why are you in faith so worthless?
Reflection
Only a proud man is always ready to compare Christ with other great men, although it is clear at first glance that great men are one thing and the Lord Christ is another, just as a thing is one thing and its Creator another. Christ is not merely great, but He is the creator and source and inspirer of every true greatness in human history. Napoleon, one of the transient great ones, said in exile and misery on the island of Saint Helena these words: "Alexander, Caesar, Hannibal, Louis XIV with all their genius are nothing. They conquered the world, yet could not win a single friend. But behold, Christ calls, and instantly whole generations are united by a bond tighter and stronger than the bond of blood... Christ kindles the fire of love, which devours every egoism and surpasses any love you will."
“Christ is not merely great, but He is the creator and source and inspirer of every true greatness in human history.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the grace of God the Holy Spirit in the Mystery of Marriage, namely:
1. How that grace at the wedding service sanctifies the lawful bodily union of two human beings for the bearing of children,
2. How it unites, illumines, and strengthens through love the bond of two souls, husband and wife.
Homily
On the Power of the Mystery of Marriage
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh (Gen. 2:24)
It is the will of God that the human race should multiply; it is the artistry of God how the human race multiplies; it is the mystery of God how a man leaves father and mother and cleaves to his wife. To leave one's parents does not mean to abandon them, but to become a parent oneself. When children become parents, they are no longer merely children but also companions of their parents. When married sons come to know the mystery and travail of childbearing, they then respect their parents even more. The marital bond never frees a man from honoring and obeying his parents. The original commandment of God concerning the honoring of parents must be fulfilled. But in the natural course of things, a man leaves his parents and, becoming a parent himself, becomes the founder of a new future, while his parents, having completed their role in the world, depart. Yet this is not all there is to the leaving of parents. By some unfathomable mystery a man cleaves to his wife and unattaches himself from his parents. Saint Theodoret writes: "Christ Himself, having left the heavenly Father, united Himself with the Church."
My brethren, marriage is a great and wondrous mystery, one of the great mysteries of the divine economy. A pure and honorable marriage is filled with sublimity. A pure and honorable marriage, in the fear of God, is a vessel of the grace of the Holy Spirit. Whoever despises marriage despises the Spirit of God. Whoever defiles marriage with impurity blasphemes against the Spirit of God. And whoever abstains from marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of God must in another way make himself a vessel of the Holy Spirit, and in the spiritual realm make himself fruitful, lest he be cut down like the barren fig tree.
O God the Holy Spirit Almighty, help those who are in marriage, that in purity, fear, and mutual love they may be as a church of God, in which Thou dost joyfully dwell and direct all things for good. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“Whoever despises marriage despises the Spirit of God. Whoever defiles marriage with impurity blasphemes against the Spirit of God.”