The Lives of the Saints
1. THE HOLY MARTYR HYACINTH
A young man, a courtier of Emperor Trajan, and a secret Christian. On one occasion, when Emperor Trajan together with all his courtiers was solemnly offering sacrifice to the idols, Hyacinth absented himself from this foul ceremony. For this he was accused and brought before the emperor for judgment. The emperor counseled him to renounce Christ and offer sacrifice to the idols. But Hyacinth remained firm as a diamond and said to the emperor: "I am a Christian; I honor Christ, I worship Him, and I offer myself as a living sacrifice unto Him." Beaten, spat upon, and scraped, this holy martyr was cast into prison. By the emperor's order, he was given nothing to eat except the food offered to idols. But Hyacinth refused to eat it, and after eight days he died in prison. And the prison guards beheld two radiant angels in the dungeon: one covered the martyr's body with his own luminous garment, and the other placed a wondrous crown upon his head. And the entire prison was filled with light and fragrance. The young Hyacinth suffered honorably and was crowned with eternal glory in the year 108.
2. THE HOLY ANATOLIUS, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE
He was first a presbyter of the Church of Alexandria, but after the death of Patriarch Flavian, he was elevated to the throne of the Patriarch of Constantinople in the year 449. In his time, the throne of Constantinople was recognized as equal to the throne of Rome, and this at the Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon in the year 451. He battled greatly for the purity of the Orthodox faith and suffered much from the heretics, until at last he was slain by them in the year 458, in the time of Leo the Great. He governed the Church for nearly nine years and passed over to dwell among the holy hierarchs in the Kingdom of God.
3. THE VENERABLE ALEXANDER
Born in Asia, educated in Constantinople. Upon completing his studies he entered military service and became an officer. Reading the Holy Scriptures, he came upon the words of the Savior: If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow Me (Matthew 19:21). These words so affected him that he immediately sold and distributed all that he had and withdrew into the desert. After prolonged ascetic labors and efforts at purifying himself, he established the Monastery of the Acoemetae, with a special rule. According to this rule, the divine services proceeded day and night without interruption in his monastery. The brethren were divided into twenty-four shifts; each shift knew its appointed hour of day or night, and went to the church to continue the reading and chanting of the preceding shift. He traveled widely, without any possessions, through the eastern lands, enlightening people with the faith of Christ, contending with heretics, and working miracles by the grace of God. Having grown old in the service of Christ the Lord, he at last ended his earthly life in Constantinople in the year 430, where his holy relics manifested wonderworking power and the glory with which God glorifies His holy servants.
4. THE VENERABLE ISAIAH THE HERMIT
He labored in asceticism in the Egyptian Scete during the fifth and sixth centuries. He is mentioned in the book of Saints Barsanuphius and John (Response 249 and others) as a man of exceptional holiness. He wrote many instructions for monks and hermits, but of his writings little has survived, much having been destroyed by the Muslims. Saint Isaiah said: "The mind, before it awakens from the sleep of slothfulness, dwells with the demons." "The crown of all good deeds consists in this: that a man place all his hope in God, that he flee to Him alone with all his heart and all his strength, that he be filled with compassion toward all, and that he weep before God, praying for help and mercy." What is the sign that a man's sin has been forgiven? "The sign that a sin has been forgiven is that the sin no longer produces any effect whatsoever in thy heart, and that thou hast forgotten it to such a degree that in a conversation about a similar sin thou feelest no inclination toward that sin, as toward something utterly foreign to thee. This is the sign that thou hast been shown mercy." In vain are both prayers and ascetic labors for the man who harbors within himself malice toward his neighbor and a desire for revenge. "Strive with all thy might not to say one thing with thy lips and have another in thy heart." The crown of the virtues is love; the crown of the passions is the justification of one's own sins.
“I am a Christian; I honor Christ, I worship Him, and I offer myself as a living sacrifice unto Him.”
Hymn of Praise
Alexander the venerable, God's holy saint,
Founded a temple of the Sleepless Ones, a sacred monastery,
That in it the Lord be glorified, hymned, and magnified;
Of that holy monastery the tale is still told.
But our heart too, brethren, is a temple of heaven,
The living God within our heart we ought to magnify.
Let prayer sleeplessly be counted in the heart,
Let love burn unquenchably like a flame,
Let the Holy Spirit with His grace warm our hearts,
Let Christ sow His words throughout our hearts,
Let angels keep vigil in that temple day and night,
Far from them, far from us, let the demons flee and hide.
Let the Holy Virgin fill that temple with the fragrance of myrrh,
Let the apostles be beside her and all the saints as well,
And all of God's beloved, the glorious martyrs,
And virgins for Christ's sake, and all the hermits.
Let thus within our hearts the Liturgy be served
And let the wisdom of God be sleeplessly magnified.
Reflection
Love is all-powerful. It can, among other things, lighten the fate of the souls of departed sinners. The Orthodox Church affirms this decisively and insists that prayers be offered and alms be given for the departed. Exceedingly rich in every spiritual experience, the Church knows that prayers and almsgiving for the departed help them in the other world. The Holy Athanasia the Abbess (April 12), before her death, bequeathed to her sisters that for forty days after her death they should set a table each day for the poor and destitute. Her command the sisters fulfilled for only ten days and then ceased. Thereupon the saint appeared in the company of two angels and said to the sisters: "Why have you transgressed my commandment? Know that through almsgiving and the prayers of priests for the souls of the departed during forty days, God is propitiated. If the souls of the departed are sinful, through this they receive from the Lord the forgiveness of sins; but if they are sinless, then the charitable deeds offered for them serve for the salvation of the benefactors themselves." Of course, what is meant here is almsgiving and prayer united with great love toward the souls of the departed. Such almsgiving and prayer truly help.
Contemplation
Contemplate the miraculous transformation of the staff into a serpent, and of the serpent again into a staff (Exodus 4), namely:
1. How the Lord, who created both the serpent and the staff from the dust, can by His power, and for higher purposes, transform the dead into the living and the living into the dead;
2. How the Lord can, according to my faith and prayer, transform even my soul, dried up and deadened by sin, into life.
Homily
On the Joy of Faith in Christ
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable (1 Peter 1:8).
These are the words of the Holy Apostle Peter. He saw the Lord, and he loved Him. He beheld the Lord, and he believed in Him. Precisely for this reason he praises the love of those who have not seen the Lord and the faith of those who have not beheld Him with their own eyes. The Lord Himself said: Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed (John 20:29). Blessed are those who have not seen the Lord as the apostle saw Him, yet love Him with apostolic love. Blessed are those who do not behold the Lord as the apostle beheld Him, yet believe in Him with apostolic faith!
O my brethren, even if we do not see the Lord, we see His work, which has illumined the entire history of mankind from end to end and has enlightened with spiritual meaning every creature under heaven. Even if we do not see the Lord, we see His holy Church, built upon His most pure blood, of countless saints and righteous ones and innumerable souls baptized in His name, through ages upon ages. Even if we do not behold the Lord face to face, as the apostles beheld Him, we believe that He is among us in the body and blood with which, by His commandment, we commune — and communing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable.
The Lord is alive, brethren, and the Lord is near! This is our unshakable faith, and this is the spark of fire that kindles our hearts into a flame of love toward the Lord, living and near.
To know that the Lord our Creator descended to earth out of love and appeared as a man for our sake, and further to know that He was put to death and appeared alive — what firmer foundations does our faith require, and what stronger justification does our love need?
The Lord is alive, brethren, and the Lord is near. Even unto our own days He reveals Himself to many righteous souls who serve Him with patience.
O living Lord, Thou wast dead and didst come to life — enliven us also with faith and love until our very last breath upon the earth, that by faith and love we may be deemed worthy to see Thee face to face, as Thy holy apostles did. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“The Lord is alive, brethren, and the Lord is near! This is our unshakable faith.”