The Lives of the Saints
1. The Holy Great Martyr Euphemia
This holy woman is celebrated on September 16, when she suffered. In this place, however, the wonderworking of her honorable relics is commemorated, which was manifested during the Fourth Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon. That Council was convened in the time of Emperor Marcian and Pulcheria in the year 451, after the death of Emperor Theodosius the Younger. The occasion for the convocation of this Council was the heresy of Dioscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria, and Eutyches, Archimandrite of Constantinople, who spread the false teaching that in Christ the Lord there were not two natures, divine and human, but only one — the divine. At this Council the most prominent roles were played by Anatolius, Patriarch of Constantinople, and Juvenal, Patriarch of Jerusalem. Since no definitive resolution could be reached through disputations and proofs from either side, Patriarch Anatolius proposed that both the Orthodox and the heretics write their confessions of faith and place them in the reliquary in which lay the relics of Saint Euphemia. To this all agreed. Two confessions of faith were thus written and placed upon the breast of the great martyr; the reliquary was closed and sealed with the imperial seal, and a military guard was posted. Then all spent three days in fasting and prayer. On the fourth day, when the tomb was opened, they beheld the Orthodox confession of faith in the right hand of the saint and the heretical one beneath her feet. Thus was the dispute resolved by the power of God in favor of Orthodoxy. In the time of Emperor Heraclius, the relics of Saint Euphemia were translated from Chalcedon to Constantinople, to the church bearing her name near the Hippodrome. The iconoclast Emperor Leo the Isaurian ordered that those relics be cast into the sea; but by a miraculous means the reliquary was conveyed to the island of Lemnos and placed in the church of the Holy Martyr Glyceria. Only in the time of Empress Irene was the reliquary with the relics returned again to Constantinople to its former place. From these relics blood flowed from time to time, which helped the sick and the afflicted.
2. Saint Helen
The great princess of Russia, before baptism called Olga. Wife of Prince Igor. She was baptized in Constantinople by Patriarch Polyeuctus. A great zealot of the Orthodox faith in Russia. She reposed in the year 969.
3. The Venerable Martyr Nicodemus
By origin from Elbasan. He was married and had children. Deceived by the Turks, he accepted Islam and forcibly converted his children to Islam as well, except for one son who fled to the Holy Mountain and became a monk. Nicodemus went to the Holy Mountain to bring his son back, but the Holy Mountain made such an impression upon him that he repented, returned to the faith of Christ, and became a monk. For three years he mourned his apostasy, and finally resolved to return to Albania to atone for his sin there where he had committed it. He returned, therefore, and declared before the Turks that he was a Christian, and was beheaded on July 11, 1722. His wonderworking relics lie whole and healing to this day.
4. The Venerable Martyr Nectarius
By origin from Vrioula in Asia Minor. At the age of seventeen he was forcibly converted to Islam. He had a fate similar to that of Saint Nicodemus. When as a Turk he presented himself to his mother, she cried out to him: "Depart from me, I do not know thee. I bore thee as a Christian and not as a Turk." He repented bitterly, went to the Holy Mountain, and there in the skete of Saint Anne he became a monk. Resolved to die for Christ and thereby wash away his sin, he went again to Vrioula, where he suffered. He was beheaded for Christ by the Turks in his native town on July 11, 1820, in the twenty-first year of his life.
“Depart from me, I do not know thee. I bore thee as a Christian and not as a Turk.”
Hymn of Praise
The Lord loves the penitent,
For them He suffered and bled,
To repentance He calls sinners,
He calls and summons them still.
A penitent Olga was,
By Baptism she was born,
And from darkness the Russian people
By the Cross she freed and adorned.
And Nicodemus of Elbasan
From Christ had turned away,
He repented, he returned,
And his sin with blood did pay.
Nectarius from Asia,
A blossom still unripe,
Was made a Turk through ignorance,
And grieved the angels bright.
He repented, and he sorrowed,
A stream of tears he shed,
And death more than this life
He chose — a painful death.
He took his turban off and threw it
Before the fearsome judge —
For the Precious Cross his head was taken,
Holy Nectarius, by the sword.
Christ loves the penitent
And shall love them evermore.
Who is so dear to Christ
As a man who repents at the core?
“He took his turban off and threw it before the fearsome judge — for the Precious Cross his head was taken.”
Reflection
A reversal of fortune strikes hardest when it strikes suddenly. But he who expects blows and arms himself against them beforehand — can he be surprised? Emperor Charlemagne commanded his sons to learn a trade and his daughters to learn to spin wool, so that they would have a means of sustenance if fortune changed. The celebrated Belisarius, a great duke and great conqueror, was slandered before the emperor by the envious, and on the basis of those slanders was blinded and stripped of all his possessions. The blind Belisarius sat before the gate of Rome and begged for alms, saying to passersby: "Give alms to Belisarius, whom fortune raised high and envy cast down and robbed of his eyes!" Is not the life of man upon earth a warfare? says the righteous Job (7:1). One must therefore be like a watchful sentinel, prepared for everything that can happen. And what cannot happen to a man? And furthermore: in every torment place hope in God. The righteous Job upon the dunghill and amid the filth cries out: though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him (13:15)!
Contemplation
Contemplate the miraculous illumination of the face of Moses (Exodus 34), namely:
1. How Moses, after conversing with God on Sinai, had his face illumined with light;
2. How the people saw this and dared not approach Moses, so that he placed a veil over his face;
3. How from heartfelt prayer and communion with God the face of the God-pleasing is illumined.
Homily
On Obedience and Humility
**Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility** (I Peter 5:5)
Behold the principle of true Orthodox conciliarity! It is founded upon the unconditional obedience of the younger to the elder, upon the mutual obedience of equals among themselves, and upon the humility of both the elder and the younger. Humility is a good word, but even better is meekness, and best of all is humble-mindedness; for humble-mindedness corresponds precisely to the Greek word that the Apostle used in his epistle, and humble-mindedness signifies a low estimation of oneself and a high estimation of God, and an unceasing acknowledgment of one's own weakness, one's own ignorance, one's own malice, and one's own unworthiness, together with an unceasing acknowledgment of God's power, God's wisdom, God's mercy, and God's worthiness.
God is the only King of men. Therefore God opposed the desire of the people of Israel that a king from among men be set over them. God reigns, and men serve God. Both those who govern and those who obey are equally servants of God. When it is known and acknowledged that God is King and all men are servants of God, then the foundation of conciliarity, the foundation of an angelic society, is thereby established. Upon that foundation the house of God is then built, an angelic society, by means of the obedience of the younger to the elder, the mutual obedience of equals among themselves, and the humble-mindedness of all. In this way two terrible evils in the world are avoided: tyranny — that is, the violent rule of one over all — and anarchy — that is, the rule of many. Both mono-tyranny and poly-tyranny are avoided.
The principle of conciliarity is an organic principle — that is, a vital one. It is the principle of mutual service, mutual help, and mutual love. May God grant us wisdom, brethren, to embrace this saving principle in our lives.
O Lord Jesus, obedient and humble Lover of mankind, implant in us and strengthen obedience to Thy law, mutual obedience born of love, and humble-mindedness before Thy ineffable power and wisdom. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“Before whom and before what, brethren, can a man be proud?”