Lives of the Saints
1. THE CONSECRATION OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION
When the holy Empress Helena found the Cross of the Lord in Jerusalem, she remained for some time in the Holy City and built churches in Gethsemane, in Bethlehem, on the Mount of Olives, and in other places made memorable by the life and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And on Golgotha, where she found the Precious Cross, she began building an enormous church beneath whose roof were both the very place of the skull, where the Lord was crucified, and the place where He was buried. The holy empress wished to unite under one roof both the place of His suffering and the place of His glory. But Helena reposed in the Lord before that magnificent church was completed. When the church was completed, that very year Constantine was celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of his reign. And so the consecration of the church and the celebration of the emperor's jubilee were both observed on one and the same day, September 13, in the year 335. At that time a local council of bishops was in session in Tyre. And these bishops, along with many others, gathered in Jerusalem for the solemn consecration of the Church of the Resurrection of the Lord. And it was then established that this day, as a day of victory and triumph of the Church of Christ, should be commemorated festively each year.
2. HIEROMARTYR CORNELIUS THE CENTURION
A Roman and a Roman officer in Caesarea of Palestine. He was baptized by the Apostle Peter according to a heavenly revelation (Acts 10:1). He was the first of the pagans to enter the Church of God. Until then, some had thought that the Church of Christ was only for Jews and for those who accepted Jewish circumcision. Having been baptized, Cornelius left everything and followed the Apostle Peter. This apostle later ordained him bishop and sent him to the pagan city of Scepsis, where the holy Cornelius endured many insults and torments for the sake of Christ, but by the power of God he demolished the temple of Apollo and baptized the prince of that city, Demetrius, along with 277 pagans. Having foreknown from God the day of his death, he summoned all the Christians, counseled them, prayed to God for them, and peacefully reposed in the Lord in honorable old age. In time, his grave was forgotten and neglected. But the saint appeared to Silvanus, Bishop of Troas, and revealed to him his grave, and commanded that a church be built there. The bishop carried this out with the help of a wealthy citizen named Eugenius. From the relics of Saint Cornelius many miracles took place.
3. HOLY MARTYRS MACROVIUS AND GORDIAN
From Paphlagonia. At first they were imperial attendants at the emperor's table, but when they declared themselves Christians, the emperor banished them to Scythia, where they were cast into the fire in the place of New Dunavia in the year 320.
4. HOLY MARTYR QUEEN KETEVAN
Queen of Kakheti. She suffered as a Christian at the hands of Shah Abbas I in the year 1624. By the order of the shah, a red-hot cauldron was placed upon her head. Her son Teimuraz, King of Georgia, placed her relics beneath the altar of the Alaverdi Cathedral in Georgia.
5. VENERABLE HIEROTHEUS
Born in the Peloponnese, from the village of Kalamata. He practiced asceticism in the Iveron Monastery on the Holy Mountain. He distinguished himself both by great worldly learning and by strict monastic asceticism. He strove to fulfill the rule of Saint Arsenius: "One hour of sleep in the course of twenty-four hours is enough for a monk." He reposed on the island of Jura in the year 1745. His relics are wonderworking. His head is preserved as a relic in the Iveron Monastery. By the touch of his holy relics in Constantinople, a blind woman received her sight.
“Having foreknown from God the day of his death, he summoned all the Christians, counseled them, prayed to God for them, and peacefully reposed in the Lord in honorable old age.”
Hymn of Praise
The wondrous Cornelius, devout in feeling,
Yet openly pagan in his mind,
By much almsgiving he found mercy before God,
And God Most High sent him a mighty angel.
An angel greeted him, an apostle baptized him;
Thus in all things he was numbered among the faithful.
The first pagan to join the Church
And with his whole house to confess Christ.
But baptism alone was not enough for him;
With God's apostle, he too became an apostle,
To help others and to save others;
Cornelius took upon himself a heavy labor.
By mighty miracles he astonished the people,
And then he baptized a prince and hundreds of men.
Having tasted the sweetness of Christ, he left his home,
And for the sake of sweet Christ he was glorified by suffering.
For his labor and suffering in this life,
Now he reaps his reward in the Kingdom of Christ.
Holy Cornelius, now help us
Before the Eternal Judge by thy prayers.
“An angel greeted him, an apostle baptized him; thus in all things he was numbered among the faithful.”
Reflection
What happens to the persecutors of the Church of Christ? Ask Saul, the persecutor of the Church, what happened to him. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks, the Lord said to Saul (Acts 9:5); and Saul was baptized and became Paul. What happened to Herod, the first persecutor of Christians? What happened to Julian the Apostate? They died evil deaths, and their efforts against Christ were shattered into nothing like smoke. And so it has been throughout all of history: some persecutors are converted to Christianity, while others perish miserably; and the efforts of both groups against Christianity are shattered into nothing like smoke. Emperor Hadrian, having conquered Jerusalem, wished to take vengeance not only on the Jews but on the Christians as well, for he did not distinguish Christians from Jews. He scattered the Jews throughout the entire world, and on the site where Solomon's temple had stood he raised a pagan temple. Moreover, he renamed Jerusalem Aelia, after his own name, and forbade anyone to call that city Jerusalem. On Golgotha he raised a temple to the foul Venus, on the grave of the Lord a temple to Zeus, and in Bethlehem a temple to Adonis. How sorrowful the Christians of that time must have felt seeing their holy places so profaned! But what happened in the end? Emperor Hadrian perished by an evil death, and the pagan temples in the time of Empress Helena and Emperor Constantine were removed, and in their place magnificent Christian churches were raised, which stand to this very day. It is hard to kick against the pricks. O how desperately hopeless is every war against Christ.
“It is hard to kick against the pricks. O how desperately hopeless is every war against Christ.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the futility of human efforts against the will of God (I Kings 12), namely:
1. How the ten tribes broke away and took a servant of Solomon as their king;
2. How Rehoboam prepared an army to wage war against Jeroboam;
3. How God turned him away from war, saying through a prophet: I have ordained it so.
Homily
on how the world hates the witness of its sin
Why does the world hate Christ the Lord? This the Lord Himself immediately explained: *because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. * No one do people hate as much as the witness of their sin. Hence the greatest evils in the world are committed at night, in darkness. But does God not see at night, and in the darkness? God sees, in truth, but the evildoers do not see God. And if some of them believe something about God, they think, nevertheless, from insufficient enlightenment, that darkness is a curtain between men and God. The Lord Christ by His very Self clearly revealed that God is all-seeing, and that no darkness prevents His eye from seeing. He saw people at a distance, as Nathanael under the fig tree. He saw a donkey and a colt in another village. Vast distance did not hinder His sight. He foresaw Peter's denial, Judas's betrayal, His own death and resurrection, the destruction of Jerusalem, the eternity of His Church, the suffering of His followers, and the events at the end of time. The distance of time did not hinder His sight. But why enumerate more? What is more hidden than the human heart? Is not the heart hidden by the thick curtain of the body? And are not the thoughts in the heart even more hidden than the heart? Yet He saw through the darkness of the human heart and read the thoughts of men in their hearts. *Why do you think evil in your hearts? * (Matthew 9:4). Is it any wonder, brethren, that all who think evil or do evil feared such a Witness? Is it any wonder that evildoers hated Him? *The world cannot hate you. * Whom? All of you who participate in the evil of the world, and who because of your participation dare not testify against the world even that which you know. They who fear men, how shall they testify against men? They who seek glory from men, how dare they provoke the displeasure of men against themselves?
O my brethren, it is better for us that the world hate us and Christ love us, than that the whole world love and glorify us, and Christ turn His face from us saying: *I know you not. If the world hates us, let us comfort ourselves with the words of the Savior: Know that it hated Me before it hated you* (John 15:18).
O Blessed Lord, Source of every blessing, strengthen our hearts that they may not tremble when the world hates us. Only bless us and love us, O gracious Savior. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“**The world cannot hate you; but Me it hateth** (John 7:7) Why does the world hate Christ the Lord?”