Lives of the Saints
1. HOLY PROPHET JOEL
Second in order among the lesser prophets, Saint Joel was the son of Bethuel, from the tribe of Reuben. He lived eight hundred years before Christ. He prophesied calamity for the people of Israel and the Babylonian captivity for the sins they committed before the Lord. He called the people to fasting and the priests to penitential tearful prayers, that God might be moved to mercy. *Sanctify a fast, and cry unto the Lord. Between the porch and the altar, let the priests weep. * Joel also prophesied the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and the outpouring of the grace of the Spirit of God upon all Christians. He prophesied and described the Dread Judgment of God. He prophesied the glory of the holy Church of God.
2. HOLY MARTYR VARUS
He was a Roman officer in Egypt and at the same time a secret Christian. When seven Christian teachers were cast into prison, Varus visited them in prison, supplied them with necessities, and served them diligently. He marveled at the martyrs and lamented that he too, out of fear, could not become a martyr for Christ. Those men of God encouraged him, and Varus resolved to go with them himself to the torments. One of those men of God died in prison. When the godless governor brought the martyrs before him, he saw six, and asked where the seventh was. "I am the seventh!" said Varus. Then the enraged governor first tortured Saint Varus. He ordered that he be beaten naked with dry rods; then they bound him to a tree and cut pieces of flesh from him with knives, until Saint Varus surrendered his holy soul to God. His body was thrown on a dung heap. A certain woman named Cleopatra, from Palestine by birth and the widow of an officer, happened to be there with her son John. She secretly took the holy relics of Varus from the dung heap and buried them in her dwelling. After that she obtained permission from the governor to transfer from Egypt to Palestine the body of her deceased husband. As the wife of an officer, the governor immediately granted her permission. But blessed Christian Cleopatra did not transfer the body of her husband but the relics of the Holy Martyr Varus. She brought, therefore, the relics of the martyr to her native village of Edra near Tabor, and there honorably buried them. Then she also built a church to Saint Varus. And Saint Varus appeared to her often from the other world, radiant as an angel of God.
3. VENERABLE PROCHORUS OF PCINJA
A contemporary and companion of Saint John of Rila and Gabriel of Lesnovo. In answer to his prayer, God showed him the place where he would practice his asceticism. That place was a thicket by the river Pcinja. There Saint Prochorus practiced asceticism until old age and death. Only the all-seeing God alone knows all his labors and temptations which he endured in the course of his ascetic struggles. But by his myrrh-streaming relics and the countless miraculous healings which have not ceased even to this day, one can judge both the greatness of his ascetic labors and the greatness of the grace of God which was bestowed upon him for his great labors. Saint Prochorus reposed in the Lord and departed to the heavenly Kingdom in the eleventh century.
“Only the all-seeing God alone knows all his labors and temptations which he endured in the course of his ascetic struggles.”
Hymn of Praise
Holy Father Prochorus from his earliest youth
Withdrew from the world and its vanity,
In fasting and sweat he labored hard
Until he raised his soul and bound it to God.
The beasts of the forest were his companions,
Radiant angels guarded him in solitude,
The saints of God marveled at him,
For holy Prochorus equaled them in all things.
And the Lord gave him abundant grace,
Power over demons, great and mighty,
Power over sickness and every torment,
To help the sorrowful by his prayers...
By his labors Prochorus claimed the heavens,
And of the heavenly Kingdom he was deemed worthy.
He deemed himself worthy, and others he helps
To enter the Kingdom, all who seek the Kingdom.
He cast away the transient and embraced the eternal,
Precious treasure -- bought at a small price.
Wonderworker Prochorus in the heavenly Paradise,
Now in heavenly radiance he shines in full splendor,
And he helps all those who pray to him,
Who believe in and love Christ God.
“By his labors Prochorus claimed the heavens, and of the heavenly Kingdom he was deemed worthy.”
Reflection
The appearance of the Holy Martyr Varus. When the pious widow Cleopatra built a church to Saint Varus, she invited the bishop and priests, and they consecrated the church. A great multitude of Christians had also gathered for the celebration, for the whole area venerated Saint Varus as a great healer and wonderworker. After the divine service the pious foundress went to the relics of Saint Varus in the church and prayed to him thus: "I pray thee, O passion-bearer of Christ, entreat God for me for that which is pleasing to Him and profitable for me and my only son." And Cleopatra had a son, John, a young man of age for military service. No sooner had she left the church after her prayer than her son, until then healthy, fell ill. A fever seized him, and he became worse and worse, until around midnight he died. The sorrowful and indignant mother came to the grave of Saint Varus and began to speak sharply: "O pleaser of God, is this how thou helpest me?" And she uttered many more bitter lamentations, until she grew faint and fell into a light sleep. Suddenly Saint Varus appeared to her with her son John. Both were radiant as the sun, in garments whiter than snow, girded with golden belts, and upon their heads were most beautiful crowns. And the saint said to her: "Did she not pray that I ask of God that which is pleasing to Him and profitable for her and her son? I prayed to God, and He, in His ineffable goodness, took thy son into the heavenly army. If thou desirest, here -- take him and give him to the army of the earthly emperor." Hearing this, young John embraced Saint Varus and said: "No, my lord, do not listen to my mother, and do not return me to the world, full of injustice and lawlessness, from which thou hast delivered me." Awakening from sleep, Cleopatra felt great joy in her heart and went out of the church rejoicing. She lived for seven years at that church; and Saint Varus with John appeared to her often.
“Did she not pray that I ask of God that which is pleasing to Him and profitable for her and her son?”
Contemplation
Contemplate the wondrous conversion of Saul to the Faith of Christ (Acts 9), namely:
1. How Saul set out for Damascus to persecute Christians;
2. How a light from heaven shone upon him on the road, and he heard the voice of Christ: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?
“How Saul set out for Damascus to persecute Christians; how a light from heaven shone upon him on the road, and he heard the voice of Christ: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?”
Homily
on the soul's thirst for God
When only a spark of love toward God shines in a man's heart, let him not extinguish it, but let him allow it to kindle, and he will see a wonder. That spark will blaze into a torch of unseen light. And the light and warmth of it will be exceedingly great. In the light of love toward God, a man will feel in this world as though in darkness; and from the warmth of it, he will feel an unquenchable spiritual thirst -- a thirst for God, for drawing near to God, for the vision of God. The God-lover David compares this thirst to the thirst of a deer that runs to springs of water. *My soul thirsteth for God, for the strong, the living God. * Is not everything around us weakness? Does not everything around us quickly turn to decay? We grasp at shadows; we embrace corpses. Tomorrow's stench we today purchase with gold and silver, sometimes with honor and conscience, and sometimes even with our very lives -- the stench of the morrow! This is not love but bestial lust. A great soul seeks an object worthy of love, seeks an object not subject to breaking and rotting and decaying and the loathsomeness of passing bodies. Therefore the God-loving king emphasizes: *the strong, the living God. * For who is truly strong and living except God? God has bestowed strength and life upon the angels and upon His saints as well, but all of this is His and from Him. *When shall I come and appear before the face of God? * Here is the irresistible longing of true love toward God. Let all those be put to shame who say that they believe in God and love God, while the very thought of death, of departure from this world, drives them to madness. O Lord our God, holy, strong and living; Fountain of holiness, Fountain of strength, Fountain of life -- illumine us and warm us with love toward Thee. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“When only a spark of love toward God shines in a man's heart, let him not extinguish it, but let him allow it to kindle, and he will see a wonder.”