My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
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HOLY APOSTLE PHILIP - NOVEMBER 14TH
He was born in Bethsaida near the Seas of Galilee, as were Saint Peter and Saint Andrew the First-Called. Instructed in the Holy Scripture from his youth, Philip immediately responded to the call of Christ and followed Him (St. John 1:43). After the descent of the Holy Spirit, Philip preached the Gospel with zeal in many regions of Asia and in Greece, where the Jews sought to kill him but the Lord saved him by the might of His wonders (miracles). The Jewish leaders, whose aim it was to kill Philip, were suddenly blinded and found themselves in total darkness. There was a great earthquake, and the earth opened and swallowed up Philip's evil persecutors. Many other wonders (miracles) were wrought, especially the healing of the sick, by which many of the pagans came to faith in Christ. In the Phrygian town of Hierapolis, Saint Philip worked for the Gospel with Saint John the Theologian, his own sister Mariamna and the Holy Apostle Bartholomew. There was in that place a dangerous snake, which the pagans fed with care and worshipped as a god. God's Holy Apostle destroyed the snake with prayer as though with a spear. This called forth the fury of the benighted people, and the wicked pagan seized Saint Philip and crucified him upside-down on a tree, and then crucified Saint Bartholomew also. At this, the earth opened and swallowed up the judge and many others with him. The terrified people ran to take the crucified Apostles down, but they succeeded only in taking Bartholomew down alive; Saint Philip had already breathed his last. Saint Bartholomew made Stachys bishop of those baptized in the city. Stachys had been cured of blindness and baptized by Philip, having been blind for forty years. Saint Philip's holy relics were later taken to Rome. This wonderful Apostle suffered in the year 86 A.D., in the time of the pagan Roman Emperor Domitian.
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THE HOLY APOSTLE MATTHEW THE EVANGELIST - NOVEMBER 16TH
Saint Matthew the son of Alphaeus was at first a tax-collector, and it was as such that the Lord saw him in Capernaum and said to him: "Follow Me!" Leaving everything, he followed Him (St. Matthew 9:9). After that, Saint Matthew prepared a feast in his house and there provided an opportunity for the Lord to voice some Great Truths about His coming to earth. After receiving the Holy Spirit Matthew preached the Gospel among the Parthians and Medes and in Ethiopia. In Ethiopia, he consecrated as bishop one Plato, a follower of his, and himself withdrew to prayerful solitude on a mountain, where the Lord appeared to him. Saint Matthew baptized the wife and son of the prince of that land, at which the prince was greatly enraged and sent a guard to bring Matthew before him for trial. The soldiers went off, but returned to the prince, saying that they had heard Matthew's voice, but had been unable to set eyes on him. The prince then sent a second guard. When this guard drew near to the Holy Apostle, he shone with a heavenly radiance so brilliant that the soldiers were unable to look at him, but threw down their weapons in terror and returned home. The Prince then went himself. When he approached Saint Matthew, such radiance shone forth from the Saint that the prince was blinded on the instant. But the Holy Apostle had a kind heart: he prayed to God and the prince's sight was restored -- unfortunately, only on the physical plane, his spiritual eyes remaining closed. He seized Saint Matthew and put him to a harsh torture, twice lighting a fire on his chest, but the power of God kept him alive and unharmed. Then the Holy Apostle prayed to God and gave his spirit into His hands. The prince commanded that the martyr's body is put into a leaden coffin and cast into the sea. The Saint appeared to Bishop Plato and told him where to find his body in its coffin, and the bishop went and brought them back. Seeing this new marvel, the prince was baptized and received the name, Matthew. He then set aside all earthly vanity and became a Priest, serving the Church in a manner pleasing to God. When Plato died, the Holy Apostle Matthew appeared to this Matthew and counseled him to accept the episcopate (becoming a bishop). So he became a bishop and was a good shepherd for many years until God took him to His immortal Kingdom. Saint Matthew the Holy Apostle and Evangelist wrote his Gospel in Aramaic (Hebrew dialect), and it was very soon translated into Greek. It has come down to us in Greek, the Aramaic original being lost. Of this Evangelist, it is said that he never ate meat, but fed only on vegetables and fruit. (Source; The Prologue from Ochrid)
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Please note: All divine services are offered to the Glory of God. It is an opportunity for Orthodox Christian believers to devote as much time as possible to strengthen their relationship with Our Savior Jesus Christ and to receive the grace of God the Holy Spirit through the Mysteria (Sacraments) of our beloved Church. It is only when we are in communion with the Almighty and Merciful God that we find inner peace, comfort, His unconditional agape, forgiveness, reconciliation, and yes, salvation!
It is an awful mistake to trivialize and marginalize the Divine Services of our Holy Church.
"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" - Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Fr. George