My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND ALWAYS SHALL BE.
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ON NOVEMBER 27th OUR HOLY ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH COMMEMORATES THE HOLY MARTYR JAMES THE PERSIAN
Born in the Persian town of Elapa, or Vilat, of Christian parents, he was brought up in the Christian faith and married a Christian wife. The Persian king, Yezdegeherd, loved James for his skill and made him a noble at his court. Flattered by the king, James was deluded and offered sacrifice to idols, which the king also worshiped. His mother and wife, hearing of this, wrote him a reproachful letter in which they grieved over him as an apostate and one spiritually dead, begging him at the end of the letter to repent and return to Christ. Moved by this letter, James repented bitterly, and courageously confessed his faith in Christ the Lord before the king. The furious pagan king condemned him to death and added that his body was to be cut to pieces, little by little until he breathed his last. The executioners fulfilled this command of the accursed king to the letter, and first cut off James's fingers, then his toes, his legs and arms, his shoulders, and finally his head. During the entire process, the repentant martyr gave thanks to God. A fragrance came from his wounds as of cypress. Thus this wonderful man repented of his sin, and his soul went to Christ his God in the heavenly Kingdom. He suffered in about 400 A.D. His head is to be found in Rome, and a part of his holy relics in Portugal, where he is commemorated on May 22nd.
FOR CONSIDERATION
When the executioner cut off Saint James's right thumb, he said: 'A vine is pruned thus, that new growth may come in its times.' When they cut off the next finger, he said: 'Receive, O Lord, the second branch of Thy sowing.' As the third was cut off, he said: 'I bless the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.' As the fourth was cut off: 'Thou who accepted praise from the four beasts, accept the suffering of these four fingers.' At the fifth: 'May my rejoicing be as great as that of the five virgins at the marriage.' At the sixth: 'Praise be to Thee, O Lord, Who did at the sixth-hour stretch out Thy Most pre arms on the Cross, and has made worthy to offer Thee my six fingers.' At the seventh: 'Like David, who glorified Thee seven times a day, so do I today glorify Thee with these seven fingers, cut off for Thy sake.' At the eighth: 'Thou Thyself, O Lord, did rest on the eighth day.' At the ninth: 'At the ninth hour, O Lord, Thou did give Thy spirit into the hands of Thy Father, O my Christ, and I offer Thee thanks of the suffering of this ninth finger.' And the tenth: 'I sing to Thee, O Lord, upon a ten-stringed lute, and I bless Thee that Thou hast made me worthy to endure the cutting-off of the fingers of my two hands for the Ten Commandments written on the Tablets of stone.' Oh, what wonderful faith and love! Oh, the princely soul of this prince of Christ's.
HOMILY
--ON THE PERFECT MAN.
"Till we all come in the unity of the Faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13)
The unity of the Faith, my brethren, and the knowledge of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ Our Savior, unites two men in one, unites thousands of men in one. Unity of faith in Christ the Lord, and a true Orthodox knowledge of Christ the Lord, unites men more closely than blood, more closely than language, more closely than any external circumstance or material bond. When many people have one thought, one will, and one desire, then these many people are as one soul, one great and mighty soul. Physical differences in relation to this are of little importance and deserve little consideration. Thus the united souls are built up into 'a perfect man; the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.' The parts of the perfect whole are themselves perfect. Every Christian soul is a part of the perfect man. Christ is that perfect man, of whom the church is mysteriously the Body He fills all who believe in Him, with Himself, according to the measure of the growth of each. He is the fullness beyond all fullness, the living Fount that flows and fills every space worthy to receive Him. The means that insofar as a man has emptied himself of all that is not Christ, to the extent Christ enters into him and fills him to the brim.
Oh, my brethren, the depth of humility is needed alongside strong faith, that the Living Water may be poured into us. Let us look at nature, and see how the lowest-lying land is the most easily irrigated. Whatever contributes to the humble abasing of ourselves before the Lord Jesus, this He willingly lets come into us, and He waters us with His Life-Giving Self and fills us as His vessels with the fullness of His immortality.
O Lord Jesus, Thou fullness of life, wisdom, beauty, and sweetness, help us to abase ourselves before Thy Divine Majesty, that we may be made worthy of Thy coming to us. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen. (Source: The Prologue from Ochrid)
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"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
+Father George