September 15 - St. Niketas the Goth
Niketas, bearing the name of one who conquers, was a valiant soldier of Christ. The handsome and wondrous man of God was born of notable and wondrous parents of the race of the Goths. The Goths at that time were generally reputed to be a barbarous and harsh people who lived by the Istros River, known by the local inhabitants as the Danube. It is a marvel that though Niketas was born and raised amid such surroundings, he never adulterated the inborn nobility of his soul. His good resolve shone forth as a brilliant sun in a land and among a people benighted by the dark clouds of barbarism and unbelief. Niketas did not take on any of their harshness and their fierce way of life, nor their religion.
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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ON SEPTEMBER 15th OUR HOLY ORTHODOX CHURCH COMMEMORATES THE HOLY MARTYR NIKETAS THE GOTH
Niketas, bearing the name of one who conquers, was a valiant soldier of Christ. The handsome and wondrous man of God was born of notable and wondrous parents of the race of the Goths. The Goths at that time were generally reputed to be a barbarous and harsh people who lived by the Istros River, known by the local inhabitants as the Danube. It is a marvel that though Niketas was born and raised amid such surroundings, he never adulterated the inborn nobility of his soul. His good resolve shone forth as a brilliant sun in a land and among a people benighted by the dark clouds of barbarism and unbelief. Niketas did not take on any of their harshness and their fierce way of life, nor their religion. Though he lived among them, his pure and good judgment conquered the hardness and cruelty with which he was surrounded. He was able to overcome his circumstances and the savage mentality that existed in those parts on account of his love for the Christ and his love of virtue.
From Niketas' tender years until his youth, he was watered by the clear flowing streams of the teachings of Theophilos, the hierarch of the Goths. The holy Theophilos revealed himself as one great and notable when he, both in word and deed, personally affirmed what was promulgated at the First Ecumenical Synod at Nicaea, showing himself a zealot of the Homoousian party. Long after the collapse of Arianism heresy in the empire, many of the German tribes still held fast to its tenets.
Our Saint Niketas helped advance the work of Christ by both the example of his godliness and his God-inspired words to convey to the Goths the words of life in their own language. Having been baptized into the proper confession of the Holy Trinity by the former Bishop Theophilos, Niketas never wavered in his Orthodoxy.
Not much time passed before the race of the Goths was divided into two adverse and warring parties pitched for civil war. One group was led by Fritigernes and the other by Athanaric. The latter was a hard man known for his savagery and impiety. Soon the profane and inhuman Athanaric regained his former strength. Preserving all his malice, he now became an implacable enemy of the Christians. He was, however, especially enraged against the wise Niketas, of whom reports reached him of his fearlessness and great boldness in preaching piety. Many, on account of his teaching, came to believe in Christ.
Unable to further the Saint's freedom of speech, the impious, who were more beasts than men, revealed their long-standing wrath and rage which festered within them. They suddenly came up to the place where Christ's athlete was speaking the word of truth. By force, they seized him and brought him to the governor of their district, Athanaric. They used every effort to make him forsake the Faith of the Christians, or else expect death. He raised his voice, proclaiming with boldness, "A Christian I am, and I prefer many deaths than deny the most sweet name of my Savior Christ, Whom I confess before all of you as True God. To Him do I offer all my reverence. I am ready to spill of my blood for the love of Him. Your own religion, with its deities and myths, is a piece of impertinence. Well did I turn away; and unlike yourselves, neither did I establish it in my mind as the truth. As wild beasts, today you have carried me to this lawless tribunal.
Being unable to endure the martyr's frankness, with one accord, those who drove away the truth and defended falsehood rushed headlong at Niketas. Some took up rocks, and others clutched at pieces of wood, that they might shatter the martyr's bodily members. According to the historian and Saint, Theophanes the Confessor (760-817 A.D.), Niketas' flesh was scattered and his limbs were cut off. Theophanes goes on to describe how, on account of Niketas' unchecked desire for the Christ, he was cut down, scourged, and subjected to diverse methods of bodily destruction. The pagans then lit a huge bonfire and cast Niketas into the flames. In the midst of that furnace, the Saint, as a whole-burnt offering, chanted hymns to God that He might preserve him to the end with a pure and unadulterated confession of the Faith. Having trampled down the flame of idolatry and all the might of the demons, Saint Niketas, the namesake of victory, surrendered his blessed soul into the hands of God (+ 375), and was vouchsafed the crown of the contest and membership in the ranks of the martyrs. His body was not in the least outraged by the fire. After the impious extinguished the flames and laid hold of his holy relics, they cast forth the holy relics, they cast forth the holy Niketas, unburied into a wild place, that he might become food for predators. But hearken how God dispensed otherwise, so that the lovers of Christ might not be deprived of the divine treasure, that is to say, his martyric body.
At that time, in that land of the martyr, there was a pious Cilician Christian from Mopsuestia, named Marianos. He was a close friend of the martyr. Together they had shared a life of virtue, living in the same house of a long time.
Marianos, one night, rose up, though he was filled with much fear on account of the harsh and cruel Athanaric who forbade anyone to collect the holy relics. This was not enough to dissuade Marianos from going to that place where the precious relics of the martyr were cast. It was dark, however, and Marianos was wondering how he might find his greatly beloved Saint Niketas. Straightway, while he was still pondering the matter--behold! above him a heavenly power and bodiless being took the form of a star and went on before him, guiding him in the dark through the martyric body. In this manner, guided by the star, Marianos recognized the body of the martyr, which was intact. There was not the least destruction from the fire--only certain small traces which revealed that he was cast into the flames. Divine power dispensed that it should be so, for further proof of the miracle. Then, without losing any time, he left for his own country. With the help of Saint Niketas, he, fearlessly and without encountering danger, arrived home in Cilicia. He, thereupon, stowed away the reliquary chest in his house with befitting honor. Marianos' home became a fountain of innumerable healings, even as another Sheep's Pool (John 5:2). Not only Mopsuestia enjoyed the patronage of the Saint's healings, but all those parts round about as well. All those who came received healing form the holy relics, so that none left with a complaint.
Soon afterward, on account of the concourse of many people to Marianos' dwelling-place, the Mopsuestians built a holy church to the Martyr. They transferred his precious relics from the house of Marianos, leaving behind only the third finger of the martyr's right hand for spiritual sanctification and bodily cure.
Yearly, on the 15th of September, at the church of Saint Niketas, the Martyr's memory is celebrated with great reverence and joy, to the glory of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to Whom is due glory, honor, and veneration to the boundless ages of unending ages. Amen. (Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church)
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" - Saint John Chrysostom
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Saint Athanasius the Great attests, "He was crucified before the sun and all creation as witnesses, and before those who put Him to death; and, by His death, has salvation come to all; and all creation has been ransomed. He is the Life of all, and He it is that as a sheep yielded His body in death as a substitute, for the salvation of all, even though the Jews believe it not."
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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ON 14th SEPTEMBER OUR HOLY ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH CELEBRATES THE GREAT FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE LIFE-GIVING CROSS OF CHRIST
Salvation and Reconciliation Through the Holy Cross
Saint Athanasius the Great attests, "He was crucified before the sun and all creation as witnesses, and before those who put Him to death; and, by His death, has salvation come to all; and all creation has been ransomed. He is the Life of all, and He it is that as a sheep yielded His body in death as a substitute, for the salvation of all, even though the Jews believe it not."
"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us: for it has been written: "Cursed is everyone who hangeth on a tree" [Galatians 3:13; Deut. 21:23]. "In reality," says Saint John Chrysostom, "the people were subject to another curse, which says, 'Cursed is everyone who continueth not in all the words of this law to do them" [Deut. 27:26]. To this curse, I say, people were subject, for no one had continued in, or was a keeper of, the whole Law; but Christ exchanged this curse for the other, 'Cursed is everyone who hangeth on a tree." As the both he who hangs on a tree, and he who transgressed the law, is curse, and as it was necessary for him who is about to relieve from the curse himself to be from it, but to receive another curse instead of it, therefore Christ took upon Himself such another, and thereby relieved us from the curse. It was like an innocent man's undertaking to die for another sentenced to death, and to rescuing him from punishment. For Christ took upon Himself not the curse of transgression, but the other curse, in order to remove that of others. 'For He did no sin, niether was guile found in his mouth" [cf. Isaiah 53:9; I Peter 2:22). "And as by dying He rescued from death those who were dying, so by taking upon himself the curse, he delivered them from it." Saint Theodore chants: "O Lord, Thy Life-Giving Cross has turned the instrument of the curse [Deut. 21:23] into a seal of blessing."
The Sign of the Holy Cross
Saint Athanasius says, "Behold then what men considered the foolishness of God because of the Cross, has become of all things most honored. For our resurrection is stored up in it, and no longer that of Israel alone; but henceforth all the nations, as the Prophet has foretold, leave their idols and acknowledge the True God, the Father of the Christ. And the illusion of demons is come to naught, and He only Who is really God is worshipped in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Saint Kyril of Alexandria (378-444 A. D.) counsels us, "Let us not be ashamed of the Cross of Christ, but though another hide it, do thou openly seal it upon thy forehead, that the devils may behold the royal sign and flee, trembling, far away. Make this sign at eating and drinking; at sitting, at lying down, at rising up, at speaking, at walking; in a word, at every act."
Saint John Chrysostom expounds on signing ourselves with the Cross, saying, "One ought not merely by the fingers to engrave it, but before this to have much faith in the heart. And if in this way thou markest upon thy face, none of the unclean spirits will be able to stand near thee, seeing the blade whereby the devil received his wound, seeing the sword which gave him his mortal stroke. For if we, on seeing the places in which the criminals are beheaded, shudder, think what the devil must endure, seeing the weapon whereby Christ put an end to all his power, and cut off the head of the dragon.
"This therefore do thou engrave upon thy mind, and embrace the salvation of our souls. For this Cross saved and converted the world, drove away error, brought back truth, made earth heaven, fashioned men into angels. Because of this, the devils are no longer terrible, but contemptible; neither is death death, but a sleep; because of this, all that wars against us is cast to the ground and trodden underfoot.
"This Sign, both in the days of our forefathers and now, has opened doors that were shut up; this has healed bites of venomous beasts. For if it opened the gates of Hades, and threw wide the archways of the heavens, and made a new entrance into Paradise, and cut away the nerves of the devil, why marvel, if it prevailed over poisonous drugs, and venomous beasts, and all other such things?"
Saint Paul says, "The word, that of the Cross, to those who are perishing is foolishness; but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God" [cf. I Corinthians 1:18). And "May it not be for me to boast, except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" [Galatians 6:14]. "Truly," remarks Saint John Chrysostom, "this symbol is thought despicable; but it is so in the world's reckoning, and among men; in heaven and among the faithful it is the highest glory." "The Cross is not a subject for shame," says Saint John Chrysostom. "I speak of the Cross of Christ. For there is no greater sign of love of God for mankind than the Cross--not heaven, nor sea, nor earth, nor the creation of all things out of nothing, nor all else beside." Elsewhere, he admonishes, "Be not ashamed then by so great blessing, lest Christ be ashamed of thee, when He comes with His Glory, and the sign appears before Him, shining beyond the very sunbeam. For indeed the Cross comes then, uttering a voice by its appearance, and pleading with the whole world for our Lord, and signifying that no part has failed of what pertained to Him...The Cross is our glory, and the sum of all blessings and our confidence, and all our crown. I would that, also with Paul, I were able to say, 'but may it not be for me to boast, except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom the world hath been crucified tome, and I to the world" (Galatians 6:14). (Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church)
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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14th is a strict fast!
Orthros (Matins) at 9:00 a.m.
Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m.
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[September 14th 1969-September 14th 2020]
September 14th marks my 51st Anniversary of my ordination to the Holy Priesthood. Presbytera Elaine our children, and grandchildren, humbly thank our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for His many blessings throughout this glorious Diakonia ( Ministry) of our Church.
GLORY BE TO OUR MERCIFUL AND ALMIGHTY GOD!
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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
Homily on the Life-Giving Cross from the Holy Fathers
"One Lord was trampled on by Death" writes Saint Ephraim the Syrian (306-383 A.D.). "And in His turn trod out a way over Death...Our Lord bare His Cross and went forth according to the will of Death: but He cried upon the Cross (Matthew 27:50-52) and brought forth the dead from within Sheol (Hades) against the will of Death. For in that very thing by which Death had slain Him, that is, the body, in that as armor He bore off the victory over Death.
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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HOMILY ON THE PRECIOUS AND LIFE-GIVING CROSS FROM THE HOLY FATHERS OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH
Introduction
"One Lord was trampled on by Death" writes Saint Ephraim the Syrian (306-383 A.D.). "And in His turn trod out a way over Death...Our Lord bare His Cross and went forth according to the will of Death: but He cried upon the Cross (Matthew 27:50-52) and brought forth the dead from within Sheol (Hades) against the will of Death. For in that very thing by which Death had slain Him, that is, the body, in that as armor He bore off the victory over Death. But the Divinity concealed itself in the manhood and fought against Death. Death slew and was slain. Death slew the natural life; and the supernatural Life slew him. And because Death was not able to devour Him without a body, nor Sheol (Hades) to swallow Him up without the flesh, He came unto the Virgin, that from thence He might obtain that which should bear Him to Sheol...With the body that was from the Virgin He entered Sheol. He entered Sheol and plundered its storehouses and emptied its treasures. He came then to Eve the Mother of living...He Who is the medicine of life flew down from heaven, and was mingled in the body, the mortal fruit. And when Death came to feed after his custom, the Life in His turn swallowed up Death. This is the Food that hungered to eat its eater. So then, by one Fruit which Death came to feed after his custom, the Life in His turn swallowed up death. This is the Food that hungered to eat its eater. So then, by one Fruit which Death swallowed up hungrily, he vomited up many lives which he had swallowed greedily...The stomach of Death was disordered, and he was vomiting forth the Medicine of life which had sickened it. He vomited forth along with it also those lives that had been swallowed by him with pleasure.
"This is the Son of the carpenter, Who skillfully made His Cross a bridge over Sheol (Hades) that swallowed up all, and brought over mankind into the dwelling of life. And because it was through the tree that mankind had fallen into Sheol, so upon the Tree they passed over into the dwelling of life. Through the tree then wherein bitterness was tasted, through it also sweetness was tasted, that we might learn of Him that amongst the creatures nothing resists Him. Glory be to Thee, Who didst lay Thy Cross as a bridge over death, that souls might pass over upon it from the dwelling of the dead to the dwelling of life!"
For the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, Saint Kosmas the Melodist, Bishop of Maiuma (7th century) chants, "O thrice-blessed Tree, on which Christ the King and Lord was stretched! Through thee the beguiler fell, who tempted mankind with a tree. He was caught in the trap set by God, Who was crucified upon thee in the flesh."
Saint Gregory of Nyssa (335-395 A.D.) comments, "For truly, to those who are able to see, the mystery of the Cross is especially contemplated in the law. Therefore, the Gospel says somewhere that not one iota or one tittle shall pass away from the law (Matthew 5:18), signifying in these words the vertical and horizontal lines by which the form of the Cross is drawn."
At the Feast of the Cross, we chant, "Thou four ends of the earth are sanctified today by the Exaltation of the Cross with its four arms." Saint Gregory of Nyssa speaks of the symbolic implications of the physical attributes of the Cross, saying, "This is the very thing we learn from the figure of the Cross: that He Who was stretched upon it binds together all things unto Himself, and by Himself brings to one harmonious agreement the diverse natures of actual existences." Saint Paul prays that Christ might dwell in our hearts through the Faith, which has been rooted and founded in love, in order that we might be able to apprehend with all the Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height (cf. Ephesians 3:17-18). Saint Gregory of Nyssa says the Apostle "is describing by the figure of the Cross the power that controls and holds together the universe, when he expresses a desire that they may be exalted to know the exceeding glory of this power, calling it height, and depth, and breadth, and length...it manifests a great mystery: that both things in Heaven, and things under the earth, and all the furthest bounds of the things that are, are ruled and sustained by Him Who gave an example of this unspeakable and mighty power in the figure of the Cross."
Saint Kosmas chants to the Cross, saying, "Stretched out in wondrous fashion, the Cross sent forth rays as the sun, and 'the heavens declared the glory of the our God' (Psalm 18:1). Saint Ephraim the Syrian chants, "The height and the depth have been reconciled in Him!"
The Tree of Life
Saint Irenaeos (130-236 A.D.), Bishop of Lyons writes: "The sin that was wrought through the tree was undone by the obedience of the Tree, obedience to God whereby the Son of Man was nailed to the Tree, destroying the knowledge of evil, and bringing in and conferring the knowledge of good...so by the obedience, whereby He obeyed unto death, hanging on the tree, He undid the old disobedience wrought in the tree. And because He is Himself the Logos/Word of God Almighty, Who in His invisible form pervades us universally in the whole world, and encompasses both its length and breadth and height, and depth--for by God's Logos/Word everything is disposed and administered--the Son of God was also crucified in these, imprinted in the form of a Cross on the universe; for He had necessarily, in becoming visible, to bring to light the universality of His Cross, in order to show openly through His visible form that activity of His: that it is He Who makes bright the height, that is, what is in Heaven, and holds the deep, which is in the bowels of the earth, and stretches forth and extends the length from east to west, navigating also the northern parts and the breadth of the south, and calling in all the dispersed from all sides to the knowledge of the Father."
The Cross, the Tree of Life, was planted in the Place of the Skull (Golgotha) [Matthew 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17], and upon it the Eternal King worked salvation in the midst of the earth (Psalm 73:13). It signifies the ends of the world, and both Angels and men rejoice. Saint Theodore the Studite (759-826 A.D.) chants, "The Church has been revealed as a second Paradise, having within it, like the first Paradise of old, a tree of life, Thy Cross, O Lord. By touching it, we share in immortality." Saint Joseph the Hymnographer (810-886 A.D.) writes, "Christ stretched out His hands upon the Cross, and so destroyed the sin of our forefather who stretched out his hand in greed. By the Tree He healed the curse of the tree" (Deut. 21:23). [Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church]
(To be continued)
Please note: The sign of the Cross when made by the Orthodox Christian believer should be done with great faith, reverence, obedience, and humility. When we make the sign of the Cross we recall Jesus' Divine words and invitation, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me" (Mark 8:34). We are saved by the Cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Cross protects us from evil, from temptation, and from dangers. "The Cross is the protector of all the universe, the Cross is the beauty of the Church, the Cross is the power of rulers, the Cross is the support of the faithful, the Cross is the glory of Angels and the wounding of demons." By making the sign of the Cross we constantly remember our Redeemer and His ultimate Sacrifice to save the human race from evil and death.
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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
September 14 - The Holy Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Part III)
On the 14 of September, 628 A.D., Emperor Herakleios finally entered his capital of Constantinople. It had been six years since his return, and his son Constantine, Patriarch Sergios (610-638 A.D.), the clergy, the Senate and the people received him on the coast of Asia Minor with olive branches and lighted candles, with hymns and acclamations of joy. Before him went the True Cross, and behind, four elephants. These were the first ever seen in Constantinople. The Emperor, though only in his mid-fifties, appeared old, worn out, and ill. But by the grace of God, through his efforts, the victorious Byzantine Empire dealt the death blow to its constant enemy, leaving the Persian army prostrate.
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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THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY AND LIFE-GIVING CROSS (Part III)
On the 14 of September, 628 A.D., Emperor Herakleios finally entered his capital of Constantinople. It had been six years since his return, and his son Constantine, Patriarch Sergios (610-638 A.D.), the clergy, the Senate and the people received him on the coast of Asia Minor with olive branches and lighted candles, with hymns and acclamations of joy. Before him went the True Cross, and behind, four elephants. These were the first ever seen in Constantinople. The Emperor, though only in his mid-fifties, appeared old, worn out, and ill. But by the grace of God, through his efforts, the victorious Byzantine Empire dealt the death blow to its constant enemy, leaving the Persian army prostrate.
During the service of thanksgiving, the True Cross was slowly raised up by Patriarch Sergios, until it stood, vertical, before the altar. It was a deeply moving episode in the history of the Church.
Now the Holy Cross had to be returned to Jerusalem. On the 21st of March, 629 A.D. Herakleios left with his wife Martina and his eldest son Constantine for Jerusalem. Upon their entrance into the city, there was much joy; sounds of weeping and sighs, the burning of flaming hearts, the exaltation of the Emperors, the princes, soldiers and inhabitants. The Emperor himself carried the Life-Giving Cross of Christ to the rebuilt church of the Holy Sepulchre, or, as it is also known, the Church of the Holy Resurrection (Anastaseos), where the Patriarch was waiting to receive it. As the Holy Cross reached the church, hardly anyone could chant due to treat emotion. Together with Patriarch Zacharias, the Emperor then restored the Holy Cross, to the Joy of all Christendom, to its place in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Herakleios then returned all the church objects, each to its place. He next distributed gifts to all the churches and to the inhabitants of the Holy City. There was great rejoicing by the faithful, and again they pressed forward to venerate the wood of the Cross. Once more it was elevated by the holy sufferer Patriarch Zacharias, on the 14th of September, 629 A.D. After the days of the recovery, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross received new emphasis in the Church.
Following Zacharias' blessed repose on the 21st of February, 632 A.D., the great Modestos again ascended to the throne of Saint Iakovos (Apostle James), the brother of the Lord. He succeeded Saint Zacharias as a vessel of choice and as a worthy laborer for the Gospel of Christ. He too is commemorated by the Holy Church on the 16th of December.
This great event of the recovery of the Holy Cross of Christ was linked with the feast day of the "Finding of the Cross and Nails" by Saint Helen, which took place on the 6th of March. And together with that occasion on the 14th of September, we celebrated the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. With also celebrate and venerate the Holy Cross especially on the Third Sunday of Great and Holy Lent.
Later, when the holy Fathers realized the dangers of invading infidels in the Holy Land, it was resolved to cut the Holy Cross of Jesus into pieces and distribute them to the great spiritual Christian centers. Many portions were taken to Constantinople, Mount Athos (Holy Mountain), Alexandria, Rome, and Antioch. (Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church)
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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
September 14 - The Holy Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Part II)
All were uncertain as to which of the crosses was the Cross of the Lord. At that moment a corpse was being carried by to be buried. Patriarch Macarius commanded those who bore the dead body to halt, and he had the crosses placed one after the other on the corpse. When the Cross of Christ was placed on him, the dead man immediately arose, resurrected by the Divine power of the Holy Cross of the Lord. The Empress joyfully took the Precious and Life-Giving Cross and bowed down before it and kissed it as did all the Imperial retinue accompanying her. Many of those present were unable to see the Holy Cross at that time because of the throng, and they begged that they might at least see it from a distance. Then the Patriarch of Jerusalem Macarius standing on an elevated place, lifted up the Precious Cross, showing it to all the people, who cried out "Kyrie Eleison" ("Lord have mercy!"). And this was the origin of the feast of the Exaltation (Elevation) of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross.
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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ON 14th SEPTEMBER OUR HOLY ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH COMMEMORATES THE HOLY FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS (Part II)
All were uncertain as to which of the crosses was the Cross of the Lord. At that moment a corpse was being carried by to be buried. Patriarch Macarius commanded those who bore the dead body to halt, and he had the crosses placed one after the other on the corpse. When the Cross of Christ was placed on him, the dead man immediately arose, resurrected by the Divine power of the Holy Cross of the Lord. The Empress joyfully took the Precious and Life-Giving Cross and bowed down before it and kissed it as did all the Imperial retinue accompanying her. Many of those present were unable to see the Holy Cross at that time because of the throng, and they begged that they might at least see it from a distance. Then the Patriarch of Jerusalem Macarius standing on an elevated place, lifted up the Precious Cross, showing it to all the people, who cried out "Kyrie Eleison" ("Lord have mercy!"). And this was the origin of the feast of the Exaltation (Elevation) of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross.
The Empress Helen kept a portion of the Precious Wood and the Holy Nails for herself. Placing the remaining portion of the Holy Cross in a silver reliquary, she committed it to Patriarch Macarius to be preserved for future generations. Then Judas and a multitude of the Jews believed and were baptized. Judas was named Kyriakos in Holy Baptism and subsequently became Patriarch of Jerusalem, suffering for Christ under Julian the Apostate.
The holy Empress Helen commanded that churches built at the holy places in Jerusalem. First, she ordered that the Church of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ be erected over the place where Christ's Holy Sepulcher is to be found and where the Precious Cross was discovered. She then directed that a temple be built at Gethsemane where the grave of the Most Holy Theotokos is located and where her Honorable Koimisis (Dormition) took place. She built 18 other churches, and then, having embellished them with every adornment, she departed for Byzantium, taking with her her portion of the Holy Wood of the Life-Creating Cross and the Holy Nails with which Christ's Sacred Body was affixed to the Tree (Cross). The blessed Emperor Constantine placed the Life-Creating Wood in a golden reliquary and fastened one of the holy nails upon his helmet. Another, according to the testimony of Saint Ambrose, was cast into the Adriatic Sea to calm a storm, and the third and the fourth the Emperor had fashioned into a bit for the bridle of his horse, that the words of the Prophet Zacharias might be fulfilled: " In that day there shall be upon the bridle of the king's horse, Holiness to the Lord Almighty."
After Saint Helen returned to Byzantium from Jerusalem, the Christ-loving Emperor Constantine erected three great crosses in commemoration of the three crosses revealed to him in battle: the first at Rome, when Maxentius was drowned; the second at Byzantium, when Byzantium was taken; and the third at the River Danube, when the Scythians were defeated. He erected three crosses of precious materials in commemoration of these three occurrences. On them were inscribed in golden letters these words, "Jesus Christ conquers." Showing his zeal for piety to all, and as a testimony to the power of the Cross by which he had overcome his enemies, he set atop one cross the porphyry column brought from Rome, which stood in the main square of the city; the third, made of the most beautiful marble, was erected in the square where bread was sold. Here numerous miracles and signs occurred on account of the Holy Cross. Many bore witness to how an Angel of the Lord came down from heaven in Great Light at night and went round about the Cross censing and chanting with a sweet voice the Thrice-Holy Hymn ("Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal"). This took place three times yearly; during September, on the feast of the Exaltation (Elevation) of the Precious Cross; again on the seventh day of the month of May, the anniversary of the day when the Cross of the Lord appeared in the heavens; and during the Holy Great Feast of Lent, on the Sunday of the Adoration of the Cross (Stavroproskyniseos). Many devout people who lived piously saw the Descent of the Angel and heard his chanting, of which they informed others.
It is fitting also to mention that the Precious and Life-creating Wood of the Cross of the Lord was once seized by the Persians and later returned to Jerusalem to the joy of the faithful. During the reign of Phocas, the Emperor of the Greeks, Chosroes, the king of Persia, who conquered Egypt and Africa, took Jerusalem and put many Christians to death. He plundered and carried off to Persia the Church's treasure, taking, among other articles of value, hat invaluable treasure, the Wood of the Life-creating Cross of the Lord. When Phocas died, he was succeeded by Heraclius, who although he attempted to overcome Chosroes, was, nevertheless, defeated by him many times. Heraclius sued for peace, but Chosroes, his proud foe, refused to grant it. Then, in deep sorrow, Heraclius sought God's help against his adversary who reviled the name of Jesus Christ and in his pride boasted that he would destroy all Christians. Heraclius asked all the faithful to pray, keep vigil, and fast so that the Lord might deliver them from their foe and also so that the enemy might not say, "Lofty is our arm, and mighty our gods." Thus the nations would know that the Lord alone is the True God, Whose power and might no one is able to withstand. Moreover, the Emperor himself fast and prayed with tears. Having summoned all his troops, he placed his hope in God and arming himself with the power of the Cross, he set out against the Persians. When he encountered Chosroes, he defeated him and put him to flight. Laying waste the land of Persia for seven years, he subdued cities and villages and vanquished Chosroes' vast armies. Finally, Chosroes, unable to withstand the might of the Greeks, fled from his land. Heraclius made peace with the king of Persia, taking back the Life-creating Wood of the Cross of the Lord, which Chosroes had removed from Jerusalem 14 years earlier. The Greek Emperor returned to his own dominions with rich spoils, rejoicing and glorifying God for His help. (Source: The Great Collection of The Lives of the Saints)
(To be continued)
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostom
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George
September 14 - The Holy Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Emperor Constantine the Great was born in 273/274 and reposed in Nicomedia in 337 A.D., sharing his feast with his mother, Saint Helen, equal-to-the Apostles, on the 31st of May. He distinguished himself in his youth in the service of Diocletian (284-305 A.D.) in the Egyptian and Persian wars. After those campaigns, he went to Gaul and Britain. After three battles he defeated Maxentius at last in October of 312 A.D. at the Milvian Bridge near Rome, making Constantine the sole ruler of the West.
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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ON SEPTEMBER 14th OUR HOLY ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH CELEBRATES THE HOLY FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS
Emperor Constantine the Great was born in 273/274 and reposed in Nicomedia in 337 A.D., sharing his feast with his mother, Saint Helen, equal-to-the Apostles, on the 31st of May. He distinguished himself in his youth in the service of Diocletian (284-305 A.D.) in the Egyptian and Persian wars. After those campaigns, he went to Gaul and Britain. After three battles he defeated Maxentius at last in October of 312 A.D. at the Milvian Bridge near Rome, making Constantine the sole ruler of the West.
Although the precise day when Constantine miraculously beheld the Cross is not known, it surely took place shortly before the splendid victory over Maxentius near Rome. The Church historian Eusebius of Caesarea, after interviewing Constantine about the event, writes that on Constantine's march from Gaul to Italy, the Augustus, while praying to the True God for Light and help at this crucial moment, saw, together with his men, while it was still daylight toward evening, a shining cross in the heavens above the sun, with the inscription: "By this conquer" (Gk. "En touto Nika"). Eusebius leaves us with the impression that the inscription was in Greek. The following night Christ Himself appeared to Constantine in his sleep and directed him to have a standard prepared in the form of this sign of the Cross. He was then commanded to advance against Maxentius and all other enemies. The standard bore the Christian Cross with the Greek monogram of Christ, X (Chi) and P (Rho), the first two letters of the name of Christ. The Emperor disclosed to Eusebius that none of its bearers was ever wounded by the enemy.
Most accounts have it that his mother Helen, to whom he always showed great honor, may have planted the seed of the Christian faith in her son, as Theodoretos of Kyros or Cyrrhus claims in his Ecclesiastical History 323-428 A.D.
Constantine became the sole head of the whole Roman Empire by his victory over his Eastern colleague and brother-in-law Licinius.
Saint Helen Finds the True Cross
In 325 A.D., Constantine summoned the First Ecumenical Synod at Nicaea, which he attended and which banished the heretical Arians. When the priests had returned home, the Emperor rejoiced at the unity restored in the Church. He surrounded the city previously called Byzantium with massive walls and adorned the city with various edifices. Having rendered it equal to imperial Rome, he named it Constantinople, establishing by law that it should be designated New Rome. He also built two churches which he named after The Holy Peace (Eirene) of God and the Holy Apostles. The Emperor now wished that a house of prayer should be erected at Jerusalem, near the place called Calvary or Golgotha.
Saint Ambrose (339-397 A.D.), Bishop of Milan, says, "Blessed was Constantine with such a mother! At her son's command, she sought the aid of divine favor in order that he might take part safely in battles and not fear danger. O noble woman, who found much more to confer upon an emperor than she might receive from an emperor! The mother, solicitous for her son to whom the sovereignty of the Roman world had fallen, hastened to Jerusalem and explored the scene of the Lord's Passion."
Her son avidly supported her holy and divinely-inspired mission to journey to the site of old Jerusalem, where the Romans had built the new town called Aelia. Eusebius reports that her son gave her authority over the imperial treasury, to use and dispense monies according to her own will and discretion in every case. Upon her arrival, straightway, she had the temple of Aphrodite pulled down to clear the site of Golgotha. After the temple debris was hauled out of Jerusalem, the question of the exact location of the Holy Cross needed to be addressed.
Now it was no easy matter to discover either this holy relic or even the Lord's Sepulchre. "The pagans," records the fifth-century historian Sozomen, "who in former times persecuted the Church, took every measure to exterminate it. They had concealed that spot under much heaped-up earth, and elevated what before was quite depressed, as it looks now; and, the more effectually to conceal them, had enclosed the entire place of the Resurrection and Mount Calvary within a wall, and had moreover ornamented the whole locality and paved it with stone, and erected a temple to Aphrodite, and set up a little image so that those who sent to worship Christ would appear to bow the knee to the goddess Aphrodite." The biographer and historian Sulpitius Severus (360-420 A.D.) in his Sacred History says that "the consecration of the Cross, owing to the opposition of the Jews, had been covered over by the rubbish of the ruined city." Blessed Jerome (347--419 A.D.) adds, "From the time of Hadrian to the reign of Constantine--a period of about one hundred and eighty years--the spot which had witnessed the Resurrection was occupied by a figure of Venus was set up by the heathen (pagans) and became an object of worship.
The Augusta Saint Helen secured the help of a certain Jew named Judah, who preserved the ancient legacy of the site of the Crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, and who pointed out the east side of the burial cave to the Augusta. According to Sozomen, Judah dwelt in the East and derived his information from some documents which had come to him by paternal inheritance. Together with Bishop Makarios of Jerusalem (331-335 A.D.)--who previously took the Augusta on a tour of the principal shrines--and his entourage they made their way to the site of Golgotha. Bishop Makarios conducted a prayer service.
Now after many weeks of excavation, a beautiful flower was found growing in an area that was lonely and abandoned. The Augusta noticed that no other plants were growing in the vicinity. Enlightened by God, she ordered her soldiers to concentrate digging at the exact spot where the unusual flower, now called in English "Sweet Basil" ( Gk.Vasiliko), had taken root. The name, signifying royalty, also came to be the official flower was used by clergymen when blessing homes or during Church services whenever the blessing of the waters takes place.
As the diggers went deeper into the earth, they began to detect a fragrant scent emitting from underground. The Augusta gave orders for the digging to continue. To general astonishment, but precisely as the queen alone had believed, deep digging opened up cavities in the earth and revealed the secret of the hidden Cross. The earth yielded up three crosses, the placard, and the nails. The custom at that time was to bury the implements of torture close to the site of suffering. The inscription, however, had been wrenched from the True Cross and cast aside. The Cross of Jesus had been cast aside with the others, without any distinction. (Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church)
(To be continued)
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" - Saint John Chrysostom
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George