Category: Saints and Blesseds

The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew

At the beginning of the Fast before Christmas, we celebrate the feast of St. Matthew, who wrote one of the Gospels of the birth of our Lord. (St. Luke is the other.) St. Matthew’s purpose was to show how the prophecies of the Covenant were fulfilled in Jesus. Therefore, he is the son of Abraham and the Son of David. He fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that a virgin would give birth, the prophecy of Micah that he would be born in Bethlehem, the prophecy of Jeremiah that the innocents would die, and that he would be called a Nazorean. Matthew tells us of the visit of the Magi, the massacre of the innocents, and the flight into Egypt. It is also Matthew who presents to us the model figure of St. Joseph. Just as the Joseph of the Old Testament saved his people in Egypt, so the Joseph of the New Testament saves the hope of the people, Jesus, by taking him to Egypt. We have no better model of human fatherhood. Joseph is a righteous man (Matthew 1:19), who is open to God’s revelation through his messenger angel that the child of Mary is of God, a faith that goes beyond human knowledge. It is Joseph who protects the child, his foster son, so that Jesus, the Savior, could someday fulfill the plan of the heavenly Father. It is Joseph who re-orders his whole life for the sake of his beloved child. Joseph, then, is a model of divine fatherhood, “from whom every fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named. (Ephesians 3:15)”

In Christmas, we must be filled with the righteous of the holy Joseph.

Troparion at Glory …, Ode 3 of the Feast of St. Matthew:

Matthew, the divinely-minded trumpet made the teachings about God resound. He has poured out the radiant life of the Trinity upon the peoples as he revealed to them the Incarnation of the Word in you, O pure Virgin.

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras

Blessed Theodore Romzha

Today we honor the memory of Blessed Theodore Romzha, a martyr for Christian faith.

Though the godless poured poison into your veins, your heart still beats with love for Christ, O bishop Theodore, martyred father, who now raise your prayers before the Throne of God.

The Holy Prophet and Saint, Micah

Today, on the Vigil of the Dormition, the commemorates the memory of the holy prophet, Micah.

Micah prophesied between 750 and 687 bc. He was a contemporary of Amos and Isaiah.

Micah’s words were an indictment against the rich, the avaricious money lenders, swindling merchants, families divided by rivalry, and all petty tyrants and bureaucrats, whether dressed as judges or rulers, priests or prophets. There were the very antithesis of the divine ideal he preached, namely, “to deal justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with God.”

Failure to do these things, Micah warned, will bring punishment. He specified the destruction of Samaria and the fall of Jerusalem, but he also held out a hope for the faithful remnant. He described the birth of a peaceful king who will pasture the flock of the Lord. Micah foretold that this event would take place in Bethlehem of Ephratah, which was known as “the least of the clans of Judah.” (NS)

Saints Boris and Gleb

Our Church liturgically commemorates the holy protomartyrs of Rus’, Boris and Gleb, in baptism named Roman and David.

Righteous passion-bearers and true fulfillers of the Gospel of Christ, Chaste Boris and guileless Gleb, You did not resist the attacks of your brother, the enemy, When he killed your bodies but could not touch your souls. Therefore, let the evil lover of power mourn. While you rejoice with the angels standing before the Holy Trinity. Pray that those who honor your memory may be pleasing to God, And that all Orthodox Christians may be saved. (Troparion)

When the first Christian prince in the Rus’ lands, St Vladimir, died in 1015, his eldest son, Svyatopolk, attempted to consolidate his own position by eliminating his two half-brothers, Boris and Gleb. When Boris heard of his brother’s plans, he refused to defend himself and faced his death without fear or hatred. His younger brother also accepted his assassination without opposition.

Such murders were typical of the extremes of political struggle for power in a pagan society. Boris and Gleb sincerely believed that the good news of Christ, so recently preached in their own land, must change all of this. Thus, by their voluntary sacrifice to their brother’s lust for power, they bore witness to the command of Christ to love one another. The impact of their witness deeply affected the character of what has become the Kievan Rus’ spirituality. (NS)

Boris and Gleb are the first saints of the Rus’ Church.

May ask Ste. Boris and Gleb to ask the Lord for the grace to forgive and love our enemies, even those who are close to us.

Blessed Basil Hopko

The Byzantine Church recalls the memory of a 20th century martyr for the faith, Basil Hopko (April 24, 1904—July 23, 1976) was a priest and bishop of the Slovak Greek Catholic Church. Hopko was beatified by Pope John Paul II for his martyrdom under Communist occupation.

Having contemporary models of holiness is important to us because it reminds us that it is possible to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

A brief biography can be read here.

Here is a hymn for our holy father and confessor Basil (Hopko), Bishop of Medila composed by James Michael Thompson.

The Church of God with angel ranks
Combines to sing the praise
Of Basil, shepherd of the flock
Who served Christ all his days!
With no regard for life or wealth
He preached the Word most true;
As he so bravely lived and died,
May we thus also do!

A scholar from his early youth,
He heard Your priestly call,
And from his ordination day,
He gave to You his all.
By pastoring and teaching, too,
His patient, faithful life
Became a shining model for
His Church in times of strife.

When vicious persecution came,
Upon him, hands were laid,
And he was made a bishop then,
A leader firm and staid.
Though seized, imprisoned, sick and worn,
He never turned away,
And through his good example, helped
All those who thought to stray.

O Father, lover of us all,
O Christ, our Master true,
O Spirit, holy Paraclete:
All praise we sing to You!
O Triune God, O One-in-Three,
We give you thanks today:
As blessed Basil followed You,
Help us to walk his way!

(Tune: Pod tvoj pokrov/We Hasten to Your Patronage)
(c) 2005, J. Michael Thompson

St Mary Magdalene

The Church recalls the memory of the holy myrrhbearer and equal of the apostles, Mary Magdalene.

There are several Marys mentioned in the New Testament. The surname Magdalene distinguishes this Mary as the one from the town of Magdala. Luke’s gospel mentions that Jesus relieved her of seven devils, which could have simply been some kind of physical or mental illness. Scripture gives evidence of her life as a devoted follower of Christ whose loyalty remained firm when even the faith of the other twelve apostles wavered.

It is most likely that the unnamed woman who washed Christ’s feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, and then anointed them was Mary Magdalene, as depicted in many icons of her.

The Church gives Mary Magdalene special honor as the most faithful companion of Jesus as she was at the foot of the cross when he was crucified, and was the first to witness his resurrection. Her encounter with Christ on her way to perform the funeral anointing, as recorded by John, earned her an apostles’ task, for it was she who was commissioned to tell the other apostles that Christ had risen. Thus it becomes clear that not only was she “equal to the apostles” but as scripture shows, she was “apostle to the apostles.” (NS)

“O Mary Magdalene, you were the first to witness the divine Resurrection of the First Cause of all good things, who has compassionately deified our nature; and you were the first to be the herald of the good news to the Apostles, crying out to them: Lay aside your sadness! Receive great hope instead! Come and see the risen Christ who grants the world great mercy! (Doxasticheron, Tone 6, at Psalm 140)

The Holy Prophet Ezekiel

The holy prophet Ezekiel is commemorated today.

Ezekiel was born into a priestly family and became a priest near the time of the Babylonian captivity. At first, he remained in Jerusalem, where he received his call. When Jerusalem fell in 586 BC, he was included with the Jewish exiles. Ezekiel’s gifts of imagery and poetic expression make his book one of the great works of ancient literature.

His teaching centers on the need for inner conversion. Thus, each person must make a “change of heart”, and God himself will infuse a new spirit. These themes form the basis for the theology of grace and repentance in the Church. Ezekiel also serves as the source of subsequent apocalyptic tradition. The several visions which characterize his prophecy made a very perceptible influence on the Book of Revelation. It is on Ezekiel’s apocalyptic vision that the iconographic portrayals of the Pantocrator have traditionally been based.

The icon of Christ enthroned in the apse of [the church] … is an expression of this tradition; it is an image of the fullness of Ezekiel’s vision of the “glory of the Lord”. (NS)

Saint Ezekiel, pray for us.

St Elijah the Holy Prophet

Today, we liturgically remember Elijah the Prophet. It is a day to request a blessing for the car and motorcycle.

Prophet Elijah of great renown, seer of the mighty mighty works of God, by your command you held back the rain! Pray for us to the only Lover of mankind! (Kontakion)

Elijah was a prophet of the northern kingdom of Israel during the 9th century reign of Ahab and his consort Jezebel. The first book of Kings records the prophet’s fight against the ingratitude and apostasy of the chosen people, a battle colorfully portrayed in Elijah’s contest with the priests of Baal.

Later Judaic tradition came to regard Elijah’s fiery departure as a prophetic sign in itself, and his return was awaited as the herald of the Messianic age. Thus in the New Testament, both John the Baptist and Christ were mistakenly thought to be the reappearance of Elijah. However, at Christ’s transfiguration, Elijah does make his second appearance in fulfillment of this ancient expectation.

Elijah is one of the most dramatic and inspiring of the Old Testament prophets. His many feats of power over the elements of fire and water made him a popular saint in the oldest folk traditions of the Middle East and Russia. The Church remembers the prophet as a prototype of Christ, and events from his life are read on the feasts of Pascha, Theophany, and the Transfiguration. (NS)

St Vladimir the Great (of Kiev)

The Kievan Rus’ Church –to which we belong– today liturgically recalls the memory of Vladimir. The holy Vladimir the Great, grand prince of Kiev and equal of the apostles, in baptism named Basil.

Vladimir descended from the Slavic-Viking line of Rurik. He began his princely career in Novgorod, and eventually, by cunning as much as by prowess, he took over his older brother’s inheritance and became Grand Prince of Kiev and the whole land of Rus’. His motives for becoming Christian were complex, but must have included the example of his grandmother, Olga, the conversion of a Viking cousin who proved Christianity could be a manly religion, and the prospects of allying himself to the Byzantine Empire through marriage. Nonetheless his decision was a momentous one, for it affected his entire domain. The sincerity of his reception of the Gospel is borne out by the effect it had on his rule. At a time when Europe and even the Byzantines were barbaric in punishing criminals, and even slight offenders, Vladimir outlawed torture, mutilation, and capital punishment. He sent food from his own stores to the poor and the sick, and organized social services unknown to any other city in Europe.

Much of the prince’s life was embellished by the legends of the early chronicles and epics have colored the liturgical texts. Tradition relates that he sent envoys to observe the organized religions of his prominent neighbors. What they experienced in Constantinople has remained a by-word for Orthodox liturgy. After attending services in Hagia Sofia, they reported to Vladimir: “We did not know whether we were in heaven or on earth!” In 988 a mass baptism was held in the Dnieper River by command of the prince, and Greek and Bulgarian missionaries began to spread the Gospel throughout Kievan Rus’.

[The Slavic peoples]… have celebrated the millennium of this event, and our own church in America can trace its roots to that first taste of “heaven on earth.”

Vladimir died on this date in 1015 with a prayer on his lips. By mid-thirteenth century he was honored as a saint. In 1313 the first church was dedicated to him, in Novgorod, where he was first prince. (NS)

Sts Peter and Paul

“The feast of Peter and Paul and the Birth of John the Baptist are ranked as great feasts, after those of Christ and the Theotokos. Icons of the apostles grouped at the Ascension or at Pentecost always picture Peter and Paul at the head of the assembly, although, historically, Paul was not present at either.

The rapid spread of the early Church is due mainly to these two apostles. Peter was crucified in Rome during the time of Nero in 61 AD. He was married and worked as a fisherman with his brother Andrew in Galilee. When the Twelve were called, Peter took up the role of senior. He openly acknowledged Christ as the Son of God, the Messiah. Although he faltered during Christ’s passion, he still remained first. Peter called for an election to replace Judas. He was the first to preach on Pentecost, and the first to heal and to raise the dead. Peter was, above all, a man of great faith. This earned for him the name Rock, and the assurance from Christ that the Church would be built on such faith.

Paul was born in Tarsus, outside the Jewish homeland. He was a Hellenized Jew, at home in the Graeco-Roman culture. Thus, he was well-qualified by background and personality to be apostle to the Gentiles. Over half of the chapters in the Acts of the Apostles are devoted to Paul’s missionary activity. Thirteen of Paul’s letters, in the New Testament, portray the mettle and stature of his burning zeal for the Word of God. He was beheaded in Rome a few years after Peter met his own death. (NS)