Category: Saints and Blesseds

Our Holy Father Anthony the Great

St. Anthony the Great, also called St. Anthony the Abbott (though he was a hermit) and St. Anthony of Egypt is commemorated on January 17. He is identified as the founder of desert monasticism, though the story of his life, particularly how he met St. Paul of Thebes, who preceded him into the desert, is a study of the search for Christian perfection. This story tells how he heard the gospel about the rich young man, to whom Jesus said, ““If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven” (Matthew 19:21). When Anthony heard this gospel, he immediately divested himself of all his possessions and went into the desert to seek Christian perfection. This is really the calling of all Christians, as Jesus commanded, “Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:47)” For this we are baptized, that we might seek Godly perfection.

St. Anthony imitated Christ when he heard this gospel, and just as Jesus went out into the desert after his baptism by John, in order to foil the wiles of Satan, so, too, does Anthony go to the desert to conquer the evil passions exploited by the temptation of the devil. The monastic calling is an intensification of our baptismal calling, the renunciation of all worldly concerns to find perfection in the grace of Christ.

Therefore, in Eastern theology, consecration as a monastic (monk or nun) has been deemed a sacramental mystery, not a separate mystery, but as part of the mystery of repentance. In a similar way, Holy Orders and Marriage are also considered sacramental mysteries, because they confirm the baptismal calling in a particular vocation of life. St. Anthony, then, is a model for our life in Christ through baptism, which is called enlightenment, the perfection of the wisdom that leads us to life.

We pray, then, to our Holy Father Anthony, “Having clearly received immortality and eternal life, pray for my darkened soul to be enlightened by the light of grace, so that I may worthily praise you; for you bear the Three-fold Light, O Father Anthony!” (Matins, Ode 1).

“O Anthony, father of fathers, you have been shown to be a light for those who share your way of life, having taught the pious to tread the paths of light; and you emit the flame and fire of lightning, consuming hordes of the demons” (Matins, Hymn of Light).

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras

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The Holy Prophet Malachi

The holy prophet, Malachi. Second day of the prefestive period.

Malachi lived and wrote after the return from Babylonian exile. He denounced the cooling zeal after the restoration of worship in the temple. He underlines respect for the priesthood and its responsibilities, and reminds the people that purity and sincerity are essential for true religion.

Malachi’s name comes from the Hebrew for “my messenger,” probably from his mention of the coming of a messenger to prepare the way for the Covenant. This passage is quoted in the Gospels to refer to the role of John in the coming feast.

Malachi also affirms the universal fatherhood of God and emphasizes how the Gentiles also worship him. His book is the last in the Old Testament canon. (NS)

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The Martyrdom of St. Stephen, deacon

[In the Byzantine Church today is the feast day for St. Stephen while in the Latin Church December 26 is the day on which Stephen is liturgically commemorated.]

On December 27, the Church remembers the martyrdom of the Holy Apostle, the first Deacon, and the first Martyr, Stephen. The Ambon Prayer for this feast begins, “O Christ our God, you accepted the weakness of our flesh and strengthened it against the spiritual enemy. By your life-giving death you gave it courage against death. Because of this your holy martyrs preferred to die for you rather than to live. You revealed the man named Stephen as the founder of the assembly of martyrs.”

St. Stephen was the first martyr (witness) to our Lord because he was Christ-like himself. Jesus said that he came “not to be served, but to serve,” and so Stephen became a servant (diakonos). When he was tried for his faith, the Acts of the Apostles (6:15) says, “All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.” He was deified and made God-like through his faith. As they became to stone him, he had a vision of the coming of Christ, “filled with the holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. (7:55),” and like Christ on the Cross, he forgave his persecutors, “‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’; and when he said this, he fell asleep. (7:60)” Indeed, one of his persecutors, a man name Saul, would become one of the greatest apostles (8:1). How do Christians do that? How can they forgive people who hate them and take their lives? This cannot be done by human powers, but only by the grace of God. We can fulfill the meaning of Christmas, of a God who humbled himself for our sake, only by the power and love of God, only if we open our hearts to him entirely and submit to his will.

In virtually every rite of Christianity, the feast of St. Stephen’s martyrdom is immediately connected with Christmas. The faith and sacrifice of Stephen is the only proper response to the birth of the Son and Word of God as our Savior and Redeemer. In fact the feast of Christmas is surrounded by commemorations of martyrs:

On December 20, we remember St. Ignatius, the bishop of Antioch, who gave himself to be devoured by lions.

On December 21, we remember St. Juliana, who refused to marry her suitor, Eleusis, unless he converted to Christianity, and who paid for her conviction with her life.

On December 22, we remember St. Anastasia, named for the resurrection, and remembered in the Roman Canon, who gave her life to service to the Christian community, who was betrayed by her husband but who said of Christ, “It is he who has taken away our human weakness, and it is he who now clothes us with divine strength.”

On December 23, we remember the ten holy martyrs who were the glory of Crete.

On December 24, we remember the holy virgin-martyr Eugenia, who was born into a senatorial family, but learned of the foolishness of Christ that surpasses the wisdom of this world. Disguised as a man, she accomplished the greatest of ascetical struggles, and converted so many to Christ, that she was beheaded on the day of his birth.

On December 26, we remember the holy father and confessor Euthymius, Bishop of Sardis, who opposed the iconoclast heresy, and died for the faith after numerous exiles and tortures

On December 27, we remember the holy Apostle, Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stephen, the model for all martyrdom, who name means the “crowned one,” who won his victory for the Lord.

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Daniel: the great prophet and the three young men

The Feast of the Prophet Daniel and the Three Holy Children [in the fiery furnace] has always been closely connected with Christmas. Proper for them are found on the two Sunday before Christmas and today we sing, “Come, O faithful, let us celebrate the forefeast of the birth of Christ; offering a spiritual canticle by way of a star. Let us join the Magi and shepherds in their hymns of praise: Behold, the Savior has come from a virgin’s womb to call back to himself the whole human race.”

Perhaps this was because Daniel foresaw the incarnation of the Word. He foresaw the coming of the Son of Man as a “stone unhewn by human hands,” fulfilled in the virgin birth which as a spiritual kingdom would destroy all worldly might, “whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and whose kingdom endures through all generations,” (Daniel 4:31) and again, I saw coming with the clouds of heaven, one like a son of man. When he reached the Ancient of Days and was presented before him, he received dominion, splendor, and kingship; all nations, peoples and tongues will serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, his kingship, one that shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14).

The three children, likewise, survived the burning furnace, and there was a fourth man standing in the flames, who protected them.” The burning fire represented the womb of the virgin, not burnt by the fire of the Godhead borne by her. Our Lord came to baptize us in the Spirit and fire. Just as the fire did not harm the three youths, so that fire of baptism does not “harm” us, but purifies us and gives us life, for in it we find life in the Trinity.

Like Daniel, the “man of desires” so we long intensely for the appearance of Christ our Savior.

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras

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The Holy Prophet Haggai

The prophet Haggai, in 520 B.C., preached that the temple must be rebuilt for the sake of the faith of the people. In this way he foreshadowed that Jesus, the Messiah to come, would be the Temple of the New Covenant in his body. His birth, then, is the completion of God’s promise to make his dwelling among his people.

Haggai foretells God’s consolation, “For I am with you – says the Lord of hosts. This is the commitment I made to you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit remains in your midst; do not fear! (2:4-5)”

Yet Christmas still challenges us, as Haggai immediately adds: “For thus says the Lord of hosts: In just a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.”

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras

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Our Holy Father Spiridon

St. Spiridon is commemorated with special solemnity in the Greek Church. The Synaxarion tells us, that “he led the peaceful life of a simple shepherd. He was a plain, unpolished countryman and yet without equal when it came to love of neighbor, meekness, acts of kindness, almsgiving and the practice of virtues.” He was a man of hospitality, who would break his ascetic fast to feed a stranger in need. He was a man of simple and plain words, who put to shame the vain eloquence of a prelate “who wanted to show off by altering certain words of the Gospel too common for his taste.” He was a perfect example of a saint, for through him the love of Christ manifested itself, raising the dead, stopping droughts, looking into the hearts of sinners and forgiving them. Because of his Christ-like virtues, he was called from being a shepherd of sheep in the field, to being the bishop pastor of Christ’s rational sheep in Tremithus. In this way, he was the fulfillment of the shepherds who came to Christ at his birth.

Because of his connection to Christmas, the Greek Church honors St. Spiridon with doxastichera in his office foreshadowing the feast of the Birth of our Lord, at Vespers, we sing, “O shepherds, keep watch and then bear witness to the awesome wonder,” and “Listen, O mountains, hills and all you regions around Judah; Christ is coming to save the human race which he created, for he loves us all.”

And so the doxasticheron of Matins proclaims, “O God-bearing Spiridon, light of the world, like Moses and David, whose calling you followed, the Spirit led you from an irrational flock to the rational one.”

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras

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St Nicholas the Wonderworker

One can easily say that the greatest saint of the Byzantine Church is Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia. Yet the only thing we know of him for certain is his name, and that a holy man named Nicholas was the bishop in Myra in the fourth century. He has become essentially connected with the feast of Christmas. While the details of his life are certainly legendary, the first appearance is the Vita per Michaelem, in the ninth century, and then by Simeon Metaphrastes in the tenth century, yet we cannot help but suspect that there is a tradition of the goodness of his character that prompted such stories. He is the a golden example of all that is good in a true Christian, following the Lord in love for the poor, in joy of salvation, and in greatness of heart. Where, then, the stories written to fit his character. Certainly, the human race is hungry for such a saint, explaining his embrace by Greece and Russia as their patron saint. He gave a dowry to the poor girls, he saved sailors from storms, he obtained the liberation of those falsely accused. When his body was taken from Myra to Bari, the goodness of his life made him a favored saint throughout all the West.

In the West, he has become secularized as “Santa Claus,” (possibly from early Dutch settlers, who would have known him “Sinterklass”). A poem by Thomas Nast in 1823, has been influential in the legend that he lives at the North Pole, and distributes toys to children on Christmas eve or early Christmas morning. This image, unfortunately, has sometimes been commercialized to sell products to be given as gifts.

As Christians, we surely recognize him as a saint, a bishop in Christ’s body, the Church. Perhaps from the visit of the Magi, giving gifts, and the legend of his life, of giving gold as a dowry have connected him with gift-giving. Gift-giving can be a sign of Christian love, as our Lord taught, as related by St. Paul: “Keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus who himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 10:35) In giving gifts, we, together with the Magi, recognize the image of Christ in all people. In imitating the saints, we are brought closer to Christ. Is it not true, then, that on our Holy Father Nicholas and in the secularized Santa Claus, we see the same virtues: joy in life, generosity, love for all people, sincerity and truthfulness? Do we not also see in our Holy Father Nicholas and in the secular Santa Claus, the ability to perform wonders?

The Troparion for St. Nicholas may be the model for all holy bishops. We don’t have to count all his good deeds, because he was “a rule of faith, an image of gentleness and a teacher of moderation.” As a true Christian, he became poor, but found wealth, he became humble and found greatness. If we were to follow him in poverty and humility, we would become true “Christmas saints,” worshiping Jesus with the Magi and the shepherds.

Because his feast is so closely connected to Christmas, on this feast the doxastichera at Psalm 140, at the Litija, at the Apostichera and at The Psalms of Praise are all about the birth of our Lord.

The sticheron at Psalm 140 invites the cave, the manger, the shepherds and the Magi all to welcome and receive Jesus who has been born from a Virgin Mother. The sticheron at Litija extends that same invitation, to receive as a small child who holds all creation in his hands, held in the arms of his mother. The sticheron at the apostichera asks how a child can be born of a virgin, a worthy cave is his birthplace, worthy because of its humility and poverty, for the one who emptied himself and became poor for our sakes.

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The Great-Martyr Barbara

There is little doubt that the legendary story of the Holy Martyr Barbara was embellished a bit by early hagiographers. There is no reason for this, since the mere fact that someone who comes to faith in Christ is willing to lay down their life for him. For this reason, the more plausible facts of her life are a beacon for us who struggle in and for the faith. Her story tells us that she was a philosopher, a “lover of wisdom.” It was her love of wisdom, guided by grace that brought her to faith in the one true God in the Holy Trinity. It is a reminder that our faith is not blind, it is rational, based on an authentic consideration of reality. Clement of Alexandria was one of the first Christians to see the value of Greek philosophy for the Christian faith, and on this same day, December 4, we celebrate the memory of Our Holy Father John Damascene, who wrote a massive work, the Fount of Wisdom, reasoning about our faith.

St. Barbara, however, shows that once we believe in the true God, it becomes more than just an intellectual exercise, but it changes and transforms our whole life, so that we cannot live any other way, and so she gave up her life for her faith. The story also tells us that it was her very own father who executed her. This is plausible. We know, as Christ told us, “From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law” (Luke12:52-53). What does family truly mean in our faith? What does it mean to be a father? Should not a father encourage his daughter to become her own person, and not simply to imitate his way of life? A beautiful idea, but how do we carry it out in practice? What if the roles had been revered and the father was a Christian and his daughter would want to revert to paganism? Would he then be justified in his actions? I think some of us might say yes. We have difficulty, I think, separating sin and sinner. We say, “Hate the sin, but love the sinner,” but we have difficulty distinguishing the two, and we end up hating the sinner double. The father would not be justified in killing his daughter, even if she was wrong, and even less, of course, because she was right.

Our Lord taught, “But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. (Matthew 5:44-45)” Therefore, we pray today to St. Barbara, in whom the light of Christ shone forth, to lead us to a rational faith and a love for all people created by God.

A very happy feast-day to all named Barbara.

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras

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Blessed Ivan Sleziuk

Ivan Sleziuk is one of the Ukrainian martyrs from the Soviet era persecution of the Church. He was born January 14, 1896, ordained priest in 1923 and ordained bishop in April 1945. Arrested in June 1945 and sentenced to 10 years in a labor camp and then after a release was arrested a second time and sent to a prison camp for another 5 years being released in 1968. Bishop Ivan died on December 2, 1973.

Bishop Ivan Sleziuk was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 27 June 2001 in Ukraine.

The holy prophet Habakkuk

Habakkuk prophesied in Judah during the last half of the 7th century BC. He was one of the temple prophets — that is, his oracles were composed to be sung in temple worship; thus, they took the form of lamentations and canticles. Their liturgical character has persisted in out monastic office where the third chapter of his book is used as the fourth canticle of the traditional matins canon.

His writing is a compact resumè of truths central to the Hebrew faith: integrity of spirit us essential not only for the individual but for the nation as well; wealth is dangerous since it is the root of man’s desperate quest for security: the ruthlessness it produces, when taken on a national scale, is bound to fall back on its people. The history of Israel’s captivity and oppression has special meaning: in the perspective of faith, evil can never really be the ultimate victor. Trust in God is the only basis for strength, regardless of the external situation. (NS)