Category: Saints and Blesseds

Holy Prophet Amos

The Holy Prophet Amos is known as the prophet of doom, the third of the Twelve Minor Prophets who lived during the eighth century before Jesus Christ. Amos accurately foretold the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel due to the unfaithfulness of the Israelites. That is, the tribes of Israel were governed by an idol-worshipper and the people joined in that worship of a golden calf (a false god) instead of the One, Living God. Thus, they rejected the God of Israel.

Biographically, little is known about his life and what we known comes from his book in the Bible, the first to be named after a Hebrew prophet.

The faith of the Church is seen in the liturgical hymns of the Divine Liturgy. In the Kontakion, therefore, for today’s Liturgy commemorates the Holy Prophet in this way:

Having purified your heart spiritually, O glorious Prophet Amos, you received the gift of prophecy from on high and proclaimed to all: “This is our God and beside Him there is no other.”

As point of comparison, today Amos is remembered liturgically by the Byzantine Catholics and Orthodox; the Armenians recall his memory on July 31 and the Latin Church has his feast on March 31.

Why is the Holy Prophet important for us today in the 21st century? The prophets remind us, like they did when they lived, to be faithful to the God who made us and continues to give us his gifts. Perhaps Amos’ own words are helpful to answer the question when he delivers God’s message:

“The people of Israel have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They sell into slavery honest people who cannot pay their debts, the poor who cannot repay even the price of a pair of sandals. They trample down the weak and helpless and push the poor out of the way’’ (Amos 2:6).

Holy Prophet Amos, keep us faithful to God and not false gods, pray for us.

Saints Cyril and Methodius

Today is the feast of our Holy Fathers Cyril and Methodius, equals-to-the-Apostles and teachers of the Slavs.

It is thanks to Ss. Cyril and Methodius’ missionary efforts and zeal for the Gospel, they brought the Christian faith in the Slavonic tongue to our ancestors in AD 863.

With the Church we sing:

O Cyril and Methodius, inspired by God,
You became equal to the Apostles by your life.
Since you were teachers of the Slavs,
Intercede with the Master of all
That He may strengthen all Orthodox peoples in the True Faith,
And that He may grant peace to the world
And great mercy to our souls. (Troparion for the feast)

Let us hold in gratitude their memory and pray for their intercession.

Let us pray for the seminary that bears the names of these saints in Pittsburgh.

Holy and Just Job

Today we commemorate the holy and just Job, the Long-Suffering, a man of admirable patience in the land of Uz, who was “simple and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil.” (Job 1:1)

If you are suffering and need a friend in Heaven, the sainted Job is your understanding man of faith, hope, trust and patience. God hears and answers all our prayers. And the sometimes we must accept that sometimes the answer is “no.”

Keep focused on God with Blessed Emilian Kovch

The Ukrainian Patriarch Sviatoslav mentioned in his video message for May 1st the life of Blessed priest-martyr Emilian Kovch. Who is this man referenced?

Blessed Emilian Kovch (1884-1944) was the son of a priest, a married Eastern Catholic priest, and father of six who was persecuted by the Nazi ideologues.

Father Emilian served as a military chaplain (1919-1921). At the time he said, “I know that the soldier on the front line feels better when he sees the doctor and the priest also there . . . You know, lads, that I am consecrated, and a bullet doesn’t take a consecrated man easily.”

As Sviatoslav quotes Blessed Emilian, let these words become our own: “Here I see God, Who is one and the same for all.”

Emilian was centered: he focused himself on the Lord of Life, the God who saves, gives mercy, redeems us from death. The patriarch notes that “He [Blessed Emilian] was able to keep a pure heart, even in the depths of the hell of a Nazi concentration camp. May purity of heart be our strength in these military circumstances so that it might be our guarantee of victory over evil.”

Beatified on 27 June 2001 by St Pope John Paul II at Ukraine. The feast day for Blessed Emilian Kovch is March 25.

Read more of Blessed Emilian here.

Let’s take up Patriarch Sviatoslav’s exhortation to keep centered on God. Focus yourself on the purity of heart. Our strength is being of singular in our attention, our purity of heart.

Pray for Blessed Emilian’s intercession.

Blessed Emilian, pray for us.

#StandWithUrkaine

Prophet Jeremiah

On the Byzantine liturgical calendar today is the feast of the Holy Prophet Jeremiah; as a point of comparison, the Armenian liturgical calendar commemorates Jeremiah on August 27.

Knowledge of sacred Scripture will remind us that the Prophet Jeremiah is one of the major prophets of the Bible. Jeremiah lived in-between the 7th and 6th centuries before Christ—thus making him a contemporary of Solon (the Athenian lawgiver).

We speak of prophets receiving his call from God. In Jeremiah’s case, the prophetic calling happened in a time of promise: the reign of the godly king Josiah, during which a lost book of Moses, known as Deuteronomy, was re-discovered, springing a movement of spiritual renewal awakened among the Hebrew people. But with the king’s death came the people’s despair.

Historians tell us that Jeremiah’s generation experienced radical change in the life of the Chosen Nation: the holy city of Jerusalem is conquered and the people wander in exile. It is Jeremiah who relates to us in the book that bearers his name and fittingly described with the word “Lamentations” and the Jeremiah becomes the “weeping prophet.”

One of the things I found out from Christopher H. Zakian was that Jeremiah’s experience among the Hebrew people had direct correlation in faith and life for the Armenian Christians as St. Gregory of Narek, who borrowed the title “Lamentations” for his own masterpiece of mystical poetry. As Zakian said, “The similarities between the travails of Jeremiah’s time and the experiences of our own people hardly need to be enumerated.

The more important similarity, of course, is the spirit of hope, grounded in a loving, fatherly God, which allows people to endure, overcome, and live on—whether in the 6th century B.C., the 20th century A.D., or today.”

As the witness of Jeremiah gave hope to the Jewish nation he gives a witness of hope for Christians today. Our era of faith is riddled with ecclesial and secular problems not last is war, but we know the truth and we have hope the promises Jesus made are not too good to be true.

St Mark

Happy feast of Saint Mark, evangelist. Blessings for those who are named Mark. Prayers for the Diocese of Venice in Italy.

Here’s our mission: Go into all the world and preach the Gospel. (Mark 16:15)

St Nicholas the wonderworker

Our father among the saints, Nicholas, archbishop of Myra in Lycea, the wonderworker.

There is probably more folklore surrounding St Nicholas than any other saint on the calendar, though actual biographical facts are few. He was bishop in Myra, in what is now Turkey, during the first part of the fourth century. He probably attended the first ecumenical council in Nicea.

Within two centuries of his death, his renown was such that the Emperor Justinian built a church in his honor in Constantinople. In the eleventh century his relics were stolen and taken to Bari in southern Italy, where they remain to this day. A portion, however, was presented to the Greek Church in North America in 1972.

Nicholas was the model pastor: he was a father to orphans and a protector of the oppressed; his openness and generosity to children reflect the gospel image of Christ; and finally his concern for travelers and intervention in the cause of justice are facets of divine love. In the eyes of the Church, every bishop should be an icon of this love. (NS)

Erastus, Olympus, Rodion, and companions –Apostles

On the Byzantine liturgical calendar today we commemorate the holy apostles, Erastus, Olympus, Rodion, and their companions. Remembered as apostles and little heard of unless you are a student of sacred Scripture.

When St Paul wrote his letter to the Romans he was staying in Corinth. Erastus was the treasurer of that city and a supporter of St Paul. Rodion, or Herodion, is greeted by Paul as a compatriot in the same letter. Olympus is another of the saints singled out for a special greeting. He and his companions were the core of the Church in Rome. (NS).

Erastus, Olympus, Rodion, and their companions, pray for us.

Synaxis for the archangels

The Church commemorates today the Synaxis for the archangels, Michael and Gabriel, and all the bodiless powers of heaven.

“The role of angels, or spiritual powers, is evident from their appearance in both the old and the new testament. St Paul says: “They are all spirits, whose work is service, sent to help those who will be the heirs of salvation.”

“While the Church honors these divine ministers as guardians and messengers each Monday, today we feast especially Michael and Gabriel. Michael, whose name means “one like God,” was revered in the Old testament. In the book of Revelation he is depicted as the captain of the angelic army” (NS).

James Michael Thompson writes of today’s feast: “The Synaxis of the Chief of the Heavenly Hosts, Archangel Michael and the Other Heavenly Bodiless Powers: Archangels Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Selaphiel, Jehudiel, Barachiel, and Jeremiel was established at the beginning of the fourth century at the Council of Laodicea, which met several years before the First Ecumenical Council. The 35th Canon of the Council of Laodicea condemned and denounced as heretical the worship of angels as gods and rulers of the world, but affirmed their proper veneration.

A Feastday was established in November, the ninth month after March (with which the year began in ancient times) since there are Nine Ranks of Angels. The eighth day of the month was chosen for the Synaxis of all the Bodiless Powers of Heaven since the Day of the Dread Last Judgment is called the Eighth Day by the holy Fathers. After the end of this age (characterized by its seven days of Creation) will come the Eighth Day, and then “the Son of Man shall come in His Glory and all the holy Angels with Him” (Mt. 25:31).”

Commanders of the heavenly hosts,
we who are unworthy beseech you,
by your prayers encompass us
beneath the wings of your immaterial glory,
and faithfully preserve us who fall down and cry to you:
“Deliver us from all harm,
for you are the commanders of the powers on high!” –Troparion – Tone 4

Pages: 1 2

St Theodosius of the caves at Kiev

Our venerable father, Theodosius, abbot of the mon­astery of the caves at Kiev, called the initiator of the common life in ancient Rus.

Theodosius lived two centuries before St. Francis, in Kievan Russia, where the Gospel had only recently been preached for the first time. Like Francis, Theodosius was filled with compassion for the poor and longing for a life of simplicity. He, too, experienced violent opposition from his parents, and eventually took refuge with the hermit, An­thony, in a cave near Kiev.

In time-honored scenario, their life of solitude soon attracted so many followers that by 1062, there were built monastic buildings above ground to house the large community now headed by Theodosius. Adding his own vision to the mo­nastic precepts he learned from Anthony, he tempered Greek and Syrian severity with Slavic compassion. His rule stressed obedience, mutual love, meekness, and simplicity. Above all, in his dealings with monks, peasants, and princes, he reflected the kenosis, or self-emptying, of Christ. Chronicles of the time recount how Theodosius participated in all the labors of the monastery, and was often mistaken by visi­tors for the cook or the gardener. The respect he earned from princes and nobles prompted a flow of wealth into the monastery, which Theodosius used to feed, clothe, and nurse the poor and imprisoned. By the time he died in 1074, Russia had an important and thriving center of monastic life less than 100 years after its conversion. (NS)

More on St Theodosius may be read here.