Category: Saints and Blesseds

The Passion of St John the Baptist

The Church recalls the event of St. John the Baptist’s death today. The following meditation helps give perspective.

Today is the memorial of the Passion of John the Baptist, who was killed by the corrupt King Herod for condemning the monarch’s illicit marriage (Mk 6:17-29). For John, this was the culmination of a life of sanctity announced by an angel even before his conception (Lk 1:11-17). This divine decree presents a curious paradox. God, being all-powerful, was able to determine the course of John’s life before his birth (ST I q. 23, a. 6), but at the same time, God respected John’s free will (ST II-I q. 6, a. 4, ob. 1). How is it that God can determine what we will freely choose?

Modern thinking often seems to suppose that freedom of the will means that our choices have no cause other than the will, as if the will depends on nothing. Thomas explains instead that the will is free because it proceeds from an interior principle, namely knowledge, that allows us to act for an end which we know (ST II-I q. 6, a. 1, 4). God did not ‘force’ John the Baptist to give up his life; rather, by his grace he enlightened John the Baptist so that he would understand the good of preaching the truth even when it endangered him. As a rather crude analogy, consider how a parent can teach a child to make good choices, not by compulsion, but by education. Keep in mind also that some knowledge is abstract, as when a smoker who is trying to quit knows that his habit is bad for him, but rationalizes that away each time he smokes. John’s knowledge was entirely practical; he knew clearly that in his situation the only thing worth doing was to tell the truth. He saw clearly the disappointment inherent in every other course, and so he was free to act for the sake of the truth.

Furthermore, there is never competition between divine and human causality. Two human agents can operate on the same level, when for example two men pull on a rope. In that case, we can ask who pulls harder, and if the men are pulling in opposite directions, maybe the rope will not move at all. But God operates on a completely different level. He is the one who created humans and ropes and set all things in motion. As another crude analogy, if I write with a pencil, both I and the pencil are equally truly causes of the writing, but in very different ways. Even though I am “in charge,” I do not force the pencil to do anything unnatural. God has even more causal power, because he created pencil-materials in the first place. In the same way, God created John the Baptist as the kind of person who would give up his life for the sake of the truth. God is the first cause on which all else depends. Nothing escapes his causal power, not even the interior life of John (ST I q. 19, a. 6, ad. 3).

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Angelic protection

Prayer of St. John Chrysostom
to Guardian Angels for Spiritual Protection

Lord, stretch out Your mighty hand and Your sublime and holy arm, and in Your watchful care look down upon me, Your creature, and send down upon me a peaceful angel, a mighty angel, a guardian of soul and body, who will rebuke and drive away every evil and unclean demon from me. For You alone are Lord, Most High, almighty and blessed unto ages of ages. Amen.

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. They 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)

Blessed Ioan Bălan

August 4th is the feast of Blessed Ioan Bălan: Romanian Greek-Catholic priest, Protopope of Bucharest, Rector of Blaj’s Theological Academy, Eparch of Lugoj, and martyr of the Communist persecutions—who died on this day in 1959, after over a decade of imprisonment without trial.

Blessed Ioan Bălan, pray for us.

Ss. Boris and Gleb

Today is the memorial of the holy protomartyrs of Kievan-Rus’, Boris and Gleb, known in baptism named Roman and David.

When the first Christian prince of the Kievan-Rus’ people, 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 the Kievan-Rus’ spirituality.

Meditation by the New Skete Monks
Edited by PAZ

St Mary Magadalen

“But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means Teacher).” (Jn 20: 11-16)

 I have written several reflections on this passage, throughout the past few years. Today I’m reflecting on it again, because it is the NC-feast of St. Mary Magdalene, who was to be recognized by the Church as “Equal-to-the-Apostles.” On that Sunday morning two millennia ago, she was not “with” the Apostles, but stood alone, “weeping outside the tomb.” And by all indications, she felt very much alone, as if she were the only one who had suffered the loss of “her” beloved Teacher. They have taken away “my” Lord, she says, – not “our” Lord. And she’s trying to get to the bottom of this, on her own: Tell me where you have laid him, she says, and “I” will take him away. I love that! She was going to carry the Body of Christ away, somehow, …perhaps on her back, I don’t know. It’s interesting that she hadn’t thought of appealing to the Apostles, the eleven able-bodied men who might have helped out with this task. There was apparently a disconnect between the “Equal-to-the-Apostles,” Mary, and the Apostles. And when the risen Lord reveals Himself to her (as quoted above), He does not reproach her for this “disconnect,” but does nudge her to “connect,” by sending her off to tell His “brethren,” the Apostles, of her encounter with Him (Jn 20: 17).

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St. Elijah the Prophet

Today, July 20, we celebrate the first man on the moon, July 20, 1969. It was the Feast of St. Elijah the Prophet, who also ascended into the heavens in a fiery chariot. Who says there is not a cosmic connection!

The Holy Great Prophet Elijah was one of the most important saintly figures for the Slav Peoples. In many cases, the peasant people lived in poverty and need from day to day. Elijah gave them hope, for he supplied for the needs of the widow of Zarephath in the time of drought:

“For the Lord, the God of Israel, says: The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.” (1 Kings 17:14) The farmers depended on the weather for the health of their crops, and very often for their very lives, and it was the Great-Prophet Elijah who was able to call down rain from heaven. Moreover, he was the hope of the future, having ascended into heaven in a fiery chariot, he was awaited as the forerunner of Christ in his second coming. He is for us, a model and rule of faith in God and in Jesus, his Messiah.

ELIJAH THE MAN OF ZEAL – he called down fire from heaven to consume our lawful sacrifice and to destroy the false priests of Baal. Elijah cried out to the Lord: ““I have been most zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts, but the Israelites have forsaken your covenant. They have destroyed your altars and murdered your prophets by the sword. I alone remain, and they seek to take my life.” 1 Kings 19:10 and 14) Therefore, the unfaithful king called Elijah “the disturber of Israel”(1 Kings 18:17) We pray that Elijah will disturb us, arouse us to faith, and strengthen our zeal for the Lord.

ELIJAH THE GIVER OF LIFE – When the widow of Zarephath lost her son, Elijah restored him to life. “Then he stretched himself out upon the child three times and he called out to the Lord: “Lord, my God, let the life breath return to the body of this child.” The Lord heard the prayer of Elijah; the life breath returned to the child’s body and he lived.” (1 Kings 17:21-22)

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Mother Maria Skobtsova of Paris

Although the Orthodox Church honors Mother Maria Skobtsova of Paris as a saint, and not as of yet, the Catholic Church, she is a pivotal Christian who needs exposure among the Catholics. A true saint of the 20th century.

The historical note reads: “On January 18, 2004, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul recognized Mother Maria Skobtsova as a saint along with her son Yuri, the priest who worked closely with her, Fr. Dimitri Klépinin, and her close friend and collaborator Ilya Fondaminsky. All four died in German concentration camps.”

One important excerpt from her biography in prison that some day, I can hope to actually apply to us:

“She was on good terms with everyone. Anyone in the block, no matter who it was, knew her on equal terms. She was the kind of person who made no distinction between people [whether they] held extremely progressive political views [or had] religious beliefs radically different than her own. She allowed nothing of secondary importance to impede her contact with people.”

Recommended is Jim Forest’s appreciative essay, “Mother Maria of Parish: Saint of the Open Door.”

 

St. Macrina

The Byzantine Church liturgically recalls Macrina (the Younger)  (c. 330 — 19 July 379), a nun in the Early Christian Church. The churches, East and West, honor her witness.  Her younger brother, Saint Gregory of Nyssa, composed her biography focusing heavily on her virginity and asceticism. The Church considers Macrina as a significant personage  especially after Nyssa basically set the standards for what it means to be  a holy Christian woman. He believed that a life of virginity reflected the “radiant purity of God.”

Our venerable mother was one of 9 children; several of her siblings were notables, two of whom were the Cappadocian Fathers.

The New Skete monks write of Macrina in this way:

Macrina was the older sister of the saints Basil and Gregory. After the early death of her husband, Macrina devoted herself to the education of her younger brothers. It was at this time, also, that she took up the monastic life, and it was due to her influence that her brothers learned the value of the spiritual life, and dedication to the service of the Church.

The mother of this remarkable family, St. Emelia, guided a small community of nuns on the family estate in Pontus. Macrina succeeded her mother as the head of the monastery, and in time founded other communities for women.

She spent her last days with her brother, Gregory, the bishop of Nyssa. The funeral oration he said over his sister is a moving testament to the love and esteem not only of a brother, but also one of many who were spiritually enriched by her example.

In literature, Gregory of Nyssa composed a “Dialogue on the Soul and Resurrection” (peri psyches kai anastaseos), entitled ta Makrinia (P.G. XLVI, 12 sq.), to commemorate Macrina

The Holy 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’.

Russians and Ukrainians 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.

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