Paraklesis to St. Argyre the New Martyr, Protector of Marriage

Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

St. Argyre the New Martyr of Bursa, Protector of Marriage - Commemorated April 5th and April 30th (source)

   

Paraklesis (Supplication Service) to St. Argyre the New Martyr, Protector of Marriage
Written by Fr. Athanasios of Simonopetra

The Priest says the "Blessed is our God...", followed by the Psalm "Lord hear my prayer..." If it is during the Paschal period, "Christ is risen..." is chanted thrice before the Psalm.

Tone Four.

God is the Lord and has revealed Himself to us, blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord. (x 4, with verses)

Tone Four. You Who were lifted up upon the Cross.

You were arrayed in the robe of self-control, and trampled upon the serpent of debauchery, and taunted the delusion of Hagar steadfastly, therefore, you were martyred through many forms of torture, and glorified Christ, Whom we pray that you entreat, on behalf of those who honor you, O divine Argyre, that they be granted self-control, and a life of purity.

Glory. Both now.

O Theotokos, we shall never be silent...

Then Psalm 50, followed by the Canon in Plagal of the Fourth Tone.

Ode I. Crossing the waters as on dry land.

Ceaselessly entreat the Trinity on behalf of those who hymn you with fervor, O Argyre, asking for self-control in life, and steadfast purity of hearts.

You greatly loved Jesus, the divine Teacher of purity, O Argyre, entreat Him, as you have great boldness before Him, that He might ever keep us in purity.

You were victorious over the guileful serpent, O Martyr, who desired to separate you from Jesus, dissolve his soul-corrupting schemes against us, through your prayers.

Theotokion.

You are the true Mother of the sweetest Jesus, and the Mother of the faithful by grace, do not cease to intercede that we be granted purity, O All-Pure Lady.

Ode III. Of the vault of the Heavens.

As a surpassingly beautiful bride of Christ, you denied to take upon your shoulders a barbarous life, O namesake of silver, therefore grant me grace to deny the tyrannical life with which the body tempts me, to deny Christ.

With a most-joyous heart, you stood before judges, and confessed the divinity of Christ, O Martyr, make us worthy to worship Him as is proper, that we might reach Heaven where He is praised.

O Argyre, you were shown to be a brave rhetor through your divine words against the Hagarenes, who were sitting in darkness, therefore, make us who honor your ever-memorable memory, worthy to go forth with the light of Christ.

Theotokion.

You were shown to be a spiritual Heaven, O Lady, for you bore Christ the Sun within your womb in purity, through His rays, enlighten us, and show the souls of the faithful to be another heaven through your intercessions.

Deliver, O Argyre, those who honor you with fervor, and drive away every dangerous temptation of the enemy, and grant us our requests through your prayers.

Look down on me, in your good favor...

St. Argyre the New Martyr (source)

Then the Priest says the Entreaty, followed by the Kathisma.

Second Tone. A fervent prayer.

As a bride of Christ and a Martyr steadfast in soul, ever entreat Him, O Argyre, that all of us who honor your divine memory might be protected, and grant purity of souls through the grace of your intercessions.

Ode IV. I have hearkened and heard, O Lord.

You kept your marriage spotless from the corruption of the enemy that wars against us, therefore, O Martyr, ever preserve married couples in reverence and purity.

You submitted everything meaningful in your life to the Lord, and endured tortures, O Argyre, therefore entreat Him that we might be granted patience.

O all-precious one, you endured until victory over the enemy that hates purity, and who greatly assaulted you, therefore, grant to us purity in all things, O Argyre, for those who pray to you.

Theotokion.

You have freed the race of man, O Spotless One, from the bonds of the serpent, and cleanse me from his venom, which has polluted my heart.

Ode V. Lord, enlighten us.

Heal the illnesses of soul and body, O Argyre, for those who hymn you, as you entreat Jesus the Physician, on Whose behalf you suffered.

Censure the darkness and delusion of Hagar, O all-praised one, and grant the light of the Holy Spirit to the souls of those hymning you.

Deliver us from the enemy, O thrice-blessed Argyre, we who are caught within his traps and in danger, and free us from his soul-wounding schemes.

Theotokion.

Grant true knowledge of the Lord, O All-Spotless One, to those who hymn your spotless birth giving, and who magnify your divine glory.

Ode VI. My supplication.

You endured the tortures of godless barbarians for years, O Argyre, and in prison you received the crown of martyrdom for your brave dedication, therefore grant us patience amidst the dangers of this life, O Martyr.

We have known you to higher than rhetors through your victory through silence, O Martyr, and through your passion lasting many years, you proclaim without words to those bearing the name of Christ how to live amidst temptations, O new-martyr Argyre, and Champion of Christ.

The grace of the Holy Spirit, with Which the Savior strengthened you, allowed you to endure in afflicted flesh all things manly like brass, O Argyre, intercede that His Grace will strengthen us as well in life's trials.

Theotokion

Your bore the Teacher of virginity, O Virgin Mary Theotokios, you who were followed by Argyre, desiring your purity, disdaining the fleeting pleasure of life. We entreat that you deliver your servents from this bitterness.

Deliver, O Argyre, those who honor you with fervor, and drive away every dangerous temptation of the enemy, and grant us our requests through your prayers.

Spotless One, who by a word did bring to us the Word eternal...
  

St. Argyre the New Martyr (source)

Then the Priest says the Entreaty, followed by the Kontakion.

 

Second Tone. O Protection of Christians.

You have appeared to be a defender of marriage, and a canon of purity through your struggle, O dove of the Lord Argyre, therefore, preserve us well from the schemes of the enemy, that your servants might live their married lives with self-control, and that they might be made worthy of the reward with which you were granted by the Teacher of purity [Christ].

 

Prokeimenon

God is wondrous among His Saints. (2)

Verse: With patience, waited upon the Lord, and He heard me.

God is wondrous among His Saints.

 

The Gospel according to St. Matthew (25:1-13)

Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.  For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them;  but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.  As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.  But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’  Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps.  And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’  But the wise replied, ‘Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’  And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut.  Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’  But he replied, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’  Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Glory.

Through the intercessions of St. Argyre, O Lord of mercy, wash away my many personal offenses.

Both now.

Through the intercessions of the Theotokos...

Verse: Have mercy on me, O God...

Plagal of the Second Tone. Having placed all their hopes in Heaven.

You were shown to be a vessel of purity and self-control, O all-glorious Argyre, and through tortures you received your reward, therefore we entreat you, incline your ear and hearken to your servants, and grant them that grace of purity of soul, and preserve their precious marriages from the attacks of the enemy, for you struggled in Martyrdom for the love of Christ, and through your prayers, may we all be granted Paradise.

Then, the Priest says the "Save O God, Your people..."
   

St. Argyre the New Martyr, depicted in the prison where she remained for 17 years for Christ and to preserve the purity of her marriage (source)

  

Ode VII. Once from out of Judea.

You did not give way at all to the slavery of the body, O Martyr of Christ, but you stoked the fire of your love and increased it, O godly-minded Argyre, which we entreat might be granted to those who celebrate your memory in faith.

You were shown to be steadfast, as you were truly a tower founded upon the rock amidst tortures, O thrice-blessed one, and out of eros for the Master, having this has your foundation, may we also have this in our souls, O Argyre, through your prayers.

Your manly soul, was offered up like a whole-burnt lamb to the Master, and through your love surpassing nature, you endured tortures and trials, O Argyre, therefore, help us, who are storm-tossed with trials.

Theotokion

Remain with us, O Mother, at the time when the arrows of the enemy are launched against us your children, and our lamp of patience is not at all shining, but the darkness of faithless terror surrounds us. Dissolve them all by your light.

Ode VIII. The King of the Heavens.

Behold, our day of need has come, O New Martyr Argyre, hasten, give your helping hand to your servants, out of your sympathy.

 

Grant peace to my scattered nous, and to the thoughts that war against me from the hater of purity, O Martyr, and grant to it the memory of the Lord.

 

O Argyre, through your prayers, speedily dissolve the terrible and shameless bonds of sin that are drowning the souls of your entreaters.

 

Theotokion.

As the One who surpassed all self-control of all generations of women, O Pure Virgin, grant self-control to those who hymn you with fervor.

 

Ode IX. Saved through you, Theotokos.

O Argyre, you overlooked the ways of the world, and you now ever behold that which the eyes of men cannot behold, grant all of those who hymn you to be made worthy of this as well.

 

You trampled upon the serpent through your struggles, O Argyre, and you received the face of your Bridegroom [Christ], pray for us as well, O Martyr, that we might some day behold Him.

 

Show forth to be temples of self-control and purity, all young people and those who honor you with fervor, O Argyre, and deliver us all from the traps of the enemy.

 

Theotokion.

O undefiled Virgin, strengthen those who are living in self-control and purity, entreating the Master together with Argyre.
  

St. Argyre the New Martyr, holding the Marriage Crowns as a great Protector of Marriage (as she had requested her icon be painted, through divine revelation) (source)

Then, the "Truly it is right to call you blessed...", followed by the Megalynaria.

O all-famed Martyr of the Lord, thrice-blessed Argyre, preserve those who venerate your body with faith and fervor, from all dangers and passions and trials.

You dawned like a radiant star from Bithynia, as a greatly-suffering Martyr of Christ, and you enlighten the whole multitude of the faithful, O Argyre, you praise you with fervor.

Rejoice, radiant lamp of self-control, and dwelling-place of purity on behalf of Jesus, and grant every gift to those you praise you, O godly-minded Argyre, the boast of women.

Preserve married couples well, O Martyr of Christ, who lived with self-control and purity and kept your faith, help them to keep their marriages as you did, O sacrifice of purity.

Those who approach your temple on Lesvos full of reverence, make worthy, O Argyre, to live this life with purity in Christ, and make them to be partakers of the divine Kingdom.

All the ranks of Angels, God's messangers...

Then the Trisagion, followed by the Apolytikion of the Saint.

Apolytikion of St. Argyre in the Fourth Tone

You put to shame tyrants through your tortures, O pure one, you were shown forth, O much-suffering one, as strong as a diamond, O glorious martyr of Christ. You shown forth in struggles with love and zeal and unquenchable longing, for Christ the Savior, Who worthily glorified you, O Argyre.

  

St Argyre the New Martyr (source)

   
Then the Priest says the Entreaty, commemorating the desired names, followed by the Apolysis, then the final hymns.

Prosomoion in the Second Tone. When from the Tree.

Rejoice, O New Martyr Argyre, rejoice and hearken to those who entreat you, grant self-control for those in the yoke of marriage, and purity to those unmarried, and health to those afflicted in body and soul through your prayers, for you have been shown to all to be a golden and fragrant vessel of Jesus, crowned by Christ.

As you were beheld in the sacred vision, bearing the Marriage Crowns, and sought for your icon to be thus depicted, O Argyre, send down crowns from on high upon those who are married, and keep their precious marriages well, that, having been victorious over temptations, and every sin of the flesh, they might be crowned by God like Martyrs.

Lady, do you receive...

My numerous hopes are placed...
(source)

   

St. Argyre the New Martyr (source)

   

Christ is risen from the dead, by death, trampling down upon death, and to those in the tombs, He has granted life!

Truly the Lord is risen!

St. Iakovos of Evia on Temptations and Marriage

St. Iakovos of Evia (source)

  
"Do not hope in the world. Be careful in your social interactions. Never listen to what the world is telling you. Temptations come; we're human. The devil has many feet, altars and traps. Everything will be faced during marriage with love, meekness and patience. Have faith in God and prayer and everything will go according to the will of God."
-St. Iakovos of Evia

(source)

 

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

 

Elder Sophrony on Marital Problems

The Wedding at Cana (source)

  
When married couples would visit Elder Sophrony of Essex, and spoke of the problems in their relationship, he typically would hear complaints about one's spouse.
Elder Sophrony would ask: "Who is responsible for the problems in your relationship?"
The reply: "My wife! (or husband)"
Elder Sophrony: "So you aren't responsible at all?"
Response: "I'm also responsible, but the greatest responsibility is with my spouse!"
Elder Sophrony: How much do you think you are responsible, and how much your spouse?"
Response: "90% theirs, 10% mine!"
Elder Sophrony: "You correct the 10% that you say you are responsible for and you will see if the 90% from your spouse remains!"
The holy Elder remarked that the key element in order to maintain a proper relationship between spouses is that everyone should take responsibility for their own mistakes and not shift them all to one another.
(source)
  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Elder Aimilianos: How does the Holy Trinity create a person?

The Holy Trinity creating Adam (Source)

  
Elder Aimilianos of Simonopetra: How does the Holy Trinity create a person?
‘At one exceptional and unique moment in history, the heavenly Father wished to create the material world. Once this had been done, He then went on to make the human body, in collaboration with the other two Persons of the Holy Trinity, and breathed the ‘breath of life’ into it. So God’s creation became ‘a living being’ [2]. God then ceased merely to hover above the waters [3] and entered into the created and material elements and living things. He dwelt in a unique, supreme being who became the king and the reason for the creation. Now the reason for the creation is God Himself. From that moment, the conjunction, the path towards identification and union with God became inevitable, and it’s now impossible to conceive of the human person, the image of the invisible God, without the Holy Spirit.
  
 So the Holy Spirit, as one of the Persons of the Holy Trinity, collaborates in the birth of every person. Together with the Father and the Son, He gives to the maternal womb the material which is taken from the father and mother, and the embryo thus conceived is flesh, dust. We people give birth to dust: we’re dust and return to dust [4]. To this dust, the parents give all the capacities and characteristics of their personalities, they give themselves, the image of their flesh.
  

What the heavenly Father did to the first human person, He also does at the birth of every one of us, the difference being that then He first created the dust and afterwards breathed into it the Holy Spirit, whereas now the Holy Spirit enters the person as soon as conception occurs. So from the very first moment, the embryo is alive and is a person, because it’s received the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It has rational control, is a complete image of the divinity and, until its last moments, bears the features of divine and human nature, unfailingly and unabatedly. There is also internal communication within the person between the human and divine nature, as there is in Christ.

  

It follows, then, that at everyone’s birth there are, on the one hand, divine actions and, on the other, a human contribution, in accordance with the ancient saying and will of the Godhead: ‘increase and multiply’[5]. The husband and wife, one flesh- ‘you shall be one flesh’ [6]- communicate with the Holy Spirit, and the all-powerful Son brings everything together, puts everything into the womb of the woman and in this way we have a complete person, both God and human. The new persons, created by God and created for God, are endowed, at baptism, with divinity, with the charismatic life, at which point the Holy Spirit becomes the inheritance of their existence. From then on, they’re constantly being challenged internally by the Holy Spirit and also project from themselves the sparks, the light of the divinity. In this way, the dust of the earth becomes a radiant life, through vigilance’.

(source)

 

The Creation of Adam (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Elder Aimilianos of Simonopetra: "How can we have the Holy Spirit?"

Jesus Christ the Son of God the Savior of the world (source)

  
How can we have the Holy Spirit?

The answer is, for each of us to love his wife: you who are married your wife, and I who am a monk, my monastic life.

I must love my solitude, and not get depressed, not get tired, I must stand vigil, and not think that God sent me here in order to save the whole world, not to think that it is my duty to joke with this or that person, but to look after my job: I must have my eye on Christ.

When you leave your house and get married, you leave behind your father, mother, brothers, relatives, and, instead of your parents, your brothers and relatives, you find a new family. And having left, don't look behind you, as the Psalm of the Theotokos* says, do not think of anything from your former family**. For now you have a whole new world before you, which you must rejoice in, to partake of, to taste, to give life to. Therefore, all of us must give life to our family, to our love, to the divinity that we have wedded, as St. Hesychios says. Then our flesh we will be filled with divinity and we become Christ.
-Elder Aimilianos of Simonopetra
(source)
  
*Hear, O daughter, consider, and incline your ear; forget your people and your father's house;

11 and the king will desire your beauty. (Psalm 45:10-11)

  

*Note: The Elder is not implying that we should not try to help our families as we are able to, but that our spouses after marriage must always take the first place after God.
  

Christ, the Holy Wisdom of God (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

St. John of the Ladder's advice for those living in the world

St. John writing his Ladder of Divine Ascent (source)

  
Some people living carelessly in the world have asked me: ‘We have wives and are beset with social cares, and how can we lead the solitary life?’ I replied to them: ‘Do all the good you can; do not speak evil of anyone; do not steal from anyone; do not lie to anyone; do not be arrogant towards anyone; do not hate any one; be sure you go to church; be compassionate to the needy; do not offend anyone; do not wreck another man’s domestic happiness; and be content with what your own wives can give you. If you behave in this way you will not be far from the Kingdom of Heaven.’
-St. John Klimakos, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step I
(source)
  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

St. Iakovos of Evia: "For married people, your prayer ropes and prostrations are your children..."

Christ blessing the children (Source)

  
There was once a pious couple with nine children. The husband was very pious and a little overly-zealous as regards spiritual things.

By letter he said that he wanted to do everything like a monk. His wife complained to St. Iakovos of Evia that she was exhausted and that she wanted help. When they came to the Monastery of St. David, at night, while the children were crying and screaming, the wife also was crying because she was so tired...

The husband went to a chapel at the Monastery of the Holy Unmercenaries and was doing prostrations, praying the prayer rope and serving vigil.

The wife complained to St. Iakovos and she was right.

The next day, the Saint, as soon as he saw them in the courtyard of the Monastery, understood what was going on and that they were starting to fight amongst themselves.

The Saint spoke with sweet words and with discernment in order to comfort the pained and exhausted mother, and with discernment and a smile he said to the father: "I was proud of you last night. You chanted all night and prayed. Good job! But you would have had an even greater blessing and reward if you sat a half hour instead of three, near your wife helping her to feed the children and put them to bed, because for married people, your prayer ropes and prostrations are your children. When they grow up you will have time to do them, but "a brother is helped by a brother". Let everything be done by mutual consent."
(source)
  

St. Iakovos of Evia surrounded by children (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Metropolitan Pavlos of Siatista (+2019): "I love you because you are you"

Metropolitan Pavlos of Siatista (+January 13th, 2019) (source)

   

Suddenly today, Metropolitan Pavlos of Siatista, reposed in the Lord. He was a very beloved and respected hierarch of the Church of Greece and a spiritual child of St. Iakovos of Evia. His words, example and advice carry great weight and his talks are filled with true love and wisdom. Below are a brief biography and a wonderful recent talk of his with English subtitles. May he have a blessed Paradise, and may we have his blessing!

Brief Biography of Metropolitan of Pavlos of Siatista

He was born in Halkida in 1947. After his cycle of studies he entered the Theological School of Athens and graduated in 1971.

In 1973 he was ordained a Deacon by Metropolitan Nikolaos of Halkida, Istiaias and Northern Sporades and appointed to serve in Mantoudi.

In November 1974 he was ordained a priest and received the position of Archimandrite from Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Halkida and served the parish of Mantoudiou for 25 years.

In that area he became the Hierarchical Representative and was a respected preacher and pastoral guide. For over thirty years he focused on the youth and their problems, as a priest, spiritual father, catechist and educator, while at the same time he was called to speak to schools of parents, religious and youth gatherings in many Metropolises in Greece and Cyprus.

On February 28th, 2006, he was elected by the hierarchy of the Church of Greece as Metropolitan of the Holy Metropolis of Sisaniou and Siatistis, his ordination taking place on March 4th, 2006 in the Holy Metropolis of Athens.

    

Metropolitan Pavlos of Siatista with his beloved St. Iakovos of Evia (source)

   

He took special care to cultivate the ranks of priests and monastics in his Metropolis.

In his 14 years of shepherding the Holy Metropolis of Sisaniou and Siatistis, he built and consecrated many holy churches, founded new parishes and ordained new clergy.

He was the author of books and had circulated many religious articles.

(source)

   

His last night he spent in the Monastery of St. David of Evia and St. Iakovos, which he loved so much, and until noon of his last day he was near there in Rovies, serving his final Divine Liturgy on Sunday January 13th next to the Precious Skull of St. David.

(source)

   

In his home town of Halkida there will be a viewing on Monday January 14th in the Church of St. Paraskevi. There will be a vigil that evening served by Metropolitan Chrysostom of Halkida. On January 15th, the body of the blessed Metropolitan Pavlos of Sisaniou will be brought to Siatista where there will be another viewing. His funeral will be served on Wednesday January 16th at noon in the Metropolis Church of St. Demetrios in Siatista.

(source)

   

Metropolitan Pavlos of Siatista in a recent talk on the popular but meaningful song: "I love you because you are you." (source)

   

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Homily on St. Marina by Metropolitan Avgoustinos Kantiotes

St. Marina the Great Martyr (source)

  
Excerpts from a Homily on St. Marina by Metropolitan Avgoustinos Kantiotes, Bishop of Florina: "Christ honored the woman"
Today is a feast, the feast of St. Marina. The churches built in her name celebrate, as do the women who bear her name.

We are honoring a woman. But also the New Testament continuously speaks of women. The Gospel reading today speaks of the woman with the issue of blood (Mark 5:24-34), who was healed by Christ. The Apostle Paul says that between woman and man there is no difference in worth, men and women are equal, for whatever rights the man has, the same does a woman. "There is neither man nor woman", he says, "for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians e3:28). These words we should say more simply to make it clear.

I don't know how much men love Christ, but women must love Him even more. If men love Him once, women should love Him thousands of times. Why? There is a specific reason.

Do you know what woman was before Christ? Man did with her whatever he wished. He locked her inside and didn't let her go out. The children that she gave birth she had no say over, but the man did. If he wanted, he would just kill them. She herself was so poorly treated that he kept her like an animal. He kept her like an adornment until he threw her out. He took another one, and another, and another... as many as he wanted. Thus woman was truly unhappy. In some places this still occurs. In India, for example, where they don't believe in Christ, the woman has no worth. Did her husband die? They were required to bury her with him. She couldn't be allowed  to live, and they would bury her near her husband in the same grave.

This was the state of the woman. When did it change? Who honored her? Only Christ.

How did Christ honor the woman?

First, with her "side". The Holy Scriptures say that there is no difference in honor. Man was created by God from the dust (Genesis 2:7), but woman was not created from dust, but from the man. He took a piece of his body, to show that she is yoked with the man. But the piece that he took was neither the head, nor the feet. It wasn't from the head so that she would not think that she should rule over the man. Neither was it from the feet, so that she might not think that she is a slave to be trampled upon by the man. He took a piece from his side, which covers his heart, to show that the woman must be beside him, next to him, supporting the man throughout the whole of life, in both joy and sorrow.

Secondly, Christ honored woman with His incarnation. As God He could have chosen not to have been born of a woman. He could have been like the first man, Adam, for not even the Angels are born of a woman. He could have come into the world by some other way. However, He was born of a woman, the Most-Holy Theotokos and Ever-virgin Mary. Why? In order to honor the woman. He was born of a virgin, in order to honor virginity. He was born of one betrothed in order to honor marriage.

Therefore Christ honored the woman. And because of this reason exactly, the women were with Him until the end, such as the Myrrhbearing women, St. Mary Magdalene and the others. And the greatest honor that He gave is that, after the Resurrection, the first "Christ is risen" was not heard by men. No, the woman was the first to receive this joyful news.

Thus did Christ honor the woman. Because of this, women loved Him greatly. One of those was St. Marina, whom we are celebrating today. Who was St. Marina? She was a beautiful and wealthy 15-16 year old girl. She could have found the finest husband. And a potential husband approached her, who had houses, fields and power. But she told him that she preferred Christ above men. And she remained faithful to Him until death.

This, therefore, is what the Apostle is speaking of: there is no difference between woman and man, they are one. And this is what was ordained by Christ, this is what our holy Church teaches.

Let's leave the past for the time being, my beloved, and let's come to today. Do we see woman today as Christ speaks of her, being equal to man? I doubt it.

Where do you want to go? To Athens, to Paris, to New York, to other great cities? There the opposite occurs. There, woman, not one of beauty but of corruption, exercises authority over man. You see a wise university professor or a general who strikes fear in the hearts of the world, and is overcome by a harlot. I'm not speaking of a specific person, I'm speaking generally. If you read history, you will see that many times corrupted women seized strong men by the nose and led them astray like the pied piper. Such women are the tools of the devil...

However, let's leave the big cities and return to the villages, there chaste women, are [unfortunately, sometimes] slaves of men. I had visited many villages as a preacher and I will offer some examples of what I saw.

Once, when I entered a village, I saw a man riding on a horse like a ruler, while behind him was walking his wife, overburdened on her back with wood and with a child in her arms...

Slavery of women, my beloved, and objects of terrible exploitation, either in marriage or outside of marriage. In marriage, regardless of how precious and hard working a woman might be, if she didn't have a good dowry, she couldn't be married off. But the corrupted and inglorious world doesn't even think about marriage. In a thousand satanic ways, such as the terribly "beauty pageants", the woman is prepared and her flesh is sold off like a butcher hangs his meat in the window.*** We have spoken against this, we have struggled against this, and because of this they called us crazy. But one prophecy says: When you see a woman walking naked outside, then the end of the world is coming.

Christ honored the woman, and the Church has shown forth holy women like St. Marina. And today's feast teaches women and men that we should all live with purity and honor.

+Bishop Avgoustinos
From a recorded homily in the Church of St. Marina, Florina, 7/17/1973
(amateur translation of excerpts of text from: source)
  
***Note: One wonders what the Bishop would have said about the terrible and tragic spread of abuse and exploitation of women, from internet pornography to human trafficking to women being abused by men in positions of power, many orders of magnitude worse than he is describing. May our Lord and His Mother deliver all women from such evil, and may His Saints, like St. Marina, both protect and heal those who suffer, and serve as an example of purity and sacrifice of body and soul for Christ!
  

St. Marina the Great Martyr (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Metropolitan Neophytos of Morphou: The Raising of Children According to Contemporary Saints

(source)

   

This is a wonderful talk from a great Metropolitan of Cyprus, and spiritual child of St. Iakovos Tsalikis of Evia. Here, he uses the words and example of many contemporary Orthodox Saints from Greece and Cyprus to give good advice about the blessed marital relationship, pre-conception counseling, pregnancy, delivery, nursing, and the raising of children. This video has English subtitles. Please note that this does not negate or replace the personal pastoral care and advice of your parish priest / spiritual father who knows you and your family situation in a much more detailed and personal way. But may some of the words from these great Saints, including St. Porphyrios, St. Paisios, St. Iakovos and Elder Sophrony, inspire and encourage in this great task. 

   

“Let everything take second place to our care of our children, our bringing them up to the discipline and instruction of the Lord. If from the beginning we teach them to love true wisdom, they will have great wealth and glory than riches can provide."

-St. John Chrysostom

       

Sts. Paisios the Athonite and Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Elder Aimilianos: "The Divine Liturgy is a betrothal to Christ, it is a wedding"

Christ serving the Divine Liturgy with the Holy Angels (source)

  
The Divine Liturgy is a bethrothal to Christ, it is a wedding. It places us in His Kingdom.

Later, we will go out again, we will go back to our house with our passions, with our sins, and with our miseries.

It doesn't matter. Again we will go to Liturgy, and again we will seize Christ, He will deify us again. And thus, with continuous struggle, with a continuous path, with the Priest before us and we behind, we will reach the Kingdom of Heaven.

Do we go to the Liturgy with this desire? We obtain the Kingdom of the Heavens.
-Elder Aimilianos of Simonopetra

(source)
  

The Holy Angels depicted serving the Divine Liturgy (source)

 

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Elder Eliseus (Elisha) of Simonopetra on Sacrifice in Marriage and Monasticism

Sts. Joachim and Anna the Ancestors of God, holding the All-pure Theotokos (source)

Elder Eliseus (Elisha) of Simonopetra on Sacrifice in Marriage and Monasticism

Therefore, don't think that you don't aren't praying. You pray daily, if for the sole reason that you have decided to offer yourselves to God, and to live apart, against the worldly mindset. Thus you should know that this constitutes prayer. This is prayer. Prayer is when I become a monk, to offer myself to God. This is prayer.

You pray when you offer yourself to the church and as a sacrifice towards each other within marriage. One who gets married, therefore, in his married life, is a prototype. Marriage is a return to the former state in Paradise, in other words. It is to offer yourself in the married life, for what does it do? To offer myself to someone else is to sacrifice myself for the other.

No one can distinguish the lay person from the monk, for what are they? Being a monk is a return to a former state, in other words, that of Paradise, without compromises.

We sell our freedom to God, because God is our freedom.

(amateur translation of text from here)

   

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!