St. Luke of Simferopol on St. George the Trophy-bearer

Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

St. George the Great Martyr and Trophy-bearer - 12th Century Mosaic from Xenophontos Monastery, Mount Athos (source)

   

St. Luke of Simferopol on St. George the Trophy-bearer

If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you… If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also (John 15:19-20).

These words of the Lord Jesus Christ were spoken not only to His Holy Apostles, but to all those whom He so often called His little flock.

The little flock is made up of all those who have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and taken His law into their hearts – the law of love, His beatitudes, which are all commandments of love – and who fulfill His commandments.

In this small flock of His, the holy martyrs shine as stars of the first magnitude, serving as great examples for us of the most profound faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, of boundless love for Him, and of self-denial in sufferings and unimaginable torments and tortures.

Among the enormous host of holy martyrs, the number of which likely exceeds ten thousand, there shine the holy great martyrs, those who endured especially terrible sufferings for Christ and whose exploits have the greatest significance for the entire Christian world. And even among the great martyrs, the great George the Trophy-Bearer, whom we are now honoring, stands out as one of the very greatest.

Why do I attribute such enormous importance to the exploits of the holy martyrs?

First of all, because by their blood and boundless love for the Lord Jesus Christ they contributed greatly to the preaching of Christ’s Apostles.

Think of this: had it not been for the tens of thousands of holy martyrs, would the preaching of the Resurrection of Christ, of the Resurrection of the crucified Lord, really have had such all-conquering force?

Could all nations, over the course of a few centuries, really have come to believe in a crucified Jewish Teacher as the True Son of God, as the Savior of the entire human race?

The pagans would have laughed at faith in the Crucified One had it not been confirmed by His Resurrection from the dead; had the Apostles not possessed the right to preach Him as having been Crucified and Resurrected, as having died and risen again, as the Conqueror of death and the devil.

The holy martyrs played a most profound and effective role in this great work, for you all know what a tremendous impression their sufferings had on pagan witnesses and even on the executioners themselves, when they underwent horrific torture fearlessly and silently, sometimes even with thanksgiving on their lips.

Today, along with the memory of St. George the Trophy-Bearer, we also celebrate the memory of Alexandra, wife of the wicked Diocletian who tortured and tormented more Christians than all the other Roman emperors.

You know that witnessing the sufferings of the Great-Martyr George immediately converted this pure-hearted woman to faith in Christ. She fearlessly declared herself a Christian before her terrible spouse, suffering death for our Lord Christ along with the Great-Martyr George.

Why does the blood of the martyrs have such enormous significance for the entire Christian world? Because this blood blessed and sanctified the earth; because this blood makes the devil himself and his dark angels fear and tremble more than anything else.

The exploits of the holy martyrs have a most profound significance in other regards as well. They serve as the most vivid examples for us of absolutely unwavering faith in Christ and of love for Him. We should be ashamed if we show cowardice, fearing with fear where there is no fear[Psalm 13:15].

The martyrs themselves did not fear anyone or anything; they were not seduced by anyone or anything.

The Emperor Diocletian, who martyred St. George, loved him very much, considering him his bravest and most essential soldier. When he saw that the severest torments could not break his faith in Christ, he even reached the point of offering George the second place in his great Roman Empire if he offered sacrifice to the gods.

In reply, St. George only laughed at this pledge; he, of course, rejected even the first place in glory and honor after the Roman Emperor, for his fidelity to Christ was firmer than adamant and His love for Him was boundless.

You have heard more than once from your pastors about the terrible torments the holy Trophy-Bearer George underwent for Christ. I will not enlarge on them. You yourselves will remember well how he was tortured for days on end with his legs fixed in stocks, with an enormous stone placed on his chest that nearly crushed him; you will remember how he was broken on the wheel, being tied to an enormous wheel under which a plank with nails and blades was placed, which cut and tore his holy body; how iron boots with sharp nails inside were placed on him, and how he was driven to run through the streets of the city in these boots; how he was thrown into a pit filled with quicklime, filled from the top with lime. He was supposed to have been burned in the lime; but when, three days later, Diocletian ordered a report on how St. George had been burned, the messengers returned to report to him that George was unharmed. When the Great-Martyr was brought alive before Diocletian, the latter could not believe his eyes.

The Great-Martyr George’s exploit was a difficult one. The good favor of the Lord Jesus Christ towards him for this great exploit was shown by how He Himself came to him in prison, encouraging and blessing him for the completion of his martyrdom.

George the Trophy-Bearer feared nothing. But do we, weak and worthless Christians, face in like manner that which, in whatever small and distant a measure, threatens us with some difficulty?

Did it not happen quite recently that there were hundreds of thousands of people among us that easily renounced faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, declaring in questionnaires that they were unbelievers, fearing something that did not in any way threaten them? They were not threatened in any way; they were required only to write in the questionnaire whether they believed or did not believe. And this was enough for them to commit the terribly grave sin of denying the Lord Jesus Christ, forgetting His dread words: But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father Which is in heaven (Matthew 10:33).

Do we not really prefer the worthless and quickly fleeting goods of this world to those of eternity? Do we really place traversing the path He pointed out to us as the goal of our lives? Do we really always remember Christ’s words: I am the way, the truth, and the life [John 14:6]?

For the holy martyr and Trophy-Bearer George, He was truly the Path and the Life; he neither followed any other path, nor did he wish to know of any other. He was not frightened by threats or fears, boldly following the way of Christ.

Therefore, we bow down before all the martyrs, and especially such great ones as George the Trophy-Bearer, commending them by our ardent love.

They strengthen our faith and love by their miracles, for the majority of them work miracles. You will know from your pastors about the miracle performed three times by the Great-Martyr George, freeing from bondage the youth who were languishing and suffering in captivity. You will remember how, as they were thinking about their native home and the Great-Martyr’s feast day while they were supposed to be serving food or wine to their masters, George the Trophy-Bearer suddenly carried them away on a white horse, transporting them in an instant to the home of their parents, who were then celebrating the memory of the Great-Martyr.

Do not such miracles serve as a great and powerful fortification of your faith in that which the Lord Jesus Christ said? After all, He said that those who believed in Him could perform not only such miracles as did He, but even greater ones. The martyrs accomplished great deeds, confirming the truth of these words of Christ.

Let us then be ashamed of our cowardice in the face of the slightest fear presented to us by our imaginations.

Let us love the Lord Jesus Christ and His martyrs with all our hearts, and especially the Holy Great-Martyr George the Trophy-Bearer, whose memory we celebrate today.

Amen.

Originally delivered on April 23 / May 6, 1954.

Translated from the Russian.

(source)
 

St. George the Great Martyr and Trophy-bearer (source)

 

Christ has risen from the dead, by death he has trampled on death, and to those in the graves given life!

Truly the Lord is risen!

A Paschal Homily by St. Justin Popovich

Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

The Resurrection of Christ (source)

   

A Paschal Homily by St. Justin Popovich

Man sentenced God to death; by His Resurrection, He sentenced man to immortality. In return for a beating, He gives an embrace; for abuse, a blessing; for death, immortality. Man never showed so much hate for God as when he crucified Him; and God never showed more love for man than when He arose. Man even wanted to reduce God to a mortal, but God by His Resurrection made man immortal. The crucified God is Risen and has killed death. Death is no more. Immortality has surrounded man and all the world.

By the Resurrection of the God-Man, human nature has been led irreversibly onto the path of immortality, and has become dreadful to death itself. For before the Resurrection of Christ, death was dreadful to man, but after the Resurrection of Christ, man has become more dreadful to death. When man lives by faith in the Risen God-Man, he lives above death, out of its reach; it is a footstool for his feet:

“O Death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory?” (I Cor. 15:55).

When a man belonging to Christ dies, he simply sets aside his body like clothing, in which he will again be vested on the day of Dread Judgement.

Before the Resurrection of the God-Man, death was the second nature of man: life first, death second. But by His Resurrection, the Lord has changed everything: immortality has become the second nature of man, it has become natural for man; and death – unnatural. As before the Resurrection of Christ, it was natural for men to be mortal, so after the Resurrection of Christ, it was natural for men to be immortal.

By sin, man became mortal and transient; by the Resurrection of the God-Man, he became immortal and perpetual. In this is the power, the might, the all-mightiness of the Resurrection of Christ. Without it, there would have been no Christianity. Of all miracles, this is the greatest miracle. All other miracles have it as their source and lead to it. From it grow faith, love, hope, prayer, and love for God. Behold: the fugitive disciples, having run away from Jesus when He died, return to Him because He is risen. Behold: the Centurion confessed Christ as the Son of God when he saw the Resurrection from the grave. Behold: all the first Christians became Christian because the Lord Jesus is risen, because death was vanquished. This is what no other faith has; this is what lifts the Lord Christ above all other gods and men; this is what, in the most undoubted manner, shows and demonstrates that Jesus Christ is the One True God and Lord in all the world.

Because of the Resurrection of Christ, because of His victory over death, men have become, continue to become, and will continue becoming Christians. The entire history of Christianity is nothing other than the history of a unique miracle, namely, the Resurrection of Christ, which is unbrokenly threaded through the hearts of Christians form one day to the next, from year to year, across the centuries, until the Dread Judgment.

Man is born, in fact, not when his mother bring him into the world, but when he comes to believe in the Risen Christ, for then he is born to life eternal, whereas a mother bears children for death, for the grave. The Resurrection of Christ is the mother of us all, all Christians, the mother of immortals. By faith in the Resurrection, man is born anew, born for eternity. “That is impossible!” says the skeptic. But you listen to what the Risen God-Man says:

“All things are possible to him that believeth!” (Mark 9:23).

The believer is he who lives, with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his being, according to the Gospel of the Risen Lord Jesus.

Faith is our victory, by which we conquer death; faith in the Risen Lord Jesus. Death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin. The Lord “has removed the sting of death.” Death is a serpent; sin is its fangs. By sin, death puts its poison into the soul and into the body of man. The more sins a man has, the more bites, through which death puts its poison in him.

When a wasp stings a man, he uses all his strength to remove the sting. But when sin wounds him, this sting of death, what should be done? One must call upon the Risen Lord Jesus in faith and prayer, that He may remove the sting of death from the soul. He, in His great loving-kindness, will do this, for He is overflowing with mercy and love. When many wasps attack a man’s body and wound it with many stings, that man is poisoned and dies. The same happens with a man’s soul, when many sins wound it with their stings: it is poisoned and dies a death with no resurrection.

Conquering sin in himself through Christ, man overcomes death. If you have lived the day without vanquishing a single sin of yours, know that you have become deadened. Vanquish one, two, or three of your sins, and behold: you have become younger than the youth which does not age, young in immortality and eternity. Never forget that to believe in the Resurrection of the Lord Christ means to carry out a continuous fight with sins, with evil, with death.

If a man fights with sins and passions, this demonstrates that he indeed believes in the Risen Lord; if the fights with them, he fights for life eternal. If he does not fight, his faith is in vain. If man’s faith is not a fight for immortality and eternity, than tell me, what is it? If faith in Christ does not bring us to resurrection and life eternal, than what use is it to us? If Christ is not risen, that meant that neither sin nor death has been vanquished, than why believe in Christ?

For the one who by faith in the Risen Lord fights with each of his sins there will be affirmed in him gradually the feeling that Christ is indeed risen, has indeed vanquished the sting of sin, has indeed vanquished death on all the fronts of combat. Sin gradually diminishes the soul in man, driving it into death, transforming it from immortality to mortality, from incorruption to corruption. The more the sins, the more the mortal man. If man does not feel immortality in himself, know that he is in sins, in bad thoughts, in languid feelings. Christianity is an appeal: Fight with death until the last breath, fight until a final victory has been reached. Every sin is a desertion; every passion is a retreat; every vice is a defeat.

One need not be surprised that Christians also die bodily. This is because the death of the body is sowing. The mortal body is sown, says the Apostle Paul, and it grows, and is raised in an immortal body (I Corinthians 15:42-44). The body dissolves, like a sown seed, that the Holy Spirit may quicken and perfect it. If the Lord Christ had not been risen in body, what use would it have for Him? He would not have saved the entire man. If His body did not rise, then why was He incarnate?

Why did He take on Himself flesh, if He gave it nothing of His Divinity?

If Christ is not risen, then why believe in Him? To be honest, I would never have believed in Him had He not risen and had not therefore vanquished death. Our greatest enemy was killed and we were given immortality. Without this, our world is a noisy display of revolting stupidity and despair, for neither in Heaven nor under Heaven is there a greater stupidity than this world without the Resurrection; and there is not a greater despair than this life without immortality. There is no being in a single world more miserable than man who does not believe in the resurrection of the dead. It would have been better for such a man never to have been born.

In our human world, death is the greatest torment and inhumane horror. Freedom from this torment and horror is salvation. Such a salvation was given the race of man by the Vanquisher of death – the Risen God-Man. He related to us all the mystery of salvation by His Resurrection. To be saved means to assure our body and soul of immortality and life eternal. How do we attain this? By no other way than by a theanthropic life, a new life, a life in the Risen Lord, in and by the Lord’s Resurrection.

For us Christians, our life on earth is a school in which we learn how to assure ourselves of resurrection and life eternal. For what use is this life if we cannot acquire by it life eternal? But, in order to be resurrected with the Lord Christ, man must first suffer with Him, and live His life as his own. If he does this, then on Pascha he can say with Saint Gregory the Theologian:

“Yesterday I was crucified with Him, today I live with Him; yesterday I was buried with Him, today I rise with Him” (Troparion 2, Ode 3, Matins, Pascha).

Christ’s Four Gospels are summed up in only four words. They are:

“Christ is Risen! Indeed He is risen!”

In each of these words is a Gospel, and in the Four Gospels is all the meaning of all God’s world, visible and invisible. When all knowledge and all the thoughts of men are concentrated in the cry of the Paschal salutation, “Christ is Risen!”, then immortal joy embraces all beings and in joy responds: “Indeed He is risen!”

(source)

   

Christ has risen from the dead, by death he has trampled on death, and to those in the graves given life!

Truly the Lord is risen!

St. Leo the Great on Christ's Passion

Christ carrying His Cross (source)

   
St. Leo the Great on Christ's Passion
IV. Christ Bearing His Own Cross is an Eternal Lesson to the Church
...And so the Lord was handed over to their savage wishes, and in mockery of His kingly state, ordered to be the bearer of His own instrument of death, that what Isaiah the prophet foresaw might be fulfilled, saying, "Behold a Child is born, and a Son is given to us whose government is upon His shoulders." When, therefore, the Lord carried the wood of the cross which should turn for Him into the sceptre of power, it was indeed in the eyes of the wicked a mighty mockery, but to the faithful a mighty mystery was set forth, seeing that He, the glorious vanquisher of the Devil, and the strong defeater of the powers that were against Him, was carrying in noble sort the trophy of His triumph, and on the shoulders of His unconquered patience bore into all realms the adorable sign of salvation: as if even then to confirm all His followers by this mere symbol of His work, and say, "He that taketh not his cross and followeth Me, is not worthy of Me."

V. The Transference of the Cross from the Lord To Simon of Cyrene Signifies the Participation of the Gentiles in His Sufferings
But as the multitudes went with Jesus to the place of punishment, a certain Simon of Cyrene was found on whom to lay the wood of the cross instead of the Lord; that even by this act might be pre-signified the Gentiles' faith, to whom the cross of Christ was to be not shame but glory. It was not accidental, therefore, but symbolical and mystical, that while the Jews were raging against Christ, a foreigner was found to share His sufferings, as the Apostle says, "if we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him"; so that no Hebrew nor Israelite, but a stranger, was substituted for the Saviour in His most holy degradation. For by this transference the propitiation of the spotless Lamb and the fulfilment of all mysteries passed from the circumcision to the uncircumcision, from the sons according to the flesh to the sons according to the spirit: since as the Apostle says, "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us," Who offering Himself to the Father a new and true sacrifice of reconciliation, was crucified not in the temple, whose worship was now at an end, and not within the confines of the city which for its sin was doomed to be destroyed, but outside, "without the camp," that, on the cessation of the old symbolic victims, a new Victim might be placed on a new altar, and the cross of Christ might be the altar not of the temple but of the world.

VI. We are to See Not Only the Cross But the Meaning of It
Accordingly, dearly-beloved, Christ being lifted up upon the cross, let the eyes of your mind not dwell only on that sight which those wicked sinners saw, to whom it was said by the mouth of Moses, "And thy life shall be hanging before thine eyes, and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt not be assured of thy life." For in the crucified Lord they could think of nothing but their wicked deed, having not the fear, by which true faith is justified, but that by which an evil conscience is racked. But let our understandings, illumined by the Spirit of Truth, foster with pure and free heart the glory of the cross which irradiates heaven and earth, and see with the inner sight what the Lord meant when He spoke of His coming Passion: "The hour is come that the Son of man may be glorified"; and below He says, "Now is My spirit troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy Son." And when the Father's voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again," Jesus in reply said to those that stood by, "This voice came not for Me but for you. Now is the world's judgment, now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things unto Me."

VII. The Power of the Cross is Universally Attractive
O wondrous power of the Cross! O in effable glory of the Passion, in which is contained the Lord's tribunal, the world's judgment, and the power of the Crucified! For thou didst draw all things unto Thee, Lord and when Thou hadst stretched out Thy hands all the day, long to an unbelieving people that gainsaid Thee, the whole world at last was brought to confess Thy majesty. Thou didst draw all things unto Thee, Lord, when all the elements combined to pronounce judgment in execration of the Jews' crime, when the lights of heaven were darkened, and the day turned into night, and the earth also was shaken with unwonted shocks, and all creation refused to serve those wicked men. Thou didst draw all things unto Thee, Lord. for the veil of the temple was rent, and the Holy of Holies existed no more for those unworthy high-priests: so that type was turned into Truth, prophecy into Revelation law into Gospel. Thou didst draw all things unto Thee, Lord, so that what before was done in the one temple of the Jews in dark signs, was now to be celebrated everywhere by the piety of all the nations in full and open rite. For now there is a nobler rank of Levites, there are elders of greater dignity and priests of holier anointing: because Thy cross is the fount of all blessings, the source of all graces, and through it the believers receive strength for weakness, glory for shame, life for death. Now, too, the variety of fleshly sacrifices has ceased, and the one offering of Thy Body and Blood fulfils all those different victims: for Thou art the true "Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world," and in Thyself so accomplishest all mysteries, that as there is but one sacrifice instead of many victims, so there is but one kingdom instead of many nations.

VIII. We Must Live Not for Ourselves But for Christ, Who Died for Us
Let us, then, dearly-beloved, confess what the blessed teacher of the nations, the Apostle Paul, confessed, saying, "Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." For God's mercy towards us is the more wonderful that Christ died not for the righteous nor for the holy, but for the unrighteous and wicked; and though the nature of the Godhead could not sustain the sting of death, yet at His birth He took from us that which He might offer for us. For of old He threatened our death with the power of His death, saying. by the mouth of Hosea the prophet, "O death, I will be thy death, and I will be thy destruction, O hell." For by dying He underwent the laws of hell, but by rising again He broke them, and so destroyed the continuity of death as to make it temporal instead of eternal. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." And so, dearly-beloved, let that come to pass of which S. Paul speaks, "that they that live, should henceforth not live to themselves but to Him who died for all and rose again." And because the old things have passed away and all things are become new, let none remain in his old carnal life, but let us all be renewed by daily progress and growth in piety. For however much a man be justified, yet so long as he remains in this life, he can always be more approved and better. And he that is not advancing is going back, and he that is gaining nothing is losing something. Let us run, then, with the steps of faith, by the works of mercy, in the love of righteousness, that keeping the day of our redemption spiritually, "not in the old leaven of malice and wickedness, but in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth," we may deserve to be partakers of Christ's resurrection, Who with the Father and the Holy [Spirit] liveth and reigneth for ever and ever. Amen.
(Source)
  

The Crucifixion of Christ (source)

  

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

Discourse On the Passion of the Saviour, by St. Ephraim the Syrian

The Crucifixion of Christ (source)

  
Discourse On the Passion of the Saviour, by Our Venerable Father Ephrem the Syrian
Text copyright to Archimandrite Ephrem © (source)

  
I am afraid to speak
and touch with my tongue
this fearful narrative
concerning the Saviour.
For truly it is fearful
to narrate all this.

Our Lord
was given up today
into the hands of sinners!

For what reason then
was one who is holy
and without sin given up?

For having done no sin
he was given up today.

Come, let us examine closely
why Christ our Saviour
was given up.

For us, the ungodly,
the Master was given up.

Who would not marvel?
Who would not give glory?

When the slaves had sinned
the Master was given up.

The sons of perdition
and the children of darkness
went out in the darkness
to arrest the sun
who had the power
to consume them in an instant.

But the Master, knowing
their effrontery
and the force of their anger,
with gentleness,
by his own authority,
gave himself up
into the hands of the ungodly.

And lawless men, having bound
the most pure Master,
mocked the one
who had bound the strong one
with unbreakable bonds,
and set us free
from the bonds of sins.

They plaited a crown
of their own thorns,
the fruit borne
by the vine of the Jews.

In mockery
they called him ‘King’.
The lawless spat
in the face of the most pure,
at whose glance
all the Powers of heaven
and the ranks of Angels
quake with fear.

See, once again grief and tears
grip hold of my heart,
as I contemplate the Master
enduring outrage and insults,
scourgings, spitting
from slaves, and blows.

Come, observe well
the abundance of compassion,
the forbearance and mercy
of our sweet Master.

He had a useful slave
in the Paradise of delight,
and when he sinned
he was given to the torturers.

But when the Good One
saw his weakness of soul
he took compassion on the slave
and had mercy on him
and presented himself
to be scourged by him.

I wished to remain silent
because my mind
was utterly amazed;
but then again I was afraid
lest I reject
by my silence
my Saviour’s grace.
For my bones tremble
when I think of it.

The fashioner of all things,
our Lord himself,
was today arraigned
before Caiaphas,
like one of the condemned;
and one of the servants
struck him a blow.

My heart trembles
as I think on these things:
the slave is seated,
the Master stands,
and one full of iniquities
passes sentence
on the one who is sinless.

The heavens trembled,
earth’s foundations shuddered;
Angels and Archangels
all quailed with terror.
Gabriel and Michael
covered their faces
with their wings.

The Cherubim at the throne
were hidden beneath the wheels;
The Seraphim struck their wings
one with the other
at that moment,
when a servant gave
a blow to the Master.

How did earth’s foundations
endure the earthquake
and the tremor
at that moment,
when the Master was outraged?

I observe and I tremble
and again I am stunned,
when I see the long-suffering
of the loving Master.

For see my inward parts
tremble as I speak,
because the Creator,
who by grace fashioned
humanity from dust,
he the Fashioner is struck.

Let us fear, my brethren
and not simply listen.
The Saviour endured
all these things for us.

Wretched servant,
tell us why
you struck the Master?

All servants,
when they are set free,
receive a blow,
that they may obtain
freedom that perishes;
but you, miserable wretch,
unjustly gave a blow
to the liberator of all.

Did you perhaps expect
to receive from Caiaphas
a reward for your blow?

Had you perhaps not heard,
had you perhaps not learned
that Jesus is
the heavenly Master?

You gave a blow
to the Master of all things,
but became slave of slaves
to age on age,
a disgrace and abomination,
and condemned for ever
in unquenchable fire.

A great marvel, brethren,
it is to see the gentleness
of Christ the King!
Struck by a slave
he answered patiently,
with gentleness
and all reverence.

A servant is indignant,
the Master endures;
a servant is enraged,
the Master is kind.

At a time of anger,
who could endure
rage and disturbance?
But our Lord
submitted to all this
by his goodness.

Who can express
your long-suffering,
Master?

You that are longed for
and loved by Christ,
draw near, with compunction
and longing for the Saviour.

Come, let us learn
what took place today
in Sion, David’s city.

The longed-for and chosen
offspring of Abraham,
what did they do today?

They gave up to death
the most pure Master
on this day.

Christ our Saviour
was unjustly hanged
on the tree of the Cross
through lawless hands.

Come, let us all
wash our bodies
with tears and groans,
because our Lord,
the King of glory,
for us ungodly people
was given up to death.

If someone suddenly hears
of one truly beloved
having died,
or again, suddenly sees
the beloved himself
lying a dead corpse
before their eyes,
their appearance is altered,
and the brightness
of their sight is darkened.

So, in heaven’s height,
when it saw
the outrage to the Master
on the tree of the Cross,
the bright sun’s
appearance was altered;
it withdrew the rays
of its own brightness,
and unable to look on
the outrage to the Master,
clothed itself
in grief and darkness.

Likewise the Holy Spirit,
who is in the Father,
when he saw
the beloved Son
on the tree of the Cross,
rending the veil,
the temple’s adornment,
suddenly came forth
in the form of a dove.

All creation was
in fear and trembling
when the King of heaven,
the Saviour suffered;
while we sinners
for whom the only immortal
was given up
ever treat this with contempt.

We laugh each day
when we hear of the Saviour’s
sufferings and outrage.

We enjoy ourselves daily
filled with great zeal
to deck ourselves in fine clothing.

The sun in the sky
because of the outrage to its Master
changed its radiance
into darkness,
so that we, when we saw it,
might follow its example.

The Master on the Cross
was outraged for your sake,
while you, miserable wretch,
ever deck yourself
in splendid raiment.

Does your heart not tremble,
does your mind not quail,
when you hear such things?

The One who alone is sinless
was for you given over
to a shameful death,
to outrages and revilings,
while you hear all this
with lofty indifference.

The whole rational flock
should look intently
on its shepherd,
and ever long for him
and respect him,
because for its sake
he suffered, he
the dispassionate and all pure.

Nor should it deck itself
in corruptible garments,
nor yet indulge in pleasure
and worldly nourishment,
but should give its Maker pleasure
by ascesis and true reverence.

Let us not become
imitators of the Jews;
a people harsh and disobedient
and that ever rejects the blessings
and benefactions of God.

God Most High
for the sake of Abraham
and his covenant
from the beginning bore
the stubbornness of the people.

From heaven he gave
them Manna to eat;
but they, the unworthy,
longed for garlic,
evil-smelling foods.

Again, he gave them water
from the rock in the desert,
while they in place of these
gave him vinegar
when they hanged him on a Cross.

Let us be careful, brethren,
not to be found
as fellows of the Jews
who crucified the Master,
their own Creator.

Let us always be fearful,
keeping before our eyes
the Saviour’s sufferings.

Let us always keep in mind
his sufferings,
because it was for us he suffered,
the dispassionate Master;
for us he was crucified,
the only sinless One.

What return can we make
for all this, brethren?

Let us be attentive to ourselves
and not despise his sufferings.

Draw near all of you,
children of the Church,
bought with the precious
and holy blood
of the most pure Master.

Come, let us meditate
on his sufferings with tears,
thinking on fear,
meditating with trembling,
saying to ourselves,
‘Christ our Saviour
for us the impious
was given over to death’.

Learn well, brother,
what it is you hear:
God who is without sin,
Son of the Most High,
for you was given up.

Open your heart,
learn in detail
his sufferings
and say to yourself:
God who is without sin
today was given up,
today was mocked,
today was abused,
today was struck,
today was scourged,
today wore
a crown of thorns,
today was crucified,
he, the heavenly Lamb.

Your heart will tremble,
your soul will shudder.

Shed tears every day
by this meditation
on the Master’s sufferings.

Tears become sweet,
the soul is enlightened
that always meditates
on Christ’s sufferings.

Always meditating thus,
shedding tears every day,
giving thanks to the Master
for the sufferings
that he suffered for you,
so that in the day
of his Coming
your tears may become
your boast and exaltation
before the judgement seat.

Endure as you meditate
on the loving Master’s
sufferings,
endure temptations,
give thanks from your soul.

Blessed is the one
who has before his eyes
the heavenly Master
and his sufferings,
and has crucified himself
from all the passions
and earthly deeds,
who has become an imitator
of his own Master.

This is understanding,
this is the attitude
of servants who love God,
when they become ever
imitators of their Master
by good works.

Shameless man, do you watch
the most pure Master
hanging on the Cross,
while you pass the time
that you have to live on earth
in pleasure and laughter?

Don’t you know, miserable wretch,
that the crucified Lord
will demand an account
of all your disdainful deeds,
for which, when you hear of them, you show no concern,
and as you take your pleasure
you laugh
and enjoy yourself with indifference?

The day will come,
that fearful day,
for you to weep unceasingly
and cry out in the fire
from your pains,
and there will be no one at all
to answer
and have mercy on your soul.

I worship you, Master,
I bless you, O Good One,
I entreat you, O Holy One,
I fall down before you, Lover of humankind,
and I glorify you, O Christ,
because you, only-begotten
Master of all,
alone without sin,
for me the unworthy sinner
were given over to death,
death on a Cross,
that you might free
the sinner’s soul
from the bonds of sins.

And what shall I give you
in return for this, Master?

Glory to you, Lover of humankind!
Glory to you, O Merciful!
Glory to you, O Long-suffering!
Glory to you, who pardon
every fault!
Glory to you, who came down
to save our souls!
Glory to you, incarnate
in the Virgin’s womb!
Glory to you, who were bound!
Glory to you, who were scourged!
Glory to you, who were crucified!
Glory to you, who were buried!
Glory to you, who were raised!
Glory to you, who were proclaimed!
Glory to you, who were believed!
Glory to you, who were taken up!
Glory to you, who were enthroned
with great glory
at the Father’s right hand,
and are coming again
with the glory of the Father
and the holy Angels
to judge every soul
that has despised
your holy sufferings
in that dread
and fearful hour,
when the powers of heaven
will be shaken;
when Angels, Archangels,
Cherubim and Seraphim
will come all together
with fear and trembling
before your glory;
when all the foundations
of the earth will tremble,
and everything that has breath
will shudder at your great
and unendurable glory.

In that hour
your hand will hide me
under its wings
and my soul be delivered
from the fearful fire,
the gnashing of teeth,
the outer darkness
and unending weeping,
that blessing you, I may say,
‘Glory to the One, who wished
to save the sinner
through the many acts of pity
of his compassion.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  

The Crucifixion of Christ (source)

     

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

The Ceremony of the Washing of the Feet on the Holy Island of Patmos

Christ washing the feet of the Disciples: "I came not to be served, but to serve..." (source)

   

The Ceremony of the Washing of the Feet (The Niptir) on the Holy Island of Patmos
For the text of this beautiful service in English, see here.

For four hundred years now, on the pleasantly cool island of divine visions, holy little Patmos, on Great Thursday every year, there’s been a tradition of re-enacting the drama of the Last Supper, which neither time nor the years of subjugation to the Turks, Italians and Germans were able to expunge. 

This re-enactment, a symbolic scene, is a celebration which involves a great deal of grandeur, religious feeling and picturesqueness. It takes place to this day in other places as well, including, in the Orthodox world, Jerusalem and Antioch.

It’s an important event in the holy days of Great Week, not only for the island of Patmos, but for the other islands in the area: Samos, Ikaria, Leros, Kalymnos, and, in former times, for the  coastal towns and cities of Asia Minor on the opposite shore.

At the time of the Italian occupation, the number of pilgrims who came to the island to attend this wonderful ceremony was considerably fewer, but since the liberation, the ceremony of the Washing of the Feet has regained its former eminence so that, in the peaceful life of the island, it is, once more, a religious event of great significance.

There is evidence for this religious ceremony of the Washing of the Feet from the 4^thcentury, to be precise after the synod of Elvira in about 300 A. D. It was performed in very many monasteries and bishoprics in the middle years. In particular, the Byzantine emperors in their palace, in imitation of the gentle Nazarene, washed the feet of twelve of the poor among their subjects and afterwards presented them with gifts.

The whole ceremony, or rather its symbolic re-enactment, is nothing more nor less than a recollection and replication of the practical teaching of the Lord, who wished simply, by His example of washing the feet of his disciples, to teach stark humility towards the other people who share the planet with us.

On Great Wednesday, in one of the two large squares in Hora (those of Xanthou and Patriarch Theofilos II) alternately, towards the evening, a large, wooden, squarish platform is erected by a construction team of the elders of the town. Around it, the child play wild games of hide and seek. Decorating begins in the very early hours of Great Thursday. Liturgical fans and silver crosses, at intervals, with arches of palms and myrtles and with valuable carpets on the ground make for a grand sight.

The entrance, the central arch, is made of the fragrant spring flowers of the island, dominated by the blossoms on the twigs of spikenard, with its faintest of scents. On the platform, twelve seats have been placed. Six on the right and six on the left. And in the centre, opposite the entrance a chair for the Abbot. In the centre, there’s a little table with a silver bowl on it.

The tall trees surrounding the square- Xanthou, that is- with their verdant foliage cast their protective shade on the congregation of the faithful, beneath the burning spring sun. In complete silence, with moving compunction, they follow the swift development of this religious performance by the monks, brothers of the monastery, who perform the role of the disciples in this re-enactment of the divine drama of the Last Supper.

Great Thursday. The time is eleven in the morning. In the monastery, the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great has ended, with the handing out of the antidoro, the blessed bread, the “pearl” which people on the island keep for difficult times, especially someone’s last moments. With the Abbot at their head, the monks of the monastery move down to the church of the community, that of the Great Mother of God, as if by ancient custom. All the priests are attired in the same, precious, purple and gold, Byzantine vestments, gifts to the monastery from the Byzantine era, which have survived wonderfully to this day, untouched by time.

Priests and Deacons proceeding to the town square for the service (source)

   

The great bells of the monastery toll gravely and slowly. The whole atmosphere of the island resounds sweetly to their deep peals. In the delighful natural environment of spring, everything is charming. With heightened religious emotions, with deep compunction, the island lives the holy Passion of Christ for the whole of this week in a unique way and with a special tone.

From the Great Mother of God, the priests, each one with the name of one of Jesus’ disciples, proceed in twos to the appointed square. Behind them comes the abbot in a purple robe, holding his staff- since he’s a Patriarchal Exarch- and a small, gilded Bible, flanked by four deacons. All of them, priests and Abbot, wear their monastic cowls, which lend gravity and a graphic tone to the measured proceedings. Before them walks an ordinary monk, holding a huge basin and the “water of the bowl” in a silver pot. The ecclesiarch brings up the rear. As the best chanter in the monastery, it’s his job to sing psalm 50, “Have mercy on me, God”. The disciples and the Teacher arrive at one of the two chapels- Saint Foteini or Saint George, depending on the square- where the ceremony will take place. The ecclesiarch takes his position first, opposite the platform, at a prominent point, from where he will read the appointed excerpts from the four Gospels.

The four deacons cense the approach and escort the priest-disciples, two by two, onto the platform, where they bow deeply to each other and then take their seats, beginning from the outside and working inwards. They follow that order as given in the Gospels, starting with the sons of Zebedee. And thus they continue until all twelve are seated. The last one is Judas. In former days, his role was assigned to an ordinary layman, who was rewarded with 50 small coins and a cottage cheese. Later, however, the role was given to a monk. Last comes the Abbot and the four deacons escort him onto the platform, standing at his side. In the meantime, the ecclesiarch chants the beautiful Byzantine melodies for “When the glorious disciples were enlightened at the washing of the feet at the supper” (dismissal hymn) and “United in the bond of love, the Apostles…” (katavasia, canticle five).

Once everyone is seated on the platform the whole drama of the Holy Last Supper begins to unfold.

The Abbot of the Monastery of St. John the Theologian in the role of Christ, before 12 Priests in the roles of the Disciples (source)

   

It has been divided into three parts and in the first there is a wide-ranging lesson from the great teacher of love, concerning the phrase “love one another”, which is full of incident and divinely-inspired significance. After this, there follows the second part, which is the washing of the disciples’ feet as a practical demonstration of Christ’s humility. The third part is a reconstruction of Christ’s anguish at prayer on the Mount of Olives, when He’s tested as a person, finally triumphing as God.

From his prominent position, the reader, methodically and slowly reads excerpts from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and John, referring to the dialogue conducted between the Teacher and His disciples. The first to be read is from Saint Mark: “At that time, Jesus took his twelve disciples and began to tell them what would happen to him”. Then follows a dialogue taken from John (4, 10-11), Mathew (20, 22-9) and Mark (10, 32-45), explaining to them what was to happen and urging them warmly to love one another.

Then, after this dialogue, comes the second part, the washing of the disciples’ feet: The reader’s text is from Saint John: “Knowing that the Father had given everything into his hands, Jesus arose from the supper and removed his outer garment. He took a towel and fastened it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet…”. At that moment, the Abbot ties a dark red, square, velvet vestment, the “towel”, round his waist and begins to pour water from the pot into the bowl. Beginning with Judas, he washes the disciples’ feet, in fact sprinkling them on their shins with rose water through an aspergillum. This is the most impressive part of the scene, together with the role of Saint Peter, who is rebuked for his initial refusal and then goes on to request that the Lord wash “not only my feet, but also my hands and head”.

“Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, Sit here, while I go and pray over there. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very troubled”. At this point, the Abbot, together with the three disciples mentioned, descends from the platform and proceeds towards the edge of the square, while the disciples kneel on cushions in front of the platform, obeying His command to “wait here and keep watch”.

This is when the third part of the Last Supper is played out. It is when Christ’s soul is sick unto death and when He cries aloud “not as I wish, but you”. But at the same time, the disciples’ devotion to their teacher is also tested, at the most difficult part of the drama. At the edge of the square, the Abbot prays before the icon of “The Coming One”, a large, very old icon from an iconostas, of rare Byzantine craftsmanship, one of the treasures of the monastery. It’s a symbolic depiction of the prayer of Christ on the Mount of Olives.

A photograph of the procession in prior years. The monks are carrying the historic icon of Christ "The Coming One" (source)

   

“Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass”. And again: “Nevertheless, not as I wish, but you” (Math. 26, 40-42). Apprehension and sorrow weigh heavily on Him. And He repeats: “Is it not possible for this cup to pass?” When he turns to His disciples, He find then with drooping eyelids. He turns back to pray to His heavenly Father, strengthened now in the role He’s been ordered to shoulder for the salvation of the human race. He shouts to His disciples: “Let’s go. It’s time for the Son of Man to be betrayed in order that he may be glorified”, rousing them from their deep sleep when He approaches them for the third time.

The three get up from their knees and go back to the platform, together with the Abbot. The symbolic re-enactment of the Last Supper ends here. The Abbot takes up position near the platform and holds the Gospel and a small bunch of marjoram with which he will sprinkle the crowd with the blessed water from the basin. The laity kiss the Gospel and embrace, wishing each other “Many years”.

Finally, with the same good order and with the monastery bells tolling, the monks return to their place of abode, the grey Byzantine fortress which has been a sacred ark over many centuries.

And the people, inducted into divine matters and with souls exalted, disperse to their homes, in order to continue the rest of Great Week with the same depth of compunction, on the island of Patmos where Saint John the Evangelist had his divinely-inspired visions.
(source)
   

The Monastery of St. John the Theologian, Patmos (source)

   

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

Excerpt from the Homily on the Betrayal of Judas, by St. John Chrysostom

The Mystical Supper (source)

   
Excerpt from the Homily on the Betrayal of Judas, by St. John Chrysostom
Translated by Monk Moses of the St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood from the original Greek, in Patrologia Graeca 49.373–80. See this link for the whole text of this beautiful and moving sermon.

  
Today, beloved, our Lord Jesus Christ was betrayed. It was on this approaching evening that the Jews seized him and took Him away. But do not be dejected, hearing that Jesus was betrayed; rather, be dejected and weep bitterly—not over Jesus Who was betrayed, but over the traitor, Judas. For, indeed, the One Who was betrayed saved the whole world, while the one who betrayed Him lost his own soul. And the One Who was betrayed is seated at the right hand of the Father, while the one who betrayed Him is now in hades, awaiting the inevitable punishment. Thus, weep and moan for his sake; mourn for his sake, since even our Master shed tears on his account. Seeing him, Jesus was troubled and said: One of you shall betray Me ( John 13:21). Oh, how great is our Master’s compassion! The One Who was betrayed grieved for the one who betrayed Him. Seeing him, Jesus was troubled and said: One of you shall betray Me. Why was He disheartened? In order to show His tender love and, at the same time, to teach us that it is altogether fitting to mourn, not for the one enduring evil, but for the one committing it. Committing evil is worse than enduring it; or rather, enduring evil is not evil, but committing it is evil. While enduring evil procures us the Kingdom of Heaven, committing evil results in Gehenna and punishment for us. For Blessed, says the Lord, are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt 5:10). Do you see how enduring evil has as its recompense and reward the Kingdom of Heaven?

...What will ye give me and I will deliver Him unto you? Tell me, did Christ teach you that? Did He not restrain in advance your covetous intention, saying: Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses (Matt. 10:9)? Did He not continually advise this, and also say: If someone shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also (Matt. 5:39)? What will ye give me and I will deliver Him unto you? Oh, what madness! Tell me, for what? With what small or great accusation do you betray the Teacher? That He granted you power over demons? That He granted you the power to put an end to sicknesses? To cleanse lepers? To raise the dead? That He brought an end to the tyranny of death? For these benefactions you give this recompense? What will ye give me and I will deliver Him unto you? Oh, what madness! Or rather, what covetousness! For it is covetousness that produced all this evil: lusting after money, he betrayed the Teacher. Such is the root of this evil; worse than the devil, it excites to frenzy the souls it has conquered and renders them oblivious to everyone, both to themselves
and to their neighbors, as well as to the laws of nature, driving them out of their minds and making them insane. See how much it cast out from the soul of Judas: the fellowship, the intimacy, the common
table, the miracles, the instruction, the counsel, the admonitions—all of that was then cast into oblivion by covetousness. Thus Paul rightly said: The love of money is the root of all evil (I Tim. 6:10)...

...I have said all this so that no one will accuse Christ, saying: “Why did He not change Judas? Why did He not make him sensible and good?” How ought Judas to have been made good? By force or voluntarily? If by force, he would not have become better, for no one becomes good by force. But if, by his own deliberate choice, Judas had wanted to, then Christ would have used all means to amend his will and intent. But if he did not want to take the medicine, it is not the Physician Who is at fault but the one who evaded the treatment. Look at how much Christ did in order to win him over and save him: He taught him all wisdom by deeds and by words; He placed him above the demons; He prepared him to perform numerous miracles; He inspired fear in him with the threat of hell; He impelled him forward with the promise of the Kingdom; He continually censured his unspeakable plans, without making them public; He washed his feet along with the others and shared His table with him. He did not leave anything undone, either small or great, but Judas of his own free will remained uncorrected...

But it is time then to approach that fearful table. Therefore, let us all approach with fitting discretion and sobriety. And let no one be Judas any longer; let no one be wicked; let no one possess venom, bearing one thing in his mouth and another in his mind. Christ is present, and He Who set in order that meal of old also sets this one in order now. For it is not a man who causes the elements that are set forth to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but Christ Himself, Who was crucified for our sake. Fulfilling the figure, the priest stands and utters the words. But the power and the grace belong to God. This is My Body, the priest says. These words transform the elements set forth; and just as the words Increase and multiply and fill the earth (Gen. 1:28) were said once, but throughout all time they give our nature the power to beget children, so also from that time until now and until His Coming, these words that were said once accomplish the perfect Sacrifice on each altar table in the churches.

Therefore, let no one hide festering sores within; let no one be filled with wickedness; let no one have venom in his thoughts, lest he partake unto condemnation. For truly it was after Judas had received the Holy Gifts that the devil fell upon him, out of contempt not for the Body of the Lord but for Judas, on account of his shamelessness—so that you understand that the devil especially falls upon and repeatedly attacks those who partake of the Holy Mysteries unworthily, as with Judas at that time. For honors benefit those who are worthy, but honors cast into greater torment those who enjoy them unworthily. I do not say these things to frighten you, but in order to warn you. Therefore, let no one be Judas; let no one that enters have the venom of wickedness. The sacrifice is spiritual food; and just as bodily food that enters a stomach having foul juices makes the illness even worse—not because of its own nature but because of the sickness of the stomach—so also does it usually happen with the spiritual Mysteries. For they also, when they enter a soul that is full of wickedness, ruin and destroy it even more—not on account of their own nature but on account of the sickness of the soul that receives them.

Therefore, let no one have evil thoughts within, but let us purify our mind, for we are truly drawing near to the spotless sacrifice. Let us make our soul holy; it is possible for this to happen even in a single day. How, and in what way? If you have anything against your enemy, expel your anger, treat your wound, put an end to your enmity, so that you may receive healing from the holy table—for you are approaching the fearful and holy sacrifice. Stand in awe before the meaning of this sacrifice. The slain Christ is laid out before us. On what account was He slain and why? In order to make peace between heaven and the earth, in order to make you a friend of the angels, in order to reconcile you entirely to God, to make you, an enemy and opponent, into a friend. He gave His life for those who hate Him, but you continue to hate your fellow servant? And how can you come to the table of peace? He did not decline to die for you, but you cannot bear, for your own sake, to get rid of your anger toward your fellow servant? And what sort of forgiveness are you worthy of?

He abused me, you say, and hurt me a great deal. But what is this? The damage is only to property; by no means did he wound you like Judas did Christ, but nevertheless Christ gave His own Blood for the salvation of those who caused it to pour forth. What can you say is equal to that? If you do not forgive your enemy, you do not hurt him but yourself. You wound him many times in this present life, but you make yourself unpardonable at the judgment in the day to come. For God hates nothing so much as a man who remembers past wrongs, nothing so much as a puffed-up heart and a soul inflamed. Listen to what He says: When you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember, standing high-up at the altar, that your brother has something against you, leave … your gift at the altar and go … be reconciled to your brother, and then … offer your gift (Matt. 5:23–24).

What are you saying?—that I should leave my gift? Yes, for it was for the sake of peace with your brother that this sacrifice took place. Thus, if it is for the sake of peace with your brother that this sacrifice took place, but you have not accomplished that peace, then you take part in the sacrifice to no purpose, the good work is of no benefit to you. Therefore, let us first do that on account of which the sacrifice has been offered, and then we will benefit well from it. The Son of God came down in order to reconcile our nature to the Master. And not only for that did He come down, but also in order to make us who do these things sharers in His name. For He says: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God (Matt. 5:9). Do also, according to human strength, that which the only-begotten Son of God did, becoming an agent of peace both for yourself and for others. On account of this, O peacemaker, He even calls you a son of God. And therefore He did not mention any other commandment regarding the time of the sacrifice except to be reconciled with one’s brother, showing that this is the most important of all.

I had wanted to extend my discourse, but what has been said is enough for those who are attentive, if they call it to mind. Beloved ones, let us continually call to mind these words, the holy greetings, and the awe-inspiring kiss of peace with each other. For this joins our minds together and makes everyone become one Body, since we all also partake of one Body. Let us be joined together in one Body, not
mingling with the bodies of one another, but uniting our souls with each other in the bond of love. In this way we will be able to partake with boldness of the meal which is set forth. Even if we possess countless righteous deeds, if we bear remembrance of wrongs, they are all to no avail and in vain, and we will not be able to reap from them any benefit toward our salvation.

Therefore, being conscious of these things, let us bring an end to all anger, and purifying our conscience, let us approach with all meekness and gentleness the table of Christ, to Whom is all glory, honor, and power, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
   

The Betrayal of Judas (source)

  

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