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May 2020
MAY 23 Venerable Michael, Bishop of Synnada CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN! A spiritual man interprets all things and all natural phenomena in a spiritual and symbolic manner, and from everything he draws benefit for his soul. Once, the brethren came to St. John the Dwarf and began to tell him how a heavy rain had fallen and watered the palms, and how new branches had begun to sprout on the palms so that the monks would have enough material for their handiwork. St. John thought and said to the......
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22
May 2020
MAY 22 Holy Martyr Basiliscus, Bishop of Comana CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN! How was Moses able to fast for forty days? How were the many Christian ascetics able to live a long life in extreme abstinence from food and drink? For the physical man who does not know about the spiritual life, this is impossible to believe. It is impossible even to prove it to him, for the understanding of it is achieved only by experience. When the torturers of St. Basiliscus detained him for three days without food......
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21
May 2020
MAY 21 Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine and his mother, Helen CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN! We see that vice is something shameful and sinful, in that it always hides and always takes upon itself the appearance of good works. St. John Chrysostom beautifully says: “Vice does not have its own particular face, but borrows the face of good works.” This is why the Savior said: They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves (Matthew 7:15). Call a liar a liar, a thief a thief, a......
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20
May 2020
MAY 20 Holy Martyr Thalelaeus, at Aegae in Cilicia, and his companions CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN! When a man acquires a Christian conscience, he zealously labors to correct his life and to please God. For him, all else becomes of little importance. We have examples of such men not only among the great ascetics and spiritual fathers but also among powerful rulers. Emperor Theodosius the Great provides us with such an example. For a brief time he fell into heresy but afterward he repented. St. Ambrose, his earlier critic,......
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19
May 2020
MAY 19 Hieromartyr Patrick, Bishop of Prussa, and his companions CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN! The great hierarchs, the pillars of the Orthodox Church, knew how to blend meekness and firmness in their character: meekness toward the righteous ones and penitents, and firmness toward unrepentant criminals. One Sunday, following the Divine Liturgy, Tsar Ivan the Terrible approached Metropolitan Philip to receive his blessing. The metropolitan pretended not to see the tsar and gazed at the icon of the Savior. The tsar’s adjutant approached the metropolitan and said to him: “Your......
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19
May 2020
MAY 18 Holy Martyr Theodotus of Ancyra and his companions CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN! To conceal your virtues and mortifications was the custom of ascetics, both female and male, not only in the earliest times of Christianity but throughout all ages to the present time. Eudocia, wife of the glorious Prince Dimitri of Don, the liberator of Russia from the Tartars, was left a comparatively young widow in the year 1389 A.D. Imbued with devoutness, this princess built many churches, distributed alms and secretly weakened her body by fasting......
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16
May 2020
MAY 16 St. Theodore the Sanctified, disciple of St. Pachomius the Great CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN! When Theodore the Sanctified was in Panopolis with his spiritual father St. Pachomius, a philosopher approached him and offered to debate with him about the Faith. The philosopher posed these three questions to Theodore: “Who was not born, but died?” “Who was born and did not die?” “Who died and did not decay?” To these questions, St. Theodore replied: “Adam was not born but died. Enoch was born and did not die. Lot’s......
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15
May 2020
MAY 15 St. Pachomius the Great CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN! When a tyrant commits violence against the righteous out of greed, then the violence brings about loss and gain; that is, a loss to the tyrant and a gain to the one who suffered violence. Boris Godunov murdered Dimitri, the eight-year-old crown prince, to gain control of the throne without competition. The imperial days of Boris ended quickly, and the tyrant was given over to corruption and condemnation, but Dimitri was proclaimed a saint. After lying in the grave......
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14
May 2020
MAY 14 Martyr Isidore of Chios CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN! A sin that serves as a scandal to others is a twofold sin. A wise man strives neither to scandalize anyone nor to lead anyone into sin by his sinful example. St. Ambrose praised such sagacity in the Emperor Valentian, who died at an early age, citing these examples from his life: “Hearing that he was spoken of throughout Rome as a passionate hunter and a lover of wild beasts–which in reality he was not–and how this passion was......
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13
May 2020
MAY 13 MID-PENTECOST, Virgin Martyr Glyceria CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN! Concerning the power of death and the power of the Cross of Christ, St. Athanasius writes: “Whose death ever drove out demons? And whose death has caused more fear in the demons than the death of Christ? Where the name of Christ is invoked, every demon is driven out. Who has tamed spiritual passions in people to such a measure that prostitutes come to live chaste lives, murderers lay down the sword, and the fearful become courageous? Has not......
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