The Hieromartyr Gregory, Enlightener of Greater Armenia, was born in
the year 257. He was descended from the line of the Parthian Arsakid
emperors. The father of Saint Gregory, Anak, in striving after the
Armenian throne, had murdered his kinsman, the emperor Kursar, in
consequence of which all the line of Anak was marked for destruction.
A
certain kinsman saved Gregory: he carried off the infant from Armenia
to Caesarea in Cappadocia and raised him in the Christian Faith. At
maturity, Gregory married, had two sons, but soon was left a widower.
Gregory raised his sons in piety. One of them -- Orthanes, afterwards
became a priest, and the other -- Arostanes, accepted monasticism and
went off into the wilderness.
In order to atone for the sin of
his father, who had murdered the father of Tiridates, Gregory entered
into the service of the latter and was a faithful servant to him.
Tiridates loved Gregory like a friend, but he was intolerant of the
Christian confession of faith. After ascending the Armenian throne, he
began to demand that Saint Gregory renounce the Christian Faith.
The
steadfastness of the saint embittered Tiridates, and he gave his
faithful servant over to cruel tortures: they suspended the sufferer
head downwards with a stone about his neck, for several days they choked
him with a stinking smoke, they beat and ridiculed him, and forced him
to walk in iron sandals inset with nails.
At the time of these
sufferings Saint Gregory sang Psalms. In prison the Lord healed all his
wounds. When Gregory again stood before the emperor cheerful and
unharmed, he was astonished and gave orders to repeat the torments.
Saint Gregory endured them, not wavering, with all his former
determination and bearing. They then poured hot tin over him and threw
him into a pit filled with vipers. The Lord, however, saved His chosen
one: the snakes did him no harm.
Some pious women fed him with
bread, secretly lowering it into the pit. A holy angel, appeared to the
martyr, strengthening and encouraging him. Saint Gregory remained in the
pit for fourteen years. During this time the emperor Tiridates executed
the holy virgin Saint Rhipsime, the aged abbess Gaiana and another 35
virgins from one of the monasteries of Asia Minor. As punishment for
this horrible deed, the king’s face became disfigured.
Saint
Gregory was released from the pit, and buried the relics of the holy
virgins with honor. Then he began to preach to the people, urging them
to turn away from the darkness of idolatry and toward Christ. The people
came to believe in Christ, and wished to build a large church. When it
was completed, Saint Gregory had the relics of the holy nuns brought
into it. Then he brought King Tiridates there before the bodies of the
saints whom he had slain. He repented, and immediately his face was made
whole once more.
Soon all of Armenia was converted to Christ. The
temples of the idols were destroyed, and churches for the worship of
the true God were built. Saint Gregory ordained priests, established
schools, founded monasteries, and provided for the good order of the
Church.
Saint Gregory went into the wilderness, where he departed
to the Lord. His son Aristanes was made a bishop in Cappadocia, and was
one of the 318 holy Fathers at the Council of Nicea.
Troparion — Tone 4
By sharing in the ways of the Apostles, / you became a successor to
their throne. / Through the practice of virtue, you found the way to
divine contemplation, / O inspired one of God; / by teaching the word of
truth without error, / you defended the Faith, even to the shedding of
your blood. / Hieromartyr Gregory entreat Christ God to save our souls.
Kontakion — Tone 2
Today, let us the faithful, praise with songs and hymns / the
admirable hierarch Gregory as an initiate in the sacred mysteries. / He
was a contender for the truth, a vigilant pastor and teacher, / a light
for the whole world, / interceding with Christ that our souls may be
saved! SOURCE:
Saint Nestor the Chronicler, of the Kiev Caves, Near Caves was born
at Kiev in 1050. He came to Saint Theodosius (May 3) as a young man, and
became a novice. Saint Nestor took monastic tonsure under the successor
to Saint Theodosius, the igumen Stephen, and under him was ordained a
hierodeacon.
Concerning his lofty spiritual life it says that,
with a number of other monastic Fathers he participated in the casting
out of a devil from Nikita the Hermit (January 31), who had become
fascinated by the Hebrew wisdom of the Old Testament. Saint Nestor
deeply appreciated true knowledge, along with humility and penitence.
“Great is the benefit of book learning,” he said, “for books point out
and teach us the way to repentance, since from the words of books we
discover wisdom and temperance. This is the stream, watering the
universe, from which springs wisdom. In books is a boundless depth, by
them we are comforted in sorrows, and they are a bridle for moderation.
If you enter diligently into the books of wisdom, then you shall
discover great benefit for your soul. Therefore, the one who reads books
converses with God or the saints.”
In the monastery Saint Nestor
had the obedience of being the chronicler. In the 1080s he wrote the
“Account about the Life and Martyrdom of the Blessed Passion Bearers
Boris and Gleb” in connection with the transfer of the relics of the
saints to Vyshgorod in the year 1072 (May 2). In the 1080s Saint Nestor
also compiled the Life of the Monk Theodosius of the Kiev Caves. And in
1091, on the eve of the patronal Feast of the Kiev Caves Monastery, he
was entrusted by Igumen John to dig up the holy relics of Saint
Theodosius (August 14) for transfer to the church.
The chief work
in the life of Saint Nestor was compiling in the years 1112-1113 The
Russian Primary Chronicle. “Here is the account of years past, how the
Russian land came to be, who was the first prince at Kiev and how the
Russian land is arrayed.” The very first line written by Saint Nestor
set forth his purpose. Saint Nestor used an extraordinarily wide circle
of sources: prior Russian chronicles and sayings, monastery records, the
Byzantine Chronicles of John Malalos and George Amartolos, various
historical collections, the accounts of the boyar-Elder Ivan Vyshatich
and of tradesmen and soldiers, of journeymen and of those who knew. He
drew them together with a unified and strict ecclesiastical point of
view. This permitted him to write his history of Russia as an inclusive
part of world history, the history of the salvation of the human race.
The
monk-patriot describes the history of the Russian Church in its
significant moments. He speaks about the first mention of the Russian
nation in historical sources in the year 866, in the time of Saint
Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople. He tells of the creation of the
Slavonic alphabet and writing by Saints Cyril and Methodius; and of the
Baptism of Saint Olga at Constantinople. The Chronicle of Saint Nestor
has preserved for us an account of the first Orthodox church in Kiev
(under the year 945), and of the holy Varangian Martyrs (under the year
983), of the “testing of the faiths” by Saint Vladimir (in 986) and the
Baptism of Rus (in 988).
We are indebted to the first Russian
Church historian for details about the first Metropolitans of the
Russian Church, about the emergence of the Kiev Caves monastery, and
about its founders and ascetics. The times in which Saint Nestor lived
were not easy for the Russian land and the Russian Church. Rus lay torn
asunder by princely feuds; the Polovetsian nomads of the steppes lay
waste to both city and village with plundering raids. They led many
Russian people into slavery, and burned churches and monasteries. Saint
Nestor was an eyewitness to the devastation of the Kiev Caves monastery
in the year 1096. In the Chronicle a theologically thought out patriotic
history is presented. The spiritual depth, historical fidelity and
patriotism of the The Russian Primary Chronicle establish it in the
ranks of the significant creations of world literature.
Saint
Nestor died around the year 1114, having left to the other monastic
chroniclers of the Kiev Caves the continuation of his great work. His
successors in the writing of the Chronicles were: Igumen Sylvester, who
added contemporary accounts to the The Russian Primary Chronicle; Igumen
Moses Vydubitsky brought it up to the year 1200; and finally, Igumen
Laurence, who in the year 1377 wrote the most ancient of the surviving
manuscripts that preserve the Chronicle of Saint Nestor (this
copy is
known as the “Lavrentian Chronicle”). The hagiographic tradition of the
Kiev Caves ascetics was continued by Saint Simon, Bishop of Vladimir
(May 10), the compiler of the Kiev Caves Paterikon. Narrating the events
connected with the lives of the holy saints of God, Saint Simon often
quotes, among other sources, from the Chronicle of Saint Nestor.
Saint
Nestor was buried in the Near Caves of Saint Anthony. The Church also
honors his memory in the Synaxis of the holy Fathers of the Near Caves
commemorated September 28 and on the second Sunday of Great Lent when is
celebrated the Synaxis of all the Fathers of the Kiev Caves. His works
have been published many times, including in English as “The Russian
Primary Chronicle”.
Saint Ignatius lived during the tenth century in Cappadocia,
and from his youth he was dedicated by his parents to God. Upon
attaining the age of maturity, he accepted monasticism and soon was
ordained to the holy priesthood.
Later, Saint Ignatius was made
igumen of a monastery of the Savior, called “Deep River,” close to
Constantinople. Saint Ignatius concerned himself about the monastery,
embellishing the churches and making an enclosure for the monastery.
Saint Ignatius died in the city of Amoreia in the year 975. His relics
were uncovered after a long period of time and found to be incorrupt.
The Mirozh Icon appeared at the Mirozh monastery in the year 1198.
But later, during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, at a time when a
plague raged at Pskov, an ancient report tells how tears flowed from
both eyes of the icon. Many benefits and healings for man occured from
the icon of the Mother of God.”
The Mirozh Icon is an “Orans”
(“Praying”) type. On either side of the Most Holy Theotokos stand the
Pskov Saints: on the right, the holy Prince Dovmont-Timothy (May 20); on
the left, his wife, the holy nun Martha, in the world named Maria
Dimitrievna (November 8, 1300). Tsar Ivan Vasilievich took away the
wonderworking icon from Pskov, but at the monastery an exact copy
remained: the so-called “Great Panagia” from the Savior-Mirozh
monastery.
On September 24, 1567, on the Feast of Saint Abraham
at the Mirozh monastery there occurred a miraculous sign from an ancient
icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. The celebration of the Mirozh Icon of
the Sign was established in that same year, with the blessing of
Archbishop Pimen of Novgorod and Pskov. A special service to this icon
was composed, and was published in the 1666 MENAION.
Saint Cosmas, Hermit of Zographou, was a Bulgarian. In his
youth he avoided entering into marriage, and secretly left his parents’
home for Mount Athos. Then as he was on his way to the Holy Mountain,
the devil tried to shake the yearning of the youth, vexing him with a
vision of the infinite abyss of the sea surrounding the Holy Mountain.
The fervent prayer of the youth dispelled the demonic temptation.
On
Athos, Saint Cosmas was accepted in the Zographou monastery. There he
was a novice for a long time, and then he was tonsured, and was
appointed ecclesiarch. Saint Cosmas received a special mercy to see the
heavenly abbess of Mount Athos Herself, Who on the Feast of the
Annunciation at the Vatopedi monastery deigned to reveal to him a
glimpse of Her care for Her earthly appanage. He saw a Woman of royal
majesty and grandeur, Who attended to both in church for services, and
in the trapeza. All the monks served and obeyed Her.
Soon the
saint was ordained as deacon, and then as presbyter, which inspired him
to new exploits. Zealous for salvation, the saint through fervent prayer
to the Most Holy Theotokos was granted a particular sign of Her special
favor. He heard the voice of the Mother of God issuing from Her holy
icon and asking Her Son, “How will Cosmas be saved?” The Lord answered,
“Let him withdraw from the monastery into silence.” After obtaining the
blessing of the Superior, Saint Cosmas withdrew into the wilderness, and
there in a cave cut into a cliff, and began his new deed of silent
seclusion. God did not forsake the faithful man of prayer, for the saint
was granted the gift of clairvoyance.
Just as at the start of his
ascetic life, the Enemy of the race of mankind again tried to dissuade
the saint from his intended path, and so the final days before the
righteous one’s death were also a grievous trial for him.
Not
long before the death of God’s chosen one, he was granted a vision of
Christ Himself, Who informed the saint that before his soul would depart
to the heavenly Kingdom, Satan himself with his hosts would beat and
gnash at him. Prepared for the suffering by this divine solace, the
saint bravely underwent the terrible demonic assaults, and on the third
day after furious beatings, he received the All-Pure Mysteries. With
words of praise on his lips, he peacefully departed to the Lord.
God,
“Who glorifies those who glorify Him,” also glorified Saint Cosmas
miraculously at his death. At the time of the saint’s burial a multitude
of beasts and birds flocked to his cave, as though sensing the common
loss of the Holy Mountain. When they placed his body in the grave and
began to cover it with ground, each of the speechless creatures let out a
mournful cry, bestowing final respect to the saint of God.
Forty
days later, when the brethren opened the saint’s tomb after the
all-night Vigil (as was customary), in order to transfer them to the
monastery with honor, they were not to be found. The Lord hid them in a
miraculous manner. This occurred in the year 1323.
Saint Joseph of Zaonikiev, was named Hilarion in the world, a
pious peasant from the village of Obukhovo Kubensk in the region of the
Vologda gubernia. For a long time he suffered a disease of the eyes and
he fervently prayed for the help of the Lord, to the Most Holy
Theotokos, and to the Saints, in particular the holy Unmercenaries
Cosmas and Damian.
His prayer was heard, and in 1588, by a
revelation of Saint Cosmas, Hilarion went into the forest into a swampy
place, to an icon of the Mother of God, from which he received healing.
In gratitude the monk cleared a forest thicket at the place of the
appearance of the wonderworking icon and built a chapel, in which he
placed the icon. He himself settled close by, taking the monastic schema
with the name of Joseph.
Afterwards, with the blessing of Saint
Anthony, Bishop of Vologda, on the place of Joseph’s ascetic exploits
the Zaonikiev monastery emerged, so named from the brigand Anikios who
once dwelt in this forest. When the monastery expanded and the number of
monks grew, upon the advice of Saint Joseph, Anthony was chosen as
igumen. Joseph did not accept the leadership himself out of humility.
Since he concealed his own strict exploits from the others, he was
perceived as a fool-for-Christ. He stood on his feet at prayer in his
chapel, and he went about barefoot in the fierce cold.
Saint Joseph reposed on September 21, 1612 at age 83, and was buried in the monastery founded by him.
The Holy Martyrs Trophimus, Sabbatius and Dorymedon suffered for
Christ during the reign of the Roman emperor Probus (276-282). A pagan
festival was being celebrated in the city of Antioch. Sacrificial
offerings were brought, the wine was poured, and vile acts were
performed. The Christians Trophimus and Sabbatius arrived in the city
just as the festival was taking place, and were saddened by this loud
and indecent spectacle. They prayed that the Lord would guide the errant
on the way of salvation. As they said this, the idolaters noticed their
presence. Seeing that the strangers did not worship the idols, they
arrested them and took them to the governor.
At their
interrogation, the saints firmly confessed their faith. When they were
told to renounce Christ, they resolutely refused to do so. Saint
Sabbatius died under the fierce torment. Saint Trophimus was sent to the
city of Synnada in Phrygia for even more terrible tortures.
For
three days Saint Trophimus walked shod in iron sandals with sharp nails,
driven on by a cavalry guard. The governor of Frigius, Dionysius,
infamous as a torturer and executioner, used all manner of tortures to
break the will of the brave Christian. Saint Trophimus merely repeated
the words of Scripture: “many afflictions has the righteous one, but
from them all will the Lord deliver him” (Ps 33/34:20).
The
senator Dorymedon, a secret Christian, visited Saint Trophimus in
prison, washing and binding his wounds. When the pagans learned that the
senator would not participate in the festival of Castor and Pollux,
they asked the reason for his refusal. He said that he was a Christian,
and would not attend a festival in honor of the demons. He and Saint
Trophimus were thrown to the wild beasts to be eaten by them, but the
martyrs remained unharmed. Then they were beheaded with the sword.
TROPARION - TONE 8
God praised in Trinity has glorified a trinity of martyrs: / Trophimus,
Sabbatius, and Dorymedon. / By their faith, they overthrew the
adversary. / Through their prayers, O Christ our God, have mercy on us.
KONTAKION - TONE 8
As the foundation of athletes and the confirmation of piety / the Church
honors and glorifies your brilliant suffering, / wise and glorious
Trophimus, ever-praised and blessed athlete. / Together with your fellow
sufferers, ask cleansing for those who hymn you, / for you are
invincible.
Saint Hilarion (Ponamarov) was born in Kluch on the night of
Pascha, April 8-9, 1805. Nikita and Euphemia Ponamarov named their third
son Rodion in honor of Saint Herodion of the Seventy. He always
considered April 8, the day of his patron saint’s commemoration, as his
birthday. After Rodion, a son and a daughter were born to the
Ponamarovs. The daughter, however, died as a baby.
Nikita
Ponamarov worked in town as a tailor, and sometimes his business took
him to the homes of the local landowners. Consequently, Rodion seldom
saw his father until he was fifteen years old.
Rodion was a quiet,
uncoordinated child who did not play much with other children, since
they made fun of his clumsiness. Even members of his own family behaved
in a rude manner toward him, and seldom showed him any affection. The
way he was treated made him thoughtful and introspective.
One
winter he was playing in the snow with some friends, using an old board
as a sled. The board broke and left Rodion with a permanent scar on the
finger of his left hand. Another time he injured himself on a
saddle-horn while riding. These injuries also had an effect on his
health, which was never robust.
The family moved to the Novopersk
region of Voronezh in 1820, and Rodion lived there until he was twenty.
He helped his father in his work, and gradually acquired skill as a
tailor. His parents wanted him to follow this trade, even though his
mother once foretold that he would be a monk. Rodion himself desired the
monastic life even as a young child, but now he applied himself to
tailoring, for he knew that this handicraft would be very useful in the
monastery.
Rodion went to Moscow in December of 1825 in order to
learn more about being a tailor, arriving with very little money, and
with nowhere to stay. He worked with various tailors, but the work was
difficult and he became ill. His poor health, he said in later life,
probably saved him from falling into many vices. Having increased his
proficiency as a tailor, Rodion left Moscow and returned home.
Saratov was the home to many sectarians of all sorts,
and the future saint became involved with certain activists who tried
to refute their false teachings. Rodion’s missionary labors may have
influenced many sectarians to return to the Orthodox Church. Because of
some misunderstanding, however, Rodion and his friends were put on
trial. As a result, the authorities kept Rodion under observation for
the next four years. This scrutiny was hard for him to endure, and made
it very difficult for him to conduct his affairs.
Through his
study of the Holy Scripture and the writings of the holy Fathers,
Rodion’s desire to become a monk was reawakened. Therefore, he decided
to find the monastery which was most suitable for him. In 1837 and 1838
Rodion visited monasteries at Sarov, Suzdal, Rostov, Tikhvin, Moscow,
Pochaev, and other places. Finally, he arrived before the gates of
Optina. He was thirty-four years old.
At first, Rodion was placed
in a cell next to Father Barlaam, a retired igumen of Valaam Monastery.
Father Barlaam was a man of great spiritual stature, who had a profound
influence on the young man, and became his first instructor in the Jesus
Prayer. In later years, Elder Hilarion recalled visiting Father Barlaam
to tell him of the various things he had seen or heard. Father Barlaam
would ask, “Is that useful? It would be better for you not to see or
hear anything. Try to examine your thoughts and your heart more often.”
With his wise counsel, Father Barlaam helped Rodion in his spiritual
growth as a monk.
Saint Anthony (August 7), the Superior of the
Skete, was transferred to Maloyaroslavets on December 1, 1839. He was
replaced by Saint Macarius (September 7), the monastery’s confessor.
Rodion was assigned to be his cell attendant, remaining in this
obedience until the Elder’s death in 1860. Rodion went to Father
Macarius for Confession, and to Saint Leonid (October 11) for the daily
revelation of his thoughts. In an effort to cleanse himself of the
passions, Rodion renounced his own will and obeyed Elder Macarius in all
things.
Father Macarius was very strict with the novices, and
would not permit the slightest disobedience. He was never the first to
bring up a person’s failures and shortcomings, but waited for him to
confess his own negligence. He taught the novices to love their
neighbor, and to bear their afflictions with patience.
From
the time Rodion came to Optina, he had other obediences in addition to
serving as cell attendant to Father Macarius. He also tended the flower
and vegetable gardens, and worked as a baker, and a bee-keeper. He
carried out every task assigned him without complaint.
While his
spiritual progress was hidden from men, it was certainly noticed by the
all-seeing God. In due course, he received the monastic tonsure and was
given the name Hilarion. Father Macarius recognized his disciple’s
spiritual maturity, and predicted that he and Saint Ambrose (October 10)
would succeed him as Elders after his death. Elder Macarius therefore
entrusted Father Hilarion and Father Ambrose with giving counsel to his
many spiritual children.
As the closest disciple of Saint
Macarius, Father Hilarion was chosen to be Superior of the Skete, and
the monastery’s Father Confessor. He confessed all the brethren
entrusted to him five times a year, once during each of the Fasts, and
twice during Great Lent. Each monk was questioned about the details of
his inner life, and was given advice on how to conduct himself in
future. Once he finished hearing the Confession of the monks, Father
Hilarion began confessing the nuns, and the men and women who came to
him from various places. Although there were many people, Father
Hilarion never refused anyone. He rarely gave his own opinion, but
quoted from the Scriptures or the writings of the Fathers. Sometimes, he
would tell people what Father Macarius had said in similar situations.
He was very effective in giving advice, because he always practiced what
he preached, and he had already experienced the things that were
troubling his spiritual children.
The Elder led people to feel
sorrow for their sins, and through his questions he brought them to an
awareness of their spiritual state. Sometimes he would help them to
remember sins which they had forgotten to confess, sins which might lie
at the root of their spiritual infirmity. He gave penances according to a
person’s age, health, and circumstances. He might require the penitent
to read certain prayers, do prostrations, give alms, and to avoid those
habits and amusements which are not fitting for a Christian. Many people
received much benefit from confessing to him, and continued to live
according to the advice he had given them. Not only were they cured of
their spiritual afflictions, but sometimes Father Hilarion also healed
them of their physical or mental illness as well.
Father
Hilarion, by God’s providence, became seriously ill for two years. All
during that time he did not ask God to let him recover. Instead, he
asked to be given the patience to help him bear the illness. He received
Holy Communion frequently, and twice he was given Holy Unction.
During
the last thirty-three days of his life, Father Hilarion partook of the
life-giving Mysteries of Christ every day. In the last four weeks of his
life, the Elder was unable to lie down in bed because of water in his
lungs. Therefore, he remained seated on a couch in front of a portrait
of Father Macarius. He experienced great discomfort, and was not able to
sleep very well.
Father Hilarion observed the cell rule of
prayer until the last moments of his life. Early on the morning of
September 18, 1873 he listened to the morning rule being read, and
received Holy Communion at 1:00 A.M. Five hours later, he rested from
his labors and gave his soul into the hands of God.
It is said
that during Father Hilarion’s final illness, Saint Macarius appeared to
him many times in his dreams. As he drew closer to death, these
appearances became more frequent. He died with his prayer rope in his
hands, and was buried next to his beloved Elder Saint Macarius.
The
Moscow Patriarchate authorized local veneration of the Optina Elders on
June 13,1996. The work of uncovering the relics of Saints Leonid,
Macarius, Hilarion, Ambrose, Anatole I, Barsanuphius and Anatole II
began on June 24/July 7, 1998 and was concluded the next day. However,
because of the church Feasts (Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, etc.)
associated with the actual dates of the uncovering of the relics,
Patriarch Alexey II designated June 27/July 10 as the date for
commemorating this event. The relics of the holy Elders now rest in the
new church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God.
The Optina Elders were glorified by the Moscow Patriarchate for universal veneration on August 7, 2000.
The Constantinople Icon commemorated today is probably the
prototype of another Constantinople Icon (April 25) venerated at
Moscow’s Dormition church on Malaya Dimitrovka.
Saint Joseph the New was born in 1568 at Raguza in Dalmatia, and was
given the name Jacob at his Baptism. When he was very young, his father
died, and he was raised by his mother. At the age of twelve, he was sent
to Ochrid to be schooled.
The young Jacob was called to live the
monastic life when he was fifteen, and entered the monastery of the
Mother of God. After five years, he traveled to Mount Athos, and was
tonsured at the Pantokrator Monastery with the new name of Joseph. He
fulfilled his various obediences in an exemplary manner, becoming
perfected in virtue and holiness. He attained unceasing prayer of the
heart, receiving from God the gift of tears. He also performed many
miracles, healing the sick and the crippled. Some of the monasteries of
the Holy Mountain would send for him so that he could heal those monks
who were afflicted with severe bodily suffering.
On July 20, 1650,
at the age of eighty-two, Saint Joseph was elected as Metropolitan of
Timishoara. He was a wise and good shepherd to his flock, healing their
physical and spiritual illnesses. Once he extinguished a fire in the
western part of Timishoara by his prayers, when God sent a heavy
rainfall.
After three years of archpastoral labors, he retired to
the Partosh Monastery, where he was often visited by many of the
faithful. The monastery was an important center of church activity in
those days, and even had a school for training priests.
Metropolitan
Joseph fell asleep in the Lord on August 15, 1656 when he was
eighty-eight years old, and he was buried in the monastery church. He is
commemorated on September 15.
He worked many miracles during his lifetime, and there are reports that his relics remained incorrupt after his death.
For
more than 300 years the monks reverently tended his grave, then at his
glorification on October 7, 1956 Saint Joseph’s relics were transferred
into the cathedral at Timishoara. The casket containing his holy relics
is adorned with carvings depicting scenes from his life.
An Akathist composed to honor Saint Joseph speaks of his many virtues.
TONE OF THE WEEK PLAGAL OF THE FIRST TONE EOTHINON THIRD ORTHROS GOSPEL RESURRECTIONAL APOLYTIKION PLAGAL OF THE FIRST TONE
Let us worship the Word, O ye faithful, praising Him that with the
Father and the Spirit is co-beginningless God, Who was born of a pure
Virgin that we all be saved; for He was pleased to mount the Cross in
the flesh that He assumed, accepting thus to endure death. And by His
glorious rising, He also willed to resurrect the dead. SEASONAL KONTAKION FOURTH TONE
In your holy birth, Immaculate One, Joachim and Anna were rid of the
shame of childlessness; Adam and Eve of the corruption of death. And so
your people, free of the guilt of their sins, celebrate crying: "The
barren one gives birth to the Theotokos, who nourishes our life."
Saint Ciaran (Kieran), who has been described as a lamp
shining with the light of knowledge, was born in 512 and raised in
Connacht, Ireland. His father was a builder of chariots. He was one of
eight children, at least two of whom also embraced the religious life.
Saint
Ciaran had a special affinity for animals, and even had a fox for a
pet. The future saint left home as a boy, driving a cow before him to
pay for his keep. He went to study with Saint Finnian of Clonard
(December 12), and became one of the “twelve apostles to Ireland.” Some
of the others were Saint Columba of Iona (June 9), Ninnidh (Nennius) of
Lough Erne (January 16), and Saint Brendan the Voyager (May 16).
There
is a story that one day the students were studying the Gospel of Saint
Matthew when Saint Ninnidh came into class without a book. He asked
Ciaran to lend him his, which he did. So when Finnian tested the class,
Ciaran knew only the first half of the Gospel. The other students
laughed and called him “Ciaran half-Matthew.” Saint Finnian silenced
them and said, “Not Ciaran half-Matthew, but Ciaran half-Ireland, for he
will have half the country and the rest of us will have the other
half.”
After spending some time in Clonard, Ciaran visited other
monasteries, including that of Saint Enda (March 21) on Aran, where he
was ordained to the holy priesthood. He left there because of a vision
which Saint Enda interpreted for him. Then he went to Scattery Island to
study under Saint Senan (March 8). Later, he went to visit his brothers
Luachaill and Odhran, who had a foundation at a place called Isel.
Ciaran’s charity was so great that his brothers asked him to leave. They
said, “Brother, leave us for we cannot live in the same place with you
and feed and keep our brethren for God, because of your unbounded
lavishness.”
Saint Ciaran left them and set off with his books in
a bag. On the way he met a stag and placed the bag on its back. He
followed the animal until he came to Lough Ree opposite Hare Island,
where he founded a monastery. Leaving his brother Donnan (January 7) as
abbot, he went to dwell in the wilderness.
With nine other
companions, Saint Ciaran founded another monastery at Clonmacnoise on
the banks of the River Shannon. Within seven months, he became ill and
asked to be taken outside and laid on the ground. He looked up at the
heavens and said something about the way being steep and difficult. He
departed to the Lord at the age of thirty-three.
Clonmacnoise was a
thousand years old when it was suppressed by Henry VIII. The monastery
was destroyed by Reformation armies in 1552, but the ruins are still
very impressive. There is a cathedral, seven other churches, three high
crosses, and two stumps of round towers. Fifty kings are said to be
buried here with the abbots and monks of the monastery.
Saint Ciaran’s crozier survives to the present day.
The Domnitsa Icon of the Mother of God appeared in the year
1696 on the bank of the Domnitsa River in Chernigov diocese, not far
from the city of Berezna. At the place of appearance of the icon a
monastery was established, in which was situated the wonderworking
image. In the year 1771 the inhabitants of the city prayed before the
holy icon and were delivered from plague through the intercession of the
Theotokos.
The Martyr Romulus lived during the reign of the emperor
Trajan (98-117) and was a confidant of the emperor by virtue of his
office of military commander. At the time, Trajan was waging war in the
East to put down uprisings against the Romans by the Iberians,
Sarmatians, and Arabs.
In the year 107, and again a second time in
115, the emperor conducted a review of the military strength of his
army, and found in his troops upwards of 11,000 Christians. Trajan
immediately sent these Christians into exile in Armenia in disgrace.
Saint Romulus, in view of this, reproached the emperor for his impiety
and the sheer folly to diminish the army’s strength during a time of
war. Saint Romulus, moreover, acknowledged that he himself was a
Christian. The enraged Trajan had the holy martyr subjected to a
merciless beating, after which Saint Romulus was beheaded.
The Christian soldiers sent into exile in Armenia were killed by various forms of execution.
The Martyrs Urban, Theodore, Medimnus and seventy-nine
companions suffered at Nicomedia during the reign of the Arian emperor
Valentus (Valens) (364-378 or 379). The Orthodox bishop Evagrius was
banished from the Church of Constantinople, and Christians not wishing
to accept the Arian heresy were locked up in prison and subjected to
various outrages.
Driven to the point of despair, the Orthodox
Christians decided to ask for protection from the emperor and they sent
80 chosen men of religious rank, headed by Saints Urban, Theodore and
Medimnus.
Hearing their justified complaints, the emperor flew
into a rage, but he knew how to hide his wrath. He quietly summoned the
eparch Modestus and ordered him to put the delegates to death. Modestus
put them upon a ship, telling them that they all would be sent to
prison. Instead, he ordered the ship’s officers to burn the ship on the
open sea. The ship was set afire and for a while, it floated upon the
sea. Finally, reaching a place called Dakizis, the ship burned up with
all the holy martyrs on board.
The Chernigov-Gethsemane Icon of the Mother of God is a copy of the
famed Ilyin-Chernigov Icon of the Mother of God (April 16), which was to
be found at the Trinity-Ilyin monastery near Chernigov on Mount
Boldina, and where in the eleventh century Saint Anthony of the Kiev
Caves struggled in asceticism.
Saint Demetrius of Rostov described
the miracles of this icon in his book THE BEDEWED FLEECE. He wrote in
conclusion: “The end of the booklet, but not of the miracles of the Most
Holy Theotokos, for who can count them?” The grace-bearing power of
this icon is manifest also in its copies.
The Chernigov-Gethsemane
Icon of the Mother of God was painted in the mid-eighteenth century and
was passed on to the Trinity Sergiev Lavra in 1852 by Alexandra
Grigorievna Philippova, who piously kept it for a quarter century. (This
icon was given to her by the priest John Alekseev, who received it in
turn from one of the monks of the Trinity Sergiev Lavra.)
On the
advice of the head of the Lavra, Archimandrite Anthony (+ May 1, 1877),
the icon was placed in the newly-consecrated cave church named for Saint
Michael, Leader of the Heavenly Hosts, which was consecrated on October
27, 1851 by Saint Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow (November 19), who
assumed an active role in the building of the Gethsemane skete.
In
this manner, the icon took in the currents of grace of all the history
of the Russian Church, it acquired the blessing of Saint Anthony of the
Caves, of Saint Sergius of Radonezh and of his parents Saints Cyril and
Maria (September 28), and finally, of the ascetics of the nineteenth
century. These spiritual connections providentially come forth through
the Chernigov-Gethsemane Icon of the Mother of God.
It is
remarkable that the first miracle of this icon was witnessed on the day
of the Church New Year, September 1, 1869, when the
twenty-eight-year-old peasant of Tula governance, Thekla Adrianova, was
healed, after being completely crippled for nine years.
Living at
the hostel by the caves, and then at the Lavra during the celebration of
the Repose of Saint Sergius (September 25), Thekla recovered
completely. Saint Innocent the Metropolitan of Moscow (October 6 and
March 31), learned of the miracle from his daughter the nun Polyxeni,
treasurer of the Borisov wilderness monastery. On the feast of Saint
Sergius, he himself met with Thekla and asked her about the details of
the healing. On September 26, 1869 Saint Innocent arrived at the
Gethsemane skete and gave the blessing for a Molieben to be served
before the glorified icon, while he himself prayed with tears.
By
September 26 three healings had occurred already, and a whole series of
miracles in November of that same year. The fame of the icon of the
Mother of God spread with unusual swiftness. Exhausted by suffering and
sickness, thirsting for bodily and spiritual healing, people from every
class of society came with firm faith to the wonderworking icon, and the
mercy of God did not forsake them.
By the beginning of the
twentieth century, more than 100 miracles had been recorded. By its
great esteem the icon benefited the ascetics of the Gethsemane skete:
the schemamonk Philip (+ May 18, 1868), the founder of the cave
monastery, and his three sons, the hieroschemamonks Ignatius (+ 1900),
Porphyrius (+ 1905 ?) and Basil (+ April 1, 1915). They preserved
accounts of the deep love, which the hieromonk Elder Isidore (+ February
3, 1908) displayed for the Chernigov-Gethsemane Icon.
The initial
celebration of the icon was established on April 16, on the day when
Ilyin-Cherigov icon was celebrated. Later, it was transferred to
September 1, the day of its glorification. At the present time there are
copies of the Chernigov-Gethsemane icon at Trinity-Sergiev Lavra. They
are found in the temple of Saint Sergius, in the monastery trapeza, and
in the portico of the Trinity cathedral, painted by Elders of the
Gethsemane skete and the Zosimov wilderness monastery.
Commemorated on September 30
