CHRIST IS RISEN!
Saint Theodore Trichinás
Saint Athanasios of Metéora
Holy Apostle Zacchæus, Bishop of Cæsarea
Tuesday April 20 / May 3 ns 2022
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| St. Theodore Trichinás |
Because of his great self-mortification for the sake of the salvation of his soul, God bestowed upon him the great gift of miracle-working both during his lifetime and after death. He died peacefully about the year 400 A.D. His body was shown to be flowing with oil [Chrism].
Acts 4:1-10 KJV
4 And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them,
2 Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide.
4 Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.
5 And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes,
6 And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.
7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,
9 If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;
10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
Saint John 3:16-21 KJV
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
We must “empty ourselves” for God to enter into us.
On Self-Love, Egocentrism, and Freedom
The following is an extract from a transcription of a homily by Archimandrite Georgios, Abbot of the Holy Monastery of St. Gregory (Mount Athos), delivered at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Athens after the service of Great Compline during Great Lent, 1988. Translated from the Greek.
A constant struggle is needed. And after all, does not the entirety of life in the Church help us in this regard? The Holy Mysteries, prayers, Divine Liturgies, the prayer “Lord Jesus Christ” that we say on the Holy Mountain—and you surely say it here too—do these not comprise a constant effort to free ourselves from our egocentric and selfish self-absorption, and to open ourselves up to God and to our brothers? The more self-love diminishes in us, the more freedom we feel and the more we unite with Christ. Christians who undertake such a struggle know by experience that the more they open themselves up to God, the more God enters within them. This is because God respects our freedom. As long we remain full of ourselves and our self-love, how can God enter? There is no room for Him to enter. We have to empty ourselves for God to enter. And by our struggle to empty ourselves of our own will and mindset—as St. Peter of Damascus says—of our self-conceit, our self-complacency, our self-assurance, and our self-trust, and by giving ourselves entirely over to God, God enters into us.
A nun confessed to me that her Gerontissa (her Elder), to whom she was eagerly and unquestioningly obedient, once said to her: “My child, you please me by your obedience.” The moment her Gerontissa told her that, she felt that God entirely entered into her. She experienced that. You see? She had entirely emptied herself of all her personal will, and God entirely entered into her.
The same thing happened to a
peasant worker from a village near the Holy Mountain, who worked at our
monastery as a woodcutter. One day, as he was walking through our forest, he greeted
me and said: “Sit down, Elder, and I will tell you a great miracle worked for
me by the Holy Forty Martyrs, so that you can see how wonderworking they are.
“My leg hurt for years. I would go to doctors and hospitals, but they couldn’t
do anything for me. “Since I love the Holy Forty Martyrs very much, I went to
the parish in my village on their Feast Day. The Church was full of people. “As
soon as I arrived, my leg began to ache terribly. I thought of going outside
the Church to rest it a while. But then I had the thought: ‘Judas left the
Mystical Supper and went out. Will you also become a Judas? You will stay
inside even if you hurt.’ Soon, I began to hurt even more and I thought of
sitting down to rest my leg. At that moment, however, I looked at the Icon of
the Holy Forty Martyrs, saw them freezing in the lake, and said to myself:
‘They were so patient and 3 froze for Christ’s sake, and you can’t even stand
up? You will remain standing even if it kills you.’ “The moment I said that, a
current came and wrapped around my head, and passed through my body down to my
aching leg. I have been well since then and never hurt again. You see, Elder,
how wonderworking the Holy Forty Martyrs are?” This person did not feel that he
had done anything praiseworthy. He believed it was wholly a miracle of the Holy
Forty Martyrs. But we see, when did the miracle take place and when did God
enter him? When he emptied himself entirely of his self-love and was resolved
even to die out of love for God....
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