CLICK HERE TO GO TO ALL PAGES AND SERVICES
SAINT KYRIAKÓS THE ANCHORITE
Today the Church honors and celebrates the sacred memory of Blessed Kyriakós the Anchorite, who was born in Corinth in 408. His father was called Ioannis and was a priest, while his mother was Evdoxia. The then bishop of Corinth, Petros, who was Kyriakós’ uncle on his father’s side, ordained him reader. But Kyriakós did not find inner peace in Corinth and so, at the age of eighteen, he left for Jerusalem. There were many monasteries there at that time and some great ascetics, among whom he wished to live. His soul took wings and soared with divine love; he was captured and drawn by the eremitic life.
Going to Jerusalem, Saint Kyriakós found Saint Evthymios who made him a monk and sent him to Saint Gerásimos the Jordanite. Saint Evthýmios and Saint Gerásimos are great names in the history of asceticism. Saint Kyriakós lived with them, particularly Saint Gerásimos, from whom he was inseparable. When Saint Gerásimos fell asleep in the Lord, Saint Kyriakós returned to Saint Evthymios. But wherever he was, Saint Kyriakós performed his duties willingly and without complaint. since he always had in mind God’s words: “Cursed be they who do the works of the Lord without care” [Jer. 31, 10 (Septuagint)]
When he returned to the monastery of Saint Evthymios, Saint Kyriakós was ordained a priest. He remained there for many years and was so gentle and ascetic that no one ever saw him angry, nor even eating. He ate just enough to keep body and soul together, when night began to fall in his cell. When he was seventy-seven years old, Saint Kyriakós left the monastery for the desert and, at the age of ninety-nine left that for an even more remote spot. He always had a lion with him for company and protection. We shouldn’t forget that, before the Fall, the wild beats lived with Adam and Eve in paradise.
Saint Kyriakós fell asleep in the Lord at the age of one hundred and seven, and was, until the end, just as ascetic and robust in body. In the depths of old age, he had all his faculties, just as if he were still young. He was a well-built, handsome person, with manly grace, most venerable and imposing to those who approached him. And everyone came to him, because he was gentle and kindly. Since he didn’t stay in one place and one monastery, but went from Saint Evthymios to Saint Gerásimos, back to Saint Evthymios and out into the desert, then into another desert, he was given the name of “anchorite” [from the Greek verb αναχωρέω, meaning “to withdraw”].
Philippians 1:20-27 KJV
Saint Luke 6:12-19 KJV
Quotes from Saint Ambrosios of Milan
You too have this treasure if you look into yourself: 'For we have this treasure in earthen vessels' (II Cor. 4:7). You have gold which you can give, for God does not exact of you the precious gift of shining metal, but that gold which at the day of judgment the fire shall be unable to consume. Nor does He require precious gifts, but the good odor of faith, which the altars of your heart send forth and the disposition of a religious mind exhales."
Was he, then, who prophesied, in existence or not? Surely he was, surely he was in being who worshipped his Maker; he was in being who spoke in his mother's womb. And so Elizabeth was filled with the spirit of her son, and Mary sanctified by the Spirit of hers, for thus you may find it recorded, that 'the babe leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit' (St. Lk. 1:41).
Consider the proper force of each word. Elizabeth was indeed the first to hear the voice of Mary, but John was first to feel
His Lord's gracious Presence. Sweet is the harmony of prophecy with prophecy, of woman with woman, of babe with babe. The women speak words of grace, the babes move hiddenly, and as their mothers approach one another, so do they engage in mysterious converse of love; and in a two-fold miracle, though in diverse degrees of honor, the mothers prophecy in the spirit of their little ones.
Who, I ask, was it that performed this miracle?
Was it not the Son of God, Who made the unborn to be?
No comments:
Post a Comment