Holy Hieromartyr Pancrátios,
Bishop of Taormina
Monday July 9/22 ns 2024
After the Ascension of the Lord, both parents and Pancrátios were baptized in Antioch. Pancrátios withdrew to a cave in Pontus where the Apostle Peter found him and in agreement with the Apostle Paul he was appointed as the Bishop of Taormina in Sicily. In Taormina, St. Pancrátios worked many miracles, destroyed the idols, baptized the unbaptized, strengthened the baptized and governed well the Church of God.
A heathen commander by the name of Aquilinus heard that the entire city of Taormina became Christian and set out with an entire army against this city in order to destroy it. St. Pancrátios encouraged the faithful not to be afraid and he, alone, with the clergy went outside the city carrying in his hands the invincible weapon, the Honorable Cross. When the army approached the city, darkness befell them and the soldiers were overcome with great fear. A great confusion then began among them and the attackers turned against one another and pierced and slaughtered each other with their swords. Thus Pancrátios, the chosen one of God, saved the city and his flock by the power of his prayer before the Lord. In the end, Pancrátios was stoned to death by envious and evil heathens and found rest in the Lord. His holy relics repose in Rome.
Taormina near Sicily
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Romans 12:4-5, 15-21 KJV
4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Saint Matthew 12:9-13 KJV
16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Saint Matthew 12:9-13 KJV
9 And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue:
10 And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.
11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?
12 How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.
13 Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.
10 And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.
11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?
12 How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.
13 Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.
"He who is able to pray correctly, even if he is the poorest of all people, is essentially the richest. And he who does not have proper prayer, is the poorest of all, even if he sits on a royal throne"
+ St John Chrysostomos
+ St John Chrysostomos
A MUTUAL EXCHANGE
from "Prayer"
by Saint Isaac the Syrian
Read here or in
At the time of prayer, when a person's mind is collected and all the senses are brought into harmony, an encounter between God and the person praying takes place. This explains why all spiritual gifts and all mystical visions have been given to the saints at the time of prayer, It was during prayer that an angel appeared to Zacharias and announced the conception of John the Baptist; it was during prayer of the sixth hour that Peter beheld the divine vision; it was while Cornelius the Centurion prayed that an angel appeared to him.
Once a year, when the High Priest, during the dread time of prayer, entered the Holy of Holies and cast himself down upon his face . . . he heard the oracles of God through an awesome and ineffable revelation. O how awesome was the mystery which was ministered in this ceremony! So also at the time of prayer were all the visions and revelations made manifest to the saints. For what other time is so holy, and by its sanctity so apt for the reception of gifts, as the time of prayer, wherein a man converses with God? At this time, when we make our petitions and our supplications to God, and we speak with Him, a human being forcefully gathers together all the movements and deliberations of his soul and converses with God alone, and his heart is abundantly filled with God.
THE SPIRITUAL WORLD
by Photios Kontoglou
by Photios Kontoglou
Translated by Dr. Constantine Cavarnos
from Kontoglou’s Mystical Flowers, Vol. 6
Read here or in
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| ICON OF THE GREAT MARTYR AND TROPHY BEARER GEORGE BY PHOTIOS KONTOGLOU |
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| PHOTIOS KONTOGLOU |
Contemporary man has altogether forgotten the world that is within himself and has occupied himself only with the world that is outside himself, the material world. And he investigates by means of science “the outside of the cup and platter” (St Matthew 23:25).
One of these worlds is material, the other is spiritual. One of them is for the transitory life; the other for the eternal. One of them is in space and time, while the other is beyond these.
Today’s man lives materialistically, busying himself with pseudo-spiritual things. Only matter interests him, the rather coarse, more tangible aspect of the universe. He cannot experience spiritual reality by means of his bodily senses and does not concern himself at all with it. He who hurls into space with machines made of aluminum, he who has his brain full of numbers, screws, springs, and other such things, cannot understand what is hidden behind the material world that he perceives by means of his physical senses.
How can he taste the fruit that is hidden inside the husk of the universe? He nourishes himself only with the husk, for it is this husk that his materialistic science is constantly studying. How can he understand the words of Christ, who says: “The kingdom of God is within you”, or those of Paul the Apostle who says: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you” (1 Cor. 3:16). How can this barbaric and hard heartened mankind, which is attached to the mud of matter, understand those words of divinely inspired Paul, who says that carnal men “worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator”? (Rom. 1:25)
For those who are engrossed with the knowledge of material things, “the mystical gate is closed”, and they are unable to cast a glance “into the Holy of Holies.” Their materialistic minds do not experience any other life besides the life of the flesh. They have placed all their hopes in it and are incapable of hearkening to the words of Paul, who says: "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most miserable” (1 Cor. 15:19); that is, “If we believe only in this life, we are the most miserable of all human beings.” And elsewhere he calls such materialistic individuals persons “who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13).
And indeed we see that such people are full of anguish, fear and agitation, because the “wages of sin is death”. “For whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap, for he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Gal. 6:7-8). And elsewhere it is written that “to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Rom. 8:6). In saying ‘peace’, Saint Paul means true peace, whereas pseudo peace is to be found in the external, material world, in which the materialists believe.
“What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”, asks Christ (St Matt. 16:26). But who listens to Him? All of us are striving to gain this unreal world, and we do not want to understand that which used to be sung by a beggar with the wisdom that is possessed by simple men:
One of these worlds is material, the other is spiritual. One of them is for the transitory life; the other for the eternal. One of them is in space and time, while the other is beyond these.
Today’s man lives materialistically, busying himself with pseudo-spiritual things. Only matter interests him, the rather coarse, more tangible aspect of the universe. He cannot experience spiritual reality by means of his bodily senses and does not concern himself at all with it. He who hurls into space with machines made of aluminum, he who has his brain full of numbers, screws, springs, and other such things, cannot understand what is hidden behind the material world that he perceives by means of his physical senses.
How can he taste the fruit that is hidden inside the husk of the universe? He nourishes himself only with the husk, for it is this husk that his materialistic science is constantly studying. How can he understand the words of Christ, who says: “The kingdom of God is within you”, or those of Paul the Apostle who says: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you” (1 Cor. 3:16). How can this barbaric and hard heartened mankind, which is attached to the mud of matter, understand those words of divinely inspired Paul, who says that carnal men “worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator”? (Rom. 1:25)
For those who are engrossed with the knowledge of material things, “the mystical gate is closed”, and they are unable to cast a glance “into the Holy of Holies.” Their materialistic minds do not experience any other life besides the life of the flesh. They have placed all their hopes in it and are incapable of hearkening to the words of Paul, who says: "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most miserable” (1 Cor. 15:19); that is, “If we believe only in this life, we are the most miserable of all human beings.” And elsewhere he calls such materialistic individuals persons “who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13).
And indeed we see that such people are full of anguish, fear and agitation, because the “wages of sin is death”. “For whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap, for he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Gal. 6:7-8). And elsewhere it is written that “to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Rom. 8:6). In saying ‘peace’, Saint Paul means true peace, whereas pseudo peace is to be found in the external, material world, in which the materialists believe.
“What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”, asks Christ (St Matt. 16:26). But who listens to Him? All of us are striving to gain this unreal world, and we do not want to understand that which used to be sung by a beggar with the wisdom that is possessed by simple men:
I entered into the world naked and will go out of it naked. The world is alien, it belongs to no one.
On the other hand, the faithful ones of God, “the children of God”, possess freedom, true freedom, which consists in knowledge of the Truth, that is, of Christ. Only with this knowledge do the nuptial doors open, from which the soul beholds the wondrous light of the incorruptible essence of the cosmos. The thoughts of these children of God are good, peaceful, and gladdening. “Become peaceful within yourself”, says a certain saint, “and heaven and earth will become peaceful. Enter into the chamber that is within you, and from there you will behold the palace of heaven” [St. Seraphim of Sarov].
The things that exist in the incorruptible heaven that has been revealed by Christ, and that which the soul looks from the mystical chamber that is inside us, are the true things. They are blessed, peaceful isles in the ocean that extend beyond every material constellation and are outside the slavery of space and time.
THE HOLY MOUNTAIN ATHOS
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