Holy Martyr Barlaám
OBEDIAH was born in the village of Betharam in the region of Shechem. He lived at the court of King Ahab, but when the king turned away from true worship and bowed down to idols, Obadiah did not follow the king, but continued to serve the one, true God. When the evil Queen Jezebel, in her hatred of Elias, raised a persecution against all the prophets of God, Obadiah gathered a hundred of them, hid them in two caves, and fed them to the end of the persecution (I Kings 18:4). A contemporary of the great Prophet Elias, Obadiah revered him greatly and served him in all things, as his follower and disciple. He lived nine hundred years before Christ and entered peacefully into rest.
BARLAAM was born in Antioch. Because of his faith in Christ the Lord, the impious judge tortured him harshly. Finally, the judge decided to mock him by forcing him to offer sacrifice to the idols. For this he took him to the pagan temple and set a burning coal on his palm and incense on the coal. The judge thought that the pain would cause the martyr to shake the coal and incense off his hand before the idols, and thus involuntarily cense them. However, the soldier of Christ heroically held the burning coal on his palm with no thought of casting it before the idols, until his fingers were burned through and fell off and his palm was completely burnt.
St. Basil the Great said: "Barlaám had a right hand more powerful than fire: although the coal burned his hand, his hand still held the fire as if it were ash.''
St. John Chrysostomos writes: "The angels looked from the heights. The archangels beheld the scene transcending human nature. Behold, who would not wish to see a man who made such an ascetic endeavor, yet did not feel that which is characteristic of men to feel; a man who was himself both the altar of oblation and the sacrifice and the priest?'' When his hand burned off, elder Barlaam's whole body fell to the ground dead and his soul went to the eternal rest of our Lord the Savior. This glorious, heroic elder suffered in the year 304.
1 Thessalonians 2:20-3:8
King James Version
20 For ye are our glory and joy.
3 Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone;
2 And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith:
3 That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.
4 For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.
5 For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labour be in vain.
6 But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, and that ye have good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you:
7 Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith:
8 For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.
Saint Luke 17:20-25
King James Version
20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
22 And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.
23 And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.
24 For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.
25 But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.
Elder Avvakum (Habbakuk - 'he embraces')
The Grace-Filled,
of the Lavra on the Holy Mountain Athos
JOY comes from one’s relationship and union with God. Mankind has been created to be joyful, not sad. When you enjoy the wrong things, you will inevitably pay back for all this pleasure you have had. But God’s joy demands no repayment. For instance I, who own nothing in this world, cannot pay for the happiness I have. I am not the only one proclaiming this truth. My brother monks, who also have nothing else besides God, are filled with joy. I have emptied myself for Christ’s sake. I have nothing but my Lord – and joy. Poverty is beautiful for it sets you free. One should empty himself to make room for Christ to enter his heart. When the Lord is with me, there is my happiness also. In each ascetic cave you will find spiritual joy.
“WHEN people keep the fear of God, then it is quiet and sweet to live on Earth. But now people began to live of their own will and reason, and left aside the divine commandments, and without God they think they can find joy on earth, not knowing that the one God is our joy, and only in God is the human soul rejoiced. He warms the soul as the sun warms up wildflowers, and like the wind, swinging them, gives them life.”
~Elder Silouan of Athos (Silouan the Athonite) was an Orthodox monk of Russian origin, born Simeon Ivanovich Antonov who was a poet and monk of the St. Panteleimon Monastery.
“OUR entire earthly life from birth to the last breath in its final completion will appear as a single, unextended act. Its content and quality can be seen in a split second. Imagine a jar of perfectly clean glass full of water; at first sight you can say whether the water is clean or not, and how much. So it will be with us on the transition to the other world. Any movement, even a fleeting one, of heart or thought leaves a mark in the total amount of our life… when we are fully concerned for eternity, then everything changes, and we strive to free ourselves from all darkness within us.”
~Elder Sophrony (Sakharov) was an archimandrite and one of the noted ascetic Christian monks of the twentieth century. He is best known as the disciple and biographer of St Silouan the Athonite and compiler of St Silouan’s works, and as the founder of the Patriarchal Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist in Tolle shunt Knights, Malden, Essex, England.
Dome of the Rock - Jerusalem 1962
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