H O L Y
A P O S T L E S'
F A S T
Today we honor
Holy Hieromartyr Evsébios,
Bishop of Samosáta
and
St. Alban, Protomartyr
of Britain
Evsébios was great in exposing Arianism. When the throne of Antioch became vacant, Meletius was elected patriarch at the insistence of Evsébios. Meletius was a great beacon of the Church who, after his death, was found worthy of great praise by St. John Chrysostomos. However, the Arians quickly banished Meletius from Antioch. When Constantine's pernicious son Constantius died another much worse than he was crowned, Julian the Apostate. During the time of Julian's persecution of Christians, St. Evsébios removed his clerical attire and donned a soldier's uniform so that, under the guise of a soldier, he visited the persecuted Church throughout Syria, Phoenicia and Palestine strengthening the Orthodox Faith everywhere and installing the necessary priests and deacons and other clergy and, in some places, bishops.
Following the stormy death of Julian, St. Evsébios counseled Meletius to convene a Council in Antioch in 361 A.D. at which twenty-seven hierarchs were present and the Arian heresy was condemned once more and the Faith of Orthodoxy was proclaimed in the same manner as it was expressed at the First Ecumenical Council [Nicaea 325 A.D]. Along with Meletius and Evsébios, St. Pelagius of Laodicea the famous ascetic and chaste one, made a great impact at the Council of Antioch. This Council was held during the reign of the pious Emperor Jovian. However, Emperor Jovian soon died and the wicked Valens was crowned and again the persecution of Orthodoxy ensued. St. Meletius was exiled to Armenia, Evsébios exiled to Thrace and Pelagius exiled to Arabia. After Valens, Gratian was crowned emperor and it was he who granted freedom to the Church and recalled the exiled hierarchs to their former sees. Thus, they returned: Meletius to Antioch, Evsébios to Samosata and Pelagius to Laodicea. At this time, many dioceses and many parishes were widowed and Evsébios zealously hurried to find and to give to the people canonical shepherds. When he came to the town of Doliche to enthrone the newly elected bishop Marinus and to denounce the heresy of Arius, which was strong in this town, a fanatical heretic hurled a ceramic tile at Evsébios' head and mortally wounded him. This great zealot, saint and martyr of Orthodoxy died to live eternally in the blessedness of Paradise. He suffered in the year 379 A.D.
Romans 6:11-17 KJV
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Saint Matthew 8:14-23 KJV
14 And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever.
15 And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.
16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:
17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
18 Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side.
19 And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
21 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.
23 And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.
Due to favorable responses, the PARAGON remains the same.
Mother Amvrosia is from the
Holy Virgin Protection Monastery
The follow is an excellent excerpt of her from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl5cBdj5t7g
This life is temporary. Everybody wants to live as long as possible. That's because we are supposed to live eternally. We were made that way in Paradise. But because of the fall in Paradise we lost it. And that's why everyone desires to live longer. And for me, this place (the transient life (Ed.)) is like an inn. A place where we stop off temporarily to work out our life, our Salvation; To show where we stand in relation to God, and that determines our future there, and that's eternal. So this is a place of pain, illness, ending with death. Of course God gives us joy and plenty of it, but then sorrow, grief etc so we shouldn't be afraid of death if our conscience is clear and if we have faith. There is no such thing as death but rather birth to go into the other world.
The following is borrowed from
"THE FIRST CREATED MAN"
by St Symeon the New Theologian
Every man, from the first day of his birth from the moment of his conception, is already subject to corruption and death, and there is required a great and Divine power so as to recreate him for incorruption and immortality. If anyone, together with the growth of this body, should grow also in evil, in him, of course, the power of corruption and the Dominion of death also increase and become even more powerful. This is so because according to the measure of the corruption which one develops in oneself, the sting of death also enters into one, to a greater or lesser extent.
If now a small and innocent child has need of Divine power so as to be delivered from corruption, then what greater power is required for one who, together with his growth in age, has grown also in evil, and together with it and through it, has grown also in corruption? This corruption is what the ancestor of God, David, calls in his Psalms ‘bonds and sackcloth’, when he calls out to God, “Thou has broken my bonds asunder.” I shall offer a sacrifice of praise unto Thee, Psalm 115:7-8; that is, I shall give thanks to Thee and glorify Thee because Thou hast loosed my bond, that is, corruption. And again, Thou did rent my sackcloth and did gird me with gladness, that my glory may chant unto Thee, and that I may not be pierced with sorrow. Psalm 29:12,13; that is, Thou hast divested me of the sackcloth which I was wearing, that is, corruption, and gritted me with joy, that I may glorify Thee — not I, but the Holy Spirit through me, because the joy and Glory received by David from God was the Holy Spirit; and having Him within himself he says, that I may not be pierced with sorrow. (I shall have no need to repent), that is, I shall not sin.
And so, it is absolutely necessary for everyone to use all possible efforts so as to receive from above, from Christ God, this rejoicing in glory that is, the grace of the Holy Spirit, in order to have power to sin no more. For that which anyone does out of free will he may also annihilate through free will; but what is from nature cannot be annihilated by free will. If man has now become corrupt and mortal in nature, he cannot by the power free will alone become incorruptible and immortal. And from the time of the banishment of Adam from Paradise, that is, from the time when he became corruptible and mortal by reason of his transgression, even up to the present day, not a single man has ever been incorrupt and immortal.
A room of Roman Catholics asked a visitor if he was
Orthodox.
No punchline?
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