In love and honor we remember
today...
The Holy Prophet Zacharias,father of the Venerable
Forerunner
During the reign of King Herod the child-slayer, Zacharias was serving one day at the Temple of Jerusalem according to his turn. An angel of God appeared to him in the sanctuary, and Zacharias had great fear. The angel said to him: Fear not, Zacharias (St. Luke 1:13), and announced that Elizabeth would bear a son, in answer to their prayers. But both Zacharias and Elizabeth were old. When Zacharias doubted the words of the heavenly herald, the angel said: I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God (St. Luke 1:19). Zacharias was struck dumb from that hour, and could not speak until his son was born and he had written on a tablet: His name is John (St. Luke 1:63). Then his speech returned, and he magnified God.
Some time later, when the Lord Jesus had been born and Herod began to slaughter the children of Bethlehem, he sent men to find and kill the son of Zacharias-for Herod had heard all that had happened to Zacharias, and how John had been born. Upon seeing the soldiers coming, Elizabeth took John into her arms-he was a year and a half old at that time-fled from the house with him, and ran to a rocky and desolate place. When she saw the soldiers following her, she cried out to the mountain: "O mountain of God, receive a mother with her child!'' and the rock opened and hid the mother and child. Then Herod, enraged that the child John had not been slain, ordered that Zacharias be slain before the altar. The blood of Zacharias was spilled on the marble and dried solid as stone, and remained as a witness to Herod's evil deed.
In the place where Elizabeth hid with John a cave opened, water flowed out of it, and a fruit-bearing palm grew, all by the power of God. Forty days after the death of Zacharias, the blessed Elizabeth died. The child John remained in the wilderness, fed by an angel and protected by God's providence, until the day he appeared at the Jordan.
Hebrews 6:13-20 KJV
13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Saint Matthew 23:29-39 KJV
29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
ST JOHN 16:33 KJV
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. Saint John 16:33 KJV
“These things I have spoken unto you,” the Lord explains, “lest you dismiss Me from your thoughts or become dismayed and shaken.” Remain steadfast in your love for Me. Be at peace in Me, which means, remain unshaken and accept as trustworthy all that I have told you.
Understand that whenever Christ says something that appears to demean his dignity as the son of God, he is speaking out of humility and condescending to the limited understanding of his listeners. it is not to be misused for devising false doctrines. Jesus spoke as he did to comfort the apostles and show his love for them.
In the world you shall have tribulation. I shall permit you to be tempted, not only during the afflictions that I have specifically foretold, but afterwards as well. As long as you are in the world you shall have tribulation. Stand fast against your wavering thoughts and take courage; I have overcome the world. Knowing this, you, as my disciples, should never despair. Rather, you should disdain the world which I have overcome. How did Christ overcome the world? By casting down the Prince of worldly passions. The events that subsequently took place make it abundantly clear that all things have been subjected to Him and have yielded to Him.
When Adam was vanquished, all human nature was condemned; When Christ, the new Adam, conquered, all human nature shared in his victory. In Christ Jesus we tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy (Saint Luke 10:11) since by a man death entered in, by a man life also entered and and the devil was trampled under foot (Corinthians 15: 21-22).
Had only the godhead conquered, the victory would have meant nothing to us.
HOW THE TRUE FAITH HAS
COME DOWN TO US
and
KNOWING GOD
St. Silouan of the
Holy Mountain Athos
The soul of all peoples always felt
that God exists, even though they
didn't know enough to worship the
true God. The Holy Spirit, however,
taught the Prophets first, then the
Apostles, after them the Holy Fathers
and our bishops and so the true faith
has come down to us. We knew the Lord
through the Holy Spirit. And once
we knew him, our soul became fixed in him.
Know, you peoples, that we were made
in order to glorify God in heaven, and
don't attach yourselves to the earth.
Because God is our Father and He loves
us, His greatly desired children. People
who don't know grace, don't seek it.
People have become attached to the earth
and this is why most of them don't know
that there's nothing earthly which can
compare with the sweetness of the
Holy Spirit.
TO BELIEVE OR TO KNOW
To believe that God exists is one thing;
to know God is another. The soul that
comes to know God fully, not longer
desires anything else. Nor does it
attach itself to anything on the earth;
and if you put before it a Kingdom,
it would not desire it. For the love
of God gives such sweetness and joy
to the soul that even the life of a king
can no longer give it any sweetness.
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