† 6th SUNDAY St. John (Blind Man) Holy Nun-Martyr Pelagía;
New Martyrs of Baták in Bulgaria; St. Nicephóros the Solitary; St. Monica, Mother of St. Augustine
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Fleeing from the profane crown prince and her wicked mother, Pelagia sought and found Bishop Linus, a man distinguished for his holiness. He instructed Pelagia in the Christian Faith and baptized her. Then Pelagia gave away her luxurious garments, much wealth, returned home and confessed to her mother that she is already baptized.
Learning of this and having lost all hope that he will gain this holy virgin for his wife, the crown prince stabbed himself with a sword and died. The wicked mother denounced her daughter before the emperor and turned her over to him for trial. The emperor was amazed at the beauty of this young virgin and, forgetting his son, became inflamed with impure passions toward her. But since Pelagia remained unwavering in her faith, the emperor sentenced her to be burned alive in a metal ox, glowing with a red-hot fire.
When the executioner stripped her, St. Pelagia made the sign of the cross and with a prayer of thanksgiving to God on her lips, entered the glowing ox where, in the twinkling of an eye, she completely melted like wax.
11 But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,
12 And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
13 And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.
14 And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.
15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.
Acts 16:16-34 KJV
16 And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:
17 The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.
18 And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.
19 And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers,
20 And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,
21 And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.
22 And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.
23 And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
24 Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.
29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
34 And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
Saint John 9:1-38 KJV
9:1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,
7 And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.
8 The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?
9 Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he.
10 Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?
11 He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.
12 Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not.
13 They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind.
14 And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes.
15 Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see.
16 Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.
17 They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet.
18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight.
19 And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see?
20 His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind:
21 But by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.
22 These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.
23 Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him.
24 Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner.
25 He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.
26 Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes?
27 He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples?
28 Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses' disciples.
29 We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is.
30 The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes.
31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.
32 Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind.
33 If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.
34 They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.
35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?
37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.
38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.
A conversation with
St. Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
Divine Liturgy and on frequent
Holy Communion.
St. Porphyrios said, "cense them and they do not bow in reverence. I say 'Let us stand aright', but they sit down. I bless them, and they are having a conversation. And the most tragic, I say: 'Drink of this, all of you', and only few people approach for Holy Communion. This is a great pain for the priest."
I asked him: "Elder, does that mean that everyone should be receiving?"
"I am not saying this myself. The Lord is saying this 'all of you'!
Perhaps this word has some other meaning that I don't know? And later on, the prayer says: 'through us and to all your people.' Naturally, this applies to those who do not have impediments [i.e. sins for which they are under penance to not receive for a period of time, determined by one's spiritual father.] The rest should have beforehand received the permission of their spiritual father. Otherwise, without Holy Communion, without Christ, how will they go out into their everyday lives? You come to Church and you lost the most important thing, the Gift, Which is everything, you remain only with antidoron.
Do you know what "The Holy Altar" is? It is the most precious thing upon the earth. Royal thrones, presidential halls, academic institutions have little worth. The Holy Altar is the Burning Bush. Here Christ descends, the Holy Spirit is present, and the Angels encircle. It is an awesome thing. I, many times, am afraid to touch the Holy Altar with my hands. And before this wonder, you hear the faithful whispering and discussing various topics, not experiencing this unique event. How can one Liturgized like this?
"Is the priest alone, or are we all together, clergy and laity? Why do we call it 'Liturgy'? Is it or is it not 'the work of the people'? Eh!
"As the priest stands, so should the people stand. Concentrated. Totally dedicated to God. At that hour, we are not upon the earth. 'We who mystically represent the Cherubim', we are in heaven, before the Holy Trinity. We are without the 'cares of life'. We are all liturgists...My, my, my! What God has made us worthy to experience! If we believe that before us is completed the Great Sacrifice, we should all be standing 'with fear of God'.
"We should be weeping out of joy that God Himself condescends to be sacrificed out of love for us. If we don't believe this, why are we coming to Church? Who are we mocking? Those who don't come to Church therefore are more consistent [i.e. compared to those who come in a disrespectful or faithless manner]. In church we are silent, we are concentrated, and we speak to God.
"Do you understand what I'm saying? If so, you have a responsibility to share this among the rest of our brethren who are ignorant of the terrible mysteries that are being accomplished. If it is as I say.
"May God give us strength to accept this "wonder". Canonically, both the priest and the faithful should repose having lived so closely to the Mystery [of Holy Communion], as close as the light of the Sun.
"But the greatly compassionate God allows, (hear an awesome thing!) for us to experience rest already [in this life], in our worthlessness."
And the Saint, a true Liturgist, began to cry, and finished:
"If you leave in this way, from the Divine Liturgy, full of peace, which shines throughout the world around you - you transmit Christ. You have become a Christ-bearer.
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