The Best of September 2019 by the Mystagogy Resource Center (MRC)

Below is the monthly review for the month of September 2019 of the ten most popular articles on johnsanidopoulos.com, then all the posts made on the other websites of the Mystagogy Resource Center. As for the most popular post from all the websites of the Mystagogy Resource Center for the month of September, that honor goes to:

The Story Behind the Only Church in Greece Dedicated to the Prophet Jonah

JohnSanidopoulos.com

1. The Story Behind the Only Church in Greece Dedicated to the Prophet Jonah

2. What Saint Nektarios Was Doing on September 11, 2001

3. Proposal for Dealing with the Ukrainian Issue

4. A Relic of Saint Polycarp Returns to Nafpaktos (Update on the 2013 Theft)

Greek Chapel Dedicated to the New Saints Paisios, Porphyrios and Iakovos Built Near Turkish Border

On September 29, 2019 a chapel dedicated to the new saints Paisios the Athonite, Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva and Iakovos of Evia was consecrated by Metropolitan Damaskenos of Didymotichon, Orestias and Soufli. The chapel belongs to the Holy Monastery of Hagia Skepi - Saint Paraskevi in Nea Vyssa.

Saint Gregory of Pelsheme (+ 1441)

St. Gregory of Pelsheme (Feast Day - September 30)

Venerable Gregory of Pelsheme was born in the city of Galich. He came from the line of the Lopotov nobility. When he reached the age of fifteen, his parents wanted him to marry, but they died, without seeing this come to pass. Young Gregory distributed the inheritance left him to the poor, and entered the Monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos on the shore of Lake Galich.

The abbot of the monastery regarded the new monk with mistrust because of his youth and noble parentage. Therefore, he placed Gregory in obedience to an experienced Elder. With great humility Saint Gregory served all the brethren. After a certain while he was ordained a priest. Soon Saint Gregory’s fame as a pastor spread, and many began to arrive for spiritual guidance and counsels.

Homily on the Resurrection Apolytikion in the Plagal of the Second Tone

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The day Christ resurrected was a great, unprecedented and triumphantly unique day in history, because Christ after His death on the Cross, the entombment of His immaculate body, the descent of His soul with His divinity into Hades, rose from the dead, since His soul and body once again reunited, even though both are united with His divinity. This was followed with significant events, as described in the Apolytikion in the plagal of the second tone we chanted today:

Homily on the Gospel for the Second Sunday of Luke (St. Gregory Palamas)

Homily Forty-Five

On the Gospel for the Second Sunday of Luke Which Says

"As Ye Would That Men Should Do To You,

Do Ye Also To Them Likewise"

Also Against Userers

By St. Gregory Palamas

1. He who alone fashioned our hearts, who understands all our works: (cf. Ps. 33:15Lxx), who was manifested to us through flesh and deigned to become our teacher, seeks from us, now that He is re-making us, the very things which He originally put in our souls when He created them, but which have been spoilt. In the beginning He formed us in a manner that was appropriate to His future teaching, and later He renders that teaching suitable for the way we were originally made, so all he was doing was cleansing His creature’s beauty which had been obscured by the addition of sin. Nothing shows this more clearly than the words of today’s Gospel reading, which we propose to elucidate: "As ye would", it says, “that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Luke 6:31). The prophet Isaiah did well to prophesy that, “The Lord will give a brief word upon the earth” (Isa. 10:23 Lxx). For in this short pronouncement He included every virtue, every commandment, and virtually every good deed and thought. That is why, according to the evangelist Matthew, when the Lord had said these words, He added, “for this is the law and the prophets” (Matt. 7:12). Elsewhere, summing up His teaching, He said that all the law and the prophets hung on the two commandments to love God and love our neighbor (Matt. 22:37-40). Now, however, He has gathered everything into one and included not only the righteousness found in the law and the prophets, but absolutely every type of good deed dome among men, since He is not making laws now for just one race, but for the whole world, or rather, for all those who come to Him through faith from every nation under heaven.

Second Sunday of Luke: Gospel Reading

Second Sunday of Luke

Gospel According to Luke 6:31-36

Imitating the Mercy of God

English

The Lord said, "As you would that men would do to you, do also to them likewise. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful."

Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost: Epistle Reading

Fifteenth Sunday of Pentecost

St. Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians 4:6-15

English

Brethren, it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For while we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. Since we have the same spirit of faith as he had who wrote, "I believed, and so I spoke," we too believe, and so we speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

Saint Chariton the Confessor as a Model for our Lives

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

Venerable Chariton the Confessor was born and raised in Iconium of Asia Minor, during the reign of Emperor Aurelian, which was a period of persecution against the Church. He was arrested along with other Christians, and courageously confessed his faith, for which he was subjected to severe torture. Twice he was carried off bloodied to prison, but by the grace of God he survived, and when Aurelian died soon after, Saint Chariton, by imperial decree, was released.

After his release he continued to live a life of asceticism and prayer. One day he decided to go to Jerusalem, along the way however he encountered some robbers, who took him prisoner and led him to their cave. But soon after the robbers died after they had drank from their wine, for without knowing a snake had poisoned it. Thus, Saint Chariton, by divine economy, was freed from bondage, but he also became an heir to the great wealth of the robbers, which he distributed to the poor, and took care to build many sacred churches.

Saint Sigebert, King of East Anglia (+ 637)

St. Sigebert of East Anglia (Feast Day - September 27)

The principal source for the life of Saint Sigebert is Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, which was completed in the 730's. There the following is written:

Book 1, Chapter 15: The Province of East Anglia Receives the Faith of Christ (627 A.D.)

Edwin was so zealous for the worship of truth, that he likewise persuaded Eorpwald, king of the East Saxons, and son of Redwald, to abandon his idolatrous superstitions, and with his whole province to receive the faith and sacraments of Christ. And indeed his father Redwald had long before been admitted to the sacrament of the Christian faith in Kent, but in vain; for on his return home, he was seduced by his wife and certain perverse teachers, and turned back from the sincerity of the faith; and thus his latter state was worse than the former; so that, like the ancient Samaritans, he seemed at the same time to serve Christ and the gods whom he had served before; and in the same temple he had an altar to sacrifice to Christ, and another small one to offer victims to devils; which temple, Aldwulf, king of that same province, who lived in our time testifies had stood until his time, and that he had seen it when he was a boy. The aforesaid King Redwald was noble by birth, though ignoble in his actions, being the son of Tytilus, whose father was Uuffa, from whom the kings of the East Angles are called Uuffings.

Synaxarion of the Holy Five Canonical Virgins Thekla, Mariamna, Martha, Maria and Ennatha

The Holy Five Virgin Martyrs (Feast Day - September 26 and June 9)

Verses

For June 9.

For the love of money the Canonicals,
Were slain by the sacrificer; O unfortunate sacrificer!

For September 26.

The Five Virgins longed only for Christ,
For the love of money the father killed them all together.

During the reign of King Shapur of Persia in the year 330, there was a Priest named Paul near the village called Aza, who being rich, he had with him five Canonicals, namely Virgin Nuns, who were adorned with the brilliance of the virtues. He served as a priest and chanted with them, while whatever money the Canonicals had they would give to him, and he would treasure them. The devil, who is a hater of good, being unable to behold the progress according to God of the Canonicals, which every day and hour was increased, and extended before him, what did the most-wicked one devise? Through a certain Persian named Nirse, news about this passed on to the arch-magi who in turn passed it on to the King, namely that "there is a certain wealthy Christian Priest, and if you want, O master, to gain his wealth, have him stand before you with the Virgins he has. And because they will not deny their faith, you will gain all his wealth."

Life of our Venerable Father Sergius of Radonezh

St. Sergius of Radonezh (Feast Day - September 25)

By St. Dimitri of Rostov

Our holy and God-bearing monastic father Sergius was born in the city of Rostov, the son of Orthodox parents named Cyril and Maria. God chose him to be His servant while he was still in his mother’s womb. One day, when his mother was yet carrying him in her womb, she went to church to attend the holy Liturgy as she was accustomed to do. When the reading of the Holy Gospel was begun, the child cried out so that all those who stood near his mother heard him. During the Cherubic Hymn he called out again, and when the priest proclaimed, "Holy things are for the holy," the child was heard a third time from his mother’s womb. From this, all perceived that he was to become a great light unto the world and a servant of the Holy Trinity. Even as Saint John the Forerunner leaped for joy in the womb before the Mother of the Lord, so did this child leap before the Lord in His holy church. His mother was seized with fear and astonishment on account of this miracle, and all who heard of it marvelled greatly. Soon thereafter, the time came for his mother to give birth, and she bore a son, who was given the name Bartholomew. From the day of his birth, he would not drink milk on Wednesdays, Fridays, or on other days of fasting. Such was the beginning of his great abstinence and fasting as a grown man.

Saint Finbarr, Bishop of Cork

St. Finbarr of Cork (Feast Day - September 25)

Born in Templemartin, near Bandon, and originally named Lóchán (modern form, Loan), he was the son of Amergin of Maigh Seóla, a skilled craftsman originally from Galway. He studied in Ossory, corresponding approximately to the present County Kilkenny. He was renamed "Fionnbharra" (Fairhead in Irish), reportedly when, on being tonsured, the presiding cleric remarked: "Is fionn barr ("find barr", in the Irish of the time) Lócháin", meaning, "Fair is the crest of Loan"), and he then became known as "Findbarr" ("Fionnbarra" in modern Irish) because of his fair hair. He went on pilgrimage to Rome with some of the monks, visiting Saint David in Wales on the way back.

Holy Venerable Martyr Paphnutios

St. Paphnutios the Venerable Martyr (Feast Day - September 25)

Verses

Friends of the world crucified Paphnutios,
Who formerly had been crucified to all worldly things.

Saint Paphnutios had been living the ascetic life for many years near a village called Denterah when Diocletian, that ferocious enemy of Christians, sent Arrianus to govern Egupt. Arrianus decided to seize the holy monk because of the many pagans drawn to Christ by his words and by the example of his life.

As Paphnutios was praying, an angel of the Lord appeared, telling him it was time to perfect the edifice of virtue he had been working on since his youth, by the final contest of martyrdom. "Make haste to your cell," said the angel, "and put on the ornaments in which you are vested for the ministration of the Holy Mysteries, because the time has come to offer yourself in sacrifice to the living God." So warned, the holy man gained a march on the two hundred soldiers sent to look for him, and presented himself of his own accord at the tribunal of Arrianus.

Synaxis of the Panagia Engymonousa in Katerini (Celebrating the Six Month Pregnancy of the Theotokos)

It has been established that on September 25th the Panagia Engymonousa is honored, the protectress and guardian of all child-bearing women and childless families. Engymonousa is translated into English as "the one who is pregnant," and she is called this because in the icon of the Panagia Engymonousa the Mother of God is depicted as being six months pregnant. The reason her six month pregnancy is commemorated today is because it is exactly six months ago, on March 25th, that we celebrated her Annunciation which resulted in her conception, and in exactly three months, on December 25th, we will celebrate the Birth of our Lord.

Saint Juvenaly of Alaska as a Model for our Lives

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

Saint Juvenaly, who in the world was known as Yakov Feodorov, was born in Russia in 1756. He was a military man and reached the rank of brigadier, but the desire for God that burned in his heart caused him to abandon the military and settle in the renowned Monastery of Valaam, where he was tonsured a monk and ordained a priest. The abbot of the monastery, Staretz Nazarius, seeing his divine zeal, sent him to Alaska for missionary work, together with other monks, after a decision by the Holy Synod of the Church of Russia. With joy and enthusiasm Juvenaly joined the missionary team, led by the thirty-three year old Archimandrite Joasaph. On January 22, 1794 the eight missionaries left Moscow and mainly traveled by ship. According to a letter from the leader of the group to the abbot Staretz Nazarius, Juvenaly "was by far the most capable and prudent, with so much fervor for missions, that he wanted to run everywhere preaching about Christ."

Synaxis of the Panagia of Myrsinidi Monastery in Chios

The Sacred Monastery of the Panagia of Myrsinidi (or Mersini, or Myrtidiotissa) is built on the edge of a cliff which overlooks the Aegean Sea towards the Asia Minor coast and looks as if it rests upon its waves. Located just north of the town of Vrontados, it is seven kilometers from the island's capital. It is dedicated to Panagia Myrtidiotissa, which is celebrated on September 24, and is considered, along with the Nea Moni and the Monastery of Saint Menas, to be one of the most sacred pilgrimage sites of Chios.

Saint Abramius of Mirozh (+ 1158)

St. Abramius of Mirozh (Feast Day - September 24)

Venerable Abramius (Abraham) of Mirozh was the builder and first abbot of the Pskov Savior-Transfiguration Monastery on the banks of the River Velika, where it meets the River Mirozha. The Mirozh Monastery was founded in about the year 1156, in the time of Svyatopolk Mstislavich, by both Saint Abramius and by Saint Niphon, Bishop of Novgorod (Apr. 8), a brother of the holy Prince Vsevolod-Gabriel (Feb. 11).

This monastery, the most ancient in Pskov, was the first seed of monasticism transported to the Pskov soil from Kiev. On a chalice of Saint Niphon is inscribed: "Holy Bishop Niphon ... enthroned, he built many holy monasteries and churches with the approval of Prince Vsevolod of Pskov, and upon the death of Prince Vsevolod he came ... to Pskov and constructed ... the church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, and a monastery of fame and beauty, and gathered brethren and appointed an abbot."

Synaxis of All Saints of Alaska

On September 24, 1794, the first formal Orthodox Mission in North America was established in Kodiak. Annually on this day, the saints who are associated with the coming of Orthodoxy to America in the Russian colony of Alaska are commemorated.

Why We Commemorate the Conception of Saint John the Baptist on September 23

By John Sanidopoulos

The Feast of the Conception of the Holy and Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John is a feast upon which some of the other major feasts of the Church stand, since it is from the date of the conception of John the Baptist we can calculate when his birth took place (nine months later), when the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary took place (six months later), and when the Birth of Christ took place (nine months after the Annunciation).

Synaxis of the Slovenka Icon of the Mother of God

The wonderworking Slovenka Icon of the Mother of God manifested itself on May 15, 1628 at the village of Slovenka in the Kostroma district, to the peasant Titus Gavrilov from the village of Sherstnevo in the Galich district, who suffered from paralysis and blindness.

The Mother of God appeared to Titus in a dream and told him to go to the Slovenka river where there was a a dilapidated, abandoned church, under a tree growing through the destroyed roof of the temple, in which he would find her holy icon. Having regained consciousness, Titus was completely healed, and without hesitation, together with the local priest Evdokim, he set off on the path indicated in the dream by the Mother of God.

Homily on the Resurrection Apolytikion in the Plagal of the First Tone

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The troparia of the Church, especially those composed by the great Father and foremost theologian, Saint John of Damascus, contain the entire theology of the Church. They are not emotional troparia, but theological. This is also the case with the Resurrection Apolytikion in plagal of the first tone which we chanted today, and it is as follows:

Τόν συνάναρχον Λόγον Πατρί καί Πνεύματι, τόν ἐκ Παρθένου τεχθέντα εἰς σωτηρίαν ἡμῶν, ἀνυμνήσωμεν πιστοί καί προσκυνήσωμεν, ὅτι ηὐδόκησε σαρκί, ἀνελθεῖν ἐν τῷ Σταυρῷ, καί θάνατον ὑπομεῖναι, καί ἐγεῖραι τούς τεθνεῶτας, ἐν τῇ ἐνδόξῳ ἀναστάσει αὐτοῦ.

Let us, O faithful, praise and worship the Word Who is co-unorignate with the Father and the Spirit, and Who was born of the Virgin for our salvation; for He was pleased to ascend the Cross in the flesh and to endure death, and to raise the dead by His glorious Resurrection.

First Sunday of Luke: Gospel Reading

First Sunday of Luke

Gospel According to Luke 5:1-11

The Miraculous Catch of Fish

English

At that time, as Jesus was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, he saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking, they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." For he was astonished, and all who were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men." And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost: Epistle Reading

Fourteenth Sunday of Pentecost

St. Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians 1:21-24; 2:1-4

English

Brethren, it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has commissioned us; he has put his seal upon us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. But I call God to witness against me - it was to spare you that I refrained from coming to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith; we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith. For I made up my mind not to make you another painful visit. For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. For I wrote you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

Fifteenth Sunday of Matthew: Gospel Reading

Fifteenth Sunday of Matthew

The Greatest Commandment

Gospel According to Matthew 22:35-46

English

At that time, a lawyer came up to Jesus and asked him a question, to test him. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets." Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, "What do you think of the Christ? Whose son is he?" They said to him, "The son of David." He said to them, "How is it then that David, inspired by the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, 'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I put your enemies under your feet'? If David thus calls him Lord, how is he his son?" And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

Greek

Τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ, νομικός τις προσῆλθε τῷ Ἰησοῦ, πειράζων αὐτόν καὶ λέγων· Διδάσκαλε, ποία ἐντολὴ μεγάλη ἐν τῷ νόμῳ; ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἔφη αὐτῷ· Ἀγαπήσεις Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ καρδίᾳ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ ψυχῇ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ διανοίᾳ σου· αὕτη ἐστὶ πρώτη καὶ μεγάλη ἐντολή. δευτέρα δὲ ὁμοία αὐτῇ· ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν. ἐν ταύταις ταῖς δυσὶν ἐντολαῖς ὅλος ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται κρέμανται. Συνηγμένων δὲ τῶν Φαρισαίων ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτοὺς ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγων· Τί ὑμῖν δοκεῖ περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ; τίνος υἱός ἐστι; λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· Τοῦ Δαυῒδ. λέγει αὐτοῖς· Πῶς οὖν Δαυῒδ ἐν Πνεύματι Κύριον καλεῖ αὐτὸν λέγων, εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος τῷ Κυρίῳ μου, κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου; εἰ οὖν Δαυῒδ καλεῖ αὐτὸν Κύριον, πῶς υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ἐστι; καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐδύνατο αὐτῷ ἀποκριθῆναι λόγον, οὐδὲ ἐτόλμησέ τις ἀπ' ἐκείνης τῆς ἡμέρας ἐπερωτῆσαι αὐτὸν οὐκέτι.

The Story Behind the Only Church in Greece Dedicated to the Prophet Jonah

The only church in Greece dedicated to the Prophet Jonah is in the village of Anoskeli in Kisamos on the island of Crete. It was consecrated on the Sunday of All Saints, 30 June 2013, and built entirely by the pious local family of Demetrios and Maria Stefanoudakis. It is a beauteous, stone-built church, very neat and groomed. On Saturday 21 September 2013, the Church of the Prophet Jonah celebrated its first feast day, with a procession of his icon around the church before the celebration of the Festal Divine Liturgy.

John and George: Two Twentieth Century Saints of Betania Monastery

Over the course of several decades of communist persecutions, the only place in Georgia where monastic life continued was Betania Monastery,* where two archimandrites, John and George, labored in asceticism.

Betania Monastery was not officially considered active—it was simply recognized as a "distinguished architectural monument"; the monks were considered its guards, and were even paid for that job. But in fact, it was like an active monastery: lampadas burned before the icons in the church, candles were lit, divine services were conducted, and the fathers wore monastic garb. The faithful came here on feast days, there were cross processions, baptisms and marriage ceremonies were performed; however, under persecution and lacking other clergy, Fathers John and George were not able to perform the wedding sacrament for all who asked.

Saint Joseph of Zaonikiev (+ 1612)

St. Joseph of Zaonikiev (Feast Day - September 21)

Venerable Joseph of Zaonikiev, was named Hilarion in the world, and was a pious peasant from the village of Obukhovo Kubensk in the region of the Vologda gubernia. At the age of fifty he suffered a disease of the eyes, and without falling into despair, he frequently attended church services in the churches nearby, and fervently prayed for the help of the Lord, the Most Holy Theotokos, and the Saints, in particular the Holy Unmercenaries Kosmas and Damian.

His prayer was heard, and Saint Kosmas appeared to him and had Hilarion follow him into the forest to a swampy place. There Saint Kosmas told him to go home and return to the smae spot the next day. Arriving the next day, he heard heavenly voices singing hymns to the Mother of God, and two men, the Holy Unmercenaries, presented to him an icon of the Mother of God, from which he received healing after venerating it. The appearance of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God took place on June 23, 1588. In gratitude the monk cleared a forest thicket with the help of the local villagers at the place of the appearance of the wonderworking icon, erected a cross, and built a chapel, in which he placed the icon. He himself settled close by, taking the monastic schema with the name of Joseph.

Saint Daniel of Shuzhgorsk

St. Daniel of Shuzhgorsk (Feast Day - September 21)

Saint Daniel of Shuzhgorsk (Shugh Hill) was born in Moscow in the sixteenth-seventeenth century. He performed his ascetic labors in northern Rus, where he became a monk at the Monastery of Saint Cornelius of Komel. Having left the monastery he continued a solitary ascetic life in the unpopulated and forested White Lake hinterland, on a mountain named Shugh Hill. Here the holy ascetic founded his monastery in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Saint Daniel was buried at the temple in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord at the monastery that he founded. In 1764, the monastery was turned into a parish. He was canonized in 1831. Currently, the temple is ruined, and the grave of the Saint has not been preserved.

The Great Mystery in the History of Jonah (St. Methodios of Olympus)

By St. Methodios of Olympus

I. The history of Jonah contains a great mystery. For it seems that the whale signifies Time, which never stands still, but is always going on, and consumes the things which are made by long and shorter intervals. But Jonah, who fled from the presence of God, is himself the first man who, having transgressed the law, fled from being seen naked of immortality, having lost through sin his confidence in the Deity. And the ship in which he embarked, and which was tempest-tossed, is this brief and hard life in the present time; just as though we had turned and removed from that blessed and secure life, to that which was most tempestuous and unstable, as from solid land to a ship. For what a ship is to the land, that our present life is to that which is immortal. And the storm and the tempests which beat against us are the temptations of this life, which in the world, as in a tempestuous sea, do not permit us to have a fair voyage free from pain, in a calm sea, and one which is free from evils. And the casting of Jonah from the ship into the sea, signifies the fall of the first man from life to death, who received that sentence because, through having sinned, he fell from righteousness: "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return," [Gen. iii. 19]. And his being swallowed by the whale signifies our inevitable removal by time. For the belly in which Jonah, when he was swallowed, was concealed, is the all-receiving earth, which receives all things which are consumed by time.

Saint Eustathios Plakidas and Psalm 96

Psalter at Pantocrator Monastery in Mount Athos

Middle Byzantine Psalters often illustrate Psalm 96 (97) with a miniature of the conversion of Saint Eustathios Plakidas (Khludov Psalter, Moscow, State Historical Museum, 129D, fol. 97v; Mount Athos, Pantocrator 61, fol. 138; Paris, B.N., gr. 20, fol. 5v; Bibl. Vat. Barb., gr. 372, fol. 160v). The conversion of Saint Eustathios is depicted with him riding on horseback hunting a stag with an image of Christ in its antlers. But why is it depicted along with Psalm 96?

Synaxarion for the Translation of the Relics of Saint Amphilochios of Patmos

By Metropolitan Kyrillos of Rhodes

On the 19th of this month [September], we commemorate the translation of the Honorable Relics of our Venerable and God-bearing Father Amphilochios of Patmos.

Verses

Sending forth a fragrance of divine life,
Was perceived from your relics in your grave.
On the nineteenth the bones of Amphilochios appeared from the earth.

The new among our Venerable Fathers Amphilochios reposed as was becoming in the sleep of the Righteous on the 16th of April in the year of our salvation nineteen hundred and seventy [1970], in the revered Monastery of the Annunciation of the Mother of the Beloved which he established in Patmos. Today we commemorate the revered translation from the grave of his grace-flowing relics, which took place on the 19th of September in the year nineteen hundred and eighty [1980], in the presence of the Hierarchs Spyridon of Rhodes, Timothy of Crete, and Isidore of Leros, Kalymnos and Astypalaia, the Abbot and Archimandrite Isidore of the Monastery of the Theologian in Patmos, the Monks of the Great Monastery, and the Nuns of the above-mention Monastery, together with the sacred Clergy, and his spiritual children who assembled together on the island from many places.

Monastery of Saint Herakleides in Cyprus

Saint Herakleides, commemorated on September 17th, was the son of a pagan priest and lived in the village Lambadistos, in Cyprus. His father, although a pagan, was hospitable and did not hesitate to accommodate the Apostle Paul together with Barnabas and Mark when they came to Cyprus. The Apostles however refused to dine with one who sacrificed to idols, but instead asked for a guide around the island. Herakleides' father gladly volunteered his son. The Apostles led Herakleides to the faith of Christ, since he was eager to learn, and he in turn, led his parents. It is said that his name was first Herakleon but changed by Saint Paul upon his baptism to Herakleides. Saint Barnabas on his second trip to Cyprus appointed him Bishop of Cyprus and placed him in Tamassos. He is said to have built churches, cured diseases, raised the dead, cast out demons, and worked innumerable wonders. Herakleides worked with great zeal along with his disciple Myron, his successor as Bishop of Tamassos, for the dissemination of Christianity with impressive results, and many pagans believed in Christ. His successes however agitated the unbelievers, who killed them by burning them alive.

A Unique Icon of Saint Sophia in Mantzavinata on the Island of Kefallonia

In the village of Mantzavinata on the island of Kefallonia is the Church of Hagia Sophia dated to 1693. Over the years the church has been destroyed by earthquakes and restored again, especially after the devastating earthquake that hit the island in 1953, after which it was built to be earthquake-proof.

Though the Church of Hagia Sophia was probably originally dedicated to the Wisdom of God, like Hagia Sophia in Constantinople and many others prior to modern times, today it is dedicated to Saint Sophia the Martyr and her Three Daughters named Faith, Hope and Love. These Saints suffered martyrdom during the reign of Emperor Hadrian (117-138).

Synaxis of the Makariev Icon of the Mother of God

Synaxis of the Makariev Icon of the Mother of God
(Feast Day - September 17)

The Makariev Icon of the Mother of God, painted in the style of the Odegetria, appeared during the reign of Prince Basil the Dark (1425-1462) to Saint Macarius the Wonderworker, who labored in asceticism on the desolate shores of the River Unzha.

On September 17, 1442 at about the third hour of the morning, when Saint Macarius was finishing his usual morning Akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos, his cell was illumined suddenly by an unknown light. The monk became confused in spirit and fervently began to pray.

Church of Saint Euphemia at the Hippodrome in Constantinople

The Church of Saint Euphemia in the Hippodrome (also known as lying in "ta Antiochou", i.e. "the quarters/palaces of Antiochos") was established in the hexagonal hall of the Palace of Antiochos next to the Hippodrome probably sometime in the early seventh century (615 or 626), when the original church at Chalcedon was destroyed during the Sassanid Persian invasions, and the relics moved for safety to Constantinople.

During Iconoclasm, the building was secularized and allegedly converted into a store of arms and manure, while the relics of the Saint were ordered thrown into the sea by Emperor Leo III the Isaurian (717–741) or by his son, Constantine V (741–775). They were however saved by two pious brothers and brought to the island of Lemnos, from where they were brought back in 796, after the end of the first Iconoclasm period, by Empress Irene (797–802).

Holy Hieromartyr Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage (+ 258)

St. Cyprian of Carthage (Feast Day - September 16)

The Hieromartyr Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage,* was born in about the year 200 in the city of Carthage (Northern Africa), where all his life and work took place. Thascius Cyprianus was the son of a rich pagan senator, and received a fine secular education becoming a splendid orator, and a teacher of rhetoric and philosophy in the school of Carthage. He often appeared in the courts to defend his fellow citizens.

Cyprian afterwards recalled that for a long time “he remained in a deep dark mist.., far from the light of Truth.” His fortune, received from his parents and from his work, was spent on sumptuous banquets, but they were not able to quench in him the thirst for truth. He became acquainted with the writings of the Apologist Tertullian, and became convinced of the truth of Christianity. The holy bishop later wrote that he thought it was impossible for him to attain to the regeneration promised by the Savior, because of his habits.

Holy Martyrs Isaac and Joseph of Georgia (+ 808)

The Holy New Martyrs Isaac and Joseph the Georgians were born into a Muslim family, but their Georgian mother, a Christian, secretly raised them and an older unknown brother according to the Christian tradition.

The brothers were so firmly dedicated to the Christian faith that they sent a letter to Byzantium to request that Emperor Nikephoros I Phokas (802-811) permit them to settle in his capital. The pious ruler extended a warm welcome to the brothers, who were already well known and respected by the nobility of Theodosiopolis, or Karnu (now Erzerum).

Holy Martyr Ludmilla, Princess of the Czechs and Grandmother of Saint Wenceslaus (+ 921)

St. Ludmilla of Bohemia (Feast Day - September 16)

The Holy Martyr Ludmilla, a Czech (Bohemian) princess, was married to the Czech prince Borivoy. Both spouses received holy Baptism from Saint Methodios, the Enlightener of the Slavs (May 11).

As Christians, they showed concern for the enlightening of their subjects with the light of the Christian faith. They built churches and invited priests to celebrate the divine services. Their efforts to convert Bohemia to Christianity were initially not well received, and they were driven from their country for a time by the pagans. Eventually the couple returned, and ruled for several years before retiring to Techin, near Beroun.

Saint Cyprian, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia (+ 1406)

St. Cyprian the Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia (Feast Day - September 16)

Saint Cyprian was a Serbian born around 1330 in the city of Tarnovo, the capital of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. The year of Cyprian's tonsure is unknown. It is believed that he began his monastic path at the Kilifarevo Monastery. Apparently, Cyprian left Bulgaria quite early and went first to Constantinople, and then to Mount Athos, where he worked in one of the Athos monasteries.

In line with its unification policy, Emperor John Kantakouzenos and Patriarch Philotheos of Constantinople sought to preserve a single Russian metropolis. The main danger threatening the unity of the metropolis was the rivalry of two Russian states, Lithuania and Moscow, for the right to unite under their supremacy all the Russian lands, some of which also belonged to Poland, Hungary, and Moldova. This confrontation was directly reflected in the state of the vast Kiev metropolis, which turned out to be practically divided along the border of these states. The situation was aggravated by the fact that Metropolitan Alexis of All Russia was essentially the head of the Moscow state. As a result, he lost the opportunity to visit his western dioceses, and the Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgerd demanded the placement of Alexis in the titular city of the Metropolitanate of Kiev, which was under the control of Olgerd. Another option acceptable to Lithuania was the creation of a separate Lithuanian metropolis. In Moscow, they also thought about “their” metropolis. Constantinople initially consistently pursued pro-Moscow politics, but this led to the discontent of Olgerd, who wrote complaints about the Metropolitan and threatened to transfer to the Latin Church under the Pope of Rome. This idea was supported by the allies of Olgerd, the Tver princes. On this path, it was very difficult to maintain the unity of the Russian metropolis and the entire Russian Orthodox world. A correction of the pro-Moscow politics was required. And to begin with, Patriarch Philotheos sent to Lithuania a trusted person who could reconcile Olgerd and Metropolitan Alexis. Cyprian became that person, and was appointed the patriarchal ambassador.

Holy Martyr Maximos

St. Maximos the Martyr (Feast Day - September 15)

Verses

You saw Christ offer you a crown,
You Maximos offered your head by the sword.

The Holy Martyr Maximos met his end by the sword.

Finding of the Relics of Saint Akakios the Confessor and Bishop of Meletine

Finding of the Relics of St. Akakios of Meletine (Feast Day - September 15)

Verses

Honoring the finding of your relics,
We find Akakios our release from wickedness.

We commemorate Saint Akakios the Confessor and Bishop of Meletine on March 31st, while today we commemorate the finding of his relics.

Holy Two Maidens

Holy Two Madens (Feast Day - September 15)

Verses

One in thought and eagerness,
The two maidens bent their necks to the sword.

The Holy Two Maidens met their end by the sword.

Homily on the Resurrection Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

Every Sunday is a weekly Pascha, because we celebrate the great event of the Resurrection of Christ. The Church does not want to forget this important event because it is our greatest hope.

In the Resurrection Apolytikion of the fourth tone that we chanted today we sang a hymn to the Resurrection of Christ. It says:

Τό φαιδρόν τῆς ἀναστάσεως κήρυγμα, ἐκ τοῦ Ἀγγέλου μαθοῦσαι αἱ τοῦ Κυρίου μαθήτριαι, καί τήν προγονικήν ἀπόφασιν ἀπορρίψασαι, τοῖς Ἀποστόλοις καυχώμεναι ἔλεγον, Ἐσκύλευται ὁ θάνατος, ἠγέρθη Χριστός ὁ Θεός, δωρούμενος τῷ κόσμῳ τό μέγα ἔλεος.

Having learned the joyful proclamation of the Resurrection from the angel, and having cast off the ancestral condemnation, the women disciples of the Lord spake to the apostles exultantly: Death is despoiled and Christ God is risen, granting to the world great mercy.

Sunday After the Elevation of the Honorable Cross: Epistle and Gospel Reading

Sunday After the Elevation of the Honorable Cross

Prokeimenon. Mode 4.
Psalm 103.24,1
O Lord, how manifold are your works. 
You have made all things in wisdom.
Verse: Bless the Lord, O my soul.

St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians 2:16-20

English

Brethren, knowing that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we ourselves were found to be sinners, is Christ then an agent of sin? Certainly not! But if I build up again those things which I tore down, then I prove myself a transgressor. For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Thirteenth Sunday of Matthew: Gospel Reading

Thirteenth Sunday of Matthew

Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers

Gospel According to Matthew 21:33-42

English

The Lord said this parable, "There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country. When the season of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to get his fruit; and the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first; and they did the same to them. Afterward he sent his son to them, saying 'They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.' And they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons." Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures: 'The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?'"

Greek

Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος τήν παραβολὴν ταύτην· ῎Αλλην παραβολὴν ἀκούσατε. ἄνθρωπός τις ἦν οἰκοδεσπότης, ὅστις ἐφύτευσεν ἀμπελῶνα καὶ φραγμὸν αὐτῷ περιέθηκε καὶ ὤρυξεν ἐν αὐτῷ ληνὸν καὶ ᾠκοδόμησε πύργον, καὶ ἐξέδοτο αὐτὸν γεωργοῖς καὶ ἀπεδήμησεν. ὅτε δὲ ἤγγισεν ὁ καιρὸς τῶν καρπῶν, ἀπέστειλε τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ πρὸς τοὺς γεωργοὺς λαβεῖν τοὺς καρποὺς αὐτοῦ. καὶ λαβόντες οἱ γεωργοὶ τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ ὃν μὲν ἔδειραν, ὃν δὲ ἀπέκτειναν, ὃν δὲ ἐλιθοβόλησαν. πάλιν ἀπέστειλεν ἄλλους δούλους πλείονας τῶν πρώτων, καὶ ἐποίησαν αὐτοῖς ὡσαύτως. ὕστερον δὲ ἀπέστειλε πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ λέγων· ἐντραπήσονται τὸν υἱόν μου. οἱ δὲ γεωργοὶ ἰδόντες τὸν υἱὸν εἶπον ἐν ἑαυτοῖς· οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ κληρονόμος· δεῦτε ἀποκτείνωμεν αὐτὸν καὶ κατάσχωμεν τὴν κληρονομίαν αὐτοῦ. καὶ λαβόντες αὐτὸν ἐξέβαλον ἔξω τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος, καὶ ἀπέκτειναν. ὅταν οὖν ἔλθῃ ὁ κύριος τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος, τί ποιήσει τοῖς γεωργοῖς ἐκείνοις; λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· κακοὺς κακῶς ἀπολέσει αὐτούς, καὶ τὸν ἀμπελῶνα ἐκδώσεται ἄλλοις γεωργοῖς, οἵτινες ἀποδώσουσιν αὐτῷ τοὺς καρποὺς ἐν τοῖς καιροῖς αὐτῶν. λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς· οὐδέποτε ἀνέγνωτε ἐν ταῖς γραφαῖς, λίθον ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες, οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας· παρὰ Κυρίου ἐγένετο αὕτη, καὶ ἔστι θαυμαστὴ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν.

Fourteenth Sunday of Matthew: Gospel Reading

Fourteenth Sunday of Matthew

Parable of the Wedding Feast

Gospel According to Matthew 22:2-14

English

The Lord said this parable, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast; but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have made ready my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast.’ But they made light of it and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests."

Greek

Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος τήν παραβολὴν ταύτην· Ὡμοιώθη ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ βασιλεῖ, ὅστις ἐποίησε γάμους τῷ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ. καὶ ἀπέστειλε τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ καλέσαι τοὺς κεκλημένους εἰς τοὺς γάμους, καὶ οὐκ ἤθελον ἐλθεῖν. πάλιν ἀπέστειλεν ἄλλους δούλους λέγων· εἴπατε τοῖς κεκλημένοις· ἰδοὺ τὸ ἄριστόν μου ἡτοίμασα, οἱ ταῦροί μου καὶ τὰ σιτιστὰ τεθυμένα, καὶ πάντα ἕτοιμα· δεῦτε εἰς τοὺς γάμους. οἱ δὲ ἀμελήσαντες ἀπῆλθον, ὁ μὲν εἰς τὸν ἴδιον ἀγρόν, ὁ δὲ εἰς τὴν ἐμπορίαν αὐτοῦ· οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ κρατήσαντες τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ ὕβρισαν καὶ ἀπέκτειναν. ἀκούσας δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐκεῖνος ὠργίσθη, καὶ πέμψας τὰ στρατεύματα αὐτοῦ ἀπώλεσε τοὺς φονεῖς ἐκείνους καὶ τὴν πόλιν αὐτῶν ἐνέπρησε. τότε λέγει τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ· ὁ μὲν γάμος ἕτοιμός ἐστιν, οἱ δὲ κεκλημένοι οὐκ ἦσαν ἄξιοι· πορεύεσθε οὖν ἐπὶ τὰς διεξόδους τῶν ὁδῶν, καὶ ὅσους ἐὰν εὕρητε καλέσατε εἰς τοὺς γάμους. καὶ ἐξελθόντες οἱ δοῦλοι ἐκεῖνοι εἰς τὰς ὁδοὺς συνήγαγον πάντας ὅσους εὗρον, πονηρούς τε καὶ ἀγαθούς· καὶ ἐπλήσθη ὁ γάμος ἀνακειμένων. εἰσελθὼν δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς θεάσασθαι τοὺς ἀνακειμένους εἶδεν ἐκεῖ ἄνθρωπον οὐκ ἐνδεδυμένον ἔνδυμα γάμου, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· ἑταῖρε, πῶς εἰσῆλθες ὧδε μὴ ἔχων ἔνδυμα γάμου; ὁ δὲ ἐφιμώθη. τότε εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῖς διακόνοις· δήσαντες αὐτοῦ πόδας καὶ χεῖρας ἄρατε αὐτὸν καὶ ἐκβάλετε εἰς τὸ σκότος τὸ ἐξώτερον· ἐκεῖ ἔσται ὁ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων. πολλοὶ γάρ εἰσι κλητοί, ὀλίγοι δὲ ἐκλεκτοί.

Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost: Epistle Reading

Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost

St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians 16:13-24

English

Brethren, be watchful, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. Now, brethren, you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints; I urge you to be subject to such men and to every fellow worker and laborer. I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicos, because they have made up for your absence; for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such men. The churches of Asia send greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord. All the brethren send greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. If any one has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Did the Cross of Christ Expose and Kill Arius?

According to the historian Socrates, when Helen the mother of Emperor Constantine discovered the True Cross, she left a portion of the Cross in Jerusalem, enclosed in a silver case, as a memorial to those who might wish to see it. "The other part she sent to the emperor, who being persuaded that the city would be perfectly secure where that relic should be preserved, privately enclosed it in his own statue, which stands on a large column of porphyry in the forum called Constantine's at Constantinople. I have written this from report indeed; but almost all the inhabitants of Constantinople affirm that it is true" (Eccl. Hist. 1, 17). From this report therefore we are informed that a portion of the True Cross was placed by Emperor Constantine in the Porphyry Column in the Forum of Constantinople for the protection of the city.

What Happened to the Two Crosses of the Thieves Crucified Next to Christ?

According to early Christian historians, the two crosses of the thieves crucified next to Christ were discovered at the same time Saint Helen discovered the True Cross. Some say the True Cross was distinguished from the other two crosses by the sign with the inscription that read "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews," also known in Latin as the "titulus," placed over the head of Jesus on the True Cross at the orders of Pontius Pilate. Others say this inscription was tossed away from the three crosses upon their discovery and that the True Cross was distinguished, or perhaps confirmed, by one or two miracles. According to one source, a dead man was placed on the True Cross, which restored him to life, while another source says that a woman of rank in Jerusalem with an incurable disease was cured when the True Cross touched her.

The Relationship and Correspondence Between Fr. George Florovsky and Fr. John Romanides

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the repose of the great theologian Fr. George Florovsky, various conferences and lectures will be organized to study his work. For such a conference being organized by the Panhellenic Association of Theologians I am preparing a proposal, in which I will demonstrate the great relationship between Fr. George Florovsky and Fr. John Romanides. In fact, Florovsky considered Romanides the most astute of his students.

In a book I wrote in the past titled Fr. John Romanides: A Leading Dogmatic Theologian of the Orthodox Catholic Church (published by the Sacred Monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos - Pelagia, Holy Metropolis of Thebes and Levadeia), I published twenty-five (25) letters Romanides wrote to Florovsky, which I discovered and analyzed to reveal this continuous relationship and communication between them.