The Entry Into the Temple of the Most Holy Mother of God

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE. Ο ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΕΝ ΤΩ ΜΕΣΩ ΗΜΩΝ! ΚΑΙ ΗΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΑΙ.

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ON NOVEMBER 21ST OUR HOLY ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH COMMEMORATES THE GREAT FEAST OF THE ENTRY INTO THE TEMPLE OF THE MOST HOLY MOTHER OF GOD.

When the Most Holy Ever-Virgin Mary had reached the age of three (3), her parents, holy Joachim and Anna, took her from Nazareth to Jerusalem, to give her to the service of God in fulfillment of their promise. It was three days' journey to Jerusalem, but, going as they were on God's work, they did not find the journey difficult. Many of Joachim and Anna's kinsmen gathered to take part in this celebration, in which the invisible Angels of God also took part. Maidens (young girls) went ahead with lighted candles in their hands, followed by the Most Holy Virgin, led on either side by her father and mothers. The Ever-Virgin Mary was clad in royal and beautiful garments, like those of the 'king's daughter', the Bride of God (Psalm 44:9, 10). Behind them walked many of their kinsfolk and friends, all bearing lighted candles. There were fifteen (15) steps leading to the Temple. Her parents stood the Virgin on the first step, and she ran quickly to the top on her own, where the High Priest, Zacharias, the father of Saint John the Baptist and Forerunner, met her and taking her by the hand, led her not only into the Temple but into the Holy of Holies, the holiest place of all, into which none could enter except the High Priest, and that once a year. Saint Theophylact of Ochrid says that Zacharias was 'out of himself, and moved by God' when he led the Virgin into the Chief Place in the Temple, beyond the second curtain--otherwise there could be no explanation of his action. Her parents then offered sacrifices to God, according the Law, received the priest's blessing and returned home, leaving the Most Holy Virgin in the Temple. She dwelt in the Temple for nine whole years. While her parents were alive, they visited her often. When they departed this life, the Holy Virgin was left an orphan, and longed to remain in the Temple for the rest of her life, without entering into marriage. This being contrary both to the Law and Israelite custom, she was confided at the age of twelve (12) to Saint Joseph, a kinsman of hers in Nazareth, so that she might, under the protection of betrothal, live in virginity and thus fulfill both her desire and the demands of the Law, for it was unknown in Israel at that time for a girl to vow perpetual virginity. The Holy Virgin Mary was the first to do this, and was later followed by thousands upon thousands of virgin men and women in the Church of Christ. (Her parents had reposed some three years before she was betrothed to Saint Joseph.) (Source: The Prologue from Ochrid)

[Rest from labor. Fish is allowed.]

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Apolytikion (Dismissal Hymn) of the Feast of the Presentation. Fourth Tone

Today is the prelude of God's good will and the heralding of the salvation of mankind. In the Temple of God, the Virgin is presented openly, and she proclaimeth Christ unto all. To her, then, with a great voice let us cry aloud: Rejoice, O thou fulfillment of the Creator's dispensation.

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Kontakion Hymn of the Feast. Fourth Tone

The sacred treasury of God's holy glory, the greatly precious bridal chamber and Virgin, the Savior's Most Pure Temple, free of stain and undefiled, into the House of the Lord on this day is brought forward and bringeth with herself the grace of the Most Divine Spirit; her do God's Angels hymn with songs of praise, for she is truly the Heavenly Tabernacle.

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ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21ST THE DIVINE SERVICES:

Orthros (Matins) at 9:00 a.m.
Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m.

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"- Saint John Chrysostomos

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

Saint John Chrysostomos on the Charity of Fasting

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

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SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM ON THE CHARITY OF FASTING
By Fr. Dcn. Matthew Steenberg

Brothers and sisters, today a few words on fasting from our holy father among the Saints, John Chrysostom. These are timely topics to be addressing today: fasting and asceticism.

But what is fasting? In the Orthodox Church, we fast regularly. Every week of the year, with few exceptions, has days dedicated to this task. Certain seasons throughout the year are appointed as specifically fasting seasons. Most obviously: Great Lent, but also this Nativity Fast, the Fast of the Dormition (Koimisis), the Fast of the Holy Apostles, and the fasts before various feasts. It behooves us, then, to ask not just once in our lives, but regularly, what is this fasting and why do we do it? And here, the holy Fathers, the Saints of the Church, have much to teach us and continually to remind us.

Saint John Chrysostom in one of his pithy sayings, simply states, "Fasting of the body is food for the soul." And this short saying puts everything in the right perspective. Fasting, in some sense, is a bodily, spiritual exercise. We refrain from certain foods. We keep longer vigils. We dedicate more time to prayer. We alter our diet. We perhaps take less sleep. It is also an act of our bodies in their normal day-to-day motions. We may refrain from certain social activities and dedicate that time instead to prayer, alms-giving, or to other such spiritual things. But in all these cases, we utilize by the direction of the Church, our physical body, our material nature as something sacred, some which, when focused upon, when cleansed and purified, has the power to transfigure our spirit, our soul.

So, fasting is for the Christian person a basic affirmation that our physical nature is a blessing, is a gift, is something good given to us by the loving Lord. And this is important in a world which for all its hedonism and its emphasis on seeking pleasure of the body, nonetheless in spiritual terms, is all too eager to dismiss the body, the material as something base, defiled, lesser than the spiritual. But in the Church, through our fasting, we affirm again and again that the body has sacred power. "Fasting of the body" says Saint John Chrysostom, "is food for the soul." As Saint John says in another place, "as bodily food fattens the body so fasting strength into the soul, imparting it an easy flight, it makes it able to ascend on high, to contemplate lofty things, and to put the heavenly higher than the pleasant and pleasurable things of life."

Our body is a sacred gift, and yet through our gluttony, through our misuse of the body, not by its own limitation, but by our misuse, our disfigurement of this sacred gift. The body all too often serves to weigh down the soul, to weigh down the Spirit, to keep it from the spiritual ascent, rather than doing that which it was created to do, which is to assist us in our spiritual growth. And so, says Saint John, we fast in order to strengthen the soul by cleansing the body, by giving the body back to the spiritual contest, by offering it back into the realm of the Christian life, reclaiming it from our sensual passions, from our ordinary misuse of the flesh, to that which may draw us closer to God.

So, fasting is a tool by which our bodily natures are reclaimed and reunited to the spiritual. And for this reason, as we enter upon the Nativity Fast, we must take blessed attention towards our body as well as our soul, uniting them together in the ascetical project. And yet, we must not become conceited, focusing solely on ourselves. We fast in order to reclaim creation, to offer this world which we have disfigured through our sin back to God, and our Fathers teach us that we must begin this project in our heart. For if our own heart is weighed down, we can no more lift another up than we can ourselves. And yet, the project of working on our heart is a pastoral project, a missionary project. For when our heart is restored to communion, when we are lifted up ourselves to God, we are able to do the same to the cosmos, to the world around us.

So fasting, though it focuses inward on the heart, is nonetheless an act of charity, of love, of giving to the other in this world. And this is constantly reminded to us by the holy Fathers of the Church. It is one of the reasons that almsgiving is tied into fasting, and when we fast, we deliberately engage in acts of charity, reclaiming not only our body, but our time and our activities back from our selfish preoccupations into an orientation aimed at the other, at all of creation. In that light, hear these words of Saint John Chrysostom. "Do you fast? He asks.

Then feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, visit the sick, do not forget the imprisoned, have pity on the tortured, comfort those who grieve and those who weep. Be merciful, humble, kind, calm, patient, sympathetic, forgiving, reverent, truthful and pious so that God might accept your fasting and might plentifully grant you the fruits of repentance.

This is the spirit of self-offering that must accompany the ascetical dimensions of any fast. Though we refrain in our own life from certain acts, behaviors, foods, occupations which might keep us from God, we also add to our lives during the fast: an increase of prayer, an increase of time in the Church, an increase of love towards our brother and our sister. This becomes the litmus test of the true fast. Do I fast solely to the end that I have given up certain foods, that I have given up certain activities, but have in no way changed my relationship to neighbor or God? If that is the judgment of my fast, then it is a fast not of God, but of the demons. It is a fast of selfishness. The true litmus test of the fast is whether through these acts of sacrifice, of ascesis, we have grown in love towards our brother. We have developed in our heart a Christ-like demeanor that has come about through reclaiming ourselves from sin. Saint John Chrysostom says in another place:

"Do not say to me, I fasted for so many days. I did not eat this or I did not eat that. I did not drink wine, that I endured want. Instead, show me if thou, from an angry man, has become instead gentle. If from a cruel man, thou has become benevolent. If thou art filled with anger, why oppress thy flesh? If hatred and avarice are within thee, of what benefit is it that thou drinkest water instead of wine? Do not show forth a useless fast, for fasting alone does not ascend to heaven.

Let this be our reminder as we engage in the fast leading us to the Nativity according to the flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us not engage in what Saint John calls "a useless fast" which attempts to ascend to heaven by its own merits, its own power, repeating the sin of the people of the Tower of Babel. Let us instead use the fast as the Church intends and the Holy Fathers instruct: as a time to work on our transformation by God's grace. What sacrifices we make, let them be sacrifices that transform us. They are not ends in and of themselves. They are the tools by which we can become a little closer to God's Image, a little closer to Christ's life. Let us use the fast as a time of charity, of love, of meekness and ultimately, have great and unending joy in the Incarnate and Risen Lord. Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers and the Saints, St. John the Golden-Mouthed of Constantinople and of all the Saints, Lord Jesus Christ Our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen. (Source: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America)

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostom

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

What is Prayer?

St. Gregory the Wonderworker

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

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WHAT IS PRAYER?

Prayer is a universal, spiritual phenomenon, the fundamental and inseparable element of every religion and every personal piety. As such, prayer has appeared in the history of mankind with an astonishing multiplicity of forms and expressions that range from the crudest and primitive to the most spiritually sublime. The traditions of the Holy Bible and of Orthodox Christianity provide an extraordinary perspective from which to see not only the nature and meaning of prayer but also its concrete expressions in practice. The basic presupposition of any real and truly spiritual prayer is the belief in the existence of the Living God. The believer not only believes that the infinite and invisible God exists, but that He also reveals Himself to people. It is through this revelation of God that it becomes possible for man to have a personal communion with God. When, therefore, the believer prays, he or she speaks directly to God and becomes aware of a communication with Him. Consequently, prayer presupposes faith in the reality and the presence of God, and means primarily that living relationship between man and God, which is nothing less than a direct and real spiritual contact and personal conversation between persons, between an "I" and a "you". The person who prays is the "I" and the God Who is addressed in prayer is the "You".

When therefore we say that we are praying, we mean that we are talking with and having a relationship with God, as a child speaks and relates to a father or a mother. Without this personal contact and relationship with God, provided for us through prayer, our faith in God remains theoretical, merely an intellectual conviction without practical consequences. But when we actually pray, our faith in God becomes a living and an active faith. Moreover, our every other moral and ethical act is enriched by prayer to acquire spiritual depth and meaning. The moral and ontological abyss that exists between God and man, between the infinite and the finite, is bridged with prayer. Prayer exalts the believer up to heaven, while heaven is condescendingly lowered to earth. The existing veil between the visible and the invisible is drawn aside by prayer, and man is thus made worthy to stand before the All-Holy God and to speak with Him -- "face to face", that is, person to person, and to express to Him the overflowing content of one's praying heart. In this way, our prayer draws the Omnipotent God from heaven and includes Him in our humble and praying heart, while, at the same time, the ecstatic and suspended soul of the praying person is exalted to heaven and united with the Infinite God.

Prayer, as the mystery of unity of man with God, is truly an incomprehensible miracle of miracles which can become a daily experience in the soul of the pious believer who prays with attention ('Let us be attentive!') and sincerity. Saint John Chrysostomos, who has taught us so many things about prayer and who has bequeathed to us so many beautiful prayers, emphasizes that prayer is the most powerful thing in the life of a person, and nothing can be compared with prayer. Prayer is the unique and priceless gift of the Creator to man because it is through this most important Divine gift of prayer that the creation is raised up to the Creator and the finite human person is empowered to converse with the Infinite God.

Prayer is God's greatest gift to fallen man. As such, prayer is also man's greatest power, which he can use to rediscover and restore the original beauty, the original glory, and honor of his nature, created in the image and likeness of God. Prayer has indeed strengthened all the Saints, and it can also strengthen us. Consequently, prayer should not be seen as simply one of the virtues, or merely a duty we must fulfill as Christians. Rather, we must see prayer as constituting the natural and perfect stance the very essence of human existence and interprets what it means to be a human being, that is, a person whose existence is always understood in relation to the true living God. According to the ascetic Saint Neilos, "Everyone who does not wish to be united with God through prayer is actually separated from God." In the spiritual tradition of the Church, prayer is always seen as an act that is purely free and personal, and which, when practiced faithfully and devoutly, always unites the believer with God. If, as it is said, we cannot live without God, then we must also say that we cannot really live without prayer, which brings us confidently before the presence of God and makes us witnesses of His presence and kingdom in the world.

Without prayer, human beings are alienated not only from God but also from themselves. Without prayer, human beings deny the underlying fervent desire of their heart, the great longing for a fuller, purer, more blessed life, which is our natural movement toward God. It is this communion with God and not only defines us as human beings, but also offers to us the victory over Satan, sin, and death. A Saint, a true human being, is not some superman or super-woman, but the person who truly lives his or her personal humanity as a praying human being. This means that the actual destiny of man is to pray and to be in touch with God through prayer, as the Psalmist confirms: "I will sing to the lord as long as I live" (Psalm 104:33). It is therefore not enough to simply say some prayers from time to time, in the sense of fulfilling an occasional or regular religious duty. The totality of our life must become a "prayer" in the sense that our life becomes real and true and authentic when it is all a time of prayer, that is, a time of communion with God. (Source: A Prayer Book. An Anthology of Orthodox Prayers by Father Peter A. Chamberas)

(To be continued)

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostom

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

The Miracles of the Great Martyr Menas

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE. 

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THE MIRACLES OF THE GREAT MARTYR MENAS
By Timothy, Archbishop of Alexandria

After the death of the impious Roman pagan emperors Diocletian and Maximian, who hated Christ, the pious Emperor Constantine came to the throne, and the faith which is in our Lord Jesus Christ spread throughout every land. At that time, certain men, citizens of Alexandria and lovers of Christ, found the place where the holy relics of the holy and glorious martyr of Christ, Menas were laid and built a church dedicated to him.

It happened that a merchant from the land of Isauria came to Alexandria to purchase wares. Hearing of the numerous miracles and healings which took place at the church of Saint Menas, he said to himself, "I will go to church, that through the prayers of His holy sufferer, God may have mercy on me." So the man took a bag full of gold and left for the church. Reaching Lake Mareotis, which lies near the sea, he crossed on a ferryboat to Loxonetus where he looked about for a place to sleep that night.  He entered one of the houses there and said to the master, "Friend, be so kind as to accept me as a guest in your house tonight, for the sun has already set. I am afraid to continue alone."

The man replied, "Enter, brother; you may sleep here until morning."

The traveler entered the house, lay down, and fell asleep. The master of the house saw that the merchant was carrying a bag of gold, and was filled with desire for it. Urged on by the devil, he resolved to murder his guest and to take the gold. Arising at midnight, he strangled the merchant with his hands, cut his body in pieces, placed them in a basket, and hid them in the innermost room of the house. Soon, however, the man's spirit became greatly troubled, and he began to look about everywhere to find a place where he could bury his victim.

While the man was fretting thus, Christ's martyr Menas appeared riding on a steed, like a soldier sent to do his king's bidding. The holy martyr came to the door of the murderer's house and asked for the guest who had been slain. The murderer pretended to know nothing and said to the Saint, "I do not know what to say to you, my lord. No one has been here."

The Saint dismounted, entered the innermost room, and found the basket. Bringing it out, he asked the murderer, "What is this?"

The man was terrified and fell at the Saint's feet as though dead. Meanwhile, the Saint joined the dead man's severed limbs together and prayed, and the merchant arose. Menas said to him, "Give glory to God," and the dead one awoke as if from sleep. He understood that he had been killed by the master of the house, and he glorified God, falling down before Menas and thanking him. The Saint took the gold from the murderer and returned it to the man whom he had resurrected, saying, "Continue on your way in peace!"

Then the martyr turned to the murderer and beat him severely until the latter begged forgiveness. The Saint forgave him his offense, and after praying for the man, Saint Menas mounted his horse and became invisible.

There was a woman named Sophia who came from the region of Thecozelita to venerate Saint Menas. While she was traveling, a soldier passed by. He saw that she was alone, and filled with lust, fell upon her and tried to ravish her, but she withstood him bravely, calling upon the help of the holy Martyr Menas. The Saint did not disdain her cry, and both punished the assailant and preserved the woman undefiled. As the soldier prepared to have his way with her, he tied his horse to his right leg. The horse began to buck and not only prevented his master from accomplishing the vile deed; it also began to drag him along the ground and did not stop until it reached the church of Saint Menas. There it continued to neigh and buck so that a crowd of people gathered around it, for it was a feast day and many people were in the church. The soldier was very frightened because his horse would not cease to buck. No one could help him, and he feared that the horse might seriously hurt or kill him. He laid shame aside and openly confessed his iniquity before all, and straightway the horse became calm. The soldier entered the church and fell down before the Saint, praying and asking forgiveness for his transgression.

There were a lame man and a mute woman, who, together with many others, sat by the church of the Saint awaiting healing. At midnight, while all the others were asleep, the Saint appeared to the lame man and said to him, "Go quietly to the dumb woman and take her by the leg."

The lame man said, "O Saint of God, I am not a dissolute man. I would never do such a thing!"

The Saint told him a second and a third time, "If you refuse to do as I tell you, you will not be healed!" The cripple obeyed the Saint and seized the mute woman by the leg. She began to cry out angrily at the lame man, who fled in fear. Then both of them perceived that they had been healed: the dumb woman had spoken, and the cripple had run like a deer. Both gave thanks to God and to the holy Martyr Menas.

A certain Jew had a friend who was a Christian. Once, as he was about to travel to a far county, the Jew entrusted to his friend a chest in which he kept a thousand pieces of gold. He tarried in the land to which he had traveled, and the Christian began contemplating keeping the money for himself. He had already decided to do this when the Jew returned and asked him for his gold. To this, the Christian replied, "You gave me nothing, and I took nothing from you."

Hearing this, the Jew despaired of ever seeing his gold again. He said to the Christian, "Brother, no one other than God knows of this matter, and if you will not return the gold I left with you, and deny that you took it, let us go the church of Saint Menas. Swear there that you did not take the chest with a thousand pieces of gold from me."

Both men went to the church, and the Christian swore to the Jew before God that he did not take the gold for safekeeping. Both men then left the church mounted their horses. Immediately the Christian's horse began to buck so violently that it could not be restrained. Breaking its reins, it began to gallop and tossed its master to the ground. As the Christian fell from the horse, his ring slid from his hand and a key from his pouch.

He got up, pursued his horse, calmed it, and then rode off again with the Jew. When they had gone away, the Christian said to the Jew, "Friend, this is a convenient place to dismount and eat."

They dismounted their horses and let them graze, and themselves began to eat. Presently, the Christian looked up and saw his servant standing before him, holding the Jew's chest in one hand and the ring and the key in the other. He was overcome by terror and asked his servant, "What is the meaning of this?"

The servant replied, "A fearsome soldier went to my lady, and giving her this key and ring, said to her, "Return the chest to the Jew without delay, lest your husband falls into misfortune." Therefore, she sent me to you with these things as the soldier commanded."

When the Jew saw this, he rejoiced, and together with the Christian, returned to the church of Saint Menas. There he fell to the ground and asked for Holy Baptism, confessing that because he had witnessed this great miracle, he had come to believe. The Christian begged the Saint to forgive him, acknowledging that he had transgressed God's Commandment. Both received what they desired: one Holy Baptism and the other forgiveness of his sins, and they returned to their homes, rejoicing and glorifying God and exalting His favorite, Saint Menas.

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According to other sources, "When torture could not persuade Saint Menas to disavow Christ, he was beheaded and burned. His remains (holy relics) were buried in the desert and later installed in a church in his name. This site became known as El Alamein. It was here, 1,700 years later, that the tanks of German commander Rommel, also known as the Desert Fox, mysteriously ground to a halt, allowing the Allies to regroup and turn the tide of one of the most crucial battles of World War II." (Daily Lives, Miracles, and Wisdom of the Saints and Fasting Calendar, 2018)

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Saint Menas is commemorated on November 11th.

[From The Great Collection of the Lives of the Saints, Chrysostom Press, House Spring, MO, 1997, vol. III, pgs. 176-181.]

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" - Saint John Chrysostomos

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

The Holy Nativity Fast Begins November 15

My dear friends in Christ God,
A blessed Nativity Fast to all!

The Holy Nativity Fast is one of the four Canonical Fasting Seasons in the Ecclesiastical year. This is a joyous fast in anticipation of the Divine Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That is the reason it is less stringent than other fasting seasons.

The Fast begins on November 15th and ends December 24th, a forty day Fast. It is a time for all Orthodox Christians to intensify their spiritual lives through prayer, fasting, and charity. We are instructed to observe a fast as we prepare for the coming of the Son of God in the flesh. We are aware that the "sacred" number of forty (40) - years or days - is a very Scriptural number, always implying a period of anticipation and fulfillment, an act begun and completed in accordance with the express will of God. That could be the forty years of Israel's wandering in the desert, or the Lord fasting and praying for forty days in the wilderness. This designated forty day serves as a microcosm of Israel's testing and preparation. 

The purpose of fasting is to focus on the things that are above, the Kingdom of God. It is a means of putting on virtue in reality, here and now. Through it, we are freed from dependence on worldly things. We fast faithfully and in secret, not judging others, reconciling with our enemies, and coming to the aid of our neighbor.

Fasting in itself is not a means of pleasing God. Fasting is not a punishment for our sins. Nor is fasting a means of suffering and pain to be undertaken as some kind of atonement. Our Lord Jesus Christ already redeemed us on His Cross. Salvation is a gift from God that is not bought by our hunger or thirst.

Let us turn to the Holy Scripture and see the true purpose and spirit of fasting. Saint Paul in his Epistle to the Romans writes the following: "Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master, he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand...He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks" (Rom. 14:1-6).

This passage is read on the eve of Great Lent, reminding the faithful that the main focus of the season is not on the details of fasting restrictions, but rather on overcoming the passions of the soul (13:14). "Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts" (Romans 13:12-14).

"But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch, therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man." (St. Luke 21:24-36).

"Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward when they had ended, He was hungry. And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." But Jesus answered him, saying 'It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God'" (St. Luke 4:1-4).

We fast to be delivered from carnal passions so that God's gift of Salvation may bear fruit in us. We fast and turn our eyes toward God in His Holy Church. Fasting and prayer together.

Fasting is not irrelevant. Fasting is not obsolete, and it is not something for someone else. Fasting is from God, for us, right here and right now.

Most of all, we should not devour each other. We ask God to "set a watch and keep the door of our lips."

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

We do not fast between December 25th and January 4th (even on Wednesdays and Fridays);
If you are pregnant or nursing a newborn;
during serious illness;
without prayer;
without philanthropy;
according to your own will without guidance from your spiritual father.

WE ABSTAIN FROM:

Meat, eggs, cheese, butter, yogurt, cream, milk, all types of alcohol and oil.  

Permitted are:

Fish is permitted on Saturdays and Sundays before December 20th. Some permit the consumption of fish on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Wednesdays and Fridays are always strict fast.

While we are fasting we must never lose sight of the true Christian spirit of fasting.

In His Holy Diakonia,

+Father George

Holy Apostle Philip (Nov. 14) and Holy Apostle Matthew the Evangelist (Nov. 16)

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

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HOLY APOSTLE PHILIP - NOVEMBER 14TH

He was born in Bethsaida near the Seas of Galilee, as were Saint Peter and Saint Andrew the First-Called. Instructed in the Holy Scripture from his youth, Philip immediately responded to the call of Christ and followed Him (St. John 1:43). After the descent of the Holy Spirit, Philip preached the Gospel with zeal in many regions of Asia and in Greece, where the Jews sought to kill him but the Lord saved him by the might of His wonders (miracles). The Jewish leaders, whose aim it was to kill Philip, were suddenly blinded and found themselves in total darkness. There was a great earthquake, and the earth opened and swallowed up Philip's evil persecutors. Many other wonders (miracles) were wrought, especially the healing of the sick, by which many of the pagans came to faith in Christ. In the Phrygian town of Hierapolis, Saint Philip worked for the Gospel with Saint John the Theologian, his own sister Mariamna and the Holy Apostle Bartholomew. There was in that place a dangerous snake, which the pagans fed with care and worshipped as a god. God's Holy Apostle destroyed the snake with prayer as though with a spear. This called forth the fury of the benighted people, and the wicked pagan seized Saint Philip and crucified him upside-down on a tree, and then crucified Saint Bartholomew also. At this, the earth opened and swallowed up the judge and many others with him. The terrified people ran to take the crucified Apostles down, but they succeeded only in taking Bartholomew down alive; Saint Philip had already breathed his last. Saint Bartholomew made Stachys bishop of those baptized in the city. Stachys had been cured of blindness and baptized by Philip, having been blind for forty years. Saint Philip's holy relics were later taken to Rome. This wonderful Apostle suffered in the year 86 A.D., in the time of the pagan Roman Emperor Domitian.

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THE HOLY APOSTLE MATTHEW THE EVANGELIST - NOVEMBER 16TH

Saint Matthew the son of Alphaeus was at first a tax-collector, and it was as such that the Lord saw him in Capernaum and said to him: "Follow Me!" Leaving everything, he followed Him (St. Matthew 9:9). After that, Saint Matthew prepared a feast in his house and there provided an opportunity for the Lord to voice some Great Truths about His coming to earth. After receiving the Holy Spirit Matthew preached the Gospel among the Parthians and Medes and in Ethiopia.  In Ethiopia, he consecrated as bishop one Plato, a follower of his, and himself withdrew to prayerful solitude on a mountain, where the Lord appeared to him. Saint Matthew baptized the wife and son of the prince of that land, at which the prince was greatly enraged and sent a guard to bring Matthew before him for trial. The soldiers went off, but returned to the prince, saying that they had heard Matthew's voice, but had been unable to set eyes on him. The prince then sent a second guard. When this guard drew near to the Holy Apostle, he shone with a heavenly radiance so brilliant that the soldiers were unable to look at him, but threw down their weapons in terror and returned home. The Prince then went himself. When he approached Saint Matthew, such radiance shone forth from the Saint that the prince was blinded on the instant. But the Holy Apostle had a kind heart: he prayed to God and the prince's sight was restored -- unfortunately, only on the physical plane, his spiritual eyes remaining closed. He seized Saint Matthew and put him to a harsh torture, twice lighting a fire on his chest, but the power of God kept him alive and unharmed. Then the Holy Apostle prayed to God and gave his spirit into His hands. The prince commanded that the martyr's body is put into a leaden coffin and cast into the sea. The Saint appeared to Bishop Plato and told him where to find his body in its coffin, and the bishop went and brought them back. Seeing this new marvel, the prince was baptized and received the name, Matthew. He then set aside all earthly vanity and became a Priest, serving the Church in a manner pleasing to God. When Plato died, the Holy Apostle Matthew appeared to this Matthew and counseled him to accept the episcopate (becoming a bishop). So he became a bishop and was a good shepherd for many years until God took him to His immortal Kingdom. Saint Matthew the Holy Apostle and Evangelist wrote his Gospel in Aramaic (Hebrew dialect), and it was very soon translated into Greek. It has come down to us in Greek, the Aramaic original being lost. Of this Evangelist, it is said that he never ate meat, but fed only on vegetables and fruit. (Source; The Prologue from Ochrid)

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Please note: All divine services are offered to the Glory of God. It is an opportunity for Orthodox Christian believers to devote as much time as possible to strengthen their relationship with Our Savior Jesus Christ and to receive the grace of God the Holy Spirit through the Mysteria (Sacraments) of our beloved Church. It is only when we are in communion with the Almighty and Merciful God that we find inner peace, comfort, His unconditional agape, forgiveness, reconciliation, and yes, salvation!

It is an awful mistake to trivialize and marginalize the Divine Services of our Holy Church.

"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" - Saint John Chrysostomos

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Fr. George