Seraphim (Chichagov) of Leningrad
Leonid Mikhailovich Chichagov
(9 June1856 – 11 December 1937). The holy, glorious, right-victorious hieromartyr Seraphim of Leningrad and Gdov was the Metropolitan of the Diocese of Leningrad and Gdov in the Church of Russia between 1928 and 1933. Influenced by Fr. John of Kronstadt, he became a monk after serving in the Russian army, executed by firing squad, and was canonized by the Church in 1997 as a New Martyr.
Most Christian children, through the fault of their parents and under the influence of their educators, are nourished only physically... Throughout their subsequent lives, they themselves continue to educate themselves and prepare only for temporary successes and fortunes in the world, completely disregarding God, pleasing Him, and their eternal salvation.
Christian upbringing, however, should begin from the tenderest childhood age.
John Chrysostom says:
It is not as useful to educate a son by teaching him sciences and external knowledge, through which he will acquire money, as it is to teach him the art of despising money.
Rich is not he who cares for greater acquisition of property and possesses much, but he who lacks nothing.
Do not strive to make your son famous through external learning and to bring him glory, but try to teach him to despise the glory of this present life; from this he will be more glorious and renowned.
This is possible for both the rich and the poor; this is learned not from secular teachers and not with the aid of sciences, but from Divine Scriptures."
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Archpriest Nikolai Deputatov
was born on December 5, 1896, in Volsk, Saratov Province.
A prominent theologian and church writer of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR), who served in the Russian Imperial Army before emigrating and completing his theological education in Harbin in 1938.
The Gospel is the fullness of the Revelation. It is – the sun, in comparison with which, other holy books are only planets, that shine with reflected light.
There, God prophesied with the mouths of prophets.
Here, the Son of God, Himself, converses with us – God-man, whose whole life was the revelation of light.
«I am the light of the world» (Jn.8:12).
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St.Archbishop Anthony
(Smirnitsky)
Avraamiy Gavrilovich Smirnitsky
(October 29 [November 9], 1773, Povstino, Poltava province - December 20, 1846 [January 1, 1847], Voronezh) - Bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church,
Archbishop of Voronezh and Zadonsk.
He's famous for his activities in restoring churches, developing theological schools and charity.
Attend Church.
Along with prayer, practice abstinence from foods the Church forbids; with abstinence, give alms; and with almsgiving, cultivate love, humility, and other holy virtues.
It is required to confess, repent, and receive Holy Communion, so that, thus prepared for salvation, we may meet the Feast of the Resurrection of Christ in heavenly, inexpressible joy.
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St. Silouan the Athonite
Semyon Ivanovich Antonov (January 17, 1866, village of Shovskoye, Tambov province — September 11 [24], 1938, Athos, Greece) -
Russian Saint who lived on Mt. Athos in the Monastery of St. Panteleimon and known for his ascetic feats and spiritual teachings.
He was glorified by the Patriarchate of Constantinople on November 26, 1987.
God is Unapproachable Light.
His being surpasses every image–not only material, but also intellectual.
Therefore, as long as the human mind is occupied with reasoning, words, concepts, or images, it does not attain the perfection of prayer.
The created human mind, the created human person, in their standing before the First Mind, the Personal God, attain truly pure and perfect prayer only when, out of love for God, they leave behind all creation, utterly forget the world and even their own body–so that in the hour of prayer a person no longer knows whether they are in the body or apart from it.
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St. Metropolitan Philaret
Georgy Nikolayevich Voznesensky
(22 March/4 April, 1903 Kursk, Russia – 21 November 1985, New York City, USA) - the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.
The spiritual legacy of Metropolitan Philaret includes sermons, talks, teachings and “A Summary of Moral Theology".
But perhaps no other passage in Holy Scripture reveals the essence and qualities of Christian love as well as chapter 13 of Apostle Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians. It is not without reason that commentators on Holy Scripture call this chapter a hymn to Christian love. In it, the apostle compares Christian love with various spiritual gifts and virtues, and, having called this love the most excellent way (at the end of the preceding chapter, 12), he explains with compelling persuasiveness how much it surpasses all other human gifts and experiences.
And all the highest virtues—prophecy, knowledge of all mysteries, miraculous faith, and even the feats of self-denial and martyrdom—are nothing without love, and only from it do they acquire their value.
"Love suffers long, is kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely" – it makes a person patient, meek, humble, and benevolent in everything.
"Love does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices with the truth..."
This is the all-conquering power, the power of humble love that destroys the selfishness and malice that nest in the human heart.
And this true love always seeks truth and justice, and not lies and servility.
And finally – "Love bears all things, believes all things, always hopes, endures all things. Love never fails..."
Yes, that's right – never. Nothing can break it – neither trials, nor torments, nor grief, nor hardships, nor disappointments.
And into another, better world, it will go with the Christian, and it will be revealed in its fullest form precisely there—when not only the gifts of prophecy and tongues disappear, but also faith and hope cease. Faith will be replaced there by face-to-face vision, and hope will become fulfilled; love alone will reign forever and ever. And that is why the same apostle says:
"Love is the fulfilling of the law" ( Rom. 13:10 ).
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Bishop Arseny (Zhadanovsky)
hieromartyr
Alexander Ivanovich Zhadanovsky
(March 6, 1874, Nizhnyaya Pisarevka, Kharkov province - September 27, 1937, Butovo firing range, Moscow region) - bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, bishop of Serpukhov, vicar of the Moscow diocese.
We suffer from a lack of conscious religious life. And above all, this manifests itself in relation to our inner selves.
This means that we do not watch over our hearts, our thoughts, we do not engage in inner work on ourselves, but blindly surrender to the flow of our thoughts and feelings, without testing them by the light of Christ's truth; wherever our desires drag us, there we go – hence the confusion, the disorder of thoughts and feelings that characterizes the life of modern society, a life without any moral foundations.
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Alexius Mechev, archpriest of Moscow, righteous
Alexei Alexeevich Mechev
(March 17 [29], 1859, Moscow — June 22, 1923, Vereya, Moscow province) clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church, a famous Moscow archpriest of the early 20th century.
Avoid judging others. When visiting someone's home and modest food is offered on a fasting day, it's best not to show disdain or refuse. You can then compensate at home by strengthening your physical fast, and most importantly, your spiritual one: by refraining from irritation, judgment, and similar behaviors.
Be more disciplined, more disciplined, in your spiritual fast: that is, learn to master yourself, practice humility, be gentle.
Let your fast be not only of the body, but also of the spirit.
Show no disrespect to anyone, particularly to those older than you.
This spiritual fast will transcend the physical.
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The Reverend Father Serafim
Seraphim Alexeivich Slobodskoy (September 11, 1912, Chernstovka, Penzen oblast - November 5, 1971, USA) a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia in the United States who is noted for preparation of catechetical works for the education of Orthodox youth, author of the textbook "The Law of God".
Jesus Christ through the revelation of the mystery of the All-holy Trinity taught us not only to worship God truly, but also to love God as all three Persons of the Most-holy Trinity - the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
All eternally abide with one another in unceasing love and make up one Being.
God is all-perfect love.
The great mystery, which God revealed to us concerning Himself, is the mystery of the Holy Trinity, which our weak mind cannot contain or understand.
Blessed Augustine says: «You see the Trinity if you see love.»
This means that we can understand the mystery of the Holy Trinity more readily with the heart, that is by love...
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St.Seraphim of Sarov
(30 July [O.S. 19 July] 1754 or 1759 – 14 January [O.S. 2 January] 1833)
Born Prókhor Isídorovich Moshnín (Mashnín) - one of the most renowned Russian saints.
The elder saw into the hearts of people, and as a physician of human soul, he healed their infirmities of soul and body through prayer to God and by his grace-filled words. Those coming to Saint Seraphim felt his great love and listened with tenderness to his endearing words as he addressed the people: “My joy, my treasure!”
There is nothing better than peace in Christ, for it brings victory over all the evil spirits on earth and in the air.
When peace dwells in a man’s heart it enables him to contemplate the grace of the Holy Spirit from within.
He who dwells in peace collects spiritual gifts as it were with a scoop, and he sheds the light of knowledge on others.
All our thoughts, all our desires, all our efforts, and all our actions should make us say constantly with the Church: “O Lord, give us peace!”
When a man lives in peace, God reveals mysteries to him..
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Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)
Ivan Mikhailovich Krestiankin
(April 11,1910, Orel—February 5, 2006, Pskov-Pechersk Monastery).
One of the most revered elders of the Russian Orthodox Church at the end of the XX — beginning of the XXI century.
To learn prayer is a long undertaking and a great labor, much patience is needed in this school.
But for him who endures all the hardships of this science, life becomes a joy in the Lord. Begin this work by acquiring attention to your thoughts and the ability to instantly turn a repentant sigh to the Lord.
Do not think too highly of yourself,
and may the Lord help you.
If you want to live easily
and be close to God,
keep your heart high,
and your head low.
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Our Lady Derzhavnaya
("The Sovereign", "The Reigning Icon")
March 2/March 15
Today’s icon type, the Derzhavnaya (“Reigning”) image, was painted at the end of the 18th-beginning of the 19th century.
Though it was painted near the beginning of the 19th century, this icon did not “appear” until the year 1917.
The story tells us that a woman named Evdokia Adrianova had a dream on the 13th of February in the year 1917. In it, she heard a voice saying:
“In the village of Kolomensk there is a big, black icon. Take it, make it red, and let there be prayer.”
Two weeks later on February 26th, she had another dream. In it she saw a white church, and in the church was a majestic woman whom Evdokia felt to be Mary.
So she traveled to Kolomensk, and there saw the Ascension Church, which she recognized as the white church in her dream. She went to the home of the rector, Nikolai Likhachev, and told him her dream and asked what to do.
He took her to the church, and they began to search among its icons. At first, in the sanctuary and on the iconostasis, nothing was found to match the dream image. So they began searching up and down, and eventually, in the basement, stored with all kinds of junk, they came across an old and black icon.
They cleaned it up and an image of Mary seated on a throne and holding signs of imperial authority, with her son on her lap, was revealed — and her robe was a bright red.
The image, according to church records, had been brought to Kolomensk for storage in 1812, the year of the Napoleonic invasion of Russia.
Word of the supposedly miraculous event quickly spread, and soon pilgrims began coming to the Ascension Church to see the icon.
The icon was taken out now and then to make “royal visits” to various sites in the area, including other churches and factories.
Because Mary wears a crown and holds the symbols of royal authority, the image came to be called Derzhavnaya — “Reigning.”
Tthe “appearance” of the icon — of its finding in the Church of the Ascension — happened also to be the day (March 2nd or 15th, depending which calendar is used) on which Tsar Nicholas II abdicated.
Mary was now guiding and ruling Orthodox Russia...
The Most Pure Mother of God has not withdrawn Her protective veil from the Russian land.Bishop Averky Taushev
The miraculous appearance on 2 March 1917 of our last wonder-working icon — the Mother of God Derzhavnaya — on the very day His Majesty Emperor Nicholas Alexandrovich abdicated, shows this.
What does this tell us, except that the Most Pure Mother of God Herself has assumed the supreme, royal authority over Russia after Her people — mad with frenzy — rejected their sovereign, the Anointed of God?
She looks with sorrow upon the people’s harsh suffering, born of their own wild rebellion, and, like a true Mother, waits patiently for their repentance and return to God…
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Reverend Barsanuphius
of Optina (Plikhankov)
Pavel Ivanovich Plikhankov
(July 5 (18), 1845, Samara — April 1 (14), 1913, Kolomna, Moscow province) - priest of the Russian Orthodoxу Church, preacher, spiritual writer, one of the venerable elders of the Optina Hermitage.
Vanity stems from a lack of humility. A humble person will not be overcome by any sorrows, for in humbling themselves, they find that they deserve even greater punishment for their sins. The humble are like a man who built his house on the rock: "And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock (Matthew 7:25)."
And this stone is humility.
But the vain man is like a man who built his house on sand, without a foundation.
"And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell, and great was the fall of it (Matthew 7:27)."
Let us humble ourselves before God, let us lay a small brick in the foundation of our little house, that is, the desire to amend, and the Lord Himself will save us according to His inexpressible goodness.
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Theophan the Recluse
(January 10, 1815 – January 6, 1894), Russian Orthodox bishop and theologian, recognized as a saint in 1988.
Born as Georgy Vasilievich Govorov, he became a monk in 1841, taking the name Theophan.
Do not think that the visible causes are the true causes of what happens to us and around us.
Everything is governed by invisible divine promptings – and these promptings are always in direct correspondence with the movements of human hearts.
God acts upon us according to how we conduct ourselves in relation to Him.
If we do not repent, He punishes; if we repent, He shows mercy.
The key to understanding upheavals and changes is not solely within our private lives!
A contrite and humble heart God will not despise.
Thus, all the future is in God's hands: therefore, either walk blamelessly in His will in devotion to God, or hasten with repentance to avert the formidable decree of His judgments.
This is a lesson drawn from the future.
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Saint John of Shanghai and
San Francisco
Mikhail Borisovich Maximovitch
(June 4(17), 1896, Adamovka village, Izyum district, Kharkov province, Russian Empire – July 2, 1966, Seattle, Washington, USA) was an prelate of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia who is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
However, high a spiritual and moral state one might achieve, a gradual or even headlong and deep fall into the abyss of sin is always possible.
Therefore, communion of the holy Body and Blood of Christ, which strengthens our contact with Him and refreshes us with the living streams of the grace of the Holy Spirit flowing through the Body of the Church, is necessary for everyone.
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Commemoration of
St.Daniel of Moscow (prince)
March 4/March 17
The holy and right-believing Daniel of Moscow (late 1261, Vladimir, Vladimir- Suzdal Principality - 4 March 1303, Moscow, Duchy of Moscow), the Grand Prince of Moscow, son of the holy and right-believing Alexander Nevsky. Being the youngest son, he inherited the poor principality of Moscow that through his adroit and peaceful handling of the princely internecine warfare developed into the capital of a united Russian land. He founded the first monastery, St. Daniel Monastery in Moscow, at the Church of St. Daniel the Stylite.
The greatness of the work, by the completely meek and humble disposition of the right-believing prince, demonstrates that God is not in power, but in truth.
After his death, the saint himself testified that he conquered the world by the love of Christ.
In 1272, Daniel, a ten-year-old youth, ascended to the principality. During the division of his father's inheritance, he, as the youngest, received a more than modest legacy – Moscow and its surroundings. But the young prince did not grumble.
The Lord granted him other riches – meekness of heart, peacefulness, and non-possessiveness, and thanks to these virtues, even during the prince's lifetime, Moscow transformed from a poor village on the banks of the Moskva River into the center of an independent, rapidly developing principality.
And although it was still a long way from becoming the all-Russian capital, the foundations of future power were laid precisely during the reign of the holy Prince Daniel.
The founder laid the foundation of Moscow’s grandeur, modestly making only a small path to it. Just as any edifice, which is not built with excessive haste, but rather with great artistry and skill, receives a particular firmness and stands indestructible for a long time; like a tall tree that grows for many centuries after beginning as a small sapling, then slowly becomes sturdier, with its branches spreading about far around, so this city was to grow from small, but firm beginnings, so that its first sparkle would not bedazzle the eyes of the envious, and so it would not be shaken or felled early on, before it had attained its full height.
Thus did this founder prepare the great city given him, giving it a modest but steady radiance, undisturbed by any gusts of the wind.
He left the great glory of its rise to his son Great Prince John, called Kalita.
Metropolitan Platon of Moscow
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St. Metropolitan Nikolai (Mogilevsky)
Feodosiy Nikiforovich Mogilevsky
(April 9, 1877, Komissarovka, Yekaterinoslav Governorate - October 25, 1955, Alma-Ata) - bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan of Alma-Ata and Kazakhstan.
Thanks to the prayers of Bishop Nicholas, the plane with the failed engine was successfully landed.
He was canonized as a saint of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in 2000.
Vain, meager thoughts trouble us against our will and almost without our knowledge, seducing us by entering us so imperceptibly and cunningly that we can barely recognize them.
Their emergence does not depend on us, but accepting or rejecting them is within our will.
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Saint Luke, Bishop of Simferopol and Crimea
Commemoration
March 5/March 18
Valentin Felixovich Voyno-Yasenetsky
(14 April 1877, Kerch, the Soviet Union–11 June 1961, Simferopol) – was a Russian surgeon, spiritual writer, a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, and archbishop of Simferopol and Crimea from May 1946 until his death.
He was a laureate of the Stalin Prize in medicine in 1946.
Saint Luke the Physician, Archbishop of Simferopol, was born in 1877 in the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea. He married Anna Vasilievna, who reposed at the age of 38, so the Saint took the full responsibility of raising his four children. In 1920 he was elected Professor of Topographic Anatomy and Surgery at the University of Tashkent.
His research on the issue of purulent infections were innovative and he wrote the manual still used today.
He was ordained a Priest in 1921, Bishop of Tashkent in 1923, and in 1946 he was promoted to Archbishop of Simferopol in Crimea.
He remained in this position until his repose, on 11 June 1961.
From 1922 till the end of his earthly life he suffered arrests, exiles and horrific tortures. Many times they attempted to kill him, but God protected him. Throughout the last nine years of his life he was blind from glaucoma, but in this also he showed Job-like patience.
Studying the life of Saint Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol, one cannot distinguish the Bishop from the physician. Saint Luke was both together everywhere.
He would heal patients with the use of medical science, but also through prayer. Also, his pastoral ministry included him being a physician, since he tried to heal people both physically and spiritually. Because of his great love for God, he loved others, all without exception, without discrimination. He had fiery zeal and great self-denial. As he himself confessed, he loved martyrdom.
Besides, all his life was a continuous martyrdom and a thunderous testimony for Christ. However, he also tasted of many spiritual joys and heavenly blessings.
What is striking was his great obedience to Christ and the Church. When the Bishop invited him to become a Cleric, immediately he responded with great eagerness, because he considered the call to have come from God Himself, although he had not previously considered it and although he was a successful physician-surgeon with a great reputation. He notes in his autobiography:
I know there are very many people that wonder how I managed, having gained fame as a wise and great surgeon, to leave science and surgery to become a preacher of the Gospel of Christ. Those who have such thoughts, make a big mistake thinking that it is impossible to reconcile science and religion... The history of science teaches us that even the genius sages Galileo, Newton, Copernicus, Pasteur, and our great physiologist Pavlov, were deeply religious people. And I know that among our professors, our contemporaries, there are many who believe.
Indeed, they even ask for my blessing.
...The Lord in my tender youth led me to the priesthood, which I never thought about, since I passionately loved being a surgeon and I was dedicated to it with all my soul.
I always had to serve the poor and suffering, and I disposed all my strength to alleviating their pain and to aid their needs.
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St.Ambrose of Optina
Aleksander Mikhaylovich Grenkov
(December 5, 1812 – October 23, 1891) was a starets and a hieroschemamonk in Optina Monastery, canonized in the 1988 convention of the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church.
It is useless to accuse those around us and those who live with us of somehow interfering with or being an impediment to our salvation and spiritual perfection…
Spiritual or emotional dissatisfaction comes from within ourselves, from inexperience and from poorly conceived opinions we do not want to abandon, but which bring on doubt, embarrassment, and misunderstanding.
All of this tires and burdens us, and brings us to a sorry state. We would do well to comprehend the Holy Fathers’ simple advice:
If we will humble ourselves, we will find tranquility anywhere, without having to mentally wander about many other places, where we might have the same, or even worse, experiences.
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Innocent of Alaska
Ivan Evseyevich Popov-Veniaminov
(26 August 1797, Irkutsk Governorate – 12 April 1879, Moscow), also known as Innocent Metropolitan of Moscow, was a Russian Orthodox missionary priest, then the first Orthodox bishop and archbishop in the Americas, and finally the Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna.
If the path into the Kingdom of Heaven seems difficult, then consider how incomparably more dreadful are the eternal torments in fiery Gehenna. If the path toward heavenly bliss seems difficult, compare it with the path toward earthly happiness, and you will see that the path toward earthly happiness is not really easier at all. Just observe how much people toil to amass earthly things, how many disappointments, fights, sleepless nights and deprivations they bear. Or remind yourself of how much effort and expenses it takes to achieve some meaningless and fleeting pleasure!
And for what?
Instead of the expected happiness, you are left with disappointment and weariness.
When you carefully examine the heart of the matter, it becomes evident that people stay away from the Heavenly Kingdom not because the path to it is more difficult than the other paths of this world, but because it appears that way to them...
Work for your salvation while it is still daylight, for the night will come in which there will be no chance to change anything.
Strive for the Heavenly Kingdom while you can still walk.
Walk even a little bit, even if by crawling, but do it in the right direction.
Then in eternity you will truly rejoice for every step you have taken!
May the All-merciful Lord help us all in this!
Glory and thanksgiving be to Him throughout the ages of ages. Amen
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St. Ignatius Brianchaninov
Dmitry Alexandrovich Brianchaninov
(February 5 [18],1807-April 30 [May 13],1867) stands out as one of the greatest patristic writers of the nineteenth century.
This great Russian saint left to Orthodox Christians a compass by which we can check our direction as we traverse the complex path of spiritual life, to avoid the dark forests and pitfalls of spiritual delusion and pride.
"My Father, prayed the Saviour, if it is possible, let this Chalice pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt (Mat. 26,39)."
Pray to God for the removal of trials from. you, and at the same time renounce your own will, as a sinful and blind will. Surrender yourself, your soul and body, and your circumstances both present and future, and surrender your neighbours who are nearest and dearest to your heart to the all-holy and wise will of God.
Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.
"The spirit is willing enough, but the flesh is weak (Mat. 26,41)."
When troubles surround you, repeat the prayer frequently so as to draw to yourself the special grace of God.
Only with the help of special grace can we be victorious over all temporal troubles.
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Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)
Ivan Mikhailovich Krestiankin
(April 11,1910, Orel—February 5, 2006, Pskov-Pechersk Monastery).
One of the most revered elders of the Russian Orthodox Church at the end of the XX — beginning of the XXI century.
Everything in our life proceeds in its own way...
We walk, we stumble on the path and sometimes fall, we get up and walk again.
We carry our cross, and through it our soul is raised to God, like a living sacrifice.
Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness, and so we shed ours in heartfelt pain for our loved ones, in pain for our sins.
Such is the path to God, such is the path of purifying the soul and its rebirth.
And we will not abandon this path.
Always remember the words:
"Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.""Hebrews 2:18
Our temptations and falls, strangely enough, give birth in us to compassion for people, an understanding of what is happening, and they also teach us to provide effective help to others.
And how they bring us closer to God, both through the Sacrament of Repentance and through the realization of our weakness and His strength, manifested through God's help to us...
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