συνοδικός
November 18 / November 5
2018 (7527)
MARTYRS GALACTEON AND HIS WIFE EPISTEME AT EMESA (253). APOSTLES PATROBUS, HERMAS, LINUS, GAIUS, AND PHILOLOGUS OF THE SEVENTY (1ST C.). ST GREGORY, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA (9TH C.)
Synaxis of All Saints of CAPPADOCIA // 1ST SUNDAY NOV //
On the first Sunday of the month of November, we commemorate all the Saints of Cappadocia, who lived or worked there, indigenous and foreigner, men and women, known and unknown, whose names the Lord alone knows.
Those known to us are the following:
• Holy Apostles: PETER, PAUL, ANDREW, MATTHIAS
• Holy Hierarchs: BASIL the Great, GREGORY of Nyssa, PETER of Sebaste, GREGORY the Theologian, AMPHILOCHIOS of Iconium, JOHN II of Constantinople, ACHILLES of Larissa, OIKOUMENIOS of Trikke, AGAPETOS of Synaus and FIRIMILIAN of Caesarea
• Venerables: SAVVAS the Sanctified, THEODOSIOS the Cenobiarch, MICHAEL Maleinos, MELETIOS the New of Myoupolis, IRENE Chrysovalantou, JOHN the Russian, ARSENIOS of Farasa, BASIL, LUKE, IGNATIOS, PETER the Abbots of Vatheos Ryakos, STEPHEN of Chenolakkos, Rightous EUDOKIMOS, HILARION of Dalmatos, GORGONIA the sister of Gregory the Theologian, MACRINA the sister of Basil the Great, NONNA the mother of Gregory the Theologian, NAUKRATIOS the brother of Basil the Great, KANIDES and JOSEPH the New
• Holy Hieromartyrs: ALEXANDER of Jerusalem, ALEXANDER, MARTYRIOS and SISINIOS, BLAISE of Sebaste, KARTERIOS and LONGINUS the Centurion
• Holy Martyrs: AGATHODOROS, AGAPIOS, ADRIAN and EUBOULA, AKAKIOS, ANEKTOS, ANTHONY, GERMANOS, ZEBINAS and NIKEPHOROS, AUXENTIOS, EUGENIOS, EUSTRATIOS, MARDARIOS and ORESTES, BARLAAM, BLAISE, GORDIANOS, GORDIOS, GEORGE the Great Martyr, ELASIPPOS, MESIPPOS, PAUSIPPOS and NEONILLA, EROTEIS and KAPETOLINE, EUPSYCHIOS, another EUPSECHIOS, THESPESIOS, HIERON and ORESTES, JULIAN and SELEUKOS, JULITTA, KODRATOS, RUFINAS and SATORNINOS, MAMAS, MERKOURIOS, PORPHYRIOS the Mime, SERGIUS, LONGINUS the Centurion and the Two Soldiers with him, YAKINTHOS
• Holy Neomartyrs: GEORGE of Neapolis, PANAGIOTES of Caesarea and SAVVAS of Nigdela
On the first Sunday of November, the Holy Metropolis of Neapolis and Stavroupolis has established for three of its local saints to be celebrated, namely Saint GEORGE of Neapolis (Nov. 3), Saint ATHANASIOS Koulakiotes (Sept. 8), and Saint AKAKIOS of Asvestochori (May 1). Their festival takes place in the Cathedral of Saint George, where portions of the relics of these saints are treasured, and throughout the week services are done in their honor.
• Holy Apostles of the Seventy: PATROBAS 帕特若佛 Bishop of Neapolis and of Pozzuoli in Italy (71); HERMES 埃尔玛斯 Bishop of Philipopolis (Romans 16:14) (57); Hieromartyr LINUS 利诺 The 1st Pope of Rome (2 Timothy 4:21) (79) a disciple of the Apostle Paul; GAIUS 盖奥 Bishop of Ephesus (Roman 16:23) (1st c.); and PHILOLOGUS 斐洛罗格 Bishop of Synope (Romans 16:15) in Pontus (in the Black Sea region) by the Apostle Andrew (1st c.)
• Martyrs FELIX and EUSEBIUS (1st c.) in Terracina, between Rome and Naples in Italy
• Venerable Martyrs GALACTION (Galactio, Galaction or Galation) 伽拉克提雍 and his wife EPISTEME (Epistema or Epistemis) 埃彼斯提弥 at Emessa, in Phoenicia (253) both received the monastic tonsure withdrew to Mount Publion (near Mount Sinai) - Galaktion to a monastery and Episteme to a convent; and their friend monk Martyr EUTOLIUS who took their martyred bodies and honorably buried them, later he wrote in eulogy of their lives, for both his contemporaries and posterity
Οἱ Ἅγιοι Γαλακτίων καὶ Ἐπιστήμη
When Galaktion turned age 24, his father resolved to marry him off and they found him a bride, a beautiful and illustrious girl by the name of Epistimia. The son did not oppose the will of his father; however, through the will of God, the nuptials were for a certain while postponed. Visiting often with his betrothed, Galaktion gradually revealed about his faith to her, and he converted her to Christ and he himself secretly baptised her. Together with Epistimia he baptised also one of her servants, Eutolmios. The newly-illumined decided, on the initiative of Galaktion, to devote themselves to a monastic life. Quitting the city, they hid themselves away on Mount Publion, where there were two monasteries, one for men and the other for women. The new monastics had to take with them all the necessities for physical toil, since the inhabitants of both monasteries were both old and infirm. For several years the monastics asceticised at work, fasting and prayer. But one time Epistimia had a vision in her sleep: Galaktion and she stood in a wondrous palace before the Resplendent King, and the King bestowed on them golden crowns. This was a presentiment of their impending martyr's end. Seized by Governor Ursus and interrogated on their faith, they suffered multiple tortures. They were cruelly beaten, sharp-pointed reeds were driven under their fingernails, and then their martyrdom by the sword. Saint Galaktion was 30 years old, and Saint Episteme was 16 years old.
Physical love, in comparison to spiritual love, is less than a shadow is to solid substance. Brotherhood and sisterhood of the blood and body is nothing compared to the brotherhood and sisterhood of the spirit. Galaktion's father betrothed him to the maiden Episteme. Galaktion baptized Episteme and, after that, both received the monastic tonsure. Their physical love was replaced by spiritual love, a love as strong as death. So great was Galaktion's spiritual love for Episteme that he never desired to see her with his physical eyes. Neither physical contact nor closeness are necessary for spiritual love. So great was Episteme's spiritual love for Galaktion that when she heard that he had been taken for torture she ran after him, begging him not to reject her, but to receive her as a fellow sufferer, as he was her spiritual father and brother. When the merciless torturers flogged holy Galaktion's naked body, holy Episteme wept. However, when the torturers cut off their hands and feet for Christ, both rejoiced and glorified God. So great was the power of their love for our Lord Jesus Christ, and so great was the spiritual love with which they loved each other. Truly, physical love is like a colorful butterfly that quickly passes, but spiritual love is enduring.
• Hieromartyr CASTOR 喀斯托若 the Bishop of Caesarea, by fire; Hieromartyr DOROTHEUS (Auxentius) 多若德奥 Presbiter of Caesarea, by wild animals; Martyr DOMNINUS 多穆尼诺, burned alive; MM TIMOTHY 提摩泰, THEOPHILUS 德奥斐洛 and THEOTIMUS 德奥提默 killed with fists; EUPSYCHIUS 艾弗普西赫 and CARTERIUS 喀尔特里, had his genitals cut off; NEARCHOS; PAMPHILIUS 庞斐利, twice pierced in his chest, thrown into the dungeon where he ended up; SILVANUS thrown into copper mines; AGATHANGELUS 阿伽昙格罗 by the sword; and others 3 VMM given to unbridled brothel owners, and other maidens were cast into prison; at Caesarea of Palestine (307)
Οἱ Ἅγιοι Δομνῖνος, Τιμόθεος, Θεόφιλος, Θεότιμος, Δωρόθεος ὁ Πρεσβύτερος, Εὐψύχιος, Καρτέριος, Σιλβάνος, Πάμφιλος, Φιλόθεος, Νέαρχος καὶ ἄλλοι Ἅγιοι Μάρτυρες ἄνδρες καὶ γυναῖκες
Οἱ Ἅγιοι Κάστορας καὶ Ἀγαθάγγελος οἱ Μάρτυρες
• DOMETIOS and PAUL
Οἱ Ἅγιοι Δομέντιος καὶ Παῦλος ὁ Ἐπίσκοπος
• AUGUSTINE and PAULINUS (6th c.) monks sent by St Benedict to found the monastery of Terracina in Italy
• RAPHAEL Hawaweeny, Bishop of Brooklyn (1860-1915)
Our Father among the Saints, Raphael (Hawaweeny), Bishop of Brooklyn, was the 1st Orthodox Christian bishop consecrated on American soil. Traveling throughout the continent in the first years of the 20th century, he founded thirty parishes in North America. His feast day is celebrated in the Antiochian Archdiocese on the first Saturday of November. St. Raphael, a man of angelic name and apostolic fervor, was influenced by many cultures. He was born and raised in the Middle East, educated by Greeks at Halki and by Russians at Kiev, and he spent the last nineteen years of his life as a missionary in North America.
• Election to the patriarchal throne (1917) of TIKHON (Vasily Bellavin) Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus (1865-1925)
• Hieromartyr GABRIEL Maslennikov, presbiter, Priest of Ryazan (1871-1937)
• Repose of Abbess ANNA of Vrachevshnitsa Monastery, Serbia (1975)
• Repose of Hieromonk RAPHAEL Ogorodnikov, of Porkhov, Pskov (1988)
• BERTILA (Bertilia or Bertilla) of Chelles, 1st Abbess of Chelles, Diocese of Meaux (698) in France
French noble in the reign of King Dagobert I. Friend and spiritual student of Saint Ouen of Rouen. Bertille wanted to enter religious life, but delayed and worried, thinking her parents would oppose her choice; they did not. Benedictine nun at the convent at Jouarre, Brie, France, an abbey founded by Saint Owen's brother Ado under the strict rule of Saint Columbanus. Infirmarian. Convent school headmistress. Prioress. Abbess of the abbey at Chelles from 646, when it was restored by Saint Bathildis, until her death. During this time the convent attracted nuns that included a queen, several Merovingian princesses, and many Anglo-Saxon noble women.
• Venerabless CANONICA Ascetic of the Jordan Desert
• Venerable CYBI (Kybi, Kebius, Cuby) 基彼, Abbot, of Cornwall and Wales (550)
• COLMÁN of Glenn Delmaic in Mag Raigni in Ossory
• DOMENTIUS
• DOMINATOR (495) the 14th Bishop of Brescia in Lombardy in Italy
• DOMNINUS (4th c.) the 1st Bishop of Grenoble in France
• DOSITHEUS monk of Glinsk Hermitage (1874)
• FIBITIUS (500) Abbot of a monastery in Trier in Germany and the 21st bishop of that city
• GOUSSAUD (Gonsalou) Hermit (8th c.)
Because Goussaud was a hermit in Auvergne, peasants still commit their cattle to his care.
• Holy Father GREGORY 格里高利 the Confessor, Patriarch of Alexandria (9th c.)
Ὁ Ὅσιος Γρηγόριος
• Venerable GREGORY of Cassano, Calabria (1002)
• Righteous GERICH a knight of the Lower Rhine, founder of the women's monastery Gerresheim near Dusseldorf (873)
• GWENFAEN of Anglesey, Patroness of Rhosolyn, Anglesey (6th c.)
• HERMENEGILD (586) a monk at Salcedo in Galicia in Spain
• Venerable HILARION the Recluse, of Troekurovo (1853) Tambov
• Repose of Sainted JONAH 约纳 Archbishop of Novgorod (1470)
Ὁ Ἅγιος Ἰωνᾶς ὁ Θαυματουργός
• KANTEN (Cannen) of Wales (8th c.) Founder of Lianganten in Powys in Wales
• KEA (Kay, Kenan) of Devon and Cornwall (6th c.) a saint who gave his name to Landkey in Devon, now in England. He spent some of his life in Brittany where he is venerated as St Quay
• LAETUS (533) a monk at the age of 12, he is honoured near Orleans in France, his relics enshrined in the village of St Lié
• MAGNUS (525) Archbishop of Milan in Italy from 520 to 525
• MAMETE (Mamet) (4th c.) Priest. Evangelist in the region of Saint-Flour, France, assigned by Saint Astremonius of Clermont, France
The town of Saint-Mamet-la-Salvetat, France is named for him. Died 4th century Auvergne, France of natural causes.
• MARCIANA a Nun at Albi (France) (8th c.)
• VM NATALINA (Natalena) of Pamiers (France) (4th c.)
• Virgin ODRADA 奥德拉达, Nun at Haelen, Diocese of Hertogenbosch (739) province of North Brabant, in the southern Netherlands
• Martyr SILVANUS Bishop of Gaza
• SOPHIA Matr. of Edessa (3rd c.)
• SPINULUS (Spinula, Spin) (707/720) a monk at Moyenmoutier with St Hidulf. Later he founded the monastery of Bégon-Celle (now Saint-Blasien) also in France
Ἐγκαίνια ναοῦ Θεοδώρου Τήρωνος ἐν τοῖς Σφωρακίου
• Commemoration of the Miracle of Saint Spiridon the Wonderworker of The deadly Blight (1673) descended and spread over fields and crops in the cities and countryside. Death seemed inescapable. Twice during that year, the wonderworking Spyridon saved the island and its inhabitants from certain ruin
On the first Sunday in November the island of Kerkyra commemorates with a procession of his relics the miraculous intervention of Saint Spyridon in saving Kerkyra from a deadly plague, which twice visited the island in the seventeenth century. The history of the procession goes back to 1673. The pestilence was first identified in one of the suburbs and soon spread all over the town; the entire population was gripped by the terror of death. For three nights a light was seen by the local inhabitants on the bell-tower of the Church of Saint Spyridon and the figure of Saint Spyridon, carrying a cross in one hand, appeared driving the pestilence away. The Venetian Governor, at the request of the people of Kerkyra, sanctioned by decree on the 29th of October 1673 that the procession be held every year on the first Sunday in November.
• Feast of the Holy Relics
Let us then venerate, with respect, devotion and confidence, these precious relics which once were animated by such great souls, were the instruments of beautiful and holy works and of astonishing virtues, and which will some day be honored by a brilliant and immortal glory. Let us value pilgrimages made to the tombs of the Saints, and celebrate religiously the feast of the holy relics, which appropriately follows closely upon All Saints Day, the feast day of the splendid holy souls who are in heaven.
The term “Holy Relics” (Greek Αγιων Λειψανα) refers to the material remains of a saint after his repose or to those items which have come into contact with his sanctified body. Christians of antiquity, with Scriptural basis, gathered the remains of those who were martyred for Christ i.e. Ignatius the God-bearer, Polycarp of Smyrna, Irenaeus of Lyons, and also constructed churches over their remains and erected altars and tables of oblation over their graves from which to celebrate the Eucharist. When a church is consecrated or dedicated as a holy place that will be used for worship, a piece of relic is sealed into the altar table with a combination of holy chrism and a bonding agent. This comes from the ancient practice of having liturgy on the tombs of the martyrs, which comes from the early Church, when they had to do secret liturgies in fear of persecution. Once Christianity became legalized, this tradition continued unto this day. Like icons, we venerate relics and ask for the intercession of the saints, but we know that the only miracles come from the Lord, through his saints many times, yes, but only from God. There are thousands of miracle working relics and the faithful flock to them with their fervent requests of healing and other requests. These are not magic though, you are not guaranteed a miracle because you approach and venerate the relic. God works His wonders when He wills and for His purposes, not when we demand it or for our own purposes. Christ didn’t heal everyone throughout all of Israel, but He did heal those who came seeking Him. We must continue to seek Christ, but to know that “Thy will be done.”
THE PLACE OF HOLY RELICS IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH - FATHER JUSTIN POPOVICH
Without doubt, matter is represented in the human body in a manner which is most puzzling, most mysterious, and most complex. The brain: What wondrous mysteries pass between its physical and spiritual parts! How vast is the experience of the human race. In no manner can one ever fully comprehend or grasp these mysteries. Indeed, little of this is accessible to the human senses or intellectual investigation. So it is also with the heart of man, formed as it is entirely and solely from cosmic mysteries. So formed, too, are every cell, every molecule, every atom. Everyone and all are set on their mystical path toward God, toward the God-Man. Inasmuch as it was created by God, the Logos, matter possesses this same theocentricity. Moreover, by His advent into our earthly world, by His all-embracing condescension as God and Man for the redemption of the world, the Lord Christ clearly demonstrated that not only the soul, but matter also was created by God and for God, and that He is God and Man; and for it, matter, He is all and everything in the same manner as for the soul. Being created by God, the Logos, matter is, in its innermost core, God-longing and Christ-longing.
The most obvious proof of this is the fact that God the Word has become Incarnate, has become man (St. John 1:14). By His Incarnation, matter has been magnified with Divine glory and has entered into the grace- and virtue-bestowing, ascetic aim of deification, or union with Christ. God has become flesh, has become human, so that the entire man, the entire body, might be filled with God and with His miracle-working forces and powers. In the God-Man, the Lord Christ, and His Body, all matter has been set on a path toward Christ —the path of deification, transfiguration, sanctification, resurrection, and ascent to an eternal glory surpassing that of the Cherubim. And all of this takes place and will continue to take place through the Divine and human Body of the Church, which is truly the God-Man Christ in the total fullness of His Divine and Human Person, the fullness "that fills all in all" (Ephesians 1:23). Through its Divine and human existence in the Church, the human body, as matter, as substance, is sanctified by the Holy Spirit and in this way participates in the life of the Trinity. Matter thus attains its transcendent, divine meaning and goal, its eternal blessedness and its immortal joy in the God-Man.
The holiness of the Saints—both the holiness of their souls and of their bodies—derives from their zealous grace- and virtue-bestowing lives in the Body of the Church of Christ, of the God-Man. In this sense, holiness completely envelopes the human person—the entire soul and body and all that enters into the mystical composition of the human body. The holiness of the Saints does not hold forth only in their souls, but it necessarily extends to their bodies; so it is that both the body and the soul of a saint are sanctified. Thus we, in piously venerating the Saints, also venerate the entire person, in this manner not separating the holy soul from the holy body. Our pious veneration of the Saints' relics is a natural part of our pious respect for and prayerful entreaty to the Saints. All of this constitutes one indivisible ascetic act, just as the soul and body constitute the single, indivisible person of the Saint. Clearly, during his life on the earth, the Saint, by a continuous and singular grace- and virtue-bestowing synergy of soul and body, attains to the sanctification of his person, filling both the soul and body with the grace of the Holy Spirit and so transforming them into vessels of the holy mysteries and holy virtues. It is completely natural, again, to show pious reverence both to the former and to the latter, both to soul and body, both of them holy vessels of God's grace. When the charismatic power of Christ issues forth, it makes Grace-filled all the constituent parts of the human person and the person in his entirety. By unceasing enactment of the ascetic efforts set forth in the Gospels, Saints gradually fill themselves with the Holy Spirit, so that their sacred bodies, according to the word of the holy Apostle, become temples of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 6:19; 3:17), Christ dwelling by faith in their hearts (Ephesians 3:17) and by fruitful love also fulfilling the commandments of God the Father. Establishing themselves in the Holy Spirit through grace-bestowing ascetic labors, the Saints participate in the life of the Trinity, becoming sons of the Holy Trinity, temples of the Living God (II Corinthians 6:16); their whole lives thus flow from the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. By piously venerating the holy relics of the Saints, the Church reveres them as temples of the Holy Spirit, temples of the Living God, in which God dwells by Grace even after the earthly death of the Saints. And by His most wise and good Will, God creates miracles in and through these relics. Moreover, the miracles which derive from the holy relics witness also to the fact that their pious veneration by the people is pleasing to God.
The pious veneration of holy relics, based on their miraculous nature, originated from Divine Revelation. Even in the Old Testament God deigned to celebrate with miracles the holy relics of certain of those who were well-pleasing to Him. Thus, by the touch of the holy relics of the Prophet Elisea, a dead man was resurrected. The tomb and bones of this Prophet, who had prophesied to Jeroboam the destruction of idolatrous altars, were greatly revered in Judea. The Patriarch Joseph also left a testament to the sons of Israel to preserve his bones in Egypt and, during their exodus, to carry them to the promised land (Genesis 50:25).
The New Testament raised the human body to the sublime and divine heights, endowing it with a glory which the Cherubim and Seraphim do not possess. The Good News of the New Testament concerning the body—the significance and goal of the human body—is that, together with the soul, it achieves and inherits immortal life in Divine eternity. The Lord Christ has come to deify, to make Christ-like, the entire man, that is, the soul and body, and this by the resurrection, insuring thereby victory over death and eternal life. No one ever elevated the human body as did the Lord Christ by His bodily resurrection, the ascension of His body into heaven, and its eternal session at the right hand of God the Father. In this way, the Resurrected Christ extended the promise of resurrection to the nature of the human body—"having made for all flesh a path to eternal life." Thus man now knows that the body is created for eternity through union with the God-Man and that his divine work on earth is to struggle, with the soul, for eternal life; to struggle, with all those means that convey grace and virtue, to make himself grace-filled, fulfilled by Divine grace, and created anew as the temple of the Holy Spirit, the temple of the Living God.
Bearing in mind that this New Testamental notion of the human body has been achieved and realized in the persons of the Saints, Christians show a pious veneration for the bodies of the Saints, towards holy relics, the temples of the Holy Spirit, Who by God's grace abides within them. But Holy Revelation indicates that by God's immeasurable love for man, the Holy Spirit abides through His grace not only in the bodies of the Saints, but also in their clothing. So it is that the handkerchiefs of the holy apostle Paul healed the ill and expelled unclean spirits (Acts 19:12). With his mantle the Prophet Elias struck the water, separating the waters of the Jordan, and along the dry bed of the river crossed the Jordan with his disciple Elisea (IV Kings 2:8). The prophet Elisea did the very same thing, himself, with the same mantle, after the taking-up of Elias into heaven (IV Kings 2:14). All this has its verification and source in the Divine power that rested in the garments of the Savior, which encompassed His most pure and Divine body. Moreover, by His inexpressible love for man, the Divine Lord allows the servants of His Divinity to work miracles not only through their bodies and clothing, but even with the shadow of their bodies, which is evident in an occurrence with the holy apostle Peter: his shadow healed an ill man and expelled unclean spirits (Acts 5:15-16).
The eternal good news of Holy Revelation about sacred relics and their pious veneration is proved, and is continually being proved, by Holy Tradition from Apostolic times to the present day. Innumerable are the sacred relics of the holy Chosen Ones of God throughout the Orthodox world. Their miracles are innumerable. The pious veneration of these relics by Orthodox Christians is everywhere to be found. And without doubt this is because the holy relics, through their miracles, incite the Orthodox toward their pious veneration. From the very beginning, in Apostolic times, Christians piously preserved the honored relics of the Holy Forerunner and the holy Apostles, so that these could be preserved even for us. As well, during the times of persecution the sacred remains of the bodies of the holy Martyrs were taken away by Christians and hidden in their homes. From that time until now, the sacred relics of the holy Chosen Ones of God have, by their miracles, poured forth the immortal joy of our faith into the hearts of Orthodox Christians. The proofs concerning this are countless. We shall cite only several.
The way that the holy relics of the Saints were translated and greeted is in a touching manner described by St. Chrysostomos in a eulogy on St. Ignatios: "You, inhabitants of Antioch, have sent forth a bishop and received a martyr; you sent him forth with prayers, and received him back with crowns; and not only you, but all the cities which lay between. For how do you think that they behaved when they saw his remains being brought back? What pleasure was produced! How they rejoiced! With what laudations on all sides did they beset the crowned one! For as with a noble athlete, who has wrestled down all his antagonists, and who comes forth with radiant glory from the arena, the spectators receive him, and do not suffer him to tread the earth, bringing him home on their shoulders and according him countless praises. So also every city in turn received this Saint from Rome, and bearing him upon their shoulders as far as this city, escorted the crowned one with praises, hymning the champion.... At this time the holy Martyr bestows grace to the very same cities, establishing them in piety, and from that time to this day he enriches this city."
Speaking of the miraculous power of holy relics, Saint Ephraim the Syrian relates the following concerning the holy Martyrs: "Even after death they act as if alive, healing the sick, expelling demons, and by the power of the Lord rejecting every evil influence of the demons. This is because the miraculous grace of the Holy Spirit is always present in the holy relics."
During the finding of the relics of Saints Gervasius and Protasius, St. Ambrose, in speaking to his listeners, relates this with pious enthusiasm: "You know—indeed, you have yourselves seen—that many are cleansed from evil spirits, that very many also, having touched with their hands the robe of the Saints, are freed from those ailments which oppressed them. You see that the miracles of old times are renewed, when through the coming of the Lord Jesus grace was more abundantly shed forth upon the earth, and that many bodies are healed as it were by the shadow of the holy bodies. How many napkins are passed about! How many garments, laid upon the holy relics and endowed with the power of healing, are claimed! All are glad to touch even the outside thread, and whosoever touches it will be made whole."
Speaking of the miracles produced by holy relics, the blessed Augustine says: "To what do these miracles witness, but to this faith which preaches Christ risen in the flesh and ascended with the same flesh into heaven? For the martyrs themselves were martyrs, that is to say, were witnesses of this faith.... For this faith they gave their lives, and can now ask these benefits from the Lord in whose name they were slain. For this faith their extraordinary constancy was exercised, so that in these miracles great power was manifested as the result. For if the resurrection of the flesh to eternal life had not taken place in Christ, and were not to be accomplished in His people, as predicted by Christ..., why do the martyrs who were slain for this faith which proclaims the resurrection possess such power? ...These miracles attest this faith which preaches the resurrection of the flesh unto eternal life."
Saint Damascene, summarizing the life-giving teaching of Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition concerning the pious veneration of holy relics, preaches in a Cherubic manner from the altar of his God-bearing and Christ-like soul: "The Saints have become according to grace that which the Lord Christ is according to nature. That is, they have become gods according to grace: pure and living habitations of God. For God says: 'I will dwell in them, walk in them, and I will be their God' (II Corinthians 6:16; Leviticus 16:12). The Holy Scriptures likewise say: 'the souls of the righteous are in God's hand, and death cannot lay hold of them' (Wisdom of Solomon 3:1). For death is rather the sleep of Saints than their death. Further: 'Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints' (Psalm 119:6). What, then, is more precious than to be in the hand of God? For God is life and light, and those who are in God's hand are in life and light. Further, that God dwells even in their bodies in a spiritual manner the all-divine Apostle attests: 'Know ye not that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit dwelling in you?' (I Corinthians 3:16). And, 'the Lord is Spirit' (II Corinthians 3:17). Thus, the evangelical truth: 'If anyone destroy the temple of God, him will God destroy—for the temple of God is holy, and ye are that temple' (I Corinthians 3:17). Surely, then, we must ascribe honor to the living temples of God, the living dwelling-places of God. These, while they lived, stood with boldness before God. The Lord Christ granted us the relics of the Saints to be fountains of salvation unto us, pouring forth manifold blessings and abounding in sweetly fragrant oil. Let no one disbelieve this! For if water burst in the desert from the steep and solid rock according to God's will (Exodus 17:6), and from the jawbone of an ass to quench Samson's thirst (Judges 15:14-19), is it then unbelievable that fragrant oil should spring forth from relics of the holy Martyrs? By no means, at least to those who know the omnipotence of God and the honor which He accords to His Saints. According to the Old Testament law, everyone who touched a dead body was considered impure (Numbers 19:11). However, the Saints are not dead. For from the time when He Who is Himself Life and the Author of life was counted among the dead, we do not call those dead who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection and with faith in Him. For how could a dead body work miracles? And how, through the holy relics, are demons driven off, diseases dispelled, the sick made well, the blind restored to sight, lepers cleansed, temptations and tribulations overcome; and how does every good gift come down from the Father of lights (St. James 1:17) to those who pray with sure faith?"
The universal faith of the Church concerning the pious veneration of holy relics was confirmed by the God-bearing Fathers of the Seventh Œcumenical Synod in its decrees: "Our Lord Jesus Christ granted to us the relics of Saints as a salvation-bearing source which pours forth varied benefits on the infirm. Consequently, those who presume to abandon the relics of the Martyrs: if they be hierarchs, let them be deposed; if however monastics or laymen, let them merely be excommunicated."
....That a pious veneration of the holy relics is a constituent part of the salvation rendered by the God-Man is also evidenced by the following facts: from the depths of sacred antiquity, churches were built on the graves and relics of Saints, and the holy Liturgy is performed only on antimensia, in which are placed parts of the holy relics. Moreover, the divine service books, especially the Menaion, are replete with prayers and hymns which refer to the pious veneration of holy relics....
All in all, the mystery of holy relics is at the heart of the universal mystery of the New Testament: the incarnation of God. The full mystery of the human body is explained by the incarnation, the embodiment of God in the God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. For this reason, then, the Gospel message concerning the body: "The body for the Lord, and the Lord for the body" (I Corinthians 6:13). And through a human body also the entire creation, all of matter, received its divine significance, the universal meaning of the God-Man. By man, who is sanctified in the Church by the holy mysteries and the holy virtues, the creation and even matter are sanctified, united to Christ. There accrues to this also a joy—the myrrh-streaming property of many relics. This wonder of myrrh has been given to the holy relics in order to indicate that Christians are truly "a sweet-savour of Christ unto God" (II Corinthians 2:15), sweet-smelling to God and to heaven. The truth of the Gospel is that the sin of man is a foul odor before God and every sin pleases the devil. Through the holy mysteries and holy virtues, Christians become "a sweet-savour of Christ unto God." For this reason, then, the holy relics of the Saints pour forth myrrh.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
愿上帝怜恤我罪人
O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
for the sake of the prayers
of Thy most pure Mother,
our holy and God-bearing fathers and all the saints, have mercy on us.
Amen.
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Blessed be God.
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