Met. Jonah calls all Orthodox to March for Life

Posted on by Fr. Peter
WASHINGTON, DC (OCA) – Orthodox Christians everywhere — especially those within driving distance of the US capital — are being encouraged to bear witness to their faith at the annual March for Life on Friday, January 22, 2010.

His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah has issued a special invitation encouraging youth and young adults to join him in proclaiming that all life is indeed a gift from God.

The faithful are asked to gather by noon under the “Orthodox Christians for Life” banner to the left of the stage at the Ellipse, between the Washington Monument and the national Mall. Metropolitan Jonah will be the first of several speakers to address the public at the pre-March program.

At the conclusion of the March, Metropolitan Jonah will offer prayers for the victims of abortion.

On Thursday, January 21, the eve of the March, the faithful are encouraged to join Metropolitan Jonah for Vespers at Saint Nicholas Cathedral, 3500 Massachusetts Ave. NW, at 7:00 p.m. A reception will follow.

On the morning of the March, Metropolitan Jonah and members of the Holy Synod of Bishops will concelebrate the Divine Liturgy at the cathedral at 8:00 a.m.

Students from Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, Crestwood, NY and Saint Tikhon’s Seminary, South Canaan, PA, will form a combined choir to render the liturgical responses at both services. Classes at both seminaries will be suspended for the day to encourage participation by faculty and students alike.

Following the March, Metropolitan Jonah will offer the invocation at the annual Rose Dinner at DC’s Hyatt Regency Hotel.

While additional details concerning the the Orthodox Christian witness will be forthcoming, general information on the March may be found at www.marchforlife.org/content/view/13/26.

H/T to Byzantine Texas

Love Your Enemies

Posted on by Fr. Peter
I am re posting this sermon on Love as part of the One Word at a Time Blog Carnival. This time around the focus is on Love. In this Scripture passage Jesus asks, no He commands, that we love those who hate us, not a very easy thing to do.
Luke 6:31-36

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

This is one of if not the most difficult passages of Scripture that we face in the normal readings of the year in the Orthodox Church. Jesus clearly is telling us that we must love our enemies. He does not suggest that we do this he, dare I say, commands us to do this.

The question we need to ask is how do we know whether a person abides in God and is sincere in the Christian Faith? The answer comes from an anonymous Russian saint. “Where there is love for one’s enemies, there God also is.” We must do this as difficult as it may be we must love our enemies.

A hostile person hates because he fears you will strike him so he strikes first. The last thing that he expects from you is love, so love him. Charm and disarm I always say. Love is the only thing that can destroy hostility. We need to love our enemies because he is first of all an enemy to himself. The very fact that this person dislikes you could simply mean that he needs you. His soul is warped by his hatred of you, and you alone can warm him and free him. They simply need someone to love them. Love is the only thing capable of transforming and enemy into a friend. Returning hate only multiplies hate, only love can break the cycle of hate.

So how do we make this love possible? What are some steps that we can take?

First we have to love God. When asked what the commandments are Jesus responded with Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your souls and love your neighbor as yourself. We first need to love God so we can have the capacity to love others. We should also love ourselves! If we truly love God and know Him as our Lord and Savior then our heart will be predisposed to love others including our enemy.

Secondly we should do good those those who hate you. In the Divine Liturgy we pray for those who loves us and those who hate us. St. Paul tells the Romans to overcome evil with good. We must make the first step. We must reach out to those who hate us. Of they hit us we must offer them the other cheek. If we find that it is not working then we need to double the dose and keep working at it. Love concurs all!

Third, pray for those who persecute you. The highest privilege we can offer is to pray for someone. To offer to take their needs to God in prayer is a wonderful thing that even the oldest of us can do. Asking for prayer and then praying for someone is important and a simple example of love.

Fourth, look for some good in the person. No one is evil to the core and there is always some good in that person. Find what is good and use that to compliment the person. Again do this with love and watch what happens. People like to be complimented and what does it cost you to be charitable to someone.

The last and hardest of all is to develop the capacity to forgive. I loving your enemy is not hard enough we must also be able to forgive. In the Lord’s prayer we pray to forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. In order for us to be forgiven we need to be able to forgive, again not an easy thing to do. But, with God all things are possible. Through prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit we can develop this capacity to forgive. Jesus would not ask this of us if we were not capable of doing it. Most times we do not forgive because we do not know how to forgive. Forgiveness begins with ourselves. We must be able to forgive ourselves then we will be able to forgive others.

Hatred is destructive and no good can come from hate. Hate comes from the evil one and we have no room for the evil one. Hatred allows the evil to take root in our soul and darken it. Use the example of Jesus on the Cross who forgave those who had just crucified Him. Father forgive them for they know not what they do!

“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”

Sunday after the Nativity of Christ ~ Stephen the Protomartyr

Posted on by Fr. Peter
The holy, glorious, all-laudable Apostle Stephen the Protomartyr (Gk. Στέφανος, “crown”) was an early Christian convert from among the Hellenistic Jews, one of the original seven deacons ordained by the Apostles, and the first martyr of the Orthodox Church. The Church remembers the martyrdom of St. Stephen on December 27, and the translations of his relics on August 2, as well as commemorating him on June 15 with Ss. Fortunatus and Achaicus.

St. Stephen was a Jew living in the Hellenic provinces, related to the Apostle Paul and one of the first seven deacons ordained by the Apostles to serve the Church in Jerusalem (thus making him an archdeacon).

In the words of Asterias:St Stephen was “the starting point of the martyrs, the instructore of suffering for Christ, the foundation of righteous confession, since Stephen was the first to shed his blood for the Gospel.”

The Holy Spirit worked powerfully through his faith, enabling him to perform many miracles and always defeat the Jews who would dispute with him.

The Jews in their hatred of St. Stephen lied about him to the people, but St. Stephen with his face illumined reminded the people of the miracles God had worked through him and even rebuked the Jews for killing the innocent Christ.

The people were enraged by what they thought was blasphemy and ‘gnashed their teeth’ at Stephen. It was then that he saw his Christ in the heavens and declared it so. Hearing this, the Jews took him outside the city and stoned him to death, with his kinsman Saul (later St. Paul) holding their coats while they did it. Afar off on a hill was the Virgin Mary and St. John the Theologian who witnessed this first martyrdom for the Son of God and prayed for him while he was being stoned. This occurred about a year after the first Pentecost.

The body of the holy Protomartyr Stephen, left to be consumed by body at the foothill of the city for two days to be eaten by dogs. But on the second night, Gamaliel— teacher of the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Barnabas— along with his son, secretly came and took the body to his own estate, in Capharganda, to be buried.

Nicodemus, who died while weeping at this grave, was also buried there along with Gamaliel’s godson Abibus and Gamaliel himself upon his repose.

After many years the memory of St. Stephen’s burial place had left the minds of men, until 415 when Gamaliel appeared three times to Father Lucian, priest at Capharganda. He revealed to Fr. Lucian the place of his burial and everything about it. Fr. Lucian received the blessing of the Patriarch to exhume the saints from their grave where a strong, sweet fragrance filled the cave.

St. Stephen’s relics were translated to Zion and honorably buried, and many of the sick were healed by his relics. The other three relics were placed inside a church atop the cave on a hill. Eventually, his relics were translated to Constantinople.

Today, you wil find his whole right arm at The Holy Trinity of St. Sergius Lavra, established by St. Sergius of Radonezh in 1345, at Sergiyev Posad, Russia Video of The Holy Trinity monastery

Sunday after the Nativity of Christ ~ Joseph the Betrothed

Posted on by Fr. Peter
The holy and righteous Joseph the Betrothed, also referred to as Joseph of Nazareth, was the foster-father of Jesus Christ, according to the New Testament (Matthew 1:16; Luke 3:23). Not much is known of Joseph except that he was “of the House of David” and lived in the town of Nazareth. His date of death is unknown, though he was still living when Jesus was 12 years old.

He was betrothed to the Virgin Mary at the time that Mary conceived Jesus. Luke says that he lived at Nazareth in Galilee (Luke 2:4); however, according to Matthew, it was only after the return from Egypt that he settled in Nazareth (Matthew 2:23). He is called a “just man”. He was by trade a carpenter (Matthew 13:55). He is last mentioned in connection with the journey to Jerusalem, when Jesus was twelve years old. It is probable that Joseph died before Jesus entered on his public ministry because only Mary was present at the marriage feast in Cana of Galilee, and he is not described at the crucifixion along with Mary (John 19:25). In addition, St. Joseph of Arimathea asked for the body of Jesus, a duty that would have fallen to St. Joseph had he been alive.

Jesus Christ is described as being the brother of James, Justus, Jude, and Simon, and several sisters (Mark 6:3; Matthew 13:55). A tradition at least as early as the second century, still adopted by the Orthodox Church, explains that these “brothers and sisters” were from Joseph’s marriage to Salome who left him a widower before he was betrothed to Mary and so making them step-brothers and step-sisters. He was the older brother to Cleopas, who was also married to a woman named Mary.

That Jesus commended Mary to the care of John the Evangelist while he was hanging on the cross has been interpreted to also suggest that Joseph had died by that time, and that Joseph and Mary did not have any other children who might care for Mary.

In many icons of the Nativity, Joseph is shown being tempted by the Devil (depicted as an old man with furled wings) to break off his betrothal, and resisting that temptation (cf. Nativity Icon).

Also in the imagery of the Christian church, statues of Joseph depict his staff topped with flowers, recalling the Protevangelion’s account of how Mary’s spouse was chosen. Among the collected walking sticks of widowers in Israel, Joseph was distinguished when his staff burst into flower.

St Joseph is commemorated on the Sunday after the Nativity. If there is no Sunday between December 25 and January 1, his feast is moved to December 26, along with David the King and James the Brother of our Lord. The Righteous Joseph is also commemorated on the Sunday of the Forefathers. There is an akathist hymn dedicated to him.

Proper of Ordinary Weekdays ~ Saturday

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Saturday – Dedicated to All Saints

Troparion of All Saints (Tone 2)

O You apostles, martyrs, prophets, hierarchs, righteous one and holy women who have fought the good fight and kept the faith, since you have acquired favor with the Savior, we beseech you to intercede with Him in his goodness that He may save our souls.

Troparion of the Dead (Tone 8)

O Lord in your goodness remember your servants and forgive every sin they have committed in their life, for there is none without sin but Yourself who have power to grant rest to the departed.

Theotokion (Tone 2)

O holy Mother, Mother of the Inexpressible Light, we honor you with angelic hymns and we all exalt you with great devotion.

Kontakion of the Dead (Tone 8)

With the saints, O Lord, grant rest the souls of your servants, where there is no pain, no sorrow, no sighing, but everlasting life.

25 December ~ The Nativity of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

Posted on by Fr. Peter
The incomprehensible and inexplicable Nativity of Christ came to pass when Herod the Great was reigning in Judea; the latter was an Ascalonite on his fathers’s side and an Idumean on his mother’s. He was in every way foreign to the royal line of David; rather, he had received his authority from the Roman emperors, and had ruled tyrannically over the Jewish people for some thirty-three years. The tribe of Judah, which had reigned of old, was deprived of its rights and stripped of all rule and authority. Such was the condition of the Jews when the awaited Messiah was born, and truly thus was fulfilled the prophecy which the Patriarch Jacob had spoken 1,807 years before: “A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a prince from his loins, until there come the things stored up for him; and he is the expectation of the nations” (Gen.49:10).

Thus, our Saviour was born in Bethlehem, a city of Judea, whither Joseph had come from Nazareth of Galilee, taking Mary his betrothed, who was great with child, that, according to the decree issued in those days by the Emperor Augustus, they might be registered in the census of those subject to Rome. Therefore, when the time came for the Virgin to give birth, and since because of the great multitude there was no place in the inn, the Virgin’s circumstace constrained them to enter a cave which was near Bethlehem. Having as shelter a stable of irrational beasts, she gave birth there, and swaddled the Infant and laid Him in the manger (Luke 2:1-7). From this, the tradition has come down to us that when Christ was born He lay between two animals, an ox and an ass, that the words of the Prophets might be fulfilled: “Between two living creatures shalt Thou be known” (Abbacum 3:2), and “The ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master’s crib” (Esaias 1: 3).

But while the earth gave the new-born Saviour such a humble reception, Heaven on high celebrated majestically His world-saving coming. A wondrous star, shining with uncommon brightness and following a strange course, led Magi from the East to Bethlehem to worship the new-born King. Certain shepherds who were in the area of Bethlehem, who kept watch while tending their sheep, were suddenly surrounded by an extraordinary light, and they saw before them an Angel who proclaimed to them the good tidings of the Lord’s joyous Nativity. And straightway, together with this Angel, they beheld and heard a whole host of the Heavenly Powers praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men” (Luke 2:8-14).

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone

Thy Nativity, O Christ our God, hath shined the light of knowledge upon the world; for thereby they that worshipped the stars were instructed by a star to worship Thee, the Sun of Righteousness, and to know Thee, the Dayspring from on high. O Lord, glory be to Thee.

Kontakion in the Third Tone

Today, the Virgin bears Him who is transcendent, and the earth presents the cave to Him who is beyond reach. Angels, along with shepherds glorify Him. The Magi make their way to Him by a star. For a new child has been born for us, the God before all ages.

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Proper of Ordinary Weekdays ~ Firday

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Friday ~ Dedicated to the Honorable Cross and the Mother of God

Troparion (Tone 1)

O Lord, save your people and bless your inheritance. Strengthen our Public Authorities in every good deed, and protect your nation with your cross.

Stavrotheotokion (Tone 1)

O pure one, we have acquired your protection and have been kept from harm through your intercessions, and surrounded at all times with the grace of your Son’s cross: wherefore we all exalt you with great devotion.

Kontakion (Tone 4)

O Christ our God who chose of your own free will to be raised upon the cross, gran your mercies to your new people who are called by your name. In your power, gladden the hearts of our Public Authorities; strengthen them in every good deed so that your alliance may be for them a weapon of peace and a standard of victory.

Christmas Sermon 2009

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Christmas Eve 2009

Christ is Born! ~ Glorify Him!

On Christmas Eve 1914 German troops began decorating the area around their trenches in Belgium for Christmas. They began by placing candles on trees, and then continued the celebration by singing Christmas Carols most notably Stille Nacht (Silent Night). The British troops in the trenches on the other side responded by singing in English.

The two sides continued by shouting Christmas greetings to each other. Soon there were calls for visits across “no man’s land” where small gifts were exchanged. The artillery fell silent, and the truce allowed a breathing spell where the dead could be recovered and given a proper burial. The truce lasted through the night and then the war began again but the soldiers were forever changed. Some commanders on both sides complained that the truce made the war harder because it is difficult to shoot someone you know.

On this night the King of peace was born into the world. He came into the world just as all of us came into the world. This little child would change the world in ways that we sitting here tonight may never know. This little child came to bring a message of peace. Peace to all, peace that we saw in the illustration I used at the start, the Christmas truce of 1914. On that Christmas the guns fell silent and for a brief moment peace had been restored to the world.

Much has been said about the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas is a time for giving and a time of forgiving. Christmas is the time for families and friend to gather round and celebrate just being together. Yes these are all the meaning of Christmas. But for us Orthodox Christians the meaning of this night is all of the above but more importantly the true meaning of Christmas is that the Son of God became man in order to accomplish our salvation. Yes the real meaning of Christmas is Salvation. Not many Christmas carols about that!He was born in a stable… to teach us to be poor in spirit. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God. We need to be humble, humble before God and let God in our lives and through us to help bring salvation to the world. “No one can celebrate Christmas without being truly poor. The self-sufficient, the proud, those who, because they have everything, look down on others, those who have no need of God – there will be no Christmas. Only the poor, the hungry, those who need someone to come on their behalf, will have that someone. That someone is God, Emmanuel, God-with-us. Without poverty of spirit there can be no abundance of God” (Oscar Romero, December 24, 1978)

His coming was announced to Shepherds… to teach us the value of this humility. Shepherds were the low ones in society. They spend all day alone in the fields with their sheep. The announcement was not made on Fox News or CNN it was announced to the humble, the low, so we could imitate that humility of heart on our Christian journey.

He was adored by the Magi… to teach us that He is the King of the Universe. It was a star that guided then to Bethlehem, not a Hollywood star, but a star from heaven and He, this little child born this night some years latter was to be nailed to the cross of Calvary to redeem us and to save us, because the love He has for you knows no bounds.

On this night the Son of God assumed out human nature. Because of this God allows us through His sanctifying grace to share in this Divine Nature. Here is the very essence of Christmas. The very core of what we celebrate this night. The simple message that this simple child brought to this world, God took our human nature, so that we might share in His divine nature. God became man that we might become godlike!

We are, all of us, created in the image and likeness of God. Our lives do not consist in the amount of our possessions or the power that we may or may not have. We human beings are human because our fundamental and essential property is being the most perfect created expressions of God’s being and life. We are made to be imitators of God and partakers of the divine nature.

We affirm that Jesus Christ has come into the world this night to restore this image and likeness. This night He enables us to be what we are created to be in the beginning. He does this not only because he is the only-begotten Son and Word, but because he is the very image of the invisible God. Those who see Jesus see God. St. Symeon tells us, “Through His coming in the body, God came to earth to refashion humanity and renew it, and in addition to bless all of creation.”

On this night Mary and Joseph searched the village for a place to bring the Son of God into the world. Door after door they knocked and there was no room for them, there was no room in the Inn. Tonight Jesus is knocking on the door of your hearts. Jesus, the Son of God is searching for a place to lay his head. On this night that we celebrate the light coming into the world will you make room for Him in the Inn of your heart or will the door be locked and the windows shuttered?

There is an ancient Celtic Christmas Carol that sums up this night is a wonderful way:

This night is the eve of the great Nativity,
Born is the Son of Mary the Virgin,
The soles of His feet have reached the earth,
The Son of glory down from on high,
Heaven and earth glowed to Him
All hail, let there be joy!

The peace of earth to Him, the joy of heaven to Him,
Behold his feet have reached the world;
The homage of a King be His, the welcome of a Lamb be His,
King of all victorious, Lamb all glorious,
Earth and ocean illumed Him,
All hail, let there be joy!

The mountain glowed to Him; the plains glowed to Him,
The voice of the waves with the song of the strand,
Announcing to us that Christ is born,
Son of the King of kings for the land of salvation;
Shone the sun on the mountains high to Him,
All hail, let there be joy!

Shone to Him the earth and sphere together,
God the Lord has opened a door;
Son of Mary Virgin, hasten thou to help me,
Thou Christ of hope, Thou door of joy,
Golden sun of hill and mountain,
All hail, let there be joy!

Christ is Born! ~ Glorify Him!

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Confession

Posted on by Fr. Peter
For the past 2 nights I have been in the Church to hear confessions before Christmas. This seems to be one of the two times that most people come to confession. I was reflecting on the Sacrament of Confession last night and after the celebration of the Eucharist this is the Sacrament that I celebrate the most but is the most miss understood I think. Last night I made the reference that confession is like going to the dentist. We don’t like to go but at least 2 times a year we haul ourselves there. We should not look at it that way.

For the Orthodox Christian, confession is a very important part of our Spiritual Life. It is never easy to admit out faults but again it is part of our spiritual journey to admit these faults and receive a little counsel from our spiritual father and forgiveness from Our Lord. We really should call this reconciliation because that is what we are doing, we are reconciling ourselves to God and yes in some way to our fellow man.

Penance is another story all together and although it is part of reconciliation it seems to have fallen out of practice in the Orthodox Church. I grew up Roman Catholic and remember confession in the little box and getting some form of penance to perform after confession. These were things like say 5 Our Fathers or 3 Hail Mary’s. Not used as such in the OC it is not beyond the pale to have it imposed on you. Sometimes your spiritual father will ask you to exempt yourself from communion for a period of time or make some form of restitution. Will do some research on the Orthodox practice of penance and write another post on that. Perhaps one of the priest readers of this blog might comment on penance and their practice of it.

The other misconception of confession is the secret of it all. Yes the priest is prohibited from revealing what is said in confession. In fact I was taught that we are not even to say if someone has come to confession. We are not even supposed to speak to the person after their confession about what they said in their confession.

Here are two quotes from the Orthodoxwiki article on confession regarding secrecy:

The secrecy of the Mystery of Penance is considered an unquestionable rule in the entire Orthodox Church. Theologically, the need to maintain the secrecy of confession comes from the fact that the priest is only a witness before God. One could not expect a sincere and complete confession if the penitent has doubts regarding the practice of confidentiality. Betrayal of the secrecy of confession will lead to canonical punishment of the priest.

St. Nicodemus the Hagiorite exhorts the Spiritual Father to keep confessions confidential, even under strong constraining influence. The author of the Pedalion (the Rudder), states that a priest who betrays the secrecy of confession is to be deposed. The Metropolitan of Kos, Emanuel, mentions in his handbook (Exomologeteke) for confessors that the secrecy of confession is a principle without exception.

There are many different translations of the order of confession and I use the one from the Priest’s Service Book by Fr. Evagoras Constantinides mainly because it was the translation available in the bookstore at the seminary but I do like the English.

There is a prayer for the penitent after their confession and then the prayer of absolution itself:

My spiritual child, who have made your confession to my humble person: I, a humble sinner, have no power to forgive sins on earth; only God can to that; but trusting in the divinely spoken words that were addressed to the Apostles after the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, which said: “If you pronounce forgiven the sins of any, they are forgiven to them; and if you pronounce unforgiven the sins of any, they remain unforgiven”, we are bold to say: whatever you have related to my humble and lowly person, and whatever you have failed to say either from ignorance or from forgetfulness, whatever it may be, may God forgive you in this present age and in the age to come.

May God who, through Nathan the Prophet forgave David when he confessed his sins, and Peter, when he wept bitterly for his denial; and the harlot who shed tears upon his feet; and the Publican; and the Prodigal; may this same God forgive you, through me a sinner, everything, both in this present age and in the age to come, and may he make you stand uncondemned before his dread Judgement Seat. As for the sins that you have confessed, have no further anxiety about them; go in peace.

The grace of the Holy Spirit, through my insignificance, has you loosened and forgiven.

Through the prayers of our holy Father, Lord Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Notice the words, “May God forgive you, Through me…” it is not me the priest that forgives you it is God who forgives. I am the instrument that He uses to perform the actual function but forgiveness comes only from God. This is a departure from the Roman absolution when the priest says I absolve you or even the Russian Orthodox practice where the words are the same. The priest has no power to forgive, only God can to that!

This prayer is also used at the end of the funeral liturgy and is the most beautiful part of the funeral in my opinion.

So do not fear confession. Go, and go often. Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia said in a recent lecture that we need to go at least four times a year for confession. I would agree with this. You need to work out with your spiritual father how often you need to go, but go! You will be amazed how you feel after.

Proper of Ordinary Weekdays ~ Thursday

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Thursday – Dedicated to the Apostles Peter and Paul and to Nicholas of Myra

Troparion of the Apostles (Tone 3)

O Holy Apostles, intercede with the all-merciful God that He may grant to our souls the forgiveness of sins.

Toparion of Nicholas of Myra (Tone 4)

O Father and Bishop Nicholas, the holiness of your life was set before your flock as a rule of faith, an example of meekness and a teaching of temperance; wherefore you acquired greatness through humility and spiritual wealth through poverty. Pray to Christ God that He may save our souls.

Theotokion (Tone 3)

O Virgin pure, Mother of God, we acknowledge that the Word of the Father, Christ our God, was incarnate of you, the only all-blessed one. Wherefore we sing to you a constant hymn of praise, and we exalt you.

Kontakion of the Apostles (Tone 8)

O Lord, you have taken up to their eternal rest and to the enjoyment of your good things the two infallible preachers of divine truths and leaders of the apostles, for You have accepted their struggles and their death as being better than any holocaust, O You who alone know the secrets of hearts!

Kontakion of Nicholas of Myra (Tone 3)

In Myra, you proved yourself to be a priest, a servant of divine things, O Saint, for you fulfilled the gospel of Christ, O Holy One: you gave up your life for your people and saved the innocent from death. You have been sanctified, for you were a great guide towards the things of God.

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