From Your Parish Priest

Fifth Sunday of Saint Matthew

07/24/2016

“There met Him two demon-possessed men,
coming out of the tombs.” (Matthew 8:28)

What can be the reason that these men dwell in the tombs? Some might erroneously think that the souls of the dead have become demons, which of course is nonsense. This is a pernicious opinion, which – God forbid – we should ever allow into our conception.

First of all, it is not logical that an injured soul would cooperate with its wrongdoer. For the one doing an injury does not first ask his victim whether he can harm him, and the one injured is does not embrace his torturer; thus we who are afflicted by Satan are not likely to become one of his demons.

Secondly, a man – who is a psychosomatic entity, that is, being comprised of a soul and a body – is not able to change himself into an incorporeal power (such as the angels and the demons) to wander among the tombs. In other words, upon the separation of the soul from the body at death, the immortal soul arises to be judged by God and the inanimate body rests in the grave; such a disconnected human being cannot thereafter become something else – an incorporeal being – to continue wandering upon the earth.

Indeed, “the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God” (Wisdom of Solomon 3:1), and even the souls of sinners are immediately led away from their bodies which lie in the earth and are taken to heaven to be judged. This is evident from the account of Lazarus and the rich man, where Christ says, “this day your soul shall be required of you.”

How then could the soul, being taken away from its body and having gone away from its familiar earthly places, know how to walk once more upon the earth in unfamiliar places such as among the tombs in the country of the Gergesenes? Of course, it can not.

Christ allowed these men to be taken by the devil so that they and we might be saved. This sounds strange, but the Lord allows this, even as Saint Paul instructed the Corinthians concerning the immoral man: “you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” (1 Corinthians 5:5)

He allows it that when we see the men delivered from such affliction we might understand the horrors malice of Satan’s malice. Thus we clearly understand that nothing happens without the knowledge of God. The demons cannot enter the swine unless He allows them to do so. We are assured that He is always with us, guiding us and caring for us.

Another Homily

Sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Saint Matthew

In today’s Gospel we hear of our Lord Jesus Christ’s encounter with the two demon-possessed men in the countryside of the Gergesenes. We do not know why these men are possessed by demons. We only know the results of the possession. We see their anger with God and with their fellow man in the words of the Gospel: they were “coming out from the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way” (Matthew 8:28).

Saint Nikolaj Velimirovic observes that “Men work unrighteousness against God, and so they are angry with God.” All too often, people sin against God or their fellow man and then blame God for the consequences of their actions.

All sin is rooted in the inappropriate use of our self will. When we sin, we either place ourselves above God or above our fellow man. In doing so, we enter into a dissonant state. We are out of harmony with God and creation. In the worst cases of a sinful life, the person becomes so out of harmony with God and creation no one wants to be near that person; or, to use the words of the Gospel, they become “exceedingly fierce.”

In the most severe cases, the person denies the existence of God. They say to themselves, “If there was truly a God, this would not have happened to me!” They do not see that the consequences they experience are a result of their own actions. In a sense, they try to silence God in their lives and the lives of others.

However this does not work. They often reach a point of despair and cry out, “God Help Me!!!” This is because in trying to silence God, His truth is proclaimed. It says this in the Gospel of Saint Luke, when the leaders of the Jewish people are trying to silence the children as our Lord is entering Jerusalem: “I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out” (Luke 19:40), or further: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1).

If the soul does not reach this point of despair, crying out for God’s help, then the spirits of evil will take possession of the soul to fill the void left by the lack, or absence, of God. This is what happened in the case of these two men.

The demons or fallen angels have utter contempt for man. They wish to destroy the crown of God’s creation – man – because man is created to be in God’s image and likeness. The demons are this way because they were once close to God before their fall. Their leader was one of the brightest and closest angels to God, and his fall is described by the Prophet Isaiah: “How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How are you cut down to the ground... yet you shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit” (Isaiah 14:12,15). The demons want to bring man down so that he may suffer in the same manner as them. The demons are out to destroy every man.

We can see the lack of concern for God and men by demons in today’s Gospel when they say to the Lord, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” (Matthew 8:29)

In the response of the demons to Jesus, we see two things. The first is that a life with God is incompatible with a life with evil. Saint Paul reminds us of this saying, “What concord has Christ with Belial?” (2 Corinthians 6:15).

The second is that demons already know the results of their rebellion against God. They know the torment that awaits them. The prophet Isaiah describes this torment in the following way: Lucifer will be “cast out of your grave like an abominable branch ... that go[es] down to the stones of the pit; as a carcass trodden under feet” (Isaiah 14:19). Our Lord further testified to this when He said, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Luke 10:18).

The same end that awaits the demons will also come to an unrepentant sinner. Our Lord tells us of this when he describes the awesome and fearful Last Judgment: “Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).

Saint Nikolaj further points out that that the demons never mention the men when they say, “If you cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine,” (Matthew 8:31). This is because the men are dead to the demons. Saint Nikolaj continues, “They did not want to leave the men; they would have infinitely rather have stayed in them than go into the swine ... While the demons can make men like swine, and far worse than swine, what can they make of swine? ... They will, through the swine, go on doing man harm; if in no other way than by drowning the swine and provoking men’s fury against God.”

Why does our Lord allow the demons to enter the swine? Saint John Chrysostom answers this question: “First, to teach those who are delivered from those wicked tyrants, how great is the malice of their insidious enemies; second, that all might learn, how the demons cannot even enter the swine unless God allows them; and third, that the demons would have done worse to the men than the swine. The demons hate all creation, but especially man. In one moment they cast the swine down the precipice; what worse things would they have done so to the men whom they possessed? But, the loving care of God abounds, and He curbed the excess of the demon’s violence. Clearly, there is no one, who does not enjoy the benefit of God’s providence. And if not all alike, nor after one manner, this is itself a very great instance of providence; in that according to each man’s profit, the work also of providence is displayed.”

The town’s people see the two men in their right minds healed but their swine destroyed. They cannot see the miracle that just happened. All they can see is the destruction of the swine. They do not see how much God valued these men or any man. Our Lord reminds us of our value to Him when He says, “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear you not therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:30-31).

So, my dear brothers in sisters in Christ, know that you are under attack by the demons that wish to drag you down with then into the abyss of hell, which they created for themselves; know that you can create this same hell for yourself; and know that God is there to save you from the abyss of hell because you are the crown of His creation, created in His image and likeness. Amen.

Reverend Milan Medakovic

Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Fourth Mode

When the tidings of the resurrection from the glorious angel was proclaimed unto the women disciples and our ancestral sentence also had been abolished to the Apostles with the boasting did they proclaim that death is vanquished ever more and Christ Our God has risen from the dead and granted to the world His great mercy.

Apolytikion for Great Martyr Christina in the Fourth Mode

Your lamb Jesus, • cries with a loud voice: • “O my Bridegroom, I long for You • and in seeking You I struggle, • and I am crucified and buried with You through Your Baptism; • and I suffer for You • that I may reign with You, • and I die for You, • so that I may live in You; but as a sacrifice without blemish, • receive her who with longing was slain for Your sake.” • Through her intercessions, • as a merciful One, • save our souls.

Seasonal Kontakion in the Second Mode

A protection of Christians unshamable, intercessor to our Holy Maker, unwavering, please reject not the prayerful cries of those who are in sin. Instead, come to us, for you are good; your loving help bring unto us, who are crying in faith to you: hasten to intercede and speed now to supplicate, as a protection for all time, Theotokos, for those who honor you.

Gospel and Epistle Readings

Matins Gospel Reading

Fifth Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from Luke 24:13-35

At that time, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, "What is this conversation which you are holding with each other as you walk?" And they stood still looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?" And he said to them, "What things?" And they said to him, "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since this happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; and they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said; but him they did not see." And he said to them, "O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He appeared to be going further, but they constrained him, saying, "Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent." So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight. They said to each other, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?" And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven gathered together and those who were with them, who said, "The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!" Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Epistle Reading

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

The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Romans 10:1-10.

BRETHREN, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but it is not enlightened. For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law, that every one who has faith may be justified. Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on the law shall live by it. But the righteousness based on faith says, Do not say in your heart, "Who will ascend into heaven?" (that is, to bring Christ down) or "Who will descend into the abyss?" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach); because, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved.

Gospel Reading

5th Sunday of Matthew
The Reading is from Matthew 8:28-34; 9:1

At that time, when Jesus came to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, two demoniacs met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one would pass that way. And behold, they cried out, "What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?" Now a herd of many swine was feeding at some distance from them. And the demons begged him, "If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of swine." And he said to them, "Go." So they came out and went into the swine; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and perished in the waters. The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, and what had happened to the demoniacs. And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their neighborhood. And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city.

Patristic Gospel Commentary

Fifth Sunday of Saint Matthew

28. And when He was come to the other side into the land of the Gergesenes, there met Him two possessed with demons, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. While the men in the boat were yet wondering what manner of man this was that even the winds and the sea obeyed Him, the demons come to proclaim the answer.

Although Mark and Luke speak of one man who was possessed by a legion of demons (cf. Mark 5:9, Luke 8:27), understand that this one man was one of the two mentioned by Matthew, evidently, the more notorious of the two. Jesus came alone towards them, since no one dared to bring them to Him, so fierce were they. They dwelt among the tombs because the demons wish to inspire the belief that the souls of those who have died become demons. Let no one believe this: for when the soul departs from a man, it does not wander about the earth. “For the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God” (Wisdom of Solomon 3:1), and the souls of sinners are also led away, as was the soul of the rich man, Lazarus.

29. And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of God? Art Thou come hither to torment us before the time?

Behold, they proclaim Him to be the Son of God, but first they declare their enmity. The demons consider it torment to be prevented from harming men. Understand the demons' words, before the time, to mean that they thought that Christ, not enduring their great wickedness, would not wait for the time of their punishment. But this is not so; the demons are permitted to contend with us until the end of the world.

30-32. And there was a good way off from them a herd of many swine grazing. So the demons besought Him, saying, If Thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. And He said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine.

The demons asked this so that they could drown the swine, and thus the owners would be grieved and would not welcome Christ. Christ granted the demons their request in order to show how great is their bitterness towards men, and that if they had the power, and were not prevented as they are by God, they would do worse things to us than they did to the swine. For God protects those possessed by demons so that they do not kill themselves.

32-34. And, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told everything, and what was befallen to those possessed of the demons. And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw Him, they besought Him that He would depart out of their region.

The inhabitants of the city begged Jesus to leave because they were grieved and thought that they would suffer something worse thereafter. You, O reader, learn that where there is swinish life, it is not Christ Who dwells there, but demons.

1-2. And He entered into a boat, and passed over, and came into His own city. And, behold, they brought to Him a paralytic, lying on a bed.

His own city means Capernaum, for it was there that He was living. He was born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth, and lived for an extended length of time in Capernaum.

Saint Theophylaktos, Bishop of Ochrid and Bulgaria (AD 1055–1107)

From The Explanation of the Gospel of Saint Matthew

Wisdom of the Fathers

We shall all be raised, therefore, all with our bodies eternal, but not all with bodies alike: for if a man is righteous, he will receive a heavenly body, that he may be able worthily to hold converse with angels; but if a man is a sinner, he shall receive an eternal body fitted to endure the penalties of sins, that he may burn eternally in fire without being consumed. And righteously will God assign this portion: for we do nothing without the body. We blaspheme with the mouth, and with the mouth we pray. With the body we commit fornication, and with the body we keep chastity. With the hand we rob, and with the hand w bestow alms; and the rest in like manner. Since the body has been our minister in all things, it shall also share with us in the future fruits of the past.

Saint Cyril of Alexandria

We must love our neighbor, not in our way, but in God’s way, that is, not according to our will, but in accordance with God’s Will. Our will is only to love those who love us, and to despise, those who displease us for some reason or other. But God desires that we should love these still more, because they are sick; so that we ourselves, being also sick with self-love, scorn and malice, should cure ourselves by love and humility.

Saint John of Kronstadt

"And going about," he says, "to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. And these things he says to show, that it was from a petulancy and love of power that they erred, rather than from ignorance, and that not even this righteousness from the deeds of the Law did they establish. (Matt. xxi. 38; John. xii. 19, 42.) For saying "going about to establish" is what one would do to show this. And in plain words indeed he has not stated this (for he has not said, that they fell short of both righteousnesses), but he has given a hint of it in a very judicious manner...For if Christ be "the end of the Law," he that hath not Christ, even if he seem to have that righteousness, hath it not. But he that hath Christ, even though he have not fulfilled the Law aright, hath received the whole. For the end of the physician's art is health. As then he that can make whole, even though he hath not the physician's art, hath everything; but he that knows not how to heal, though he seem to be a follower of the art, comes short of everything: so is it in the case of the Law and of faith...For what was the object of the Law? To make man righteous. But it had not the power, for no one fulfilled it. This then was the end of the Law and to this it looked throughout, and for this all its parts were made, its feasts, and commandments, and sacrifices, and all besides, that man might be justified. But this end Christ gave a fuller accomplishment of through faith.(*) Be not then afraid, he says, as if transgressing the Law in having come over to the faith. For then dost thou transgress it, when for it thou dost not believe Christ.

St. John Chrysostom

Homily 17 on Romans 10, 4th Century

Now, should any one say, "And wherefore did Christ fulfill the devils' request, suffering them to depart into the herd of swine?" this would be our reply, that He did so, not as yielding to them, but as providing for many objects thereby.

St. John Chrysostom

Homily 28 on Matthew 8, 4th Century

Saints and Feasts

July 24

5th Sunday of Matthew

July 24

Christina the Great Martyr of Tyre

The Martyr Christina lived during the third century. She was born into a rich family, and her father was governor of Tyre. By the age of 11 the girl was exceptionally beautiful, and many wanted to marry her. Christina’s father, however, envisioned that his daughter should become a pagan priestess. To this end he placed her in a special dwelling where he had set up many gold and silver idols, and he commanded his daughter to burn incense before them. Two servants attended Christina.

In her solitude, Christina began to wonder who had created this beautiful world. From her room she was delighted by the stars of the heavens and she constantly came back to the thought about the Creator of all the world. She was convinced, that the voiceless and inanimate idols in her room could not create anything, since they themselves were created by human hands. She began to pray to the One God with tears, entreating Him to reveal Himself. Her soul blazed with love for the Unknown God, and she intensified her prayer all the more, and combined it with fasting.

One time Christina was visited by an angel, who instructed her in the true faith in Christ, the Savior of the world. The angel called her a bride of Christ and told her about her future suffering. The holy virgin smashed all the idols standing in her room and threw them out the window. In visiting his daughter Christina’s father, Urban, asked her where all the idols had disappeared. Christina was silent. Then, having summoned the servants, Urban learned the truth from them.

In a rage the father began to slap his daughter’s face. At first, the holy virgin remained quiet, but then she told her father about her faith in the One True God, and that she had destroyed the idols with her own hands. Urban gave orders to kill all the servants in attendance upon his daughter, and he gave Christina a fierce beating and threw her in prison. Having learned about what had happened, St Christina’s mother came in tears, imploring her to renounce Christ and to return to her ancestral beliefs. But Christina remained unyielding. On another day, Urban brought his daughter to trial and urged her to offer worship to the gods, and to ask forgiveness for her misdeeds. Instead, he saw her firm and steadfast confession of faith in Christ.

The torturers tied her to an iron wheel, beneath which they lit a fire. The body of the martyr, turning round on the wheel, was scorched on all sides. They then threw her into prison.

An angel of God appeared at night, healing her wounds and strengthening her with food. Her father, seeing her unharmed, gave orders to drown her in the sea. An angel sustained the saint while the stone sank down, and Christina miraculously came out of the water and reappeared before her father. In terror, the torturer imputed this to sorcery and he decided to execute her in the morning. That night he himself suddenly died. Another governor, Dion, was sent in his place. He summoned the holy martyr and also tried to persuade her to renounce Christ, but seeing her unyielding firmness, he again subjected her to cruel tortures. The holy martyr was for a long while in prison. People began to flock to her, and she converted them to the true faith in Christ. Thus about 300 were converted.

In place of Dion, a new governor Julian arrived and resumed the torture of the saint. After various torments, Julian gave orders to throw her into a red-hot furnace and lock her in it. After five days they opened the furnace and found the martyr alive and unharmed. Seeing this miracle take place, many believed in Christ the Savior, and the torturers executed St Christina with a sword.

July 24

Athenagorus the Apologist

Athenagoras of Athens was a Christian apologist who lived during the second half of the second century. He was an Athenian. a philosopher, and a convert to Christianity. He noted as one of the ablest Christian apologist of the second century.

Athenagoras was born AD 133 and died in 190. Little is known of his life, but the quality of his writings show that he was well educated, familiar with Platonism, and may have been well known and influential. Only two of his works, his Apology or Embassy for the Christians and Treatise on the Resurrection, have come down to us. The absence of any mentioned of his writings among other Christian writers may have been due to his anonymous writings having been thought to be the work of other writers.

His writings bear witness to his scholarship and culture, his power as a philosopher and rhetorician, his keen appreciation of the intellectual temper of his age, and his tact and delicacy in dealing with the powerful opponents of Christianity.

Thus, his writings are credited by some later scholars as having had a more significant impact on their intended audience than the now better-known writings of his more polemical and religiously-grounded contemporaries.

The Apology, the date of which is fixed by internal evidence as 176 or 177, was not, as the title Embassy (presbeia) suggests, an oral defense of Christianity, but a carefully written plea for justice to the Christians made by a philosopher, on philosophical grounds, to the Emperors Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus, whom he flatters as conquerors, “but above all, philosophers.”

He first complains of the illogical and unjust discrimination against the Christians and of the calumnies they suffer, and then meets the charge of atheism. It should be noted that a major complaint directed at the Christians of his day was that by not believing in the Roman gods, Christians were showing themselves to be atheists.

He establishes the principle of monotheism, citing pagan poets and philosophers in support of the very doctrines for which Christians are condemned, and argues for the superiority of the Christian belief in God to that of pagans. This first strongly-reasoned argument for the unity of God in Christian literature is supplemented by an able exposition of the Trinity.

Then, taking the defensive, he justifies the Christian abstention from worship of the national deities on grounds of its absurdity and indecency, quoting at length the pagan poets and philosophers in support of his contention. Finally, he meets the charges of immorality by exposing the Christian ideal of purity, even in thought, and the inviolable sanctity of the marriage bond.

The charge of cannibalism is refuted by showing the high regard for human life that leads the Christian to detest the crime of abortion. The treatise on the Resurrection of the Body, the first complete exposition of the doctrine in Christian literature, was written later than the Apology, to which it may be considered an appendix.

Athenagoras brings to the defense of the doctrine the best that contemporary philosophy could adduce. After meeting the objections common to his time, he demonstrates the possibility of a resurrection in view either of the power of the Creator, or of the nature of our bodies. To exercise such powers is neither unworthy of God nor unjust to other creatures. He shows that the nature and end of man demand a perpetuation of the life of body and soul.

Great Martyrs Paraskevi and Pantelimon

The Holy Great Martyr Paraskevi of Rome
Celebrated July 26th

The Venerable Great Virgin Martyr Paraskevi of Rome was the only daughter of pious Christian parents, Agáthon and Politía.

From her early years dedicated herself to God. She spent much of her time in prayer and study of the Holy Scriptures.

After the death of her parents, Paraskevi distributed all of her inheritance to the poor, and consecrated her virginity to Christ.

Emulating the holy Apostles, she began to preach to the pagans about Christ, converting many to Christianity.

Paraskevi was arrested during the reign of the Roman Emperor Antonínus Píus (AD 138-161) because she refused to worship the imperial state idols. When brought to trial she fearlessly confessed herself a Christian.

Neither promises of honors and material possessions, nor threats of torture and death, shook the firmness of the saint, nor did these things turn her from her love for Christ.

Unable to persuade her by enticements, she was then given over to beastly tortures. They put a red-hot helmet on her head and threw her in a cauldron filled with boiling oil and pitch. Yet, by the power of God, the holy martyr remained unharmed.

When the emperor himself peered into the cauldron, Paraskevi threw a drop of the hot liquid in his face, and he was burned. The emperor began to ask her for help, and the holy martyr healed him. After this the emperor set her free.

Traveling from one place to another to preach the Gospel, Paraskevi arrived in a city where the governor was named Asclépius.

Here again they tried the saint and sentenced her to death. They took her to an immense serpent living in a cave, so that it would devour her. But Paraskevi made the Sign of the Cross over the snake and it died.

Witnessing this miracle, Asclépius and the citizens came to belief in Christ. Thereupon Paraskevi was set free, and continued her preaching.

In a city where the governor was a certain Tarásius, Paraskevi once again endured fierce tortures and finally was beheaded on July 26 in AD 140.

Many miracles took place at the saint's tomb through her intercessions with the Lord Whom she loved and served throughout her life. The blind received sight, the lame walked, and barren women gave birth to children. It is not only in the past that the saint performed her miracles, but even today she helps those who call on her in faith.

Because of the many blind who were healed through her prayers, she is shown in her icon holding a bowl with eyes in it. To this day, those having troubles, illnesses, diseases and sicknesses of the eyes appeal to her to intercede with Christ God for them.

The Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon
Celebrated July 27th

Panteleimon was born in Nikomedia of a pagan father, Eustorgius, and his mother, Saint Eubula (March 30).

They named him Pantaleon, which means in all things like a lion. When he converted to Christianity, however, he changed his name to Panteleimon, which means all-merciful.

He learned about Christianity from the priest who later baptized him, Saint Hermolaos.

This saintly priest, Father Hermolaos, was living with two other priests, Fathers Hermippos and Hermocrates, and all three were survivors of the massacre of 20,000 Christians at Nikomedia on December 28 in AD 303.

Panteleimon was educated as a physician, and is shown in his icon holding a box of medicines and a spoon for administering them.

He dedicated his life to the suffering, sick, unfortunate, and needy. He treated all those who turned to him without charge, healing them in the name of Jesus Christ. He also visited those held captive in prison, most of whom were Christians, and healed them of their wounds. Reports of the charitable physician spread throughout the city and the inhabitants began to turn only to Panteleimon.

The other physicians in Nikomedia brought this matter to Emperor Maximian. At trial, Panteleimon confessed his Christian faith and refused to offer sacrifice to the state gods. He suggested that a sick person, for whom the doctors held out no hope, should be brought before the emperor, so that the doctors could invoke their gods, and Panteleimon would pray to his God to heal the man.

Thus, a man paralyzed for many years was brought in, and pagan priests who knew the art of medicine invoked their gods without success. Thereafter, before the very eyes of the emperor, Panteleimon healed the paralytic by calling on the name of Jesus Christ. At this, the ferocious Maximian executed the healed man, and gave Panteleimon over to fierce torture.

Fathers Hermolaos, Hermippos, and Hermocrates were also brought forth. They, too, confessed their faith and were beheaded.

Throughout the many tortures, Panteleimon remained untouched, further enraging Maximian who ordered that Panteleimon be beheaded.

Soldiers took him to an olive tree, but when they struck him while he was praying, the sword melted like wax. After he finished his prayer, a voice was heard from heaven, calling the saint by his new name (Panteleimon) summoning him to the heavenly Kingdom.

Panteleimon instructed the soldiers to rise from their knees where they had fallen in fear and to complete the execution. After they followed his instruction, the olive tree became covered with fruit.

Although his body was thrown into a fire, it came out unharmed and was buried by Christians. The relic of his precious head is located on the island of Andros at Panachrantos Monastery and on occassions is taken to other monasteries for veneration.

Saint Panteleimon is invoked in the prayers at the Agiasmó (blessing of water).

He is also invoked at the blessing and consecration of olive oil during the Mysatery of Holy Unction, together with Saint Hermolaos and other unmercenary and wnder-working saints.

Demonic Posession or Mental Illness

Demonic Possession or Mental Illness?

By Archimandrite Vasilios Bakoyiannis

The Common Symptoms

It is certainly possible for a person who is mentally ill or suffers from nerves to display the same symptoms as someone who is possessed. For example: The possessed person might not want to say “Lord have mercy” or to go to church, to confess or to take communion. (An unbeliever might also refuse to do these things, but that doesn’t mean that the unbeliever is possessed).

It is possible, according to psychiatrists, that someone who is mentally ill, faced with the Precious Cross or the relics of saints, or in attendance at the Divine Liturgy, might shout “I’m burning, I’m burning,” without that meaning that they are possessed. We know of such cases. Any sins which they might have committed, the psychiatrists go on to say, in conjunction with their stricken conscience, would suffice to make the sufferer feel as if he or she were burning when brought face to face with the sacred objects of our Faith.

Imagine, a case like that, in which a sufferer needs the immediate attention of a specialist practitioner and we are trying to do what we can with exorcism!

When the prayers of exorcism are read over a person who’s mentally ill, that person feels a certain temporary relief, because “something” has been done to alleviate their illness. Unfortunately, this can be taken as a sign of or symptom that the sufferer is possessed.

The Difference

Possession is one thing and mental illness another. They may have the same surface symptoms, but these symptoms cause very different underlying behavior.

When possessed persons are faced with the Precious Cross or the relics of a saint, they are seized with a “fit” and become unrecognizable. Their heads turn right round, their tongues stick out and they begin to howl. It is the reaction of Satan. Mentally ill people, however, react very differently. They are neither distorted nor altered. They always retain their human countenance.

In addition, during their “fits” people who are possessed:

Break chains, escape from restraint, etc.

Reveal “secrets”.

This, of course, is utterly impossible for people who are mentally ill.

Bewitchment or Psychological Problem?

Witchcraft may also produce the same symptoms as certain psychological problems.

A spouse who is bewitched may not be able to enjoy conjugal relations with his or her partner. This can also happen to someone who has a psychological problem in this area.

Someone who is under a spell may lose their appetite and suffer from constant weight loss. This may also be true for someone who has a psychological problem.

How are we to tell the difference?

If the sufferer continues to be a member of the Church, with a conscious sacramental life, then his or her problem is not due to bewitchment. Magic doesn’t affect pure and conscientious Christians. The problem is psychological and requires the assistance of a specialist practitioner.

If the person is outside the Church and living in sin, then the sickness may be due to witchcraft, although, again, we must not rule out a psychological problem. But a proper diagnosis will require cooperation between a priest and a God-fearing doctor.

The Ruler of This World

“The prince of this world” (Johnn 12:31).

We live in a sinful world. Every day a thousand and one evils are committed (theft, robberies, murder), not only in one place but all over the earth. They happen so frequently that these terrible things have become common place.

And it’s not only today that they are happening. It has always been like this, from the beginning of humanity right down to now. In other words, in the many thousands of years since the Fall there hasn’t been a single period when love, justice, peace and altruism reigned in this world. It would seem, then, that the prince of this world is the devil. He’s the ruler of the world!

Well, he may seem to be, but he isn’t.

The Cause of Evil

Let us remind ourselves that the Devil simply puts the idea of evil into each of our minds. From then on, it is each of us individually who undertake to carry the idea out. To be more specific: the devil puts it into your mind that you should steal. But you are the one who plans where, when, how and what you are going to steal. You may plan one thing today, another tomorrow and something else entirely the day after. Furthermore, you may have laid your plans to perfection and have started out to commit the robbery, yet on the way, you may have thought of something else and put the whole operation off. You have gone home, making new plans. Now, what if you set out again and this time you actually do steal? Was it the devil that made you steal, or yourself? Was it he who laid your plans, who opened your hands so that you would take something that did not belong to you? Or was it you?

You were in charge of the game. You stole, not the devil.

The same is true for any action you perform, as well as for any bad things you do. You do it. The same thing is true for your friend, for any acquaintance and for people you’ve never even heard of. In other words, it’s not the devil that does evil, but you in your weakness. If the devil did it, you would be innocent and then, of course, you wouldn’t be punished. No matter what crimes you had committed, you would go to Paradise. And only the devil would go to hell.

The “All-powerful” Devil

We’ve seen how the devil torments the possessed. But there is something we have not paid much attention to, namely that he does not torment his victims night and day, but only at intervals. In most instances he leaves them alone and does not bother them. Why? Why such mercy, such sympathy?

He does not do it out of mercy, nor out of sympathy, but out of weakness. In other words, he does not torment his victim whenever he feels like it, but only when the Lord permits him to. Without the Lord’s leave, the devil cannot bother anyone. Before he tormented Job the Righteous, he had to ask permission from the Lord.

He can’t even bother dumb animals without getting permission from the Lord! Remember how the demons asked His permission to enter the Gadarene swine. And once they had done so the swine did not merely wander off, but rushed headlong over the cliff into the sea. There’s mania for you!

The devil does not have any score to settle with swine, though he does with people, especially Christians, because they believe in Christ, Who is his enemy. Now, if the devil exterminated the swine so abruptly, just imagine how much he would like to exterminate people. He would love to enter each one of us, to make us rush headlong over cliffs and into seas and to go to our perdition, so that not a single person would remain on earth, particularly a Christian, to worship his enemy. And yet always, throughout all the ages, people have survived, including Christians. So the Lord of All keeps the devil confined. In that case, who is really the Prince of this world?

God is Good

Since God holds in check the “all-powerfulness” of the devil, it means that He Himself is all-powerful, and thus more powerful than the devil. Therefore: He is able at any moment to do wonderful things. He can make the whole earth tremble for hours with one glance and the whole world will bow down before Him as Lord and God. He can immobilize the thief who is on his way to steal. The same can happen with the murderer and so on, so that evil would disappear from the earth once and for all. He could make the world a paradise on earth.

But God does not do this. He can, but does not want to – while the devil wants to but can’t! He does not want to because He is a good God. He wants us to do good freely, not under pressure from Him. He leaves everything up to us.

From the book Confronting the Devil, Magic & the Occult, Orthodox Book Centre, Athens 2003

Worship Schedule

Services This Week:

Daily Matins:
Thursday, & Friday at 7:00 am

Daily Vespers:
Thursday & Friday at 6:00 pm
(Preceded by 9th Hour at 5:45 pm)

Weekly Paraklesis:
Wednesday at 6:00 pm

Feast of Saint Paraskevi

Agrypnia (Vigil): Monday, July 25th, 5:00 pm
3rd and 6th Hours: Tuesday, July 26th, 6:30 am
Divine Liturgy: Tuesday, July 26th, 7:00 am

Feast of Saint Panteleimon
Matins: Wednesday, July 27th, 6:30 am
Divine Liturgy: Wednesday, July 27th, 7:00 am

For updated schedule information, always refer to:

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Past Bulletins

From Your Parish Priest

Fifth Sunday of Saint Matthew

07/24/2016

Another Homily

Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Fourth Mode

Apolytikion for Great Martyr Christina in the Fourth Mode

Seasonal Kontakion in the Second Mode

Gospel and Epistle Readings

Matins Gospel Reading

Epistle Reading

Gospel Reading

Patristic Gospel Commentary

Wisdom of the Fathers

Saints and Feasts

5th Sunday of Matthew

Christina the Great Martyr of Tyre

Athenagorus the Apologist

Great Martyrs Paraskevi and Pantelimon

Demonic Posession or Mental Illness

Worship Schedule