For the Fourth Sunday after Pascha: A Teaching of the Blessed Kirill of Turov on the Paralytic at the Sheep Pool, and how our Lord Jesus Christ healed him by His word. Unmeasurable is the height of the heavens, unsearchable the depths of the abyss, and incomprehensible is the mystery of God’s providence. For great…
(On Joseph of Arimathea and the Myrrh-Bearing Women, according to the Gospel reading for the third Sunday after Pascha) After the past feast, another most fitting one has come, bringing the grace of God to the holy Church. For just as chains of gold, adorned with pearls and precious stones, delight the eyes of those…
The Church, desiring to adorn this feast, requires a great teacher and a wise preacher — but we are poor in word and clouded in mind, and we do not possess the fire of the Holy Spirit to compose words profitable to the soul. Yet, for the love of the brethren who are with me,…
Brothers and fathers, the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ have the power to awaken sobriety in our souls whenever we contemplate them. But especially now, in these present days, when they are being fulfilled one by one before our eyes: the plotting of His death, His arrest by the Jews, the trial before Pilate,…
St. Kirill of Turov Today is a double joy for all Christians and unspeakable gladness for the world, on account of the feast now come, in place of the sorrow that belonged to the former mystery. And what was that sorrow of the mystery that preceded it? On the day before yesterday, our Lord Jesus…
St. Leo the Great Beloved, in my last sermon, as far as I can tell, I rightly urged you to partake in the Cross of Christ, so that the very life of the faithful might embody the Paschal mystery and that our conduct would glorify what is honored in the feast. And you yourselves have…
What is this? Why is there such deep silence upon the earth today, and such stillness? It is because the King is at rest. The earth grew silent with awe, for the Lord has fallen asleep in the flesh, and has raised up those who have slept from ages past. The Lord died in the…
Today we celebrate the burial of our Savior. He descends into the netherworld to free the dead from the bonds of death, filling Hades with light and awakening the departed from sleep. We rejoice here on earth, anticipating His Resurrection, and we do not fear that corruption will overcome incorruption—for Scripture says, “Neither wilt thou suffer…
By St. Gregory Palamas The eternal and ineffable Word of God, the Almighty and Omnipotent Son, could, even without taking on flesh, have delivered humankind from corruption, death, and bondage to the devil—for all things are upheld by the word of His power, and all creation is subject to His divine authority. As Job says,…
By Abba Dorotheos It is written in the Law that God commanded the sons of Israel to give a tithe each year from all that they acquired, and by doing so, they received a blessing upon all their works. Knowing this, the holy Apostles established and handed down to us, for our aid and as…