June 14. Holy Prophet Elisey.
Holy Prophet Elisey. (4)
Our Holy Father Mefodiy, Patriarch of Constantinople. (4)
Holy Hieromartyr Kirill, Bishop of Gortyna.
Holy Right-Believing Prince Mstislav of Novgorod, in holy baptism named Georgiy.
Venerable Mefodiy of Peshnosha Monastery.
The Holy Prophet Elisey
The holy prophet Elisey lived in the 9th century before the birth of Christ. He was from the village of Avelmehola near the Jordan. By the command of the Lord, he was called to prophetic ministry by the holy Prophet of God Iliya (commemorated July 20).
When the time came for the holy prophet Iliya to be taken up into Heaven, he said to Elisey: “Ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken away from thee.” Elisey boldly asked for a double portion of grace for the work of God: “Let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.” Iliya replied, “Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so” (4 Kings [2 Kings] 2:9–10).
As they went on and spoke together, a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated them. Elisey cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof!” (4 Kings 2:12). Picking up the mantle (cloak) of his teacher that had fallen from heaven, Elisey received the power and prophetic gift of Iliya.
His prophetic ministry lasted more than 65 years under six kings of Israel (from Akhaz to Ioas). “In his days he feared not any prince, neither could any man bring him into subjection” (Sirach 48:13).
The holy prophet performed many miracles:
- He parted the waters of the Jordan by striking them with Iliya’s mantle.
- He made the water of the spring at Ierikho fit to drink.
- Through prayer, he brought forth abundant water to save the armies of Israel and Judah in the dry wilderness.
- He saved a poor widow from starvation by miraculously multiplying the oil in her vessel.
- A woman of Shunem who had shown him hospitality was granted a son by his prayers. When the child died, he raised him from the dead.
- The Syrian commander Neeman was healed of leprosy, while Elisey’s servant Gieziy was struck with the disease for disobeying the prophet and secretly taking gifts from Neeman.
- Elisey foretold King Ioas’s victory over his enemies and worked many other wonders through the power of prayer.
The holy prophet Elisey died at an old age in Samaria. “While he lived, he performed wonders, and after death his works were marvelous” (Sirach 48:15). A year after his death, a dead man was thrown into his tomb, and when the corpse touched Elisey’s bones, the man came back to life.
Like his teacher, the holy prophet Iliya, Elisey left no written books; their preaching was oral. Isus the son of Sirakh composed a eulogy to both great prophets (Sirach 48:1–15).
Saint Ioann Damaskin composed a canon in honor of the prophet Elisey, and a church was built in his name in Constantinople.
The emperor Yulian the Apostate (361–363) ordered the burning of the relics of Elisey, Avdiy, and Ioann the Forerunner, but believers preserved the remains, and part of them was transferred to Alexandria.
Saint Mefodiy, Patriarch of Constantinople
Saint Mefodiy, Patriarch of Constantinople, was born in Sicily into a wealthy family. Answering God’s call, he entered a monastery on the island of Khios in his youth and restored it at his own expense.
During the reign of the iconoclast Emperor Lev the Armenian (813–820), St. Mefodiy held the high post of apokrisiary (envoy) under the holy Patriarch Nikifor (commemorated June 2). He was sent by the patriarch to Rome with a message to the Pope and remained there for some time.
During his absence, Lev deposed Patriarch Nikifor and appointed the iconoclast Feodot Melissinos, nicknamed Kassiteras (815–822), in his place. After Lev’s death, St. Mefodiy returned and, as a presbyter, fervently opposed the heresy of iconoclasm.
Emperor Mikhail the Stammerer (820–829) at first appeared lenient and released many imprisoned for honoring icons, but soon resumed persecution. St. Mefodiy was imprisoned in a fortress called Akrites.
When Mikhail died, his son Feofil (829–842), also an iconoclast, became emperor. More educated than his father, he freed Mefodiy, recognizing his learning and skill in both church and state affairs. For a time, the emperor tolerated his opposition.
However, after a military defeat by the Arabs, Feofil blamed Mefodiy, saying that God’s wrath was provoked by having an “idolater” (as iconoclasts called the veneration of icons) near him. St. Mefodiy answered that God’s anger was upon him for mocking the holy icon.
He was tortured—his jaw was shattered by repeated blows to the face, leaving a permanent disfigurement. He was exiled to the island of Antigon and imprisoned in a deep cave with two criminals. In that dark, sunless cell, St. Mefodiy languished for seven years until Feofil’s death.
During his captivity, the exiled confessors Feodor and Feofan the Branded (commemorated December 27) sent him a poetic greeting, and Mefodiy replied in verse.
After Feofil’s death, his young son Mikhail III (842–867) came to the throne, but the empire was governed by his mother, the blessed Empress Feodora, a pious woman who venerated icons.
The empress sought to abolish the iconoclast heresy and released all confessors imprisoned for venerating icons. The heretical patriarch Anniy was deposed, and St. Mefodiy was chosen as patriarch.
A Local Council was convened in Constantinople under Mefodiy (842), which restored the veneration of icons and decreed an annual celebration of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. The rite composed by St. Mefodiy, The Rite of Orthodoxy, is still performed on the first Sunday of Great Lent.
Heretics attempted to ruin Mefodiy’s reputation and accused him falsely of violating chastity, but the slander was exposed and his enemies disgraced.
In the last years of his life, St. Mefodiy governed the Church wisely and peacefully. He rebuilt churches destroyed by heretics, recovered and honored relics desecrated during the persecutions, and brought back the relics of Patriarch Nikifor from exile to Constantinople.
He died in 846. St. Mefodiy was spiritually close to the venerable Ioannikiy (commemorated November 4), who had foretold both his patriarchate and his repose. In addition to The Rite of Orthodoxy, St. Mefodiy composed canons for converts, three orders of marriage, several pastoral teachings, and ecclesiastical hymns.