The Beneficial Tale of Saint Peter the Tax Collector
To encourage people to give alms, Saint John the Merciful used to tell them that once some poor men were warming themselves in the sun, and they began to talk about those who gave alms, praising the good and reviling the bad. Among them was the tale of the Scrooge-like conversion of Peter the Tax […]
Saint Maximus the Greek and His Canon to the All-Holy Spirit
St. Maximus the Greek (+ 21 January 1556) was imprisoned in Russia, banished to the Monastery of Volokolamsk, where he suffered from hunger, bitter cold and all kinds of torments. There he was bereft of everything, even being deprived of Holy Communion and books, yet prayer alone sustained him. The Lord did not abandon him, but one day an angel appeared to him and said: “Have patience! You will be delivered from eternal torment by the sufferings here below.” To thank God for this heavenly consolation, St. Maximus composed a poetical canon in honor of the Holy Spirit. Deprived of paper and pen, he wrote it on the walls of his cell in charcoal. This canon is sung on the Monday of the Holy Spirit in certain Russian and Serbian monasteries.
Prayer and the Departed Saints
Not an easy question to answer–especially when it has been brought on by the loss of a family member or close friend. To many, there is no answer. Death is the great unknown, the destroyer, the invincible foe whose untimely appearance, for many, signals only the cessation of life. The Bible teaches that the answer to the mystery of death is found in the life of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and One of the Holy Trinity. Through His birth, life, death, and resurrection, death itself has been vanquished and the power of the grave overthrown. Death has been “swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54), says Saint Paul. The joy of eternal life is offered to those who live in Him.