Sermons & Homilies – Page 57 – Holy Cross Monastery

Apr 20, 2016

Another Sermon for the Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt (2016)

The end is near! At the end of this coming week Great Lent will be over. But now, I would like to take a moment to look back at the beginning of Great Lent, and even the preparation for Great Lent. Every year at our monastery during the First Week of Lent, we read in our trapeza these words from the great instructor of the spiritual life, Abba Dorotheos:

Apr 18, 2016

Sermon for the Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt (2016)

Today we commemorate St. Mary of Egypt, who is the third Saint whom the Church has brought to our attention during this period of Great Lent; the first two being St. Gregory Palamas and St. John Climacus. Last Sunday we commemorated St. John Climacus as the model of ascetics and today we commemorate St. Mary of Egypt, who is for us the model of repentance as we sang in the exapostilarion for the saint last evening, “Thee we have as a pattern of repentance, all-holy Mary.” From her life, let us see how this is so.

Apr 06, 2016

Sermon for the Annunciation (2016)

“The Mystery from the ages is revealed today… God becomes man, so that He might make Adam a god.”

My brothers and sisters, these words from the Praises of the Forefeast express a great and holy truth. Even more, these words express the greatest truth of our lives. It truly is “the Mystery from the ages.” It is not a fairy tale. Nor is it simply a dull formula dredged out of some lifeless textbook of theology. It is reality, though a reality far beyond the wildest dreams even of St. Peter when he said to the Lord: “to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” When holy Chief of the Apostles spoke this, he did not yet have but the barest inkling of the life that the Son of God came to us to bring. As St. Paul later wrote: “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” And even more, in the words of the Apostle John the Theologian: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

Apr 03, 2016

Sermon for the Sunday of the Cross (2016)

Today all over the world, Orthodox Christians in every nation gather in their churches to celebrate the Precious Cross of Our Saviour Jesus Christ. In every Orthodox Church the Cross is lovingly decorated with flowers and greenery and then solemnly carried through the church with incense and candles as the faithful sing hymns about the Glorious Cross. The pious devoutly bow down before the Precious Cross and venerate it.

Mar 20, 2016

Sermon for the Sunday of Orthodoxy (2016)

Today is the first Sunday of Great Lent on which is celebrated two events. The first is the victory of those who venerate images of Christ, His Mother and the Saints (i.e., iconophiles) over those who were suspicious of any Christian art and, therefore, tried to destroy them (i.e., iconoclasts). The second event is the triumph of orthodoxy (i.e., the true, correct faith and the true glorification of God) over heresy.