THE COMMEMORATION OF THE HOLY GREAT MARTYR MARINA July 17th

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

THE COMMEMORATION OF THE HOLY GREAT MARTYR MARINA

Apolytikion (Dismissal) Hymn. Fourth Tone

O LORD Jesus, unto Thee Thy lamb doth cry with a great voice:
O my Bridegroom, Thee I love; and seeking Thee, I now contest,
and with Thy baptism am crucified and buried. I suffer for Thy
sake, that I may reign with Thee; for Thy sake I die, that I may live
in Thee: accept me offered out of longing to Thee as a spotless
sacrifice. Lord, save our souls through her intercessions, since
Thou art great in mercy.

Kontakion Hymn. Third Tone

WITH most fair virginity wast thou made comely, O virgin; and
with bright and spotless crowns wast thou crowned also, O Martyr;
reddened with martyric blood, thou, O famed Marina, wast vouchsafed
to shine forth brightly with wondrous healings, while receiving from
the right hand of thy Creator thy triumph’s sacred rewards.

Born in Pisidian Antioch [268-270 A.D.] of pagan parents. Her father was a pagan priest. Marina only heard of the Lord Jesus Christ at the age of twelve, of His Incarnation of the most pure Virgin, His many miracles. His death by crucifixion and His Glorious Resurrection. Her little heart was inflamed with love for the Lord, and she vowed never to marry and, further, desired in her soul to suffer for Christ and be baptized with the blood of martyrdom. her father hated her for her faith,and would not regard her as his daughter. The imperial governor, Olymbrius, hearing of Marina and learning that she was a Christian, at first desired her for his wife. When Marina refused, he ordered her to sacrifice to idols. To this, Marina replied: "I shall not worship nor offer sacrifice to dead idols, lacking breath of life, who have no awareness of themselves and are not even aware of our honouring or dishonouring them. I will not give them that honor that belongs to my Creator alone." Then Olymbrius put her to harsh torture, and threw her into prison all wounded and bleeding. Marina prayed to God in the prison, and, after she had prayed, there appeared to her first the devil in the form of a terrible serpent, which twined itself about her head. When she made the sign of the Cross, the serpent split asunder and disappeared. Then she was bathed in heavenly Light; the walls and roof of the prison disappeared and a Cross was revealed, resplendent and lofty. On the top of the Cross was perched a white dove, from which there came a voice: ‘REJOICE, MARINA, THOU DOVE OF CHRIST, DAUGHTER OF THE SON THAT IS ON HIGH, FOR THE DAY OF THY JOY IS DRAWING NEAR!’, and Marina was healed by the power of God of all her wounds. The demented judge tortured her the next day by fire and water, but Saint Marina endured it all as if not in her own body. She was finally sentenced to death by beheading. At the moment of her death, the Lord Jesus appeared to her, accompanied by Angels. She was beheaded in the time of the Emperor Diocletian, but remains alive in soul and in power in heaven and on earth. One of her hands is preserved in the Monastery of Vatopedi on the Holy Mountain in Greece. Even in Albania, in the Langa mountains overlooking Lake Ochrid, there is a Monastery of Saint Marina with some of her Wonderworking relics. Numerous miracles have been wrought in this Monastery and still are, witnessed not only by Christians but also by Muslims. The Turks have such a veneration for this holy place that they have never laid hands on either the place or the Monastery’s possessions. At one time, a Turk was caretaker of the Monastery.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Until Christ becomes to the soul all that has any lasting and unchanging worth; until then a man cannot come to suffer for Christ. How was Saint Marina, a fifteen-year-old, able to follow this path? Because Christ was EVERYTHING TO HER. How was Sant Julita able to rejoice, seeing her three-year-old son Cerycus dead for the Christian faith? Again, because Christ WAS EVERYTHING. Here is how Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk speaks, in detail and in the form of a conversation between Christ and man, of how Christ IS EVERYTHING TO MAN: ‘Do you desire good for yourself? All good is in Me. Do you desire beauty? What is lovelier than I? Do you desire a noble birth? What birth is more noble than that of the Son of God and the Virgin? Do you desire rank? Who is of higher rank than the King of Heaven? Do you desire glory? Who is more glorious than I? Riches? All riches are in Me. Wisdom? I am the Wisdom of God. Friendship? Who is a greater friend than I — I Who laid down My life for all? Help? Who can help but I? Who can be happy without Me? Do you seek consolation in distress? Who will console you but I? Do you seek peace? I am the peace of the soul. Do you seek life? In me is the Fountain of Life. Do you seek light? I am the Light of the world.’

HOMILY

–on the necessity of re-iteration.

"Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you
always in remembrance of these things, though
ye know them, and be established in the
present truth" [2 Peter 1:12].

A ploughman ploughs a field. Does he not repeat the same action again and again? How else would the field be tilled, if he did not repeat his action from dawn to dusk, deepening furrow after furrow?

A traveller goes along a road. Does he not, every moment, renew the same action, the same effort? How would his journey pass and his destination be reached?

A carpenter cuts planks in his workshop. Does he not repeat the same action for every plank? How else would he prepare the required number of planks?

My brethren, is not everything that we do on a practical level a series of repetitions? Let not the preacher of truth grow weary and say: ‘I have told them, and will not repeat it!’ Let not the hearer of truth grow proud and say: ‘I have heard that once, and don’t need to hear it again.’

O teacher of the truth, do not be afraid of repeating again and again; of teaching by repetition and reminding by repetition. Without repetition, the field is not ploughed nor the road travelled, nor the plank prepared. That is your task: TO PLOUGH, TO LEAD, TO PREPARE.

O hearer of the Truth, do not grow proud and say that you have heard the truth once. TRUTH IS FOOD FOR THE SOUL. You have eaten bread today, yesterday and the day before, month by month and year by year. And you will go on eating it, to strengthen your body. FEED YOUR SOUL AS WELL. FEED IT WITH TRUTH, WITH THE SAME TRUTH YESTERDAY AND TODAY AND TOMORROW AND FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, THAT YOUR SOUL MAY BECOME WHOLE AND FILLED WITH LIGHT.

O Lord Jesus, FEED US EVERY DAY AND EVERY HOUR WITH THY TRUTH — WITH THYSELF, O JESUS, THOU SWEET FOOD! TO THEE BE GLORY AND PRAISE FOR EVER. AMEN. [Source: Prologue from Ochrid]

_____________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George