At the beginning of the new year and about the martyrs, as well as about the bleeding wife

1. A continuous and constant miracle is this abundant flow of blessings poured out on us from Christ the Master; this is a rich heritage, successively transmitted from one to another. Today, too, the good-victorious martyrs treat us, offering their own exploits for a common joyful feast. It was, indeed, necessary that the martyrs (rich?) in grace should always be a source of refreshment for the faithful at the beginning of the year; it was necessary for the new year to begin with celebration; it was necessary that on the eve of the new cycle of times we should hear so many blessings; it was necessary for us to celebrate today so solemnly, with the participation of the faces of the saints; it was necessary that the annual circle be decorated with the crown of martyrs; It was necessary that at the beginning of the year we should have so much fun and precisely in honor of the martyrs! They - these courageous warriors of Christ - are the culprits of all this joy of ours. Even after their death they preach about His power, they trampled the deceiving serpent under the feet of virtue, strangled the rapist lion with the hands of love of God and brought victory to the truth; they hated real life as vain, and loved the kingdom of heaven, like children love their mother; with their death they opened the gates of immortality and killed the culprit of death with their own death; being clothed with a body, they defeated the incorporeal demons, not by the strength of the body, but by the faith of the soul. They conquered everything in the world through faith, which is more valuable to a Christian than anything. With the assistance of faith, they sealed their words with deeds. Great indeed are their exploits for the sake of truth; their virtue of chastity is brilliant; their unkindness is valuable; The feat of abstinence is also wonderful; but most of all they owe their victory to their great faith. Abraham's faith once again restored fertility to Sarah's completely barren womb. By faith Moses made the troubled sea pedestrian. Elijah commanded heaven and, by his faith, was heard. Faith drove out thousands of diseases during the time of the Savior: the leper got rid of his terrible illness by faith; Through it the blind man received his sight, which he had been deprived of by nature; with her assistance, the Canaanite woman, with her persistence, rescued her daughter from the power of the demon. Even while remaining a secret, faith dried up the flow of blood, and whereas in other cases the gift is preceded by a request, here everything happened in mutual silence, as if the gift had been stolen. Oh, unhappy and at the same time blessed woman! Unhappy in her previous state, blessed in her subsequent one. This is how the gospel tells about this: “a woman who suffered with blood for twelve years” (Luke 8:43). If there were as many days as her illness lasted for years, even then it could completely exhaust her; and here for 12 years! I think the illness was rooted in her nature. She, having spent all her property on doctors, added to her bodily weakness a lack of property; but nothing helped her. It would also help! After all, her opponent was inexorable: the woman’s womb was a source, it was as if some inexhaustible spring of blood was flowing from her. And not over such a long period of time could the stench alone plague a person. Her heart was tormented by sorrows and worries about how to break the bonds of a serious illness, how to get rid of a twelve-year illness, how to calm unbearable pains, how to control uncontrollable flows, how to stop the disorder of the body. What kind of doctors did she visit, knocking on their doorsteps at night? She avoided daylight so that the uncontrollably flowing streams of blood would not reveal her shame, hidden from everyone, before everyone. She spent all her property, everything she had, to pay those who undertook her treatment. She was forced to give and give, and the desire to be healthy, of course, forced her not to spare money. But all the doctors were powerless in the fight against her illness; a variety of medications could not tame her evil illness. Just like a deaf beast, he remained insensitive to the art of those who tried to tame him, as if objecting to their useless efforts: why are you fighting against the strongest beast? I am not at all inclined to give up to you this prey of mine, in the body of which I have nestled so long ago and so firmly. No one can buy strength with money; no one living on earth will cut off my roots. Only one doctor, born of a virgin, will drive me out; and I am preserved for His glory; along with others, I too will be a witness to His glory. So, why are you exhausted in vain labors - you slaves, striving to anticipate the victory of the Master? I will not spare the creature until I see the Creator. Oh, everything is against the unfortunate woman: the length of time, the incurability of the illness, useless expenses, the sorrows of the oppressed body, the mind clouded by disappointed hopes. But even such a multitude of enemies did not steal the weapons of the endangered faith. And such waves of disaster did not cause the woman to become shipwrecked. And such attacks of temptation did not overthrow the woman who was exposed to them. She saw, the gospel says, Jesus. She saw the deliverer of the Deliverer, the bound Liberator, she saw the overwhelmed anchor of the universe, she saw the coming King of Passions, she saw the hope of inexplicable joy, she saw the bearer of the inexhaustible power of healing, she saw the source of healing, freely emitting waves, she saw life visiting the dead, she saw - and such a thought dawned on her: I have now found the Healer that I needed; this Doctor will not demand gold for his labors; one thing, I think, He will require - a sincere heart; He will require one tribute from me - faith. But I have it: the disease did not deprive me of it. It's just that my thoughts are confused. What should I do? Run up and grab hold of Him? I will be in danger from the crowd. Call Him to your place? They will persecute her as unclean. Hide misfortune? But I can no longer bear the disease. Approach Him as a doctor of nature? But I fear Him as a King. Will he accept me as a petitioner? But I’m afraid that I will move away as if I were defiled. Will he be merciful to suffering? But he would not condemn him for approaching Him. 2. So what to do? Where to stop? Arm yourself with courage? I'm afraid that I might be left without healing again. I will not be afraid of the crowd, I will neglect fear, I will become the subject of a spectacle, I will be subjected to ridicule from the outside, but I will be healed of my internal illness. The law hates me as defiled, the legislator pities me as sick. The woman’s zeal and indecision fought in her soul, but she found a helper in faith. And “coming up,” the Gospel tells us, “behind Jesus, she touched the hem of His garment” (Luke 8:44). “For she said to herself: If I only touch His garment, I will be made well” (Matthew 9:21). Oh, theft, which had faith as a mother! Oh, theft, which the one who punishes theft praised! Oh, theft, pleasant for the robbed! Oh, theft, crowned Judge! And here’s what’s amazing: her theft makes us marvel at her no less than we marvel at her generosity. “For God,” she says, is the Master from whom nothing can be hidden. He does not need bodily eyes, He is a doctor who heals souls; He is the eye that penetrates thoughts; He sees me, although I was hiding, hears me without words, touches me from afar; He knows that of course I, as unworthy, could not bear His gaze. So what? I will approach unnoticed, and at the same time - honoring with thought, but not offending with my appearance, I will touch the back of His garment. For my healing, even one touch of His clothes will be enough, if only I can touch them, because, of course, they are filled with His power: it’s impossible for the clothes that clothe life not to emit saving rays themselves! Great was Moses among the prophets, the corrector of a restless people, but still a man. And this one is the Lord of that and, moreover, a lover of mankind. So, if the slave’s rod split the Red Sea, raising walls of water, will not the edge of the Lady’s robe petrify the flow of blood? Zealous Elijah, an ardent servant of God, was a man servile to us, but his mantle was an instrument of miracles. In the same way, Elisha, who inherited the grace of his mentor in abundance, curbed the waves of the Jordan with a mantle. So, if the prophets had so much grace, what must be the power of the One who was predicted by them? Why not say it more briefly? Peter's shadow heals, but Christ's robe does not heal? I can already feel how much I and simple determination have curbed the disease. Oh, faith that overcomes attacks of illness! She only believed and - and the evil illness fled, she believed - and the inquisitive animal could not object to anything, she believed - and the continuous flow of blood stopped, as if dried up by some invisible flame. She touched His clothes and approached Him from the outside, and He penetrated her inner thoughts. She quietly received physical healing, and the Savior revealed her spiritual beauty to everyone. He did not allow such beauty of piety to remain uncrowned, did not allow the spark of truth to go out in the darkness of oblivion. The gospel story announced to the whole world the faith of a woman who beautifully accomplished the good theft from God with an unyielding mind. Who is she who, for theft, is considered as if for faith? The wife's faith warned the robber; before his lips her hand is praised; Before he delighted paradise with his cry, she robbed the head of the kingdom with her silence. “At the same time, Jesus felt within Himself that power had gone out of Him” (Mark 5:30), and asked the disciples: “Who touched Me” (Luke 8:45)? How did you not notice the theft? How did they not notice the robbery? Who touched Me? Who from my treasury was enriched in health through illness? Who touched Me? What are you saying, Lord? You gave, and the one who received does not know? Did you see faith, but did not notice the one who believed? Did you appreciate the secret mood of the soul, but did not discern the obvious appearance? Who touched Me? Who touched you? To whom have You given strength with medicine? Who did the Lord send healing to? Have you driven away an illness and don’t know anyone who was healed? Who touched Me? Who touched Me with thought before with hand? Who has realized My deity? Who is this righteous robber of My power? Who lit the extinguished lamp of his salvation from My lamp? Who touched Me? I don't want to learn from you so much as teach you. Here I would like to conclude my word, and it’s time. And we will devote another day to extracting proper edification from this miracle. After all, if this woman, overcome by her illness for twelve years, did not waver in her patience, then do we really not want to give up one more day to her such long exploits? The face of the martyrs was jealous of her faith, no longer touching the hem of the Lord’s garment, but taking possession of the very body of Christ. And we, of course, beloved, will arouse our thoughts to compete with such faith, so that we do not turn out to be worse than one woman, if we have been given more works of faith than she. She only once managed to touch the robe of Christ, and every day, as you know, we embrace the body of the Savior - and feed on the members of the Lord as soon as we begin the Eucharist. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom and classified in the Minya edition as Spuria.