24-е

Nativity of the honest and glorious prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John When the sun of righteousness, Christ our Savior, wanted to shine on the world, the star appeared first - the Forerunner of Christ. He was born in Jutta near Hebron, from the righteous Elizabeth, barren, and mature in her days, like Isaac of old from the old Sarah. The wonderful Nativity of John was the forerunner of an even more wonderful Nativity of Christ. Neighbors, relatives and acquaintances, hearing about the birth of John, rejoiced that the Lord had shown mercy to Elizabeth, taking away from her the reproach of childlessness. On the eighth day, they circumcised the baby and named him, as the Archangel predicted, John, a name most fitting for one who was supposed to prepare people to accept the grace of Jesus Christ: John means grace. Everyone was surprised at this new name in the relationship of Zechariah and Elizabeth. After this, the mouth was immediately opened, the tongue was loosened, and Zechariah began to speak, blessing God. With such visible signs of the omnipotent grace of God, fear fell upon everyone living around them; Everyone who heard about the event of John’s birth thought: what will happen to this baby? Zechariah, at the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, announced the imminent fulfillment of the deliverance of people predicted by the prophets and the high appointment of John to be the Forerunner of the Savior. And you, as a child, among other things, said the God-inspired elder, having been called the prophet of the Most High: having gone before the face of the Lord, prepared His ways, given the understanding of salvation to His people in forsaking their sins. The baby John grew and became stronger in spirit and was in the deserts until the day of his appearance to Israel (Luke 1:65-80) in order, says Chrysostom, not to see or hear the atrocities of men. In remembrance of the birth of the Forerunner of Christ, according to the testimony of the Gospel that many will rejoice at his birth, a holiday has been established since the first times of Christianity. Among the writings of the Church Fathers of the 4th century, many teachings on this holiday, delivered by them in different countries, have been preserved. These are the teachings of St. Ambrose of Milan, St. John Chrysostom, Augustine and others. In the 5th century, Anatoly of Constantinople, in the 7th century, Andrew of Crete, in the 8th century, John of Damascus, in the 9th century, the nun Cassia and others wrote many hymns with which the Church now glorifies the Forerunner on the day of his birth. The Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist is assigned to the 24th of June, corresponding to the Nativity of Christ, which John anticipated by six months, and according to the humble review of the great prophet about himself in relation to Jesus Christ: It is fitting for Him to grow, but for me to diminish (John 3:30). “This review of the Forerunner,” according to Ambrose of Milan, “is confirmed by time itself. On the Feast of the Nativity of Jesus Christ, the day grows, and on the Feast of the Nativity of John, it decreases. At the Nativity of Jesus Christ the day increases, since the Savior of the world appears, and at the Nativity of John it diminishes, since the last prophet is born: for the law and the prophets were before John (Luke 16:16).” During the summer days the lamp burned and shone, St. The Forerunner John, the end of the Old Testament, begins to diminish, and as the days of winter increase, Christ the Lord, the true Light, rises and spreads. St. Christmas Day John the Baptist is a great Christian holiday, although not the twelfth. Glorifying the miraculous conception of the Forerunner, who was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb, the Church more solemnly glorifies his birth, about which, according to the Gospel, there will be joy and gladness, and many will rejoice (Luke 1:14), and which exalted Elizabeth and made her neighbors and relatives happy. Blessed Augustine, in his homily on the day of the Nativity of the Baptist, says: “Today we celebrate the birthday of St. John, an honor that, in our opinion, is not given to any saint. Throughout the Christian world, the birthday of only the Lord and St. is celebrated and revered. John. John was born of a virgin. In Elizabeth, infertility was overcome, in St. Mary's natural law of birth was changed. Who is John? What is it for? He is the great John, to whose greatness our Savior Himself testified, saying: the pain of John the Baptist was not born among those born of women (Matthew 11:11). John surpasses everyone, both prophets and patriarchs, surpasses everyone born of a woman. Another may say: if John hurts all those born of women, then he hurts the Savior too. No, John is the son of a wife, and the Savior is the son of a Virgin. John was born from the bowels of corruptible flesh, and Christ from the incorruptible blood of the Virgin. John was sent before the Lord, who, having become a man, had to appear after the fulfillment of a certain time. Such grace and greatness dwelt in John that he was considered to be Christ. But what does John himself testify about Christ? From His fulfillment we all receive and receive grace (John 1:16). Who are we? - All the prophets, patriarchs, apostles, all the saints who were before and after the birth of Christ, from His fulfillment we all received; we are the vessels, and Christ is the source. John is a man, and Christ is God. Man had to humble himself so that God would be magnified, as John himself says about Jesus Christ: It is fitting for him to increase, but for me to decrease (John 3:30). Showing the diminishment of man, John was born today, when the days are diminishing. Revealing the greatness of God, Christ was born at a time when the days are increasing. Great, holy work, brothers! We celebrate the day of the birth of John, as well as the day of the birth of Christ, because both Christmases are a mystery. One thing is the mystery of our degradation; the other is the secret of our exaltation. We diminished through man in order to increase through God. We have diminished in ourselves in order to be magnified in God. Human pride must be diminished in order for Divine mercy to increase towards man. The humiliation of man and the greatness of God are also noticeable in the sufferings of John and Christ. Showing the degradation of man, John is truncated; demonstrating the greatness of God, Christ was lifted up on the cross. It is desirable, beloved brothers, that in order to celebrate this day with spiritual joy, we should dispose our hearts to the creation of all possible mercy, to the preservation of peace with all. It is desirable that, out of love for God and zeal for good behavior, we strive in every possible way to remove all jokes and seductive words, not only from ourselves and our families, but also from everyone who belongs to us. It is desirable that this St. the holiday was not overshadowed by worldly singing. Only then did St. John will fulfill prayers if we spend his holiday in peace, abstinence, purity, without fun. I remind you of this, beloved brothers, out of fatherly concern for you. I am confident that you, with the gracious assistance of God, will preserve not only yourself, but also everyone who depends on you, in perfect modesty, purity and abstinence. Therefore, thanking God, I pray to Him that He will give you the meaning to firmly desire and acquire what is holy, and will help you to establish you in a saving celebration.” Holy martyrs: Orentia, Pharnacia, Eros, Firmos, Firmon, Cyriacus and Longinus Warriors, siblings, during the reign of Maximinovo (310–312) for not making sacrifices to the gods, were exiled to different places in the eastern (coastal) Caucasus and died: Eros - June 22 in Paremvola (in the so-called Camps), Orentius - June 24 in Risea (near present-day Batum), Pharnacius - July 3 in Kordil (near Erzurum), Firmos and Firmon - in the fortress of Ansar on the river of the same name on July 7, Kyriakos - on July 14 in Zagatis, and Longinus - on July 28 at sea on the way to Lazika (Abkhazia) and was buried in Pitiunta. † Memory of St. Nikita, Bishop of Remesian St. Nikita was born in the same city of Remesian (Remeshek), in which his friend Pavlin, Bishop of Poland, was born, and in the same year 353. So says the blessed one. Peacock 233. St. Nikita was not a Greek: otherwise he would have written essays in Greek; Nor was he a Roman: otherwise he would have been called Victor, not Nikita; and would not have aroused surprise in the Romans with Latin writings. He was a Slav, but received an extensive Roman education, probably in Rome 234. He was a saint in his native city. The strap was between Sophia and Nisha; this is the same as the present Nirot 235. To whom and how did St. preach the Gospel? Nikita, this is described by his friend Bishop Pavlin in his poem about St. Nikita. And demons are more cruel than their snow, Having become sheep under you, shepherds graze in the courtyard of the world. With your words Scythian humbles himself and, fighting with himself, tames his heart And the Getae flee and both Dacians, Like the one who tills the land, So is the coastal resident, covered with hair Under Strabo, demons “occupied most of Mount Emos” - Balkans 237. Under Justinian, Thrak from the Bes tribe was a significant person 238, another Bes-Frak was the military leader of Velichara in the war with the Persians and then the main commander of the troops in Italy 239. – Otherwise, Demons – Balkan tribe of Slavs 240. Scythians - Slavs of Mysia, who at the time of Pavlinus had already managed to spread to the west from Lesser Scythia. They are also Getae 241. Both Dacians - a resident of the left bank of the Danube and another, who since the time of Aurelian lived on the right bank of the Danube 242. Dacia is actually the country of the Slavs on the left bank of the Danube, but where the colonies of the Romans settled, known to Nestor and others under the name Volokhov 243. In this description of the tribes we see confirmation of the fair idea that after many Slavic tribes were driven out of Thrace and Illyria by force of arms of Philip the Great from Thrace and Illyria to the northern bank of the Danube 244, where they are known to history under the name Dacians, some of their tribes remained in Thrace and Illyria, especially in the gorges of the southern mountains 245. St. Nikita, by the will of God, had to be the Apostle of these Slavic tribes of the south and travel from country to country in order to preach the Gospel teaching with Apostolic zeal 246. For the Getae, preaching did not even require a long journey. “The Getae flee” themselves, says Peacock. - Blazh. Jerome wrote: “the red and blond army of the Getae carries with them in the tents of the church” 247. During St. Nikita Christianity was already very widespread in Thrace: at the Council of Sredech in 347 the following bishops were present: Sredets, Skun, Liplyany, Nishcha, Vodina (Aquae) and Chekhov's House (Sigindum) 248. – Under Maximian, Bogolep (Theoprenius) and Zotik and Akindinus were martyred in Potama 249. But not only many Slavic villages, entire tribes of Slavs, both due to savagery and distrust of the Greeks, were reluctant to listen to the preaching of the Greeks, which, despite the fact that most of them were completely incomprehensible. St. Nikita, the first bishop of Remeshok, dedicated his life to preaching the faith to his relatives - the Slavs. And the success of his preaching was brilliant. About the change made by St. Nikita between Demons, the same contemporary of his blessed. Jerome said: “the brutal Demons and the crowds of sheepskin coats (pellitorum), who once sacrificed people, changed their grinding into a sweet song to Christ” 250. Blazh. Peacock also sings about St. Nikita: “Those who did not like to bend their necks to slavery, Untamed by any war, Now obedient to the true Lord, having fun Now richer at the price of labor The demon rejoices: from the ground with his hand I dug before; now my mind is in heaven What a change! And how happy! Hitherto impassable and bloody mountains Nowadays they hide the robbers who became monks, The righteous man is hiding in a cave. So the activities of St. Nikita, the Slavic preacher, was addressed mainly to the Balkan Slavs. This is natural given their proximity to the place of his pulpit. Peacock admired the fact that the indomitable Demons, pacified by the preaching of St. Nikita, became peaceful in relation to the empire; according to history, one of St. Nikita was already sitting on the throne of the eastern empire; this is Leo the Great, originally from Thrac and more precisely Bes 254; and when imp. Anastasius began to preach Eutychianism through violence in the empire, brought up in the pure faith of St. Nikitas, the inhabitants of Thrace, Moisia and Lesser Scythia were (in 514) the most ardent defenders of Orthodoxy and defended it with weapons in their hands 255. St. Nikita in 392, on behalf of the council, went to admonish the neighboring bishop Bonoz, who was entangled in errors about faith 256. – In 397 he traveled to Rome and in Nola saw his friend Bishop Paulinus. Peacock really wanted the saint to stay with him longer; but the affairs of the flock recalled the saint to his flock. Four years later (in 402), St. Nikita appeared in Nola on the feast of St. Felix (Feb. 14), despite the danger of the time. His friend Peacock was delighted with this unexpected visit. He wrote a poem about St. Felix, where he depicts his joy and the saint’s visit to him 257. How long after that did St. asceticise. Nikita, there is no exact news about that. But since blessed Peacock, the same age as St. Nikita, died in 431 at the age of 87, then probably the death of St. Nikita followed no earlier than 420 June 22 258. Gennady of Massilia wrote: “Nicetas, bishop of Remessiana, composed six books in a simple and pure style, adapted to those catechumens in the faith. The first is about those preparing for faith; the second is about the errors of paganism; the third is about faith in the Supreme Being; the fourth is against genealogy; the fifth is about the symbol; the sixth is about the sacrifice of the Passover lamb. In addition, he published a book about the fallen maiden, rousing every fallen one to correction." 259 – Cassiodorus highly praises the writings of St. Nikita for their pious spirit and for their thorough knowledge 260. Works of St. Nikitas are still known today 261. † Memory of St. James and John of Menyuges 40 versts from Novgorod, on the banks of the Menyuga or Mya River, until 1764 there was the Trinity Menyuzhsky Monastery. What remained from him was the Trinity Church with the relics of St. James and John and with a chapel in their name. Holy siblings who died at a young age. In the image of the Novgorod wonderworkers, James and John are depicted in their adolescent form. In the RKP. in the calendar, the righteous brothers are called martyrs; due to the circumstances of time and place, this means that they were killed by villains; the day of their death is shown as the 24th of June 262. Carmen 17 Pavlini Nolani. Gennady de script. § 22. Peacock in a Letter to the North, written in 202: “In this form I recommended you to the respected and most learned Bishop Nikita, who came from Dacia and is rightly the subject of surprise for the Romans.” Er. 29. See example 39. Hierocles, recognized as a contemporary of the emperor. Justinian, writes: “in the region of Mediterranean Dacia, under the rule of the consul, there are five cities: Sardica (Serdica, Hearts) - the main city, Paitalia, Germana, Nais (Nish), Remesiana ... In the region of Dardania, under the control of the governor, there are 3 cities: Scupi = the main city, Mirion, Ulpiana." Also from Konstantin De themat. 3, 393. 56. 297. 298. 434. 435. Ulpiyana - among the Slavs of Liplyan (by Kedrin and Anna Komnina Lipenion). Pavlini poema. 206–208. 246–252. Procopius de bello Gothico 1, 5; II, 26. Procopius de bello Persico 1, 13. Temporary M. general. ist. X, 19. 20. 74. 105. Cities of Demons - Plovdin (Philippopolis), Samakov (Uscudama); in the Dragovići district, the Metropolitan of Plovdin was called the exarch of Thrace - Dragovitia. Κωνσταντινου εγχειρ. περι επαρχ. Φιλιππουπολεως. Βιεννη. 1819. Safarik knew from Ptolemy the Demons, the Slavic branch, in eastern Galicia, near the Carpathians (ancient § 10, part 10), but completely overlooked the Balkan Demons, some of whom went under the Carpathians. This was announced on January 20th. The boy Goeth, with a Slavic inscription, sacrificing a goose is in Klassen’s memory. II, 12. M. 1854. See Slav. St. June, approx. 28. Slavic translation of Zonara: “Troyan fought against Daki, that is, on Srbla, and their Srbian chief Dikoval.” Read society ist. 1847, p. 57. Temporary X, 40–49. 79–81. Slavic inscription about the salvation of some Slavs from Troyan - from Klassen, in the material. II, 37. 38. Theodoret speaks of Sardica: “this Illyrian city is the main city of the Dacian people” (C. history 2, 4). – One cannot help but regret that the gifted Safarik, having mistakenly mistook the Magi for the Celts, who soon disappeared in history, lost sight of the historical thread of events that took place in the Slavic world from the time of Alexander the Great, under the Roman emperors and until the emperor himself. Irakli. Temporary X, 1–49. 80–89. Savelyeva Slavic collection, pp. 255–260. The Getae, Bes, Slavic-Vlachs, Scythians, as special Slavic tribes, explain the news of the Slavs conquered in 657, which Safarik and others could not understand (Christian Reading 1858 11:142). According to the news of Theophanes (b. 288) and Kedrin (1, 4357, in 657), “the emperor (Constance 2) undertook a campaign against Slavinia (κατα Σκλαβινιας, κατα Σκλαβινων) and, taking many captives, conquered. One small Scythia cannot be understood here; we are talking about the Slavs, several Slavic regions and principalities. Even in Macedonia there were several Slavic zhupas. In 758, Copronymus burst into Slavia, lying in Macedonia. Σκλαβινιας. Stifferi 11. 79. Safarik then says that in Macedonia the region was occupied by the Slavs who settled beyond the Danube in the first centuries (III, 398); then he writes (III, 259) that the settlement of the Slavs in Mysia, Dardania and Macedonia dates back to the end of the 5th century. This hesitation is evidence that the venerable. the scientist lost the right path. - About the war of the Slavs in Thrace and Pannonia with the Goths in 334 and with the Greeks in 358, see Klassen materials 2, 34. 34. M. 1854. “You are passing through the fields of Philippi in Macedonia, You are walking through the city of Tomy, And those close to the homeland are Stingy, Epist. 107 ad Laetam. The letter was written in 403. About the departments Wiltsch kirchl. stat. 1.128. Their memory is August 22. Basil’s Menologist: “When the prefect arrived in the city of Patama, he killed Zeno, Theoprepius (Bogolep) and Akindinus.” Synaxarion of the Menaion: “Arriving in a place called Patama, he killed St. with a catapult. Zotika, Theoprepius (Bogolepa) and Akindina." – About Bogolep – in Izv. Archaeol. General IV, 521. 523. Epist. 60 ad Heliodorum ined. Vallars. On the sacrifice of people by the Slavs, see Mar. 28, pr. 42. Blazh. Jerome, having said about the Getae that they have marching churches, adds: “because, of course, they have the same faith (with us), they fight little with us.” “You turn skillful gold diggers You yourself imitate the Demons into gold. From them, with a word penetrating the living, you mine gold,” v. 269–272. Poema ѵ. 209–225. Under the leadership of St. Savva of Palestine (484–532) monks from Demons were saved. Cyrilli Scytho r. vita Sabbae in Cotelerii monum. Graec. Eccl. 3, 265. Menologue of Vasily on November 6: “lately the emperor. Leo the Great, called Besa (επιλεγόμενου Βεσσου), the sky was covered with clouds, etc. Leo was emperor 457–473. Feofan chronog. 107–411. Kedrin hist. 1, 285 ed. Uen sl. Chertkova about the Monassian Chronicle, pp. 39–41. Ambrose epist. 9 Weiss Leben d. Heiligen 8, 360. Venisti tandem, quarto mihi reditus anno, Sed grates Christo, quia te res Sero revexit, v. 373. 315–350. Martyrologia Adonis, Usuardi ad X calend. iulii. Baronius placed the same saint under January 7th. Weiss Leben d. Heiligen 8.361. 358. Ed. 10 Patrologiae t. LII. There are also doubts about the authenticity of these, but they are completely in vain. Particularly strange are the explanations of Paulinus’s words about St. Nikita; the author, not knowing the history of the Slavs, reinterprets Pavlin’s words contrary to their meaning. And none of the Slavic writers had hitherto paid attention to the Apostolic activity of St. Nikita among the Slavs, described by Pavlin. Mixed. about the monastery 401. East. Jer. V, 65. RKP. Saints: “holy and righteous brothers according to the flesh, infants and martyrs John and James, former Menyuge r. in l. June 6000 at 24 days.” So on the senior list. In the Otensky list: “the holy youths and martyrs, brothers according to the flesh John and Jacob in the Trinity Menyuzhsky Monastery, along the Pskov road from Novagrad 30 miles, besha in l. 7000; relics hidden; There is no service, there is a troparion and kontakion, the memory of June is on the 24th day.”