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St. Apostle James Alfeev Jacob Alfeev is recognized by some as one person with Ap. James the less, the brother of the Lord according to the flesh. But the Church, on the basis of Scripture (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15), clearly distinguishes James Alpheus from James, the brother of the Lord in the flesh, assigning to the latter the celebration of October 23 and January 4 and numbering him among the 70 Apostles. The Holy Apostle. The Church ranks James Alpheus among the glorious and all-praised Apostles and calls him the brother of the Evangelist Matthew. After the descent of the Holy Spirit, Jacob Alpheus performed his Apostolic labors together with the other Apostles (Acts 6:2) in Judea, Edessa, where he was with the Apostle Andrew the First-Called during his third journey, and also traveled to preach, according to the legend of Nicephorus Callistus, to Gaza, Eleutheropolis and neighboring places. Hence St. The Apostle retired to Egypt to preach the Gospel and in the city of Ostratsyn, after a considerable stay there, he sealed his Apostolic exploits with martyrdom on the cross. In the 9th century, Theophan of Nicaea wrote the canon of St. Apostle To Jacob Alpheus, now sung by the Orthodox Church on the day of his memory. On this day, the Church, among other things, calls to us: “let us firmly put the wisdom of dogma into the souls of the pious with praises, like the Prophet of God.” Celebration of the Ephesus or Korsun Icon of the Mother of God The Ephesian or Korsun Icon of the Mother of God, according to legend, was painted by St. Luka. In 988, on the 9th day of October, it was brought by Grand Duke Vladimir from Kherson to Kyiv; and according to another legend, from Greece to Russia - Predislava or Predslava, - in monasticism Euphrosyne, - daughter of the Polotsk prince George. Predislava, gifted with high perfections of soul and body, in the years of her blossoming youth, having rejected the brilliant amusements not only of the princely court, but of the whole world, secretly left her father's house and put on monastic clothes. Euphrosyne, that's what it's called. Predislava, after her tonsure, first asceticised, with the permission of Bishop Elijah of Polotsk, in a cell attached to the St. Sophia Cathedral of Polotsk. Some time later, out of love for silence, she chose for her residence a compound or village that belonged to the bishop’s house, where there was a wooden church in the name of the Savior. Having asked for this place for herself, Euphrosyne founded a maiden monastery here, erected a stone church to the all-merciful Savior around 1162, and was the first head of this monastery. Hearing about the written St. Luke, even during the life of the Mother of God, icons, of which one was in Jerusalem, the other in Constantinople, and the third in Ephesus, the monk wanted to have one of them in her monastery and, having prayed to God with tears for the fulfillment of her desire, she sent a messenger to the Greek Emperor Manuel and Patriarch Luke Chrysovergio with gifts and a request to deliver her an icon of the Mother of God. The emperor and patriarch accepted the petition favorably and, taking the icon from Ephesus to Constantinople, sent it to the saint with a messenger sent from her. She placed this famous icon in the Spassky Church of the monastery and decorated it with gold and expensive stones. In the 13th century, Grand Duke Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, formerly of Novgorod, after the war with the Lithuanians for Smolensk, blessed his son Alexander Nevsky to marry the daughter of Prince Bryachislav of Polotsk, Alexandra, in Toropets - a city in the Pskov province. In 1239, she brought with her the image of the Mother of God of Ephesus and placed it in the Theotokos Cathedral of Toropets, where it is still known among the residents under the name of Korsun and is considered miraculous. In Toropets there is a tradition that this image was sent from Constantinople in the 12th century by Emperor Manuel and Patriarch Luke as a gift and blessing to the Venerable Euphrosyne, Princess of Polotsk, upon the founding of her maiden monastery. Antioch - at the beginning of Christianity - the capital of the East, with 500,000 inhabitants. Nowhere did paganism appear in such completeness of its ugliness as in Antioch. Here was a rabble of magicians, mimes, priests, a city of dancing, bacchanalia, frenzied orgies, arrogant debauchery, and mad luxury. When Christianity appeared here, a wonderful change took place in the luxurious capital of the East. At St. Chrysostom in Antioch and its environs there were already whole hosts of pure virgins. This is what he says in one conversation to the Antiochians: “virgins who had not yet reached the age of twenty, spent all their time in their chambers, brought up in bliss, resting on a soft bed, soaked in incense and expensive ointments, gentle by nature and even more pampered from diligent courtship, who during the whole day knew no other occupation than to decorate their appearance, wear gold jewelry and indulge in lust, who did not do anything even for themselves, but had many maidservants, wore clothes more delicate than their body itself, consumed thin and soft bedspreads, constantly enjoyed the smell of roses and similar incense - these virgins, being suddenly enveloped in the fire of Christ, abandoned all this luxury and pomp; forgetting about their tenderness, about their age, they parted with all pleasures and, like brave fighters, entered the field of exploits. Apparently, I am saying something incredible, but still true. I heard that these so tender virgins achieved such austerity in life that they put the coarsest hair shirts on their naked bodies; Their feet remained bare and their bed was made of reeds; they spent most of the night without sleep. They have a meal only in the evening, a meal where there are no herbs or bread, but only beans, peas, oil and figs. They are constantly busy spinning wool and other more difficult handicrafts than their maids did. They took upon themselves the labor of treating the sick, carrying their beds, and washing their feet. Many of them also do cooking. Such is the power of the fire of Christ!” 132 Under Chrysostom, even detractors of virginity appeared in Antioch, exactly the same as they are today. New smart people haven’t come up with something new, but they are repeating the old, worn-out stuff. For them St. Chrysostom wrote an extensive work on virginity in Antioch. Having given the concept of true virgins, showing that there cannot be true virgins among heretics, just as there were none among pagans, he writes: “Someone will say: if it is better not to touch a wife, then why was marriage introduced into the world? What will prevent the human race from being exterminated if there are no newborns to take the place of the dead? Our race is held together not by the power of marriage, but by the power of the Lord, who said: grow and multiply... Without the will of God, marriage will not multiply people and virginity will not reduce... It is not virginity that threatens the death of the human race, but lawless cohabitation. This is shown in the rapid destruction of all animals under Noah. If the sons of God had resisted vile lust and had not looked with criminal eyes at the daughters of men, destruction would not have come. When the world is filled with people, there remains one reason for marriage - to prevent unholy lust." Having exposed the inconveniences that a second marriage entails, and showing that every marriage is inevitable slavery, he picturesquely depicts how easier it is for a virgin than for a married woman to achieve the Kingdom of Heaven, and solves some perplexities 133 . The soul of the noble Antiochian, St., burned with the fire of Christ, which Chrysostom spoke about. Publii. The daughter of noble parents, at their request, was given away. marry a noble Antiochian; but she did not live with her husband for long - he soon died. The blessed fruit of an honest marriage was the son John. His mother raised him as a sincere Christian. This is why it turned out that John “ruled over the elders of Antioch for a long time and, having been elected to the Apostolic See many times, always avoided being in charge” 134 . From the time of her widowhood, Blessed Publiya led a strict life of fasting and prayer. During such a life, honored with the sacred rank of deaconess 135, she gathered for herself virgins and widows who decided, like her, to live for the Lord; She spent her life with them exactly as Saint Chrysostom wrote, who took his picture of the virgins from the community of the noble Publius; with them she constantly glorified the Creator and Savior God 136. So she lived as an ascetic for several years. Julian ascended the throne of the empire and openly took the side of paganism; proud of his intelligence, he tried to give pagan worship splendor and perhaps the best meaning; in words he presented himself as a defender of all truth and humanity, but in reality he brazenly ridiculed the holy faith, allowed to persecute and himself persecuted Christians. He arrived in Antioch and here acted like a fanatic of paganism; ordered to throw away the relics of St. Babyli from the church, “promised to wipe out the entire race of Galileans from the face of the earth,” - that’s what he called Christians and ordered them to be called no differently 137. Once he had to pass by the prayer house of Publius. The ascetics sang morning praises to God. When the apostate walked past the monastery of virgins, the ascetics sang together louder than usual, considering the persecutor worthy of contempt and ridicule. They exclaimed with David and, depicting their insensibility with his words, sang with his indignation: let those who create, I and all who trust in her, be like them (Ps. 113:16). Hearing this, the wicked man flared up and angrily forbade the singing of psalms when he passed by. He who is angry at the truth only shows his weakness and provokes the new courage of the truth against himself. When Julian passed by the monastery again, St. Publiya ordered to sing: may God rise again and His enemies be scattered (Ps. 67:1). Julian, furious, ordered the director of the choir to be brought to him. An old woman appeared before him, worthy of all respect even in her years and enjoying general respect in Antioch for her high virtues. And yet he ordered one of the servants to hit the preacher of truth on the cheeks, and he stained his hands with her blood. The fearless deaconess told Julian that she regretted his sick soul, but considered the truth of God above all. With praise to God on her lips, she returned to her monastery. Considering Julian to be possessed by an evil spirit, as Saul was possessed, she continued to sing sacred songs for him with the thoughts that perhaps the apostate would come to his senses 138. Her life did not last long after that: she gave up her spirit to the Lord in peace, and Julian died in the war 139. Venerable Andronicus and his wife Athanasia From the life of Andronicus and Athanasius, written by Metaphrastus on the basis of an ancient legend - since throughout the “life” there is complete agreement with other historical data in relation to persons, places and times 140 - it is known that these were spouses who lived in the 5th century and pleased God first by the righteousness of their life in the world, and then by the complacent enduring of the test sent to them, namely: the deprivation of both beloved children, and finally by their dedication monastic life, for the sake of which they decided to separate, although they were devoted to each other. They wanted to show God that all earthly sorrows are turned into joy and salvation in His name... Nothing could be harder for loving parents than the death of their children. And this sorrow struck Andronicus and Athanasia among various exploits in Christian virtues, for the sake of which, it seemed that those who only thought of saving others from sorrow could be delivered from such great sorrow, spending their whole lives caring for the sick, strange and wretched, accompanying their good deeds with fasting abstinence in everything and prayer. But while these spouses - true Christians - cared about consoling others, their own children - John - 12 years old and Mary - ten years old, fell ill, and there was no one to help them, and they died of illness. All the inhabitants of Antioch, where this happened, sympathized with the grief of the parents, who enjoyed general respect in the city; the patriarch himself and the clergy solemnly performed the rite of burial of the children Andronikos and Athanasius at the church of St. much Julian, and many lay people were also present. Despite, however, the declaration of such general participation, Athanasia was inconsolable in her grief and did not even want to return to her home, remaining inseparably at the grave, into which she forever lowered her children, the precious treasure of her heart... But God did not leave those who pleased Him without consolation and admonition by the righteousness of life. In a wonderful vision, it was revealed to the weeping mother that such abundant tears should be shed not about children, but only about her sinful state in the world... - “Just as a person, by nature, requires food for the body,” added the wonderful messenger who appeared before the mother immersed in sadness, “and it is impossible to refuse him the satisfaction of this need, in the same way a merciful God cannot refuse spiritual food His creatures, and feeds your children with heavenly blessings is that righteous Judge, Who called them from using earthly blessings...” And the mother rejoiced at this wonderful news about the blissful state of her children in the heavenly abodes, and returned to her home, and shared the joy with her husband, and both of them decided, having abandoned all earthly joys, to devote their future lives to serving the One God. - Having entrusted to their father-in-law all the property acquired by honest labor (Andronik was a goldsmith), to use it for the benefit of the poor, Andronik and Athanasia left the house, asking God “so that He, for whose sake they leave their house open for all those in need, would not close the door of His Kingdom of Heaven for them”... Having departed from his city to Jerusalem to worship St. places, they visited Alexandria; On their way, they met the skete ascetic Daniel and, with his blessing, decided to lead a monastic life: Athanasia entered the Tavenisiot nunnery, and Andronik remained in the skete with the elder Daniel. “For twelve years he remained here in silence, labor and prayer, saving himself under the guidance of an experienced ascetic, and during that time he heard nothing about Athanasius. It happened after that Andronicus, having set off on a new journey with pious goals, met his wife in Egypt, but did not recognize her, because she, having also left the monastery for the worship of St. in places, she traveled, hiding herself under men's clothing, and moreover, her appearance completely changed due to exhaustion from the hard monastic life. Afanasia recognized her husband; however, she did not open up to him, but only agreed to his proposal to travel together on the condition of maintaining unbroken silence. Thus, the couple made this second journey to worship St. places, at the end of which they decided and received a blessing from Elder Daniel to spend their future lives in a common cell in the monastery of Daniel - on the condition of observing the same silence - and thus the spouses, who had again separated voluntarily for the sake of remaining in the one God, were united in spiritual unity in common asceticism. And so they lived together for twelve years. - When the death of the one whom everyone took for the monk Athanasius approached, Daniel, who came to admonish the dying man, finding him in tears, exhorted him not to cry, but to rejoice at the upcoming union with Christ. “I’m not crying for myself, but for Andronicus...” Mysteriously for the elder, the natural grief of her separation from her husband, with whom holy love never ceased to unite her, poured out from the dying soul. Elder Daniel fulfilled the request of his imaginary brother, and then it was revealed that his ex-wife lived in the cell with Andronik. He survived her only seven days and was buried with her. Holy righteous Abraham the forefather and Lot his nephew “Abraham is the great father of many nations, and there was no one like him in glory,” says Jesus, the son of Sirach (Sir. 44:19), and continues: “he kept the law of the Most High and was in a covenant with Him, and confirmed the covenant in his flesh, and in the test he proved faithful. Therefore, the Lord promised him with an oath that all nations would be blessed in his seed, promised to multiply him like the dust of the earth, and to exalt his seed like the stars, and to give them an inheritance from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. – And to Isaac for the sake of Abraham his father, He also confirmed the blessing of all people and the covenant. And it rested on Jacob's head. He rewarded him with His blessings and gave him land as an inheritance”... (Sir.44:20–26). Glorifying Abraham, the Old Testament “wise” Jesus the son of Sirach could not yet measure the full significance of Abraham as the “father of believers,” which could only manifest itself over the course of many future centuries, when the meaning of faith in humanity had time to be expressed and justified in its entirety, and what it had already led him to, and, according to the Highest Promise, should finally lead to, and what constitutes the only salvation of the world. After almost four thousand years have passed since Abraham lived, one can now clearly see the meaning of his faith, for which God chose him to make him the ancestor of the offspring from which the Savior of the world himself and all those who were saved, following the example of their ancestor Abraham, were to come by faith in Him. The faith of the Old Testament chosen one of God Abraham, which by its power was imputed even to him as righteousness, for which the New Testament Church honors him, was revealed consistently in the following circumstances of his life: - when idolatry and wickedness during the time that Abraham lived spread on such a wide scale that they threatened to completely drown out faith in the true God and thus interrupt the only connection between humanity and the Divine, then Abraham alone retained that faith in the One invisible One God, which replaced Old Testament humanity with faith in God incarnate, by which alone the New Testament people are saved. - And seeing the faith of Abraham, God chose and separated him from his tribe and commanded him to go to a strange, unknown land, promising him to produce numerous descendants from him and provide that blessed land as an inheritance to him. And the 75-year-old elder did not doubt what was announced to him, left his fatherland (the city of Ur in Chaldea or Mesopotamia) and moved to the land of Canaan, indicated to him by God, with his wife Sarah and nephew Lot. Here, surrounded on all sides by idolaters, he continued to sacredly preserve his faith in the true God, and he himself was miraculously preserved by God, the one who “by faith obeyed the calling to go to the country that he had to receive as an inheritance, and went, not knowing where he was going, and by faith he dwelt in the promised land, as if in a stranger, and lived in tents... for he was looking for a city that has foundations, whose artist and builder is God.”... (Episode to Hebrews 11:8–10). With faith Abraham accepted God's promise that he would have a son from his elderly wife Sarah; and when the Lord, who appeared to Abraham, “bringing him out of the tent, said to him, Look at the sky and count the stars, if you can count them, and said to him, You will have so many descendants, then Abraham believed the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:5-6). This promise was not fulfilled for a long time, Abraham’s faith was tested for a long time, but he did not waver in it, and so, again the Lord visited Abraham, appeared to him at the oak grove of Mamre in the form of three wanderers one day, when a hundred-year-old old man “sat at the entrance to his tent during the heat of the day,” and confirmed to him the promise that he would have a son, from whom would come “a great and strong nation, in which all the nations of the earth will be blessed” ( Gen.18:18). “And above hope Abraham believed with hope: he did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but remained steadfast in faith, giving glory to God and being fully confident that He was able to fulfill what He had promised. Therefore it was counted to him as righteousness” (Rom. 4:18–22). But the strongest of all people in faith faced the most difficult test, the only one from the beginning to the end of the existence of people on earth, for which it served as a prototype of another sacrifice - not human, but Divine... When finally the expected fulfillment of God’s promise followed for a long time, but with unshakable faith: Abraham’s heir, the son Isaac, was born, and he grew up, and the heart of the father, seeing in his son a vessel of the promises and blessings of the Divine from generation to generation, was fulfilled, then the Lord tempted the faithfulness of His servant with the last test: “God said to Abraham: take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land Moriah, and there offer him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will tell you about. Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and Isaac his son; I chopped wood for the burnt offering, got up, and went to the place that God had told him about. On the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw that place from afar. “And Abraham said to his youths: Stay here with the donkey; and my son and I will go there and worship, and return to you. “And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; He took the fire and the knife, and they both went together. And Isaac began to speak to Abraham his father, and said: My father! He answered: Here I am, my son. He said, “Here is the fire and the wood; where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham said: God will provide for Himself a lamb for a burnt offering, my son, - and they walked on, both together. “And they came to the place that God had told Abraham about, and Abraham built an altar there, laid out the wood and, having bound his son Isaac, laid him on the altar on top of the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took a knife to kill his son... But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said: Abraham! Abraham! He said: here I am. The angel said: Do not raise your hand against the boy and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, and have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw: and behold, a ram was caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of Isaac his son. And the angel from heaven called to Abraham a second time and said: I swear by me, says the Lord, that because you have done this deed and did not withhold your son, your only son, for Me, then I will bless you with blessing, and by multiplying I will multiply your seed like the stars of heaven and like the sand on the seashore; and your seed will take possession of the cities of their enemies; and through your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice. And Abraham returned to his servants, and they arose and went together to Beersheba: and Abraham dwelt in Beersheba” (Gen. 22:1-19). The New Testament Scripture testifies to this: “By faith Abraham, being tempted, sacrificed Isaac; and having the promise, he offered his only begotten, of whom it was said, “Your seed will be called Isaac.” For he thought that God was able to raise people from the dead. Therefore I received it as a sign” (Heb. 11:17–19). “Know that believers are the sons of Abraham,” says St. The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians, and Scripture, foreseeing that God justifies the pagans by faith, foretold to Abraham that in him all nations would be blessed. And so the believers are blessed with faithful Abraham” (Gal.3:9). This is the great, incomparable and eternal significance of Abraham’s faith: he was a vessel and example of faith in the true God, preserving it for posterity from generation to generation. In the faith of Abraham, which attracted Divine blessings and promises and opened the way to faith in Christ who came into the world according to the promise, there is an example of that unshakable faith in God, combined with obedience, that is, the active use of it, without which the salvation of the entire human race could not have been accomplished. Due to such high qualities for which God loved Abraham and calls Himself the God of Abraham, and in St. The Scriptures call him “a friend of God,” just as his Old Testament descendants and even the saints before God Moses and David themselves called Abraham to intercede before God, so the New Testament Church appeals to God for mercy for the sake of His beloved forefather Abraham. Jesus Christ Himself, in His parable of the rich man and Lazarus, points to Abraham as the inhabitant of a blessed dwelling in the Kingdom of Heaven (Luke 16:19–31). About Abraham's nephew Lot, who followed his uncle to the unknown promised land and retained his piety, despite the fact that he lived in the country of Sodom, which was perishing from debauchery, is also known from the priesthood. Scripture says that the Lord did not abandon those who trusted in Him and brought Lot and his family unharmed from Sodom, when the wicked cities were burned with fire and brimstone, in the place of which a sulfur lake was formed, later called the Dead Sea... “Righteous Lot,” testifies St. The Apostle Peter (2 Pet. 2:7-8), the Lord delivered, tired of the treatment between violently depraved people, for this righteous man, living among them, was tormented daily in his righteous soul, seeing and hearing lawless deeds." Pointing to the salvation of Lot at a time when the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were doomed to destruction for the extreme wickedness of those who lived in them, St. Ap. Peter explains that “the Lord certainly knows how to deliver the godly from temptation, and to reserve the wicked for the day of judgment for punishment” ... (2 Pet. 2:9). Demon. 13 on last Ephesians, pp. 222, 223. St. Petersburg. 1858. Or. T. XI, 115. 116. Or. Chrysostomi 1, 328–411. For the content of his other work - “apology for monasticism”, see the teaching on the Fathers of the Church, 2, 317. So says bl. Theodoret, East. 3, 16. Brief menology: “she gave birth to that wonderful John, called Chrysostom.” This is not true. Chrysostom's mother was called Anthusa (Socrates ist. 6, 3). It is likely that the son of St. Publius was the John whom St. Meletius ordained Apamea bishop (Theodoret ist. 5, 4). In the Slavic prologue of October 9: “come closer to marriage, having given birth to Theodore, the holy presbyter.” What does it mean? Nothing more than a scribe's error that went into print. Vasily’s menologist: “for a short time, bound by marriage, she gave birth to the most holy presbyter John.” Basil's Menologist: "Deaconess of the Church, in Antioch of Syria." In the prologue: “Poplia servants” (διακονισσην). Theodorit ist. 3, 12. In Western martyrologies of St. Publius is the abbess. St. Chrysostom in his word about St. Babylon. Julian followed the Epicurean Lucian, who says (in Philopatr.) about the Apostle Paul: “when that Galilean, bald, with an aquiline nose, who ascended from earth to the third heaven, meets me.” Once Julian wrote to Artabia (Er. 7): “I swear by the gods, I did not kill the Galileans and do not want them to suffer troubles not in truth.” But he was lying. When one prefect punished the pagans for killing several Christians: Julian severely punished him for this. In Antioch, Eugene and Macarius suffered under Julian Feb. 19, Theodoret Presbyter March. 8, Evsigney Aug. 5, Juventin and Maxim Sept. 5, Artemy Oct. 20, Theodore November. 23. Theodorit ist. 3, 12. The same in both menologues. Martyrology of Baronia on October 3: “in Antioch (death) of the holy abbess Publius; She, when the apostate Julian passed by, sang David’s song with her virgins: make the tongue of silver and gold, so that I who create may be like them; By order of the emperor, they hit her on the cheeks and cursed her cruelly.” Both menologists on 9 Oct. Martyrology of Usuard, multiplied under June 8: “Publica of the widow and abbess, about whom the sacramental story is in ch. 36 sixth book." Roman martyrology of Baronia on October 9. “Monthly. East." archim. Sergius, vol. II, part 2, p. 324.