Омилия XLIII 210 .

About one of the saints, the Great Martyr and Wonderworker and Myrrh-Bearer Demetrius 211 “I have been greatly honored by Your friends, O God, who have greatly established their dominion” (Ps. 139:17), exclaims David, the most divine of all singers who have existed since the ages. The leaders of the rank of the Apostles are the Apostles-Coryphaeus 212, the prophetic rank is the Prophets called “God-viewers” 213, the sacred Teachers and the entire assembly of the Venerables are those who were called “Great” 214: such as, for example, Basil the Great and others, according to the promise of the common Savior 215 ( Matthew 5:19 ).; Thus, the leaders among the Martyrs of Christ, of course, are the Great Martyrs, among whom shines clearly and very prominently above many - especially today glorified and revered by us, our compatriot and domestic patron of our city, the great miracle of the universe, the great adornment of the Holy Church, the great in everything, the miracle worker and myrrh-streamer Demetrius! For among the Martyrs, as if among the stars, he is a great luminary; containing within himself the word of eternal life, and highly illuminated by God’s radiant rays and illuminating many, would he really not be involved in prophetic grace? Or, illuminated by prophetic power, will he really be considered unworthy of the ministry and honor of the Apostle and Teacher? Or, having been adorned with these gifts, would he have yielded to the ascetic feat and valiant life of the monks? - Truly, no way! But following some, equaling others, and ahead of some, and surpassing some, and even then not by a little, he alone, among the very few, achieved perfection in everything, and alone had everything collected in himself - as the word later, with the help of God, will show - and, being alone, he became worthy to reap the blessings due to each (face of the Saints). So, we, who are not dominant in relation to one, I do not say - the face or rank of Saints, but also one individual of the Saints from any rank of Saints, what shall we say, and in what form of words will we speak about the one who in the holiness of the life of one (the ascetic) brought in a divine way the virtues of all, and in everything - above all praise? However, love compels us to speak according to our strength and time demands the proper word, and urgent need does not allow us to admire the greatness of the Martyr, which is beyond words, without a (praiseworthy) word. For having desired the promised honors, rewards from God that are above the word, he and the corresponding way of life, as far as nature allowed, i.e. - surpassing every word, from the beginning and even to the end he tried to reveal, and one might say, almost from childhood he contained within himself the fullness of everything: he was an established and indestructible monument of everything beautiful, a living image of every virtue, a container and center of divine and human graces, a living book and saying that which instructs and guides to a better life, a wonderful and new combination of all nobility and the common and most useful the glory of all that is good, and - to express this in the words of Scripture - a palm tree 216., how it flourished, since he was the Righteous and the fruitful Olive Tree in the house of God, and a Tree planted by the streams of the waters of the Spirit, but only this tree, which is spoken of in the Psalm, gives its fruit “in its season,” and at all times it had and has a time of flowering and fruit-bearing together, and like that of the Psalm tree, the leaf will never wither, according to what is written, so he, along with the leaves, continually gives both flower and fruit to those who come to him with faith. And then, - to express everything in its entirety and say it in the saying of Solomon, - he: “fulfill your duty in a little while” (Wis. 3:13). Demetrius was Aaron's rod, a very prosperous offspring of piety, a beloved flower, a fruit glorious and pleasing to God; if you want, then it is better to say that Demetrius was the rod and divine scepter of the Eternal Bishop - Christ and the ever-blooming and most divine branch, while Aaron was the image of Christ. Truly, Aaron was the image of Christ, and his rod, decorated with leaves and flowers and at the same time bearing fruit and divinely bringing him to maturity, was the image of Demetrius, the beautiful and perfect scepter of Christ. But from this Aaron’s rod, as well as from the image, Demetrius is suitably distinguished in the best sense, and not to some small extent, but by the valor of his soul and the greatness of his character, deeds and miracles, he leaves behind everything that is beautiful. For in relation to the undiminished and unceasing giving of abundance to all who come, i.e. - a stream of mercies, he is like a luminous tree, which, like rays, constantly bears fruit and in abundance bestows on those who come the most beautiful and divine gifts with which he himself is always filled, as if some kind of sun illuminating with every good deed, or an inexhaustible source of graces, or an inexhaustible sea of ​​miracles or a bottomless abyss of visible and invisible blessings. So, to try to crown such a Great One on the basis of external data, and to say that the region that nurtured him is, as it were, the head of all Thessaly, and that he received a portentous name on the basis of the power that he then demonstrated by his very deeds; Moreover, to proclaim the fame of his ancestors and the nobility of his parents, although in this he had abundant honor, it would be a useless task. - Because they are not so much for him as he serves for them to great praise. What adornment is there for Demetrius from these things, when he himself adorned the entire universe, and also the upper world? What is his decoration? - Indestructible faith, endless grace, divine and inexhaustible wealth of godly virtues, which Demetrius now represents, being himself as a treasure in heaven, having become an addition to the treasuries there; It’s better to say - he passed from earth to heaven, both during his life and now when he was taken from the earth, representing the greatest addition to the eternal beauties, being universal and at the same time premium beauty. David, having prefaced this, blessed him and sang: “Blessed,” he said, “is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor does he stand in the way of sinners” (Ps. 1:1): because he never conceived in his mind anything that was not pious and never brought into action anything that was not pleasing to God, but retained within himself the divine grace received from baptism in Christ, unbroken, he had a will in tune with the law of the Lord; it was, as it were, God's book and a kind of God-written writing board, and a tablet or writing table, written by the finger of God, and offered to everyone for the common benefit. Because, as Isaiah says, before he knew evil, he chose good, and in the very flower of his youth he cherished the charm of virginity, and was all about it; doing everything to be a virgin both body and soul, and thanks to this have residence in heaven, and, being with the body, have a place with the incorporeal on the basis of equality with them; and for this he had all the other virtues as allies, and above all others, the effort to acquire wisdom, so that through knowledge and purity he would reach perfection, in a short time, in youth, to acquire the praised gray hair; because, according to Solomon, gray hair is wisdom for people, and old age is blameless life (Wis. 4:9). So, he was a gentle young man, very beautiful to look at, beautiful not only in his visible appearance, but much more so in his inner man, invisible to the eye, seeing which God, who sees the heart, was “captivated” by his spiritual and invisible beauty to such an extent that he deigned to dwell in him and become one spirit with him and make him completely divine. But if in David God found a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22), then in Demetrius, who had not yet reached manhood, He found a perfect young man after His own heart; found him to be His impeccable workman, the fulfiller of His commandments; found in him, according to Paul, a “chosen vessel” to proclaim His name before nations and kings; found in it - a pure mirror, accepting and reflecting in itself the premium and; indescribable Beauty. I still hear these words about him, mysteriously speaking: Behold, my servant, whom I have found, in whom my soul is well pleased; I will put My Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim judgment among the nations, and he will gather and separate the righteous from the unjust, so that he may be like My mouth; He will reprove and shame the bad ones and show them condemned to destruction. - For although these words are written in relation to Christ, they also, as it were, through Him correspond to everyone in His image who lives a perfect life. So, Demetrius also showed himself to be a teacher, and therefore an apostle, a sage and a virgin and a venerable one, and - to express this briefly - beautiful in everything and most blameless and magnificent: both by nature, and by diligence and by grace, so that Demetrius then - according to what was said about Job of Ausitidia - had no equal on earth; Moreover, to him, in everything divine, not even Job was like him, to whom in those days, according to what was written (in Holy Scripture), there was no like on earth: for he was impeccable, righteous and pious. And both Job earlier, and Demetrius later, beamed; but he did not have the glory of virginity, the virginity that showed Demetrius as a crowned (winner) from his youth, and revealed him to be a higher nature and equal to the Angels existing around God. And he, indeed, suffered heavy blows in his body, struggling with unfortunate circumstances, and Demetrius, fighting evil, even resisted him to the point of bleeding. And it is not clear that Job in his reasoning possessed spiritual education, which, combined with the grace of the Spirit, Demetrius possessed, having it as armor and an indestructible shield, and as an architectural tool and an agricultural hoe and plow - if you want - and as a writing pen and a fishing net, and if there is anything else like that; now, cultivating the Grapes of the Lord and lowering the heavenly seeds into the ground, or writing the words of eternal life not on stone tablets, but on the tablets of carnal hearts worthy of such writing, or with a net of words encompassing Thessalonica, Attica, Achaia, it is better to say - as many regions he now embraces as the glory of his peace, miracles and abundance of grace in everything has preceded (to announce it). For with his divine reasonings even then Demetrius was the object of wonder for the whole universe, the fragrance of Christ, as Paul says (2 Cor. 2:15), in relation to those who are being saved, and in relation to those who are perishing; and for some it is a savor of death unto death, and for others a savor of life unto life. For this fragrance, as a reward - a reward that I do not take upon myself to call “sufficient” - there appeared an outpouring of peace and miracles given from God at the tomb of the Great Martyr; I deliberately did not call it a “sufficient reward,” because what does it mean that what is happening at the present time, even if it were something great and wonderful, in comparison with what was given and prepared for him from God in heaven? so that because of the advantage of (subsequent) glory, in the words of Paul, that which was glorified would not be considered glorious (2 Cor. 3:10); however, this, of course, serves as the clearest proof for everyone that even during his lifetime he was Christ’s fragrance and a life-giving aroma for those willing to obey (Christ’s teaching). So, on the one hand, thus cultivating human souls or catching them, according to Christ’s words to Peter, he had the word as an instrument for wonderful work and saving catch; and on the other hand, creating a church for God from living and truly precious stones, he again had the corresponding word as an instrument. When he declared war on the enemies of Christ, then, again, all his weapons against his enemies, especially visible enemies, through whom the invisible enemies acted, consisted in the word, which was inspired and moved by the Divine Spirit, and strengthened, and directed and used for good. And thus, as it is written regarding the first ascetic in the martyrdom - Archdeacon Stephen, no one could resist the wisdom of Demetrius and the Spirit by whom he spoke (Acts 6:10). I consider both the military attire and the ring on his hand and the consular toga in which the Martyr was dressed, having accepted this dignity from the then king, to be symbols of teaching dignity and prerogatives that were mysteriously given to the Martyr from the true Tsar. Therefore, the divine grace of God then worked many miracles through them. But first, it was necessary to outwit the deceiving devil by all means, so that he would not arrange the death of the Martyr ahead of time, and thereby would not destroy the fruit of the eternal treasury before it had fully ripened, and having fallen to the ground with his body, did not bear abundant fruit, due to his premature fall. But when envy itself, the devil, saw the meaning of these symbols (in which the Martyr was clothed), then, being unable to bear this, he incites a rage among the servants of lies against the enemy of lies, who, having captured them, bring the persecutor of lies to the liar, and this was Maximian. And thus Demetrius enters the field of martyrdom, being filled with indescribable graces from childhood, wise in everything and righteous, and reverend, and an apostle and a virgin and all-immaculate; - it wouldn’t be much to say - that he was Christ’s beloved disciple, or servant, or best and closest friend; and - to summarize what has been said - he was the one who fulfilled everything pleasing to God: thoughts, words and deeds. You all want, I know this well, for me to tell you how he was captured: where and under what circumstances, being hunted down, he was captured by the mob. – In the dungeon of the Church of the Ever-Virgin Mother of God there is one portico, called the “Refuge”, from where, according to ancient custom, the celebration in honor of the Great Martyr is supposed to begin annually, and leaving there and walking with the procession along the high road, here the celebration ends and brings the holiday to an end. When the world was dominated by wickedness (paganism), then since Piety (Christian Church) did not have any rights, the Martyr, loving to stay in that underground room, taught heavenly instruction to those who came; and from wickedness, as if from some cruel 217 storm, resorting to him - truly a quiet Haven of Piety - he expounded the Christian faith in safety. And thus the most divine Martyr was then a refuge for all who wished to become pious. From there, this very place was called “Refuge.” The people appointed by Maximian Herculus to hunt down the patrons of Piety approached the Martyr while he was teaching the people, and, seeing the multitude of people gathered, listening to the words of Demetrius, as if to the very voice of God, they became even more furious and rushed at the people who came out in defense of the Saint, and dispersed the crowd. Having seized the Martyr, they led him along the high road and presented him before Maximian, who at that time, with the greatest pleasure, devoted himself entirely to the contemplation of the murders carried out by (his gladiator) Ley. But Maximian, not wanting to tear himself away from the pleasure, then ordered the Saint to be imprisoned, in which he completed his martyrdom. This is the most appropriate thing, and we annually figuratively imagine, from there (from the portico called “Refuge”) we begin the procession with songs of praise to the Martyr, and here (in this place) we complete the celebration, since the Martyr did the same: then, when he was dragged to the slaughter for Christ, he walked as if invited to a holiday and the greatest joy. The evil devil tried to ensure that Demetrius was taken from among the people as soon as possible. For he could not bear for Demetrius to still be on earth and be visible and speak to people and generally hear about him; God wanted to soon present him before everyone as His prophet and His Great Martyr, and also that not only does he possess martyrdom, but he can also bestow it on others, as a result of the closest and exclusive combination of grace with him, himself, as it were, becoming a miraculous source of grace. What can we add to this when time does not allow it to spread? “You know the delays of the tyrant and the imprisonment of Demetrius, and with him Nestor, and the prophecy of the Great Martyr to him, and, according to this prophecy, his victory over Leah, and the subsequent martyrdom of Nestor. But when the incipiently evil serpent saw the long delay of the tyrant, and he himself could not bear to see that Demetrius, great even before the end of his martyrdom, was still living on earth, then, turning into a scorpion, he approached the Martyr, but not with the purpose of deceiving him or seducing him, as once from the first pair of Progenitors, he, through the serpent, deceived, however, only Eve, but through her He deceived Adam too. For he knew from experience that Demetrius could not be deceived, and that he was valiant and educated enough to choose what was best. So, he attacks in the form of a scorpion, not in order to seduce, but to strike to death and kill as quickly as possible and free himself from an enemy possessing such strength and virtue; but the grace and strength dwelling in Demetrius precedes his haste and diligence. For by the calling of God and the divine sign (of the cross), depicted with his hand, the Martyr killed this instrument of death, and shamed the pretender who had taken on the appearance of a scorpion, destroying its effect, and thereby showed that if he had not voluntarily undergone suffering, he would not have suffered at all, having been strengthened and protected by Christ’s grace and power; but of his own free will he betrays himself and is imprisoned and captured by the hands of the mob, and suffers atrocities from evildoers, imitating the One who suffered for us (Christ). Therefore, he hurries towards the assassins rushing at him, the spearmen sent from the tyrant, with open arms, as if ready to be struck to death, and so takes the final blow, it is better to deliver - the blows with which all parts of his body were pierced: entrails, bones, flesh, ribs on both sides, some that were pierced by spears from the outside, others from the inside; and thus he aggravates in himself, or better yet, multiplies this suffering, which the Savior’s side endured, replenishing in his flesh, like Paul, what was lacking in the passion of Christ (1 Col. 24); and to such an extent he longs to be slain and to such an extent he wants to shed his blood for the glory of Christ, and then very many times, or better to say - incessantly, if only it were possible, that from the Leader the excess and immensity of his love was able to receive in his body the source of peace, so that when the blood was already exhausted, this ointment instead of blood would be poured out for all times in the future for the glory of Christ, Whom he and his life and by his death and after death he not only glorified, but also constantly glorifies, and by whom both on earth and in heaven he is glorified and is glorified and will be divinely glorified. It is fitting for me now to say about him what the divine Paul says about Christ. For Demetrius shows his great love for us by the fact that when we were still wicked (pagans), he died at the proper time for the wicked; Of course, he did this by the grace of the Lady and in imitation of Him; and now, thanks to his death, our whole city was reconciled with God. Where is the completeness of wickedness, in which many of our immediate ancestors may have been? Where is the fear that Piety experienced then, and from there the coveted catacombs (καταδύσεις)? Where are those people who, in their rage against Christians, surpassed the ferocity of animals? – After Demetrius gave himself for Piety, all these horrors disappeared without a trace; all good things have come. And the place of these catacombs was taken by majestic and magnificent churches, and by their very appearance they turned to themselves; the kings, more adorned with piety than with royal scarlet, stand with us and unanimously sing with us the valor of the Martyr; the whole people, boasting of the martyrdom of the great Demetrius, firmly holds on to Piety. For he poured out his love not only into our hearts, but also onto our bodies, through the peace that he poured out from his body to strengthen us; the fragrance of which drove out wickedness from everywhere from our city, and revealed this city to be the city of God or another paradise, if only not a greater one, since it drinks and enjoys the river not of waters, but of peace; and that of the world in which and from which, entirely by the action of the Spirit, the grace of healing, the action of powers, is and is, so that we could say to the great Demetrius those words that are written in the book of the Song of Songs regarding the soul, in incorruption, which has pledged itself to God: “The fragrance of your garments is more fragrant than all others” (Song. 4:11). You can consider his body to be the robe of the martyr’s soul, whose cheeks are, to again show in the words of the Song of Songs, “like vials of peace, and fingers like lilies, giving off a fragrance.” This applies even more to the pierced rib, which was, as it were, wide open with spears, and no longer, like a vial, contains myrrh, and not like lilies, emits a stream of fragrances, but gives from itself an ever-flowing and inexhaustible source, so that not in the psalm, we can say that “the river of God is filled with water” (Ps. 65:10), but that the spring of God, and such is the martyr's body was filled with peace and miracles and healings, and what is even more wonderful is that while flowing in streams, it does not lose its fullness. And, as it seems to me, the martyr and divine soul, proceeding from the body, spoke to God those words that the soul espoused to God speaks in the book of the Song of Songs. What words are these? - “Arise, O north, and come to the south, and blow into my garden, and let my fragrances flow” (Song. 4:16). And thus he expelled and brought to an end the winter of wickedness that was then tormenting the city, which was due to the blowing of the spiritual north wind, and brought us the spiritual warmth of Piety, given by the fragrant breath of the south wind, which, blowing from the stern, as if itself drives (the ship) those wishing to cross the sea (of life) towards the east of the Sun of Truth; and to the heirloom of virtues and graces - and such is the martyr's body - he gave (the ability) to exude myrrh and healing, revealing as many sources as there were perforations on the body of the Martyr inflicted by the spearmen. Because the mouths of the wolves, into whose midst, according to the Gospel, the Lord sent His disciple Demetrius, with their bites opened the springs that cause the flock of Christ the greatest joy and bring many benefits, many of the wolves, and almost all, are turned into sheep. And thus, the gates of hell - and such are the mouths of these tyrants pronouncing death sentences - the Church of Christ, although subject to blows, not only did not prevail, but is for the sufferers the reason, in addition to heavenly and everlasting glory, also glory on earth. Do you also want to know what the instruction read today in the Gospel of the Lord requires, given by Him to the disciples sent among the wolves: “Be wise as serpents and simple as doves” (Matthew 10:16). – The snake protects its life, but, having the instinct and power of self-preservation and causing harm to others, it brings harm to others. The dove is gentle and careless. So, the Lord commands His disciples: to be neither villainous, in the image of snakes, nor careless, in the image of doves, but intelligently and sensibly combining the instinct of self-preservation with goodness, to be on guard of their piety and virtue, and at the same time to have such a good heart towards offenders that they even pray for them. For in this way, even for them, stung to death by the spiritual serpent, they will become a life-giving healing. Because, just as doctors, having taken the body of a snake, cleaned it of poison and mixed it with some kind of drug, thereby treating those bitten by snakes, so during trials he combined the prudence and instinct of self-preservation of a snake with the goodness of a dove, not only by this did he put himself above the harm caused by the snake, i.e. - intrigues caused by the devil, - but also those bitten by a snake, i.e. – deceived, – heals, destroying harm from snakes, i.e. - wickedness and sin. This is exactly what our Martyr was like! Such was this great Martyr Demetrius! Because having accomplished the course and preserving the faith, and standing guard over piety even to the point of bloodshed, he was so far from feeling revenge against his persecutors that even praying to the Lord, he stopped the malice of some and changed others, so that not even a trace of that wickedness remained in this city, but so that, thanks to his various concerns and various good deeds and unceasing prayers to God, the city itself would strengthen and remain the city from which the divine A martyr occurred and suffered a violent death. Announcing these mercies of him to us - it’s better to say this than - “repaying him for these mercies to us”, because that we would be able to repay him in return for his benefits to us - and we perform a great celebration in his honor, praying that, through his prayer to God, we will be worthy of an eternal celebration recorded in heaven, which may we all receive by the grace and love of mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom it befits glory, power, honor and worship, with His Originless Father and the All-Good Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. PG.151:536–545. Homilia XLIII. In magnum inter sanctos martyrem et thaumaturgum et myroblatum Demetrium. This omilia is the most ornate of all the omilia of St. Gregory Palamas and requires especially careful reading. Those. Prophets who saw God: Moses and Elijah. Those. called "Great" by the Church “Whoever does and teaches, he will be called great in the kingdom of heaven”: This refers to Ps.91:13: “The righteous blooms like a palm tree; rises like a cedar in Lebanon": You might be interested in: