In the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!
My beloved brothers and sister,
With God's help and His Holy
Mother, the Theotokos, we struggled in the first week of Great Lent. Today, we are remembering our fellow Christians of the first
century, and the venerable St. Theodor. Let us say a few words about
his life and likewise about what happened on this day:
St. Theodor lived in the time
of the persecution of Maximian. He was Christian since his childhood,
and when the persecution begen, he was praying to God to reveal to
him whether or not he should become a martyr. While his mind was filled with
such intention and prayers, he had heard that people from the town of
Helenopontus, lived in fear because of a frightful dragon. He
realized that this was a sign in which God would show him whether he
should end this life as a martyr or not. He went to the forest, with
the sign of the Cross, found the dragon and killed it.
After this, St. Theodor was
convinced that if by God's grace he slayed the dragon, or the Devil,
he would be ready to die for his faith, and so he did. When the commander told St. Theodor to offer sacrifice to the pagan
gods, he proclaimed: “I
am a Christian. I adore only Christ. He is the King whom I serve, and
to Him only am I willing to offer sacrifice.”
The tormentors tried to make him deny Christ and offer sacrifice to
their gods, but their efforts were in vain and they burned him to
death.
Why did we bless kolyvo yesterday? In the year 361, Julian the Apostate attempted to restore
pagan customs. Having in mind that in the first week of Great Lent,
Christians would be fasting and praying, he ordered the Prefect of
Constantinople to have all of the food brought out for sale and to be
sprinkled with the blood of animals, sacrificed to the pagan gods.
His intention in doing this was that no one in the city would be able
to escape the contagion of idolatry. However, the Lord, who always
protects his people, did not allow for his flock to eat of this food
by having his servant Theodor appeared in avission to Patriarch Eudoxius. In this
vision, St. Theodor informed the patriarch about what was going to
happen, and told him how to instruct the Christians not to buy food
on that day but to eat kolyvo, made from grains of boiled wheat
instead. Thanks to the intervention of St. Theodore, the Christians
were preserved from the emperor's evil intention of idolatry.
What was the meaning of the
violent death of holy people such as St. Theodor? Did they go to die
for nothing, for something or for somebody? St. Clement of Ohrid, in
his instructions writes to his pious flock the following: What
is true death? It is the desire to live life without God the Logos.
The
pagans desired to live their life separated from their true purpose.
Therefore this is what the true death was for pagans, for those who
were worshipping the created, instead of the Creator.
My dear fellow Orthodox
Christians, I would like to bring your attention to how we confess
God nowadays in our society. St. Theodor, and many
others like him were not afraid to confess God publicly, and cared
not what could happen to them. How many of us confess Christ
publicly? Since we are all currently living in the United States,
I'll be talking particularly about this country. Today, we don't
experience such persecutions, and yet we are even shy to cross
ourselves when we are in public. Our sweet Lord, Jesus Christ came
down to earth, became Incarnate, allowed Himself to be humiliated,
mocked, beaten by the hands of man, suffered and was crucified for
you, me and for every single human, and this is how we thank Him: we
are ashamed of His name. We are ashamed to make a sign of the cross
in public, and we do not make God the priority in our lives.
For the sake of the reality, we have to acknowledge that this is the
truth today.
St. John Chrysostom writes the
following: “We live on the earth, but we are citizens of the
heaven.” St. Theodor had this in mind, and bravely, without fear
gave up his life for Christ. Which of us human beings will stay on
this earth forever? None of us. We serve either God or Mammon. We
are FOR GOD or AGAINTS GOD.
Now
let us say a few words about Great Lent! This past week we have began
the fast, and we wait with anticipation for the celebration of the
glorious Resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Before we get there, we need to clean our souls, so that, after having struggled
and repented, without condemnation we may dare to celebrate Pascha.
The same Church Father, Clement advises those who are repenting with
the words: Therefore
you, my child, instead of lavish food, use a simple one, instead of
wine, drink water, instead of laughing, cry for your sins, instead of
being proud, humble yourself, instead of sleeping on a soft bed,
sleep on a hard one, instead of being contentious, be a peacemaker,
instead of fighting with people, be meek, be hospitable, be a person
with a pure love, instead of being violent, be a lover of God. Thus,
if you repent in this way, you will be a child of the Light.
The fast, without humility is like a house without a roof. We also
fast to receive enlightenment for our souls. What I mean by this is
the enlightenment of love. Yes, my fellow Orthodox Christians –
LOVE. The level of our enlightenment, holiness, and purity depends on
the degree of our love, because God is LOVE. Concerning love, one
contemporary poet wrote: If
I would only realize how much You love me, I would leave everything
and follow You!
Let us be sober minded. Let
us clean our hearts and our bodies, and confess our sins frequently. Let
us be of Christ first and foremost. My most beloved in Christ, who
love the Heavenly Kingdom, let us LOVE, for we are citizens of
Heaven. Amin!
The sermon was delivered at Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville NY
February 28th, 2015, the Saturday of St Theodor
Subdeacon Stojanche Andov
