Mission Monthly – February 1998

January is such a wonderful month; the great feast of Theophany following the joyous celebration of the Nativity of our Lord; new beginnings with the new calendar year; the full force and beauty of winter (despite the threats of El Nino!); the anticipation of Great and Holy Lent in the distant shadows of our liturgical vision. Yet probably one of the most overlooked wonders of this month is the daily commemoration of so many of our Church’s brightest Saints:

• 1/1 St. Basil the Caesarea
• 1/7 St. John the Baptist
• 1/10 St. Gregory of Nyssa
• 1/17 St. Anthony the Great
• 1/18 St. Athanasius of Alexandria
• 1/19 St. Makarios of Egypt
• 1/19 St. Mark of Ephesus
• 1/21 St. Maximus the Confessor
• 1/24 St. Xenia of Petersburg
• 1/25 St. Gregory the Theologian
• 1/27 St. John Chrysostom, the translation of his relics
• 1/28 St. Ephraim the Syrian
• 1/29 St. Ignatius of Antioch, the translation of his relics
• 1/30 The Three Hierarchs—St. Basil of Caesarea,
• St. Gregory the Theologian, St. John Chrysostom

“I entreat you, my beloved brothers, do not judge me for my ignorance if, being so filled with love for {the saints}, I decided to relate absolutely everything I know about {them}… open my lips, O God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and help me and enlighten my heart that I may tell of Thy wonders and the glory of Thy [saints].”

Saint Nestor the Chronicler

I would hope that there would never be a need for one “so filled with love” for the saints to plead ignorance and appeal for mercy. What a blessing it is to be able to honor our Lord Jesus Christ in His image revealed through the lives of these holy people of God. As I write, we are approaching the celebration honoring the Three Hierarchs (January 30) and I am especially reminded of the deep love and respect I have for St. John Chrysostom. He is considered by many to be the patron saint of the priesthood and as I begin my second year as priest I realize increasingly why this is true. The prayers and words ascribed to him in the Divine Liturgy give continual insight into the heart of a man completely dedicated to God, while his writings and sermons illumine and feed his readers with the “Mind of the Church” and give priests untold insights for teaching and preaching the Word of God to the people.

The simplicity of closeness to a particular saint or saints is explained so easily by the Church. If as Christians we believe in the Resurrection than it cannot be unreasonable to believe that those who have died in this life are still alive in Christ and thus still communicate with the Lord in prayer and praise. This we believe to be the great cloud of witnesses referred to by St. Paul in Hebrews 12. If we believe that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8:35-39), can it be hard to believe also that nothing can separate us from those who are alive in Christ? This is the teaching of the Church; that the prayers and intercessions of the saints remain with the Church in an eternal, unbroken communion, beyond death in the flesh, celebrated in the full unity of the Holy Eucharist.

I do not know many Orthodox Christians without a story to tell about how their prayers for intercession to the Lord by His Holy Mother or a particular Saint have been answered in the quietness of their own miracles. Recently close friends of mine related to me how after many months of frustration their request for prayers from St. John Maximovich (known by many as “quick to hear”) coincided with the immediate conception of their first child. In my own life I believe the prayers of the same St. John to have been paramount while searching for my wife and while praying that my sister and her husband might also overcome their struggles with infertility. Within a month I met my Vanessa and within two months we received the news that our family would be expecting a new member.

After learning how the lives of the saints intensely glorify God, and then miracles such as these occur, it is not hard to understand why one could become “so filled with love” for them. Yet the most important and beautiful aspect of this relationship with the saints is that IN NO WAY DOES IT DIMINISH OUR WORSHIP WHICH BELONGS TO GOD ALONE! We worship God, we honor the saints. Listen to this prayer from the Divine Liturgy which will help illumine the role of the intercession of the saints: “In honor and memory… of all thy saints, through whose intercessions, visit us, O God, and grant all of our petitions which are unto salvation and life eternal.” The very reason why God allows such miracles to occur is for this reason alone; that He might be glorified in His saints and that through His saints we might witness the power and presence of God in our lives and thereby be encouraged to fight the good fight and grow stronger and stronger in our faith and walk with Jesus Christ. It really is simple… and is a great joy knowing that in this community we are never alone and so greatly cared for in our communion in Christ. Let us remember why God has allowed the names of these holy men and women to be set before us day after day, month after month. And let us never forget to worship and glorify God who has given us, each and every one of us, the same authority through grace to be holy.