24th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST — Tone 7. Ven. Patapius of Thebes (8th c.).
Tone 7 Troparion (Resurrection)
By Your Cross You destroyed death. To the thief You opened Paradise. For the Myrrhbearers You changed weeping into joy. And You commanded Your disciples, O Christ God, to proclaim that You are risen,// granting the world great mercy.
Tone 4 Troparion (St. Nicholas)
The truth of your deeds has revealed you to your flock as a rule of faith, an image of meekness and a teacher of self-control; your humility exalted you; your poverty enriched you.// O Father Bishop Nicholas, pray to Christ God that our souls may be saved.
Tone 8 Troparion (Ven. Patapius)
The image of God was truly preserved in you, O Father, for you took up the Cross and followed Christ. By so doing, you taught us to disregard the flesh for it passes away; but to care instead for the soul, for it is immortal.// Therefore your spirit, venerable Patapius, rejoices with the angels.
Tone 3 Kontakion (Ven. Patapius)
Your temple is found to be a source of healing, and the people flock to it eagerly, O saint. They seek the healing of their diseases and the forgiveness of their sins,// for you are a protector for all those in need, ven’rable Patapius.
Tone 6 Kontakion (Steadfast Protectress)
Steadfast Protectress of Christians, Constant Advocate before the Creator; despise not the cry of us sinners, but in your goodness come speedily to help us who call on you in faith. Hasten to hear our petition and to intercede for us, O Theotokos, for you always protect those who honor you!
Tone 7 Kontakion (Resurrection)
The dominion of death can no longer hold men captive, for Christ descended, shattering and destroying its powers. Hell is bound, while the Prophets rejoice and cry: “The Savior has come to those in faith;// enter, you faithful, into the Resurrection!”
Tone 3 Kontakion (St. Nicholas)
You proved yourself to be be a holy priest, O Nicholas. You served God in Myra and lived the gospel of Christ. You offered your life for your people, And rescued the innocent from death. Therefore God has glorified you as a trustworthy guide of things divine.
Tone 7 Prokeimenon (Resurrection)
The Lord shall give strength to His people. / The Lord shall bless His people with peace. (Ps. 28:11)
V. Offer to the Lord, O you sons of God! Offer young rams to the Lord! (Ps. 28:1a)
Ephesians 2:14-22 (Epistle)
For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Tone 7
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
V. It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to Your Name, O Most High. (Ps. 91:1)
V. To declare Your mercy in the morning, and Your truth by night. (Ps. 91:2a)
Luke 17:12-19 (Gospel)
Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner? And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”
Venerable Patapius of Thebes
Saint Patapios was born at Thebes into a pious Christian family. Reaching the age of maturity, he scorned the vanity of this world, and so he went into the Egyptian desert where he became known for his ascetic deeds. Though he wished to live in silence, people began coming to him for advice.
To every tired pilgrim who visited his cell, he offered rest and hospitality, as well as spiritual instructions and profitable counsel for the salvation of one’s soul. The Saint’s reputation spread quickly, and every day many arrived at his cell in order to hear these beneficial instructions from his lips.
Later, he went to Constantinople, where he had a cell by the city wall, near the Blachernae church. But even here, he soon became known. The infirm started to gather around Patapios, and because he had been granted the gift of healing, he helped all those in need.
Once a certain woman was afflicted by the terrible disease of cancer, and worms came forth from her breasts. Not only did she suffer a great deal of pain in her chest, but throughout her entire body as well. She was in constant pain, and it reached her heart, so that she was near death. The doctors could not help her, and she felt she was wasting her money without obtaining relief. Therefore, she came to Saint Patapios and fell at his feet, begging him to heal her. The worms were devouring her flesh even before she was in the grave, causing her such pain that she longed for death.
The Saint answered, “If you have faith in the Lord, and have no doubt that you shall be healed, then let it be done according to your faith.”
Sighing from the depths of her soul, she said, “I believe, O Lord that You know all things which are hidden and unknown, and that You are all-powerful. Therefore, have mercy on me and heal me.”
Then the Saint asked the woman to let him see the effects of her distress. When he saw the ravages of the disease, he was struck with awe, saying, “Your affliction is indeed great, and difficult to cure. Go in peace, for you shall not suffer anymore.”
As soon as he said this, the woman was healed and went home rejoicing and glorifying God. She told of this miracle everywhere, and praised Saint Patapios.
After a life adorned with virtue and miracles, Saint Patapios fell asleep in the Lord and was buried in the church of Saint John the Baptist.
Saint Patapios of Thebes and His Monastery in Loutraki
Saint Patapios was born in 380 in the Egyptian city of Thebes. His father was a governor of the region and a descendant of a well known Egyptian family. He and his wife were devout Christians and instructed Patapios in Holy Scripture. As Patapios reached a mature age, well-known tutors were brought from Alexandria to instruct him in science, mathematics, philosophy and rhetoric. Through this education, he became acutely aware of how transient this world is and was attracted to an ascetic way of life. He was particularly inspired by Clement, Origen and Athanasius. His father also took him to the renowned catechetical school in Alexandria where Patapios came under the influence of a blind teacher named Didymus. Didymus inspired him even further to desire the ascetic path he had chosen. When he finished his studies, he returned to Thebes to find out that his father had passed away. Desiring to live a life like the ascetics, he decided to leave for the Egyptian desert where he became well known for his ascetic deeds.
In the desert his struggles against the passions and to attain all the virtues led to his illumination, which drew numerous monks and people to seek his guidance. The more people came, the more he tried to conceal himself. Since light cannot be concealed in darkness, however, wherever he went he was discovered. No longer able to find peace in the desert he set off for Constantinople in 428. During his voyage, he met his disciple Sechnuti, who was an Egyptian rower. During this voyage, their ship passed near Corinth where they stayed for seven years in cave.
By 435, after seven years in Corinth, Patapios left his skete in the Geranian mountains to resume his journey to Constantinople taking with him the monk Sechnuti. In Constantinople, they secretly went to the Monastery of Blachernae, where he obtained a cell in the city wall. Patapios kept his identity a secret and resumed a life of strict fasting, vigil and prayer under the guise of a simple monk.
Here he performed many miracles of healing. A child, blind from birth, was led by God’s providence to Staint Patapios. He besought the Saint to pray to God that he be given his sight and be able to look upon God’s creation – thus allowing him to praise God all the more. Patapios having compassion on the suffering child, prayed to God, and the child’s sight was restored. This miracle revealed God’s chosen one throughout the entire city, and people rushed to him for healing, comfort and instruction.
Patapios healed an eminent man of dropsy by tracing the sign of the Cross over him and anointing him with oil. By making the sign of the Cross in the air with his hand, he freed a youth from an unclean spirit that had cruelly tormented him. The evil spirit, with a loud shriek, came out from God’s creature like smoke. He made the sign of the Cross over a woman who had a sore on her breast all filled with worms, and made her healthy. Many other miracles did Saint Patapios perform, all through prayer in the name of Christ and by the sign of the Cross.
After a life adorned with virtue and miracles, he died at the great age of eighty-three in 463 and was buried by his disciples in the Church of Saint John the Forerunner in Constantinople.
One thousand years after the repose of the Saint, when the Turks captured Constantinople in 1453, his relics where removed and taken to the little cave in Corinth (as he had requested during his lifetime). The Saint’s body was hidden behind a western wall in the cave facing the iconostasis and chapel they built. The memory of the Saint’s whereabouts soon disappeared.
In 1904 a local priest, Father Constantine Sosanis, was serving the chapel in this cave. He was an unnaturally tall priest who regularly served this small chapel and because of his height commissioned some changes to the chapel. The night before the works to the western wall were to commence, Fr. Constantine had a dream in which a monk warned him to “take care when you break the wall because I am on the other side. I am Saint Patapios of Egypt.” He was found the next day under tiles holding a large wooden cross on his chest, a parchment scroll with his name, Roman coins, and large leaves covering his relics as fresh as they had been picked that very moment. A sweet odor also exuded from his relics.
The holy relic is now in a special wooden structure at the back of the cave. Inside the cave there are also Roman wall paintings from the 13th century, with three prominent figures of St. Patapios, St. Ipomoni and St. Nikon. The monastery church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and contains at its center the Mother of God for veneration. The church also holds the relic skull of St. Ipomoni (Empress Helen Dragash) and part of the hip bone of St. Nikon.
In 1952 a Greek priest, Father Nektarios Marmarinos, built the all-female monastery on this site. The local people initially resisted this idea since the location of the monastery is very difficult to reach even to this day. After the founding of the monastery, Sister Patapia was nominated as Abbess, with Father Nektarios Marmarinos as its spiritual leader. Today, there are some forty nuns living in the cells of the foundation and the current Abbess is Mother Isidora.
More information on St. Patapios
Reflection from the Prologue
He who surrenders himself completely to God is guided by God to salvation, and is used by Him for the benefit of many others. St. Nicholas, devoted to the will of God, fled from the glory of men, from his city of Patara, and came to the city of Myra in Lycia, where he knew no one and was known by no one. Without any means—for, although he had been wealthy by virtue of his family, he had abandoned everything—without acquaintances and without plans, he walked as an unknown one throughout the city, waiting for God to direct his steps. At that time John the Archbishop of Myra died, and the Synod gathered for the election of a new archbishop, but could not agree on any person who had been nominated. Finally, the members of the Synod decided to fast and pray to God that He would designate the one who was most worthy of this calling. God heeded the prayers of His servants and revealed to them the one most worthy. When the presiding bishop stood for prayer, a man appeared to him in light and told him to go out early, stand in front of the church, and await the first one who would enter for morning prayer. “Appoint him as archbishop; his name is Nicholas,” he said. Seeing and hearing this, the bishop informed all of his companions. Early the next day, he went in front of the church and waited. At that moment St. Nicholas, who had the habit of rising early for prayer, appeared.
Seeing him, the bishop asked him: “What is your name, son?” Nicholas remained silent. The bishop again asked him, and he replied: “I am called Nicholas, O Bishop, the servant of your holiness.” Then the bishop took him by the hand, brought him before the Synod, and said: “Receive, brethren, your shepherd, who was anointed by the Holy Spirit and was elected not by the Synod of men but rather by the providence of God.”
— Velimirovic, Saint Nikolai. The Prologue of Ohrid. Sebastian Press Publishing House.
Homily on the curse of sinful works
“Cursed is the ground in thy works”(Genesis 3:17)
After Adam and Eve’s sin, God pronounced a punishment. He did not pronounce the punishment immediately but after waiting a period of time for their repentance. This is shown in the conversation into which God entered with Adam after his sin. Where art thou? (Genesis 3:9), God asked Adam. And when Adam said that he hid because of his nakedness, God asked him again: Who told thee that thou wast naked? (Genesis 3:11). Instead of repenting, Adam then began to accuse his wife. After that, God pronounced the punishment. Upon the serpent, which served as the weapon of the devil, fell the infinite curse. The woman was condemned to bear children in pain and to have her will subject to the authority of her husband. This is not a curse but rather a punishment with hope. Man was condemned to work the land. But what do the words, Cursed is the ground in thy works, mean? Did God curse the ground as He cursed the serpent with an infinite curse? By no means! The ground is cursed only in the sinful works of man. Because of man’s sin, the earth produces thorns; because of sin, there is infertility; because of sin, there are droughts, floods, earthquakes, plagues, and destructive insects such as grasshoppers and caterpillars. That the ground is not cursed in its entirety is clear from this: that the earth also produces good fruits. God, through the prayers of the righteous, has always blessed the fruits of the earth necessary for human life, and even the angels of God, as the guests of Abraham, tasted the earth’s harvest (Genesis 18:1–8). For in what way is the earth and all the rest of God’s creation (except the serpent) culpable for Adam’s sin? Nevertheless, the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now (Romans 8:22). All creation does not groan or travail because of a curse upon itself but rather because of man’s sinful works, which are cursed. O my brethren, let us be ashamed of our sin, for which even God’s innocent creation suffers. O Gracious God, forgive us our past sins and protect us from future sins. O Merciful God, have mercy on all Thine innocent creatures, who suffer because of us, and ease their suffering. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
— Velimirovic, Saint Nikolai. The Prologue of Ohrid. Sebastian Press Publishing House.
The Inconceivable Beauty of the Church
The entire mystery of the Church, which is proof of the presence of the Lord with us, is manifested as inconceivable beauty through liturgical theology and the life of worship, through the typicon, the prayers, the liturgical vessels, the icons, and in the hymnography, in which doctrinal truth becomes poetry and is sung in every tone. So as the beauty of the divine goodness saves, true salvation within the Church gives birth to artist-saints, craftsmen of beauty. And life goes on as a Philokalia, a love of the beauty of Paradise.
The Beauty of the Church Is a Spiritual Gift
The beauty of the Lord, the true and lovely beauty, is not something created, nor is it the essence of God, but it is an essential energy and natural grace which is sent forth from the divine nature without division. This beauty of the Church is not an aesthetic category, but a spiritual gift (charism). It is not acquired through training in fine arts, but through total participation and long years of life in the Church. It cannot be created, it cannot be composed from mere combinations of colors, concepts, sounds, forms, or movements. It is simple and uncontrived. It is sent down from above by the Father of Lights. (cf. Jas 1:17)
— Vasileios of Iveron, Archimandrite. The Thunderbolt of Ever-Living Fire: “American” Conversation with an Athonite Elder (Contemporary Christian Thought Series, number 24 Book 1). Sebastian Press Publishing House.
Sunday Bulletin December 1, 2024