4th Sunday of Pascha – Sunday of the Paralytic
Kontakion, tone 3: By Thy divine presence, O Lord, raise my soul which is terribly paralyzed by all kinds of sins and misguided actions, as of old Thou didst raise the paralytic, that saved I may cry to Thee: O compassionate Christ, glory to Thy power.Continue Reading
Fourth Sunday of Pascha – Sunday of the Paralytic
Homily From “The One Thing Needful,” Sermons of Archbishop Andrei (Rymarenko)
Today’s Gospel reading confirms us more and more strongly in the divinity of our Risen Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
The Gospels for the last two Sundays told us about the appearances of the Risen One. They were as if filled with the light of Christ’s Resurrection: the wonderful appearances to the disciples, to Thomas, to the myrrhbearers. But today’s Gospel starts with a dismal, horrible picture: there is no brightness, no light. At the Sheep Gate there was a pool which had five porches. “In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered…. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years” (Jn. 5:2-5).Continue Reading
Мы праздновали наш престольный праздник в Фомино воскресенье. По благословению владыки митрополита Илариона, Божественная литургия праздновалась по Пасхальному чину, с пасхальными стихами в начале и царскими вратами открытыми в течение всей службы. Из-за дождя, вместо традиционного праздничного крестного хода мы отслужили молебен.Continue Reading
Holy and Great Martyr George – 23 April/6 May
Troparion, tone 4: As the deliverer of captives and the protector of the poor, as the physician of the feeble and combatant of kings, holy champion and great martyr George, intercede with Christ our God to save our souls.Continue Reading
Third Sunday of Pascha – Myrrhbearing Women
Homily From “The One Thing Needful,” Sermons of Archbishop Andrei (Rymarenko)
“And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun. And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher?” (Mk. 16:1-3).
Brothers and sisters! Can you imagine the state of mind these Myrrhbearing women were in? For those who lived through Soviet times in Russia and through the persecution of the Church, it is so understandable. In some churches, as in the outskirts of Kiev, this service (the Burial of the Savior) was performed at night. People made their way to such a church through dark streets. Anything could happen, you had to be careful of everything. Neighbors might hear that you went somewhere at night; and you could be stopped on the street. And the service itself in church and the carrying of the Shroud around the church could be interrupted by the authorities. One did not know if tomorrow, on Holy Saturday, this already semi-Easter Liturgy would be performed, because the priest might be arrested.Continue Reading
Dear brothers and sisters,
Christ is risen!
Thomas Sunday 1999 saw the first weekly Sunday Liturgy in English at All Saints Church, Kentlyn. A 10th anniversary celebratory dinner and fundraiser for St John the Baptist Skete building programme is to be held on Sunday 10th May.Continue Reading
3rd Sunday of Pascha – Sunday of the Myrrhbearers
Troparion, tone 2: When Thou, the Deathless Life, didst go down to death, then didst Thou slay hell by the lightning flash of Thy Divinity. And when Thou didst raise the dead from the lower world, all the Powers of Heaven cried aloud: Christ our God, Giver of Life, glory to Thee.
Noble Joseph took Thy immaculate Body down from the Tree, wrapped It in a clean shroud and spices, and having embalmed It laid It in a new sepulchre. But on the third day Thou didst rise, O Lord, granting to the world great mercy.
To the myrrbearing women at the sepulchre an Angel appeared and cried: Myrrh is fit for the dead, but Christ has shown Himself a Stranger to corruption. So cry: The Lord has risen, granting to the world great mercy.
Kontakion, tone 2: Thou didst command the Myrrbearers to rejoice, O Christ our God, Thou didst dry the tears of our first mother Eve by Thy Resurrection, and Thou didst command the Apostles to preach: The Saviour has risen from the tomb.Continue Reading
Second Sunday of Pascha – Saint Thomas Sunday
Homily From “The One Thing Needful,” Sermons of Archbishop Andrei (Rymarenko)
“But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe (Jn. 20:24-25).
What does this mean, his “I will not believe”? Is it possible he could not believe the other eleven Apostles, his brothers? Is it possible they could lie to him? The whole evangelical life of Christ, all His miracles, Golgotha, the death on the Cross, they had experienced together. And now this joy which they all had experienced they wanted to share with him. No, this was not a lie.
But He, Whom they had seen, was He really the same Christ? Was this not a vision or some other Christ? Was this not a mistake? And Thomas was afraid to lose what he had. And what did he have? This is what: during the years of fellowship with Christ, he had absorbed His teaching, the entire makeup of His life; and by now he was incapable of living any other way. It was painful for him not to have personal fellowship anymore with Christ; but by this time he understood that Christ came to earth in order to teach us the main commandment of God: love for God and neighbor, to perform it Himself, and to give us the strength to fulfill it.Continue Reading
