Sermons & Homilies
That God was with Elias is obvious, but how did Elias live; how did he live so as not to drive God away from him, to live as one who pleased God and in whom God was pleased to dwell? In answering this question, we will understand why he is a model for Christians and especially a model for ascetics and monastics.
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Look at the life of the saint that we commemorate today, St. Seraphim of Sarov. In spite of the fallen world that he lived in, he achieved perfect peace and union with God and all mankind. How could such peace and unity happen in this fallen world? Because through a life of prayer and asceticism he achieved union with Christ in this life. He transcended this life. You might say that he connected heaven and earth in his own person.
Even though Orthodoxy does not penetrate America’s national identity, even though from the historian’s point of view, it is of marginal significance, we should not think that we have little to celebrate and give thanks for on this present day.
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Today, those who can, have gathered here to honor all the Saints of Russia. It is a land whose embrace of the Orthodox faith was paired with monasticism from its beginnings in the ancient Lavra of Kiev, and has influenced the world ever since. Although a godless and persecuting regime ruled over that land in the past century, the Christian faith was preserved, the blood of the martyrs watered the meadows of Rus’, and Christian life continues to flourish.
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What is the gate of repentance which leads to divine and eternal life in God? The awareness of our sinfulness before Him. Such an awareness of sin came to St. Mary whom all Orthodox Christians commemorate today as a lofty standard of true, life-transforming repentance. However, as we see from her life, an awareness of our sins is often brought about by a seeming misfortune, or impasse, or perplexity in our life.
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