Sermons & Homilies

In the troparion-hymn, this Feast is called the “the heralding of the salvation of mankind.” Why? Because, the Virgin will give birth to Christ, the Great High Priest, Who was not a Levitical priest, but a priest after the order of Melchizedek; He did not enter to minister in the Jewish temple, nor did He enter physically into the Holy of Holies. But, offering Himself as the Only True Sacrifice for our sins upon the Cross, He has resurrected Himself in our very flesh which He has received from the Virgin-Mother.

On this Sunday we celebrate the Synaxis of the Holy Unmercenary Healers, or, as they are also called, the “physicians without silver.” They are those saints who, out of pure love of God and neighbor, healed the sick and mended the souls of others while asking nothing in return. It was a pure self-sacrifice born out of love. Today we remember the great saints Cyrus and John, Tryphon, Artemius, and the others, as well as Cosmas and Damian, who lived and were martyred in Roman times. And of course, we also remember and honor our great patron, the martyr and healer Panteleimon.

The Optina Elders are dear to us not only because they were (and continue to be!) a light for monastics and lay people alike, both in Russia and around the world, and who were so near to our own time – the very spiritual heart of Russia, right up until the revolution. It is not only for this reason that the Optina Elders are dear to us, but the Optina Elders are dear to us because they were dear to the hear of our founder, Hieromonk Kallistos. In founding his new monastery, this monastery – the Hermitage of the Holy Cross,  Fr. Kallistos made a conscious effort to base the spiritual life of his monastery on the lives, the spirituality, and the monastic spirit of the Optina Elders.