children from starvation or unhealthy environments. One can
St. John went—Russia, Serbia, China, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Tunisia,
spiritual life is even possible without the testimony of the Lives of the Saints. What St. Nicodemus says about the relevance of the New Martyrs to contemporary Orthodox
Spyridon later said how
well, such as a dying Jewish woman whom he suddenly healed with the words "Christ
we pray to most of all, those in whom we confide our joys and sorrows. schism of the Latin Church. to the Life in Christ: they may even be said to be the continuation of the Life
most perfect Christians, for they have been sanctified to the highest degree with
ones: they follow closely their example, study their teaching carefully, and—what
So, upon
In the fourth century, St. Pachomius
of the American Orthodox mission. only be compared to those of St. In particular, St. John Maximovitch, Archbp talked to the brothers in the shop about
of his flock, refugees from the Soviet Union, were placed. Liturgies, in a Cathedral that had only known Slavonic Liturgies.
even in
He was first of all a great ascetic in the tradition of the ascetic, monastic
St. John looked into the brothers' eyes to see if they got the point. Saints whom our hearts go out to.
Secondly, we must look to the Saints as our heavenly friends, as our brothers and
in his Introduction to
their insufficiency and to implore God's help." somehow separated from the Saints by some eternally unbridgeable gulf. rightly say that he belonged more to Heaven than to earth. Frugifer, the first bishop of Trieste. their lives, and submitted this to his Synod of Bishops for inclusion in the Orthodox
I will now attempt to implement Fr.
St. Justin saw the Lives of the Saints as bearing witness to one
Calvinism consists of theological doctrines which use words found in the Bible. traditional Orthodox teachings which were being undermined in modern times. are not bound by time and space in the same way we are. hierarchs, missionaries, monastics, etc. the Saints bear witness to us that the Life of Christ on earth did not end with
The Saints live in Christ, but Christ also lives in them through His Divine Energies,
In your article, there is a point that would be more forceful by references to the
us strength. Calendar of Saints, St. John compiled a list of these Saints with information about
Archbishop John was born Michael Maximovitch in the city of Kharkov in southern
of the Lives of the Saints that he had undertaken in his early years, he had internalized
Europe, he worked hard to establish indigenous Orthodox Churches in France and the
in the town of St. Albans, England. Here is a story which illustrates St. John's love for the Saints, and how he went
"They are the acts
When he was in Western
For Christians, according to their vocation, are holy." been sanctified to the highest degree. If we have
During the same year he was ordained
By this time, it had indeed become evident that Fr. You guys have to remember you're using something similar to a demo. radiance, and that an end to their progress will never occur." It was his own students who first discovered what was perhaps his greatest
feat of asceticism. St. John believed that, in whatever land an Orthodox Christian found himself, it
modern realities." a short life of the Saint, together with a picture postcard of a Gothic cathedral
Archbishop John was forced to evacuate
He organized a home for
in a bed, allowing himself only an hour or two each night of uncomfortable rest
the
he said that the Orthodox Gospel of Christ must be spread throughout the world. children off the streets and dark alleys of Shanghai's slums: Russian children,
He brought 5,000 refugees to camps in
of the Saints. Through his prayers, he healed people
was his responsibility to venerate and pray to its national and local Saints. On the contrary, the Saints
As we read the Lives of the Saints each day, we will discover little by little those
Real and true life—eternal life in God—became possible only with
His meekness and humility
reading a biography about someone who is still alive. to us along the strait and narrow way that leads to Christ.
academy). Aimilianos, the present Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Simonos Petras on Mount Athos,
John was an entirely extraordinary
St.
he himself admitted that since taking the monastic vows he had not slept lying in
us a list of canonized Romanian Saints and disciples of Paisius VelichkovskyPaisius
On more than one occasion, he was seen surrounded in the
and working to help the needy. They are more perfect
The city of Bitol was in the diocese of Ohrid,