Christ in the Book of the Holy Prophet Daniel

The Christian looks at the Old Testament with the constant anticipation of Christ that was experienced by the Jewish world as they awaited their Messiah. As we approach the Nativity on our Festal Calendar season, we also take a moment to remember the Holy Prophet Daniel and more specifically the Three Children. On December 11, we commemorated St. Daniel the Stylite who not only was named after the Holy Prophet Daniel, he was also buried on top of the remains of the Three Children, Radshach, Meshach, and Abednego. The Book of the Prophet Daniel is filled with foreshadowings of the Messiah's impending coming. Not just His second coming which is often times considered when looking at the apocalyptic narratives, but also the first coming too. Scripture is a multi-layered cake and different parts of Scriptures often times have multiple meanings. We can see the multitude of meanings in the apocalyptic literature of the Holy Prophet Daniel especially.

We start in Daniel 2. Many people see this as a foreshadowing of the world empires before the second coming of Christ. While this is certainly one way of reading it and also one of the more traditional ways of reading it, we must remember the multitude of meaning that Scriptures have and remember there might be another meaning. In Daniel 2, there is a statue with a gold head, silver chest, bronze waist, iron legs, and iron and clay feet. A stone is thrown at the statue's feet shattering it to pieces. Nebuchadnezzar is troubled by the statue's image in his dream and seeks out to find someone who can interpret the dream. None of the astrologers of the Emperor can give an adequate interpretation until the Holy Prophet Daniel, with discernment given to him by the Only Wise God, is able to decipher the dream's meaning. The statue shows the successive Empires that shall dominate the world, one after the other. Tradition understands them as Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. The rock that is thrown at the statue will bring an abrupt end to the current era, dismantling the present kingdoms, establishing an everlasting kingdom. Most see Rome as the end of history and so look for some kind of antichrist from this passage. While the apocalyptic narrative definitely foretells the antichrist, this is a narrative of the Messiah. It was in a period in which Rome was being divided up into a Triumvirate, the Republic was dissolving after the Julius Caesar's dictatorship and his son Octavius Augustus was reigning upon the newly erected throne of the Roman Empire when an infant was born. Octavius was proclaiming himself to be the son of a god but the one that was born was the Son of God. Octavius proclaimed the Pax Romana but the Son of God proclaimed the Pax Christi. Indeed, a new kingdom, the Church, was established from the rubble of the Roman civil wars which savaged the world. The clay and iron couldn't withhold and Christ came down and established His own kingdom. It was a kingdom not of this world. It was a rock thrown from Heaven.

In the very next chapter of the Holy Prophet Daniel, we see the Three Children refuse to bow down before the false idol of the Emperor's. As a punishment, the Three Children are thrown into a fiery furnace with flames so hot that the men who threw them into the fire all died the moment the flames came near to them. Assuredly, Nebuchadnezzar had presumed the Three Children would be incinerated but he was in for a surprise. When Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace, he saw a fourth man in the furnace. The Hebrew text does not possess a definitive article so it is very possible he presumed it to be one of his own gods, but he recognized in the fourth figure and proclaimed that it was "one like a son of god!" Christians understand that this divine being who appeared in the furnace was Christ Himself. The Angel of God in the Old Testament is commonly held to be a Christophany or an appearance of Christ. And this is identified later in the text as an Angel of the God of the Three Children. While Nebuchadnezzar may not have understood who the being was, later generations have given new meaning to his words which shows that the Three Children very clearly understood that this being was not only a son of god but the Son of God who had come to save them from the fires of the furnace.

Once more, we see in Daniel 7 another prophecy of the things to come and the end of the world. There are four successive beasts. The beasts are identified in tradition as Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. From the Roman beast, there stem ten kings and from there, a little horn comes out with great blasphemies, speaking these until fire is reigned down upon the beast from Heaven and the eternal kingdom of the saints is established. One like the Son of Man is then seen ascending upward to the Ancient of Days. While this is typically interpreted in the Cosmic Battle between Christ and Antichrist, there is an additional foreshadowing of this battle which is found in the incarnation of Christ. Christ comes into a divided Roman world that is wrested in its factionalism. From the chaos of the civil wars comes the Roman monarchy and the claims that the Emperor is the son of a god. But Christ comes in a very unique and unexpected way. He ushers in the true Peace while Rome claims a time of peace for itself. He is the Son of God but Rome can only claim such. While this is indeed is a very prophetic text about the coming antichrist, it is also a text which prophecies the initial conquering of Christ on the Cross and His establishment of His earthly Kingdom, not of this world.

Daniel 11:36-45 has baffled many scholars and eschatologists for years because there is failure to understand the often times dual fulfillment of prophecy. While there is grounds that this is a prophecy for the coming antichrist, it is also a Messianic prophecy of the first coming of Christ too. This is missed when people get fixated on the futuristic interpretations of Scriptures and fail to see that the Lord's Day has been here for quite some time. This is why He invites us into His Church now. Because the Church is the Kingdom of God. It is very easy to see how Herod fulfills the description of the one described in Daniel 11:36-39. He was thought of as a Jew being an Idumean but proclaimed the gods of the Romans and the Greeks. He thought of himself above all the priests and above all in the land of Judea. He sought the blood of all the infants throughout the land of Judea going against the natural maternal inclinations of women. He spoke great blasphemies against the Most High God and sought the death of the One Who was God in the flesh. Herod then supported Mark Antony in his war against Octavius as the King of the South attacked the King of the North and the news of the Messiah's coming brought great trouble to Herod. This was brought to him by the three kings of Orient. Herod would eventually succumb to madness, killing his own son and then dying of an illness. In Daniel 12:1, we finally see Michael the Archangel taking the stand for the Israelites, just as was done in Revelation 12. Revelation 12 is also given a double-meaning in its reference not only to battle of Christ and Antichrist but also the Virgin Mary's fleeing to the wilderness to give birth to the Messiah.

All throughout the writing of the Holy Prophet Daniel we see the presence of the Coming of Christ foreshadowed in not only the first but also in the second coming. It is revealed for Christians that there is a cosmic battle between Christ and Antichrist and the enemies of Christianity and the followers of the Kingdom that is established not of human hands. But we are given the hope that our side is victorious. We see in the coming of Christ in His incarnation that He has already proclaimed victory. He set up and established a Kingdom already. The prophecies of Daniel are fulfilled in the Nativity which is why the Holy Prophet Daniel's celebration falls just before the Nativity and not afterward. It is a poetic way to end the narrative of the Holy Scriptures that point to and foreshadow Christ. Christ is all throughout Scriptures and Christians are given this revelation because they have been entered into the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, the Church. The Church is the eschatological fulfillment of these pages and the Church is what the infant Christ established. The Church is what was brought to life when Christ stormed the gates of Hades. The Church is what proclaims the victory of Christ! Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit! Unto ages and ages, Amen!

Adelaide, Empress by Divine Grace

St. Adelaide's story is one of true romance and damsels in distress. She was the daughter of Rudolph II of Burgundy who had been involved in a conflict with Hugh of Provence for the throne of Italy. In a peace treaty between the two, it was concurred that Rudolph II's daughter would be pledged in marriage to Hugh's son Lothar II. Adelaide was a young girl at this point so the marriage would not occur until much later. In the meantime, Adelaide's father died and her mother Bertha married Hugh. Adelaide was soon married to Lothar as had been promised but at this time, an Italian nobleman from Ivrea, Berengar, forced her father-in-law into abdication. Berengar wasn't satisfied with that. After Lothar succeeded his father, Berengar had Lothar poisoned and, wishing to strengthen his position, sought to marry his son to Adelaide. Adelaide insisted that "if she ever married again it should be should be a man who could avenge her husband's death" (Dunbar, Dictionary of Saintly Women). Adelaide refused, wanting nothing to do with her husband's murderer, and was imprisoned in the Castle of Garda but was led to the woods by a priest named Martin who fed her fish. Not much is known about this Martin and it is possible it was none other than St. Martin of Tours.

Adelaide sent aid for Otto who was well-regarded for the expansion of Christendom and whose many battles liberated many Christians from Muhammadan rule. He was also quelling many rebellions throughout the Holy Roman Empire and had been declared successor to the imperial throne by his father Henry I. He was preparing to take Italy also. The Bishop Otto of Freising writes of this,

"At this time Italy was being oppressed in many different ways by the tyrant Berengar, by whom also Adelaide the widow of the emperor Lothar (Otto's predecessor) was then held in captivity. Therefore the king entered Italy and, having freed the queen from captivity, took her to wife." (The Two Cities, Bk. 6.19)

The wedding between the two was blessed by John XII in the year of 951. Adelaide was given Pavia as a dowry in her wedding to Lothar which was taken away by Berengar. After Otto had rescued her, she was restored Pavia as her rightful dowry. Through Adelaide and Otto, missionaries were sent to convert the people of what is now the regions of Prussia and Poland, a people known as the Sclavonians. They had the Pope set up bishops in that area.

Adelaide always returned good for every act of evil she received and when the wife of Berengar was sent to her in chains, she remonstrated on the crimes that were committed. The wife of Berengar said that the only crime she committed was that she did not kill the saint when she had her in her power. Upon this, the Empress had the woman unbounded and sent back to her husband in safety. When Adalbert, the son of Berengar, was forced to have his property confiscated, Adelaide adopted his two daughters. Otto and Adelaide were final coronated as Emperor and Empress respectively on February 2, 962. John XII was an incredibly debauched Pope and Otto would have him deposed of and replaced with his own personal secretary, a layman with no clerical experience, who would be known as Leo VIII. Otto died in 973 and was buried next to his first wife Edith. His son Otto II would reign in his place and Theophano, the wife of Otto II, would quarrel with her mother-in-law. Upon the advice of the Empress consort, Adelaide was banished back to her homeland. But the Empire didn't prosper without Adelaide and the people wanted Adelaide back in the royal courts.

In 983, her son died leaving her daughter-in-law Theophano as regent for her grandson. Though the two quarreled, mostly on part of Theophano, one thing they both agreed was that Otto III was to have the best quality education. He was educated by Gerbert d'Aurillac who would eventually become an Archbishop and later Pope Sylvester II. Theophano threatened her mother-in-law that if she herself lived another year, Adelaide would have nothing left in her possessions. Adelaide, in spite of the opposition from her daughter-in-law, retained in the royal courts out of love for her grandson. Theophano would die in 991, within a month after making this foolish declaration to her mother-in-law. Adelaide was known as the "Mother of the Kings" as her grandsons Otto III and Louis V ruled the Holy Roman Empire and France respectively as the sovereign monarchs.

When her grandson came of age, she retired to a cloistered life but was called out one last time to assist her nephew Rudolph III in making peace with his subjects. She reposed on her way there. Blessed are the peacemakers, St. Adelaide returned to Heavenly Glory on December 16, 999. She lived to the ripe age of 69 and had outlived many of her children including the Blessed Matilda of Quedlinburg. Her daughter Emma, by Lothar, had also died sometime in the mid to late 980s. She saw the death of her son Otto II. She saw the death of her grandson Louis V. In all her life and hardships, she refused to return evil for evil, but chose the rugged path of forgiveness of one's enemies and repaid evil with good, leading all to virtue. She sent a gift to the tomb of St. Martin of Tours, recalling that priest who led her safety, of a mantle worn by her son, Otto II. A letter sent with it read:

"Bishop of God, receive these humble presents of Adelaide, servant of the servants of God, sinner by nature, Empress by Divine Grace. Receive also the cloak of Otto, her only son. And pray for him, thou who hadst the glory of covering with thine own cloak Our Lord, in the person of a beggar." (in Thornton, Pious Kings and Right-Believing Queens, 15)

See also:

Thornton: Pious Kings and Right-Believing Queens

Dunbar: Dictionary of Saintly Women

St. Theophano Martinakia

St. Theophano was the first wife of the Emperor Leo VI, called "the Wise" as people suspected that he was engaged in astrology. Leo VI was also a contributor of much laws and legal theory in the Eastern Roman Empire. His deep devotion to his wife Theophano was a contributing factor in the establishment of the Eastern Feast Day for All Saints. In the West, this Feast Day falls on November 1, but for the East, this Feast Day falls the First Sunday after Pentecost. The Emperor Leo would also build a church for her after her death.

Theophano was born of eminent parents, Constantine and Anna. Much like Anna, the Mother of Samuel, and Anna, the Mother of Mary, Constantine and Anna were devoid of offspring. So they prayed to the Theotokos to bless them with a child and they were given a daughter, Theophano. She held a Christian spirit from childhood and surpassed all of her companions in virtue. She would enter into marriage with Leo, the son of the Emperor Basil, and endured many hardships with her husband. Leo had been falsely accused of carrying a knife around with him in order to kill his father Basil with and the Emperor locked both Leo and Theophano in prison.

But on the Feast Day of the Prophet Elias, a parrot squawked, "Alas, alas, my Lord Leo!" Frightened, the imperial noblemen begged the Emperor to release his son and daughter-in-law from prison. After Basil's death, Leo ascended to the throne. But Theophano did not consider her imperial status anything of gain and she would distribute to the poor and to the Church. She cared only about her soul and she fasted and prayed, and restored many churches and monasteries by her almsgivings. Leo always considered her a saint during her lifetime. The two had one child together, Eudokia, who died in infancy.

After Theophano's death, the Emperor Leo VI desired to have a church built in her name. But the patriarch forbade him for the veneration of Theophano had not been formally approved. So he built a church to All Saints in the belief that should Theophano's canonical status as a saint ever be approved, she would be reckoned as one among the saints. This is why he also instituted the Feast of All Saints, in the belief that should All Saints be venerated, Theophano would certainly be venerated among them. Theophano is now venerated on December 16.

See also:

Prologue of Ochrid

The Righteous Ruth and Her Mother-in-law Naomi

The book of Ruth was probably the most frequently analyzed book in my undergraduate years studying Biblical Hebrew and Ancient Hebrew literature. It is also a moving story of a woman who places her ultimate trust in an unknown God and clings to her kinswoman in a most tragic and difficult circumstance, finally being rooted and ingrained into the everlasting kingdom of saints as an ancestor of the Heavenly Messiah. The story starts with famine, destitution, and death. It starts with a fleeing from God. But then it ends with a return to God. This return is spurned on by a former Pagan woman who desires the God of her mother-in-law, the God who her mother-in-law at first left behind.

Naomi and her husband Elimelech lived during the time of the Judges of Israel. As Israelites, they were children of the Promise. They were the Chosen race of God and their sacred duty was to place trust in God and shine the light for the world. There was more than just a famine of food in Israel. There was a famine of Holiness. Naomi fled Israel with her husband Elimelech as a reminder to her that her king was God. The name Elimelech, translated from Hebrew, means "my King is God". Names have meaning. For secularists, this is nothing more than a literary device. But for Christians, this is Divine Providence. Fleeing from Israel with the constant reminder that her God was her king, Naomi, her husband, and her two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, would end up in Moab. Moab was an enemy of Israel and once again, her sons names give an ominous foreshadowing as to what is to come. Mahlon mean "sickness" and Chilion means "wasting". Fleeing from Israel, the Church as it was in the Old Testament, Naomi sees her family wasting away even if they may now have food. For her venture into Moab, Naomi sees her husband Elimelech die. Signifying also her soon attachment to the Moabite tradition. Her sons marry two Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah. Ruth is wed to Mahlon and Orpah is wed to Chilion. It is not long after her sons cling to Moabite Pagan women that they also perish.

It is in this that Naomi renames herself "Mara" meaning "bitterness" as she acknowledges the bitter hand that God has sent her. Widowed and with no children, she sadly sends her daughters-in-law to depart from her and find new men to marry. Naomi cannot bear them sons of her own to marry for even if she could still give birth, her daughters-in-law would have to wait for them to grow old enough to marry. Orpah leaves. In the New Testament, St. Paul spends time talking about the care of widows and what qualifies a widow. He permits widows to remarry but refuses to have younger widows put on the list of widows to be honored "for when their sensual desires alienate them from Christ, they want to marry" (1 Tim. 5:11). He would rather "have younger widows marry, bear children, and manage their households, so as to give the adversary no occasion to revile us" (1 Tim. 5:14) and any believing woman is to care for a relative of hers who is truly a widow (1 Tim. 5:16). We see in Orpah the first category of younger widow. One who is given over to her sensual desires, who runs off from her widowed mother-in-law refusing to care for her. In Naomi, we see a widow who is truly a widow. One who is to be honored for she has no sons to care for her and has reached an older age. In Ruth, we see the second class of younger widow who is managing her house, caring for her mother-in-law. For when Naomi sends her daughters-in-law away, Ruth clings to her and exclaims, "Thy people shall be my people and thy God shall be my God!" (Ruth 1:16-17) Ruth is exemplary of a younger widow, which is not to say all younger widows are required to marry, but they are required to manage their households and give the adversary no occasion to revile Christians.

Naomi, a name in Hebrew which translates to "pleasant" or "beautiful" is now left "Mara" or "bitter" after witnessing both the death of her husband and the death of her sons. When famine began in Israel, she fled with her husband Elimelech, "my God is King", to the land of Moab. Clinging to the Pagan falsities from Moab, Elimelech dies, which signifies Naomi's apostasy. Mahlon and Chilion signify God's further chastisements, for God chastises His faithful in order to bring them back into the flock. Seeing their deaths, she accepts the chastisements from God, and although bitter, returns once again to Israel, the Church. She is joined by her daughter-in-law Ruth who exhorts Naomi in her penitence. Naomi's story is one of repentance while Ruth's story is one of conversion. Orpah's story is of one who prefers the darkness to the light. Ruth, desiring the light, having observed Naomi's repentance, now desires also the God of Naomi.

When Ruth and Naomi return to Israel, Ruth seeks to glean in the fields. She does not realize it at the time, but she ends up by Divine Providence, gleaning in the field of Boaz who is a kinsman of Elimelech. By Israelite law, the next nearest kinsman would be required to provide his deceased kinsman an heir through his kinsman's widow. Boaz sees Ruth gleaning in the field and inquires about her. Understanding that she is gleaning on behalf of her mother-in-law to provide care for her, Boaz extols her. "All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before." (Ruth 2:11) Ruth is the archetype of what a believing woman is to do for any relative of hers who is truly a widow. By bringing back the grain she has gleaned for her mother-in-law, Ruth is showing that she is also managing her own household. Ruth earns the favor of Boaz and is invited to drink wine (Ruth 2:14). She is provided with superabundant care by Boaz. When she reports back to Naomi it is revealed to Ruth that Boaz is a kinsman of her mother-in-law. Naomi instructs her daughter-in-law to go out with Boaz's women in his field and to stay close to Boaz (Ruth 2:22). Honoring her mother-in-law and committing herself to her household duties, she obeys the instruction given to her.

Naomi instructs Ruth to put on her best clothes, find Boaz on the threshing floor, and to wait for him to lie down after which, she is to uncover his feet and wait for his instruction (Ruth 3:3-4). Ruth does what her mother-in-law says. It is easy for someone to make the mistake in assuming that Naomi has a higher authority than Ruth, however, Ruth's subjection to her mother-in-law and her willingness to do as her mother-in-law says is an entire act of voluntary faith on the part of Ruth. Ruth was given the option to go her own way early on but chose to remain with her mother-in-law. Ruth is willing to do what her mother-in-law says because she recognizes the dire need of her mother-in-law. Ruth is a provider for her mother-in-law. She is the youthful one who will be able to carry on the familial line and Ruth is doing her duty in managing her own household and taking care of her widowed mother-in-law. She does exactly as her mother-in-law has told her to do and Boaz blesses her for not pursuing a younger man. He then informs her of a relative closer to her and that it is not to be found that Ruth entered upon the threshing floor for there might be a scandal should an adulterous relationship be found suspected (Ruth 3:13-14). Boaz, understanding that Ruth is a provider for her mother-in-law, gives her six measures of barley to take back to Naomi (Ruth 3:16-17).

Boaz presented Elimelech's land to the next-of-kin, but on hearing that he would inherit Ruth, the widow of Mahlon, the next-of-kin refused the land and gave it to Boaz (Ruth 4:1-6). This also meant that Boaz would acquire Ruth, the Moabitess (Ruth 4:10). The people gathered and blessed Boaz that this woman be like Rachel and Leah and that his house may be like "the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah" (Ruth 4:12). The comparison to Tamar is interesting as Tamar was under a similar circumstance as Ruth. Tamar had married Judah's son Er. But Er was found wicked in the Lord's sight and was struck dead. Judah sent his son Onan to provide the heir for his brother, but upon realizing the children would not be his, Onan spilled his semen before he had relations with Tamar. The Lord found this wicked and struck him down with that. Judah refused his third son Shelah to Tamar, telling her to remain a widow until he grew up. Tamar, hoping to claim what was hers properly, removed her widow's garments and set about as an harlot, seducing her father-in-law. Through her father-in-law, she bore the twins Perez and Zarah. Zarah had stuck his hand out of the womb first and a cord was tied around his hand to distinguish him as the firstborn but then he withdrew it and Perez was born to Tamar first (Gen. 38).

Ruth conceived as soon as she came together with Boaz and the women prophecy to Naomi. Then the women said to Naomi,

“Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.” (Ruth 4:14-15)

Thus, Ruth is to Naomi more than seven sons. Not just a maidservant as one could reasonably assume from the text, but rather the caretaker of her mother-in-law. She is not a subject of her mother-in-law but has presumed a role greater than Naomi. Through Ruth comes Naomi's redemption. For Ruth is to give birth to Obed, the father of Jesse who is the father of King David. In the genealogy of Matthew 1, Ruth is one of three women mentioned by name along with Tamar, Rahab, and Bathsheba is mentioned as a fourth as the wife of Uriah. Thus showing us that the universality of the Church. Israel was not meant to be a nation of one race, offering salvation based on one's blood inheritance. Israel was meant to graft the foreigners into the community as well. Israel stood as a light. Ruth was grafted into the Church of the Old Testament as also Christ grafted the Gentiles into the Church in the New Testament. Ruth gave birth to the genealogical line of King David (Ruth 4:17). As mentioned, Naomi's husband Elimelech died when she abandoned Israel. Elimelech, meaning "My God is King", in a way symbolized Naomi's apostasy. Mahlon and Chilion, meaning "sickness" and "wasting" married Pagan women and died. But Naomi, having returned to the Church, and bringing back with her a convert daughter-in-law, now finds herself taking God as her King once again. Her daughter-in-law is who conceives the Davidic Royal line of Israel. This is the Royal line that the Messiah is to be born unto. The incarnate God thus finds His way back into Naomi's life as she returns from her own spiritual apostasy. Ruth the Righteous, pray for us!

St. Daniel the Stylite

St. Daniel the Stylite lived during the reign of Emperor Leo the Isaurian. His parents had no children. In her old age, his mother, like Hannah, the mother of Samuel, asked God to be blessed with a child and vowed to dedicate the child to the ascetical life. When the child was born, they brought him before the hegumen of the monastery to be baptized. But the hegumen rejected the name his parents had given him. He told the child to take a book from one of the shelves in the monastery and bring it to him. The child took a book from the shelf and it was none other than the book of the Holy Prophet Daniel. The hegumen then gave the name Daniel to the young child.

At age twelve, Daniel asked to join the monastic and ascetical life. Because the boy was so young, the hegumen initially rejected this offer. The hegumen explained that the monastic and ascetical life is grueling and demanding and that it would be unfit for a child as young Daniel was. But Daniel insisted and stated that with God as his helper, he could do all that was required in the monastic and ascetical life. The hegumen agreed but had to inform his parents that they could not visit the monastery as they had been doing since now Daniel was to become dead to the world. At the young age of twelve, Daniel was tonsured a monk and accepted into the monastic and ascetical life.

Having heard of St. Symeon the Stylite's new devotion, Daniel was always desirous to go and investigate the Holy Lands and learn from this great elder. But the hegumen refused to allow him to go on his own. It happened once though that the Bishop required a meeting of elders in the Holy Land and the Archimandrite took Daniel with him as accompaniment. There, at the monastery in Telanissa where St. Symeon the Stylite had trained, they came across a crowd of monks disputing the new devotion. Certain of the monks mocked the concept of sitting atop a pillar for one's entire life. Other monks believed it to be a beneficial discipline for the body as it was subjected to all sorts of harsh environmental treatments. Symeon, hearing the disputes, called out to those on the ground from his pillar asking to be embraced.

Some refused to go up to the pillar as they were afraid. Others refused to go up to the pillar as they had just spoken out against the discipline and were uncertain if St. Symeon would receive them. Daniel had initially not ascended because he was subjected to the Archimandrite. But with the Archimandrite's permission, he climbed the ladder and embraced St. Symeon. Symeon prophesied of the hardships and the life that Daniel would face. "Thou hast many hardships to endure for God, but I trust in the God whom I serve that He shall both strengthen thee and travel together with thee. He shall give thee strength and help, that thou mightest vanquish the devil to the end." Daniel's life would be spent constantly battling devils and expelling from demons from many people. He would soon find himself in a heated spiritual combat with the devil and his minions.

When Daniel returned to the monastery, the hegumen died, leaving a vacancy for who would succeed him. The brothers loved Daniel and desired to have him elected to fulfill the vacancy. But Daniel refused. He fled the monastery and headed toward the Holy Land. But first, he stopped by St. Symeon the Stylite. Symeon told him that he was not to go to Jerusalem. He would suffer death there. Daniel was committed to go there anyway and said that he would suffer martyrdom for the Kingdom. Symeon told him this was not what God had called him for. He was to go to Byzantium. God is in Byzantium. As Daniel continued to head toward Jerusalem, he found a figure much like Symeon following him, warning him not to go to Jerusalem, but head to Byzantium. When Daniel figured out it was Symeon, he eventually heeded the elder's plea and turned to go to Byzantium.

It was in Byzantium that he came across a Temple of idols that some were saying had a demonic energy that caused many ships to crash and sailors to drown. Daniel, always eager to be tested, headed to the Temple and began praying there that the demons would be cast out of the Temple. He spent three nights in prayer being harangued by the assaults of the demons that filled the Temple. On the third night, the demons began throwing rocks at him. But he remained in the Temple, standing firm. "Though a host should draw up in battle-order against me, yet my heart shall not be afraid." (Ps. 26:4) As he defeated the demons through fasting and prayer, many came to Daniel to hear his instructions. But the demons began to sow the seeds of envy in certain impious souls.

Daniel was accused of being a heretic before Bishop Anatolios. But Bishop Anatolios guarded himself against a rash charge and desired to inquire of the manner further. He reminded the people that Daniel, who was Syriac, spoke a different tongue than the Greek-speaking men who accused him of heresy. That if it was God's will for Daniel to be there, then the demons would be sent away from the Temple and the Temple would be filled with holiness. A second time, Daniel was denounced as an impostor. Wishing to learn more about Daniel, Bishop Anatolios had Daniel brought to his chambers where he inquired of Daniel and a translator was able to help understand the Syriac dialect. The Bishop learned that Daniel was of the Orthodox Catholic faith and that he had been spending time in the Temple to vanquish the demons. While staying with the Bishop, Anatolios fell ill and Daniel healed him. Though the Bishop desired to excommunicate Daniel's detractors, Daniel begged the Bishop to forgive them instead. Though the Bishop wanted Daniel to remain with him, Daniel desired to return to the Temple.

In returning, Daniel beheld a vision of St. Symeon the Stylite with two angels around him, calling him to ascend. Daniel could not determine why he had seen this vision until Sergios, the disciple of St. Symeon, came across him. Sergios was bringing the koukoulion (cowl) of his former teacher to the Emperor Leo, but came across the Temple on his way. There, Daniel explained to Sergios his vision and Sergios revealed that St. Symeon had reposed and that while the koukoulion of St. Symeon was going to be a gift for the Emperor, he realized that God had arranged this visit by His Divine Providence and gave the koukoulion to Daniel instead. Sergios and Daniel both received a vision that Daniel was to become a Stylite, following in the footsteps of St. Symeon, and they left the Temple of idols.

While walking in the wilderness by a garden owned by Gelanios, a dove revealed to Sergios where the pillar for the new Stylite was to be built. Mark, an imperial guardsmen and friend of Sergios, helped them to build the pillar. Seeing the pillar built, Gelanios was determined to get rid of the Stylite, inspired by envy. He sent a claim to the Emperor and the Patriarch Gennadios I. Gennadios I ordered the Stylite to remove himself from the vicinity. Gelanios's field was destroyed by hail. Seeing the destruction, Gelanios's servants pleaded that he might actually benefit from the Stylite's prayers and it is disputable as to whether this was actually on Gelanios's lands. Gelanios, conversing in Syriac, asked Daniel to descend from the pillar but to not touch the ground with his feet. Daniel came down from the pillar and Gelanios, seeing the man's feet, then told the Stylite to go back atop his pillar and even asked the Stylite if he could build an even bigger pillar for him. In the meanwhile, Daniel dispelled a demon from a young child.

Sergios returned, building a booth by the pillar, and the two men saw their disciples begin to gradually increase. Daniel healed many sick and possessed people, including the daughter and the sister-in-law of Kyrios, the prefect of Constantinople, who would become the Bishop of Kolyaion. Kyrios had inscribed at the bottom of the pillar the following:

"Betwixt heaven and earth there stands a man who bears up and strives to gain against wind and rains, which he in no wise fears. His sustenance is ambrosial and his drink bloodless, which have armed this warrior's frame and rooted his two legs to the pillar; he who is the root of Symeon, both his heir and equal, is called Daniel the wondrous, who proclaims the most true God, the Son of the Mother who knew not wedlock."

Another man, Pontus, he healed the son of. He also delivered a child by his prayers to the Emperor's daughter Ariadne. She bore Leo II.

Though Daniel was still not without his detractors. A harlot named Vasiane was bribed to entice the Stylite but he would not give in to her whoredoms. She took on a variety of her seducing poses and lingered for a long time by the monasteries. But none of the brothers gave into her harlotries or seducting poses. Frustrated, she claimed Daniel had indeed given in to her seducings but she refused to ascend the ladder up to him so he had threatened to kill her. This was all a lie and a demon eventually overtook her. She eventually confessed the truth to all and Daniel forgave her, exorcising the demon that had taken over her and seized her. It was through this that even more people came to realize the work of the Stylite atop this pillar. From the moment of her healing, she would remain in a life of virtue.

Daniel was ordained a priest at the command of Emperor Leo I in a most unusual ceremony. Refusing to come down from his pillar, even for this, Patriarch Gennadios I informed the Stylite that the people had revealed the will of God when they announced, "Axios!" There was a Divine Liturgy that was celebrated around the pillar and the Patriarch ascended to the top of the pillar where he blessed Daniel with the ordination to the priestly rank. After this, the Emperor Leo I, who had become very close friends with the Stylite after his daughter had conceived, came to visit Daniel, asking for a blessing and offering to build an even bigger pillar for the Stylite. This pillar was an even bigger double-column that Daniel would sit upon for the remainder of his life.

Daniel, seeing that Constantinople had been plagued with heresies and unbeliefs, prophesied bitter destruction and ruin to the city unless they carried out penitential celebrations. But as Pascha was approaching, the Bishop did not want to cause more grief to the people with their festal celebrations already occurring, so the warning went unheeded. A fire broke out throughout the city and many orphans, widowers, and widows visited the Stylite and he took pity on them. "The wrath which came upon us was on account of our carelessness!" Coming to repentance, the Stylite announced that the fire would last for another week and then dissipate. These things came to pass as Daniel had prophesied.

That winter was particularly bitter and harsh and windy. The wind was so strong that it rocked the pillar back and forth. Many of the brothers thought the pillar would collapse and Daniel would be brought to his destruction. They rushed to fortify the base of the pillar with iron bars but the pillar continued to rock back and forth and they were thrown to the ground even as they tried to save the Stylite. Daniel put his trust in the Lord, realizing that this mortal body was only a shell and vessel to assist him in getting to his main goal. "Bring out my soul from prison in order to give thanks to Thy name." (Psalm 141:10) Emperor Leo was troubled by the wind and investigated, finding that the foundation of the pillar was set incorrectly and demanded the architect be put to death. As he left the Stylite, the Devil was hoping to stir up trouble between the Emperor and the saint, and the Emperor's horse threw him to the ground, causing a jewel to break out from the crown. Jordan, the horse's master, informed Daniel of what had happened, and how he was an Arian but would convert to Orthodoxy if the Emperor spared him. The Emperor, understanding that he had caused more offense to the Stylite by mounting a horse while the Stylite stood on a pillar, confessed that it was his own fault and he would never ascend the mountain on horseback again, instead leaving the horse at the base of the mountain when he visited the Stylite. As in the case of Vasiane, in which a soul was converted through the Devil's malice, yet again, a soul was converted through the Devil's malice and attempts at ruin.

St. Daniel the Stylite's wisdom was so trusted by the Emperor that when Gouzavios, King of Lazika and Emperor of the Rhomaioi wished to settle a treaty with Leo, they both sought council from the holy wisdom of Daniel to mediate their dispute. When Daniel froze during the winter that year, the Emperor Leo took sympathy on the Stylite and built a roof atop the pillar for him. Though Daniel refused initially, he then allowed this gift from the Emperor. The Emperor would send many noblemen to seek council from the Stylite, and when Gaiseric, King of the Vandals and persecutor of Christians, threatened to invade the Empire, Daniel told the Emperor to place his trust in God and not pursue military action against the Gothic King. The threat would subside. Leo would bring the relics of St. Symeon the Stylite back to Daniel's pillar and built a church dedicated to St. Symeon there. When the Emperor's General Edranos, an aggressive, wolfish, and valiant man of military might, met with the Stylite, he came to a sense of peace and was turned to a lamb. He joined the monastery and the Emperor demanded him back. But the Stylite informed the Emperor that God's defense was sufficient for the Empire and he would find a new General, equally fierce, soon enough. Daniel would bless Zeno's campaign against the Barbarians and prophesied all of Zeno's troubles that would soon befall, including the treacherous plot against the Emperor Zeno and the Empress Ariadne, their flight to Chalcedon, and their return to the throne.

Basiliskos would be involved in a coup against the Emperor Zeno not long after Emperor Leo I's death. Emperor Leo II would succeed his father, but being too young, the Emperor Zeno, the husband of the Empress Ariadne, would fulfill the role of regent. After Leo II's early death, Emperor Zeno would take full control of the Empire. Not being the blood relation of Leo I, many subordinates in the Senate would despise the new Emperor and seek to overthrow him. Basiliskos overthrew Zeno and sat on the throne as an usurper. He favored the Monophysite heresy and forced the Church to overturn the Council of Chalcedon and allow communion with the Monophysites. Daniel the Stylite would guide the Church through this crisis and convince the new Patriarch Akakios to resist the Emperor in his heresy. Daniel sent a note to the Emperor stating the following:

"Thou has brought turmoil to the Church and despised her priests....Do not give that which is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine. Thus, God has found thee wanting and thy kingdom shall be taken from thee."

He also pointed out that Basiliskos meant "little king" as well as "snake". The people praised Daniel's actions, proclaiming in the Church of Hagia Sophia, "The holy Daniel of the Church! The new Daniel has come to save Susanna in her distress! Another Elias has put to shame Jezebel and Ahab! In thee we have an orthodox priest who protects the Bride of Christ!"

Patriarch Akakios sent messengers to the Stylite to convince him to come down off his pillar and condemn the Emperor in person. Daniel was persistent in refusing, but seeing the men would not let up, allowed himself to be taken down from his pillar and carried to Constantinople. When Basiliskos heard that the Stylite was in Constantinople, he fled to his palace in Hebdomon. Daniel, while in Constantinople, would not be satisfied unless he personally gave censure to the Emperor. As his feet were unfit for walking, the people carried the Stylite all the way to the palace. He healed lepers on the way there and when they arrived, he applied the Gospel command to take the shoes off one's feet and kick the dust off to the Emperor. There were so many people at the palace taking their shoes off and kicking the dust off that the guards heard a clap as if of thunder and joined with the Stylite. The Stylite was proclaimed a Consul as this was seen as an insurrection against the usurper Emperor.

The palace collapsed, the capital burnt, and Zeno returned to Constantinople with the Empress Ariadne to the praise and joy of the people. Basiliskos, his wife, and his child, were sentenced to exile having been formally excommunicated by the Stylite in the presence of the Patriarch Akakios, and they starved to death. While Daniel walked back to the capital to excommunicate the Emperor, a snake wrapped itself around his feet but died. This happened in the presence of Akakios. These events were indubitably the climax of the Stylite's life though when he returned to his pillar, he would continue to perform many more miracles, exorcisms, and various healings which are too numerous to even list.

He announced his repose a week before to his brothers. On the day of his repose, he celebrated one last liturgy and communed. A demon-possessed man confirmed Daniel's repose mentioning the angels, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, surrounding the holy man in the hour of his repose and how this caused him great suffering. When Daniel reposed, he would be expelled and the man would be healed. When this came to pass, it was confirmed that Daniel had in fact entered into eternal glory at last. Daniel reposed on December 11, 493 A.D. at the age of 84 years. Rais, a Patrician woman whom Daniel's intercession brought a child named Zeno to, constructed a spiral staircase around the pillar where Daniel stood all his life. His body was placed in a lead coffin and carried down by Patriarch Euphemios so as it would not be stolen. He was buried above the tomb of the Three Children so that when all come to venerate St. Daniel the Stylite, they come to venerate the Three Children who were thrown into the fire. St. Daniel the Stylite, preserve our Faith and pray for the Bride of Christ! Amen.

Hannah, the Mother of Samuel

In the Latin calendar, and some Eastern Catholic calendars, the Feast Day of the Conception of the Ever-Virgin is celebrated on December 8. Most Greek Catholics have retained the traditional date as December 9. The purpose is twofold. It is to remind us that the Ever-Virgin full of grace, has her grace in the origin of God. It also remarkably falls on the date of the Feast Day of Hannah, the Mother of the Prophet Samuel, and last Judge of Israel. In writing about Hannah, the Mother of the Prophet Samuel, I am by no means diminishing the Feast Day of the Conception of Mary. In contrast, it is actually an amplification of the Feast Day of the Conception of Mary. Scriptures have a multitude of meanings and it is important for us to reflect on all of them. It is like eating into a multi-layered chocolate cake. We see in the connection between Hannah and the Ever-Virgin Mary a typological approach to Scriptures.

In Hannah, we see a barren woman. Hannah is the first wife of the priest Elkanah. Peninnah, his second wife, had children and would bring grief to Hannah. Hannah, asking the Lord for a child, was blessed with one whom she would dedicate to the Temple of God. This also is a figure of the story of Abraham, Hagar, and Sarah. For Sarah is barren and ordered Abraham to have relations with Hagar delivering Ishmael. But Isaac was the chosen son. Sarah would later bear Isaac in her old age. From barrenness comes the greatest fruit of the Church for it was also in Hannah's namesake, Anna, the mother of Our Lady, who we would see another barren woman give birth to the child who would bear the Christ-Child. Not only in that are the two women of Hannah and Mary connected, but also in many other features.

For both Hannah and Mary, there is a miraculous nature to the conception of their children. Mary has a Virginal conception, her Son, God-Incarnate, Jesus Christ, is to be born without Her knowing any man. For Hannah, she was barren, but the Lord fulfilled her prayer for a child. Anna, who was Mary's mother, and is celebrated with her namesake Hannah on the Feast Day of the Conception of Mary, dedicates her child to the Temple from infancy as does Hannah with the Prophet Samuel. The Prophet Samuel not only came before the period of the Israelite Kingdom, but also would anoint both the first and second Kings of Israel. In a sense, Hannah is also intricately connected with the barren Elizabeth, the cousin of the Virgin Mary.

Elizabeth bears the forerunner John Baptist who announces the coming Kingdom of Christ as did Samuel announce the Kingdom of Saul and then the Kingdom of David. Hannah gives birth to the first forerunner and Elizabeth gives birth to the second forerunner. The first forerunner paved the way for the Kingdom of Israel to be made. The second forerunner paved the way for the King to take His throne in the Kingdom. Thus, Hannah is intricately connected to the Virgin Mary by being a prefigurement of the Forerunner's Mother. But Hannah is also a prefigurement of the Virgin Mary herself.

In both the account of Hannah's miraculous birth to Samuel and the Virgin Mary's miraculous birth to Jesus Christ, the women are seen giving praise to God in poetry. Hannah gives praise in 1 Sam. 2:1-10 and Mary gives praise in Luke 1:46-55. In both Hannah's prayer and in the Virgin Mary's prayer, we see how the roles in society have become inversed in the miraculous accounts of the birth of their children. The rich have been sent away empty and those who were once fruitful have become barren. The two show a reversal of fortunes in the account of the birth of their children.

In Hannah, the church fathers saw a prefigurement of the New Testament. Hannah displaces Peninnah as she gives birth to the Prophet Samuel. Much as in the birth of Isaac, St. Paul draws a prefigurement of the children of God in contrast to the children of the bondwoman. Hannah symbolizes the New Testament Church and Peninnah the Old Testament Church. The Old Testament Church turns to apostasy as it refuses to hear the Gospel and accept their own Messiah. The New Testament Church comes to fulfillment in the Gospel and they receive their Messiah and their King. Hannah receives the fullness of the Kingdom of Christ and Peninnah, as the apostate Jews, is sent away empty in her own blasphemies as she chose to mock the holy woman.

Hannah is a prefigurement of her namesake Anna who is celebrated today when we celebrate the Conception of the Virgin Mary. Hannah is celebrated the same day as the Conception of the Virgin Mary because she foreshadows Anna. Not only does Hannah foreshadow Anna in bearing a child to be dedicated to the Temple, she also foreshadows Elizabeth in bearing a forerunner to the Kingdom of Israel on Earth as Elizabeth bore the Forerunner to the Kingdom of Heaven. And finally, Hannah, in her song of praise, foreshadows the Blessed Mary Ever-Virgin's song of praise in thanksgiving to Our Lord for having become the vessel of Divine Grace. Mary, full of grace, is born of grace, for the name Hannah in Hebrew means "grace". The name Anna is the Greek variant of Hannah. Greek Catholics have retained the Feast Day of Our Lady's Conception for today because it falls on the Feast Day of the Holy Mother of Samuel, and also because Our Lady's birthday is September 8. Because Our Lady's grace was received from God, the one-day off signifies this only defect that Our Lady experienced in Her entire life from conception onward, in that she was not fully God.

St. Nicholas of Myra

St. Nicholas, the great Archbishop of Myra and the Patron of All the Eastern Churches, was born in Patara to his parents Theophanes and Nonna. They were modest in their estate, neither poor nor vastly rich. And they dedicated themselves to a life of celibacy shortly after St. Nicholas was born. Fasting from the moment of his birth, St. Nicholas only sucked from the right breast of his mother and only after the ninth hour, refraining on Wednesdays and Fridays as the ancient Tradition of the Church. He sucked from the right breast as it would be the right hand of the Lord that he would stand on in his glorification. He shunned vain conversations and familiar talk with women and was deemed worthy by his uncle to be consecrated to the priesthood. It was prophesied by his uncle what a great preacher and defender of the faith this man would soon become.

When his parents reposed, he distributed his inheritance to the needy, the orphan and the widow, and asked his congregation to pray for the repose of his parents. St. Nicholas would not allow anyone to witness the good deeds he performed for men and once, there was a formerly rich father who had three maiden daughters who lost all of his wealth. When the saint heard the father was about to sell his daughters into harlotry to repay his losses, he took pity on the three innocent maidens. One night, St. Nicholas took a sack of gold and while the father and the three maidens were asleep, he came to the house and threw the sack of gold into the house. The next morning, the father discovered the sack of gold on the floor of the house and opened the sack to find 300 gold coins inside. He used it to purchase a dowry for his oldest and marry her off. St. Nicholas, seeing the money was put to good use, rewarded the man for his decision. Once again, he came to the house at night and threw another sack into the house. The man, seeing the gold coins, purchased a dowry for his second daughter and married her off. He desired to find out who this benefactor was but could never see him. He had no idea it was St. Nicholas as Nicholas did not reveal what he was doing. The man hid behind the window with his third daughter to see if his benefactor would return. This time, as St. Nicholas threw the gold coins in through the window, the man was prepared and ran outside to discover who his benefactor was. Finding it was none other than the Presbyter, he eagerly thanked him for this generous gift. St. Nicholas ordered him to tell no one. "For the sake of the kindness shown thee, do me the favor of saying nothing regarding it for as long as I live; otherwise, I shall hold thee responsible before God." The man purchased a dowry for his third daughter and married her off.

Traveling to the Holy Land, a storm rocked the boat that St. Nicholas was on. This was the Devil trying to drown all of those aboard. The mariners begged St. Nicholas to intercede on their behalf and upon his intercession, the storm subsided. A mariner, going up to fix the mast which had broken during the storm, fell to his death. Not wanting this moment of peace to turn into a moment of mourning, St. Nicholas called upon the mercy of God to raise the man back to life and the man arose as if he had only been asleep. St. Nicholas was drawn ever-so to the Holy Land and wanted to remain there but an angel ordered him to return to his homeland of Patara for he was not to remain in the Holy Land. As he was traveling back to Patara, he came through Myra, a city whose Archbishop had just reposed. The bishops were disputing as to who should be appointed to fulfill the Archiepiscopal See when it was revealed to one that there had been a priest walking through the land and that was who was to be consecrated to the See. As St. Nicholas came through the church in Myra, the bishop found him and declared that this was the one to become the Archbishop of Myra. St. Nicholas was consecrated such.

During reign as the Archbishop of Myra, the Devil inspired Maximian and Diocletian to war against the Christians. Many Christians fled to Myra and the Archbishop was seized and imprisoned with them where he continued to encourage them, preaching the Faith. When Constantine legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire, the hierarch was released from his cell. He sought to banish the idols in the Temple of Artemis who were deceiving many of the Pagans as they perceived as her the Moon goddess. He interceded and prayed for the banishment of the demons from that Temple of idolatry and by his prayers, the Temple was destroyed. Asking him where they should run to, St. Nicholas told them, "Go to the fire, the everlasting fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels!"

It was at this time that a certain presbyter named Arius was spreading a blasphemy throughout the land that the Son was not co-eternal with the Father but was actually created by the Father. St. Nicholas, as the Archbishop of Myra took part in the First Ecumenical Council which was convened by the Emperor Constantine as he saw a growing division amongst Christians and was concerned by this. As the bishops gathered to condemn the Arian heresy, Arius was hoping that the Emperor would be sympathetic to his position. This First Ecumenical Council, convened in Nicaea, would banish the Arian heresy and also establish the dating of Easter which was also a position of dispute in both the Eastern and Western Churches. St. Nicholas, who had defended Myra from the stain of the heresy of Arius, grew so irate at the blasphemies of this heretical presbyter that he would slap Arius all the way across the face. Arius questioned the Emperor if such behavior was acceptable and the Emperor explained that such an action would require the hand of St. Nicholas to be cut off. Not wanting him to lose his hand, the bishops gathered and stated that they would discipline the Archbishop. St. Nicholas was defrocked and thrown in prison. There, the Theotokos would appear to St. Nicholas with the omophorion in approval of the act. Seeing that his denunciation of Arius was approved by Our Lady, the bishops restored him to his episcopal see.

When the rebellious Taiphalions were threatening secession from the Empire, Constantine sent his Colonels Nepotion, Ursos, and Erpylion to quell the resistance. They stopped by Myra and their soldiers began robbing the marketplace. St. Nicholas ran out to rebuke them for they were disrupting the peace as it was their men who were robbing the marketplace and looting. Made aware of the unholy acts of their soldiers, the three Colonels rebuked their men and gave harsh penalties to them for their acts of robbery. After this incident, St. Nicholas received the three Colonels in great hospitality in the holy Church.

There was an incident in which the Governor Efstathios, having been bribed, was about to put to death three innocent men who had been slandered. St. Nicholas, hearing the lamentations of the families of these three innocent men, rushed to the Governor to stop him from this act. Just as the Governor was about to behead the first man, the saint grabbed the sword out of the Governor's hand rebuking him for the lack of rule of law that was followed in this incident. He rebuked the Governor for having taken bribes and he threatened to turn the Governor over to the Emperor if he went through with his deed. The Governor, frightened, and having seen the holy man of God grab his own sword directly from his hand, relented and let the innocent men go.

When Nepotion, Ursos, and Erpylion were made Generals by the Emperor Constantine, they served the Emperor ever faithfully and directly at his side. But men who were envious of their disposition petitioned Avavlios that these three men were guilty of conspiring with the Taiphalions to bring down the Emperor. The three men were not even told what they were being accused of, but Avavlios had them locked away. The men who had slandered the Generals begged that they needed to be executed at once before they made do with their treasonous actions. This was really nothing more than a plight to get rid of them for their own dispositions. The Generals, seeing they would soon be executed, remembered how St. Nicholas had saved three innocent men from death already and begged for the intercession of the saint. The saint showed up to both Constantine and Avavlios in a dream saying, "Quickly art thou to have them released, because otherwise I shall make petition against thee when I pray to God that He take thee from this life." The Emperor and Avavlios met together, both having received this vision of St. Nicholas and questioned the three Generals who explained of St. Nicholas's actions in freeing three innocent men from death. The Emperor, understanding that the men were innocent, released them. The three Generals would soon enter into monastic life.

One last act he did before his repose was that when certain mariners were being rocked by a violent storm, they called upon his intercession and his figure appeared in a boat to intercede for their deliverance. When the mariners met St. Nicholas, stopping by Myra, they thanked him for his deliverance. Sensing their heated physical passions, St. Nicholas warned them against the sin of fornication so that he could save them from both the storm and the Hellfire. St. Nicholas thus performed many miracles in his earthly life as well as after his repose. It is not necessary to discuss all of his miracles in full detail though I will certainly highlight a few on my other blog this coming week and will add them to this post.

Before he reposed, St. Nicholas fell ill. After his repose, many of the faithful mourned having lost such an illustrious teacher and shepherd but the Heavens rejoiced upon receiving the saint into eternal glory. In 1088, during the reign of the Emperor Alexios Komnenos and the Patriarch Nicholas III of Constantinople, his relics were translated from the Saracen ravaged Myra to Bari. Patriarch John II of Kyiv declared May 9 to celebrate the translation of the relics though in the Greek Churches, the celebration of the translation of the relics is May 20. Pope Urban II erected a church in Bari and when liturgy was being said there, myrrh would gush forth from the relics. The chanting was slowed on the saint's Feast Day to allow for the collection of myrrh by parishioners. However, this day, according to St. Nicodemos the Hagiorite, the exact location of the relics of the saint remain unknown as certain of the relics were sold to Prince Gikas of Wallachia and then later to the Russians. The Pope also gifted to the Greek Archdiocese of America in 1972 other relics. St. Nicholas is considered the Patron Saint of Russia and of All the Eastern Churches. As such, his Feast Day often surpasses that of the Feast Day of the Conception of Our Lady in the East, though she is consistently venerated all throughout the festal season of the Philip's Fast. He continues to perform miracles to this day. For those who follow my Facebook page, we have already mentioned St. Stephen Uros III's healing of blindness. St. Nicholas of Myra, pray for our church!

St. Nicholas and the Three Maidens

St. Nicholas and Arius

St. Nicholas and the Executioner

St. Nicholas and Patriarch Anastasios

St. John of Damascus

St. John of Damascus was born around the year 675 A.D. at a time the Muhammaden heresy was in full power in the Holy Lands. Not only this, but the Emperor Leo the Isaurian began to reign during the lifetime of this holy man and would pursue with a vengeance this man of God. Leo the Isaurian was a notorious God-hating iconoclast who despised the veneration of holy images and the orthodox faith of the Apostolic Catholic Church. Though heresy was rampant throughout his birthplace, St. John's parents preserved the Faith and they reared him to preserving it as well. Sergios was a faithful servant of the Caliph and was in a prominent position but the Caliph whom he served was more lenient toward Christians at the time and allowed the practice of Christianity.

Sergios would adopt an orphan named Kosmas who became a brother to St. John. But he wanted the boys to be well-learned in the faith. Once, he came across a monk named Kosmas who was about to be executed who was weeping bitterly. Sergios asked the monk why he was weeping so in the face of death as martyrdom should bring a Christian great joy and Kosmas disclosed that while he had studied the natural sciences throughout his life, finding them incomplete, he began to study the theology of the Orthodox Church. There, he came to faith, but he had no disciple to pass on his knowledge to. Thus, rejoicing, Sergios had realized he had found a man to tutor his sons in the sciences. He ordered Kosmas to weep no more for he would be released and would tutor his sons. He pleaded to the Caliph to release Kosmas and the Caliph obliged. Kosmas educated the young John and Kosmas until they surpassed him in knowledges. Upon this, Kosmas, who had become a dear friend to Sergios, reposed. Sergios would repose not long afterward and John would be elevated to the role of Advisor to the Caliph following his father's footsteps.

St. John wrote relentlessly against the attacks of the iconoclasts that were wreaking havoc upon the Church. He defended the veneration of icons on the basis that matter was made holy and good by God. "I salute all remaining matter with reverence, because God has filled it with His grace and power." When we venerate the icons, we are not worshiping a mere image nor are we worshiping matter. We are reverencing the grace of God that the icon has been filled with. We are venerating what is behind the image and has filled the image. His writings eventually reached the Emperor Leo the Isaurian as they spread beyond the Saracen world and throughout the Byzantine Empire. The Emperor Leo was incensed at the writings of this holy man and so obtained one of St. John's writings that was in his own hand. Ordering a copyist to forge the handwriting, he began a plot to frame the saint of treason against the Caliph. As the Emperor could not lay a hand on St. John himself, he had to go about this line of dubious business. A letter that called upon the Emperor to combat the Caliph and liberate the Christians was forged in John's name and sent to the Caliph. The Caliph, finding the letter, ordered the right hand of John to be cut off.

St. John, lamenting the loss of his right hand, asked if he could keep it as a memory. The hand was brought to St. John by a servant and John took the hand placed it upon the icon of the Holy Theotokos. He prayed for healing. St. John fell asleep before the icon and when he arose, he found his hand healed once more.

Thy mighty right hand, O Lord, is glorified in strength. Thy right hand has healed my wounded my right; and, by the same, crush those that refuse to honor thy revered icon and that of Thy Mother. Use my right hand to magnify Thy glory and as an organ against those who destroy icons.

A red thread was wrapped into the wrist of St. John providing evidence that his hand had indeed been cut off, so when he was falsely accused yet again of putting someone else in place to have their right hand severed, he was able to present this evidence to the Caliph. The Caliph, repenting, offered to St. John's old position of Chief Advisor back, but St. John refused, preferring to flee to the monastery of St. Savvas with his brother Kosmas.

In rigorous testing from the elder, he was ordered to go to Damascus selling baskets for twice the price they were worth as the monastery needed money. It was a test of his obedience. He was mocked by many people there who didn't recognize him, but one man who recognized him did pay the price for the baskets that were being sold though he did not disclose to the saint that he was recognized. St. John learned obedience and humility this way. He was ordered by the elder not to write any troparia or sing any hymns, but when a brother reposed, the brothers at the monastery pleaded earnestly that he would write a hymn for the brother who had fallen asleep. The elder was away from the monastery at this point, and St. John eventually gave into the pressure from the brothers, and disobeying his elder, wrote a most beautiful troparion that is still chanted today. The elder, finding out what had happened, banished St. John from the monastery.

The brothers, lamenting, begged the elder to allow St. John back into the monastery as St. John reflected on how his disobedience to the elder was similar to the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The elder eventually let him back into the monastery on the condition that he clean the monastery's bathrooms. St. John, eager to go back to the monastery, took this task faithfully upon himself and the elder was pleased to have such an obedient and humble servant among the brothers. It would be revealed to the elder in a vision of the Theotokos that he had been faithlessly suppressing the holy servant of God. That John was to write all sorts of troparia and defend the Faith in his writings against all sorts of heresies, and explain the Faith to many. The elder, repenting of his former suppression of the saint, allowed John to begin writing all sorts of canons, troparia, idiomela, prosomia, homilies, encomia, octoechos, and various other dogmatic instructions defending the Faith.

He and Kosmas began teaching music together and they compiled a Grammar of Music to help teach music to monastics. He would soon be ordained a priest by John V, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and would be known as "The Mouthpiece of John" for his preaching and apologetic writings on the Faith. This would incur upon him the wrath of Leo the Isaurian and Constantine V. Kosmas would be consecrated as Bishop of Maiouma in 743 and John would rely heavily upon his brother's advice. St. John went on to write various discourses explaining the Orthodox Faith including Elementary Introduction to Dogma, Exposition and Profession of Faith, On the Holy Trinity, The Fount of Knowledge, and even an encomia to St. Barbara of whom he shares a Feast Day with. He reposed in the year 777 at the age of 104. He has influenced many philosophers, both East and West, including the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas. St. John of Damascus, pray for us!

St. Barbara

St. Barbara was born to the toparch Dioscoros, an ungodly man, during the reign of the Emperor Maximian. Her parents, seeing her beauty, desired to keep her hidden from men and would only allow certain sets of suitors to come. She was stored away in a tower and would turn down each and every one, desiring ultimately to preserve her virginity. Dioscoros, thinking this was out of naïve peevishiness on his daughter's part, had a bathing house built alongside the tower. The tower was filled with idols and Dioscoros ordered his men to construct the bathing house with two windows. But the maiden would have an encounter with Christ as the bathing house was being built and realized that it would be much more beautiful with three windows rather than the two her father desired to have constructed. Once, when basking in the waters of the bathing house, the virgin traced her fingers to form the image of the cross. It was at this point that the maiden realized that the idols were worthless.

When her father returned, he saw that there were three windows, as opposed to the two he had ordered, and questioned why. The maiden explained that the three windows were far more beautiful than the two he had intended to construct in the bathing house for, "Three windows shine upon every person who comes into the world." The maiden expressed a very vivid and detailed understanding of the nature of the Triune God by this statement which baffled her father. Realizing that his daughter no longer adhered to his idolatry, the man became furious and forgot his blood-relations with his daughter. He chased her out of the tower and as she fled down the mountainside, she was preserved from his anger as St. Thekla was once preserved from her pursuers.

In pursuit of his daughter, Dioscoros came across two shepherds. One did not have the heart to give up the persecuted virgin to her pursuer so he denied having seen her. The other was malicious in character and pointed the father in her direction. As a Divine punishment upon the shepherd, his sheep were turned to acanthus plants and he was deprived of his herd. Her father found her and took her before the Governor Markianos who encouraged her to embrace the idols of the Roman religion and preserve her life. He desired not to kill such a young and beautiful woman. But St. Barbara refused and gave her worship to Christ. She was subjected to different tortures and thrashed about, being deprived of her beauty but healed by Christ. The Governor claimed it was the gods who had healed her but she knew better and resisted his malicious deceits.

St. Barbara, rebuking the Governor, was sentenced to a second round of beatings. During these beatings, a witness, St. Juliane, wept for the saint and was spotted by the Governor Markianos. Revealing herself to be a Christian, Juliane was suspended on high and her flesh was lacerated and burned with lit torches. Their breasts were torn out, Juliane was imprisoned, and Barbara was led out naked through the streets, in mockery. St. Barbara, not wishing herself to be defiled, called out to God to have her clothed. Angels descended upon the Holy Virgin clothing her in a splendid array of glory, once again foiling the plight of the Pagans who attempted to defile her.

Seeing that Juliane and Barbara would not be swayed toward the demonic cult of heathenism anymore, the Governor ordered his executioner to behead the two Holy Women. But St. Barbara's father, forgetting his own blood relation with his daughter, desired himself to be the one to execute her. He went up with the executioner to the mountain where the two would be beheaded and as the executioner fell upon Juliane with his blade, so too did Dioscoros fall upon his own daughter with his blade. The saints executed, the vengeance of God would not go unsatiated. As Dioscoros descended from the mountain, a lightning bolt from the sky struck him down, reducing his flesh to nothingness and sentencing him to the fiery torment for his gruesome actions. Witnessing the flash of lightning fall upon the Toparch, the Governor Markianos went insane and died in his own madness. A man named Valentinos would preserve the relics of the two Holy Martyrs in a nearby village.

St. Barbara, mostly from the way her father died, is a patron saint of artillery, lightning, fire, gunpowder, gunners, and sudden death. She is called upon during thunderstorms and to preserve against sudden death. She is also revered as a military patroness for her patronage over gunners and artillery units. St. Barbara, pray for us!

The distortion of reality

I mentioned in my last post that there is a distorted reality that often overcomes me from my depression. What is the first distortion of reality? The spiritual and the mental often times overlap because the psyche is the soul. Psyche which is the root of the words "psychiatry" and "psychology" is a Greek word that refers to the soul. The Hebrews called this the lev. The word lev refers to the heart. While the lev is a part of the nephesh and the neshema, the latter two are found in other animals but the lev is unique to the human being. It gives the human being a rational thought and an inclination for the Divine that is lacking in the animal nature. Man alone was created in the image of God. While all of creation testifies of the ability of God and praises Him in some way or form and they will partake in the redemption of the New Creation, Man alone is made for a Divine Communion with God. Man alone has an inheritance to partake in the Divine Nature.

When Man was created in the Garden of Eden, he was created to dwell in perfection and immortality. God had gifted Man with His own perfect likeness. They could eat of all the fruit in the Garden save for the one that grew from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The serpent slithered along its belly and told the woman that the reason why God had told them not to eat of that tree was because Man would become exactly like God. This was not what God taught them nor was it what the Church teaches. God had already made Man in His own likeness. There was no benefit from eating the tree in becoming like God because Man was already like God! But the serpent insisted that Man was not like God, that they needed the tree to become like God. The serpent had already begun distorting reality by denying that Man was created in the image of God.

From the first sin onward, Man threw his entire relationship with God into discontinuity and distortion. Creation became disordered and suffers until its final redemption. Yes, creation shall be redeemed when the world is made anew (Rom. 8:19-23). When Man is brought back into harmony with his Creator, so will creation be brought back into harmony. The consequences of the first sin, the acceptance of a distorted reality that never was, threw creation and Man into a drastic imbalance. We see this imbalance at play in the mental health impact upon the world. Because the psyche is the one aspect of Man that is so directly and intimately connected to God, the imbalance caused by the first sin is shown forth in the negative impact of mental health. This is why Man experiences things such as boredom, depression, anxiety, anger. We are impacted by our ancestors' first sin and thrown into confusion and imbalance, the despair of being severed from the communion with our Creator which is what was intended from the beginning.

Striving to reconnect with our Creator, we go about with all these different sorts of distorted realities, influenced by the lie of the serpent, thinking we can reach Him entirely of our own willpower and volition. But we need Him to free us and free us He does for His offer of grace is free to us. We are already intimately connected to Him because we possess the image and likeness of God but we are severed from Him by our participation in and acceptance of a distortion and a lie. We are thrown into confusion by the Devil's forked snake-tongue. We give into the unreality. Our hearts know that it is True what He offers to us but our weakened psyche often times forces us into accepting this distorted reality, giving into the passions of the flesh, because we are both spiritual and physical beings, meant for communion with God, but bound to accept the adversities of the flesh. As St. Paul himself states, "the evil that I do not want is what I do" (Rom. 7:19).

This entire fleshly life is a trial for the psyche. It is not that the flesh is not a good, for the flesh is an earthly vessel for the psyche and it is the Temple that God intended to House the psyche in. But the flesh has suffered from the corruption of the Fall. It is bound to death and destruction, crying out to its Creator to be resurrected back to Life in glory and there is the Hope of the Resurrection (1 Cor. 15:42-49). We are not bound to sufferings, but we are bound to trials and adversities. We live in a distortion of the image of God, but we live in the hope that the image of God will be restored in immortality for Christ Himself was raised from the dead to prove this! As I mentioned in my first post in this series, when experiencing an episode of depression, I find myself in a distorted reality. The sun may be shining but the motivation to do anything is gone, non-existent, and it seems to be raining all around. The sin that has bound Man to this distortion of his spirit and flesh is based on a distortion of reality. A denial that Man was made in the image of God and the promotion of the lie that something other than God could give this gift to Man. Man turned himself over to Satan in the Garden of Eden. Man turned himself over to a liar. And from this, we live in the consequences until we participate in the ultimate healing in the Resurrection of Our Lord.

The rain fell and the sun was shining

He was lying in the bed as the rain came down all around outside. He wanted to go for a run and as he walked to the door, the sun was shining. As he reached the door, the water fell from the sky all around, the grey clouds dominated the sun, taking over in their battle for the sky. The sun was shining bright outside but he could not go because it was pouring wet with rain. It was too dark, too damp, too wet. How could he find motivation for anything? For life? He wanted to sulk back into the cocoon, seeping deep underneath the covers of his blanket. It felt as if something heavy was crushing him. He could barely breathe. He curled up into fetal position and began to scream for help, wondering if this time, he would be heard.

This had been his entire adult life from the graduation of high school all throughout university and beyond. But it had really increased during university. There were things his heart wanted to believe but his brain would not let him. There was a beautiful reality but his mind did not want to accept. While the sun was shining, his mind insisted that the sky was playing tricks on him. It was really raining. What is this depression we are thrown into consistently? Why do some people have to go through a literal Hell on Earth? He took out the razors again, wondering if the physical pain would diminish the interior pain. Or perhaps someone would notice and take pity on him. He wanted someone in his life. He was alone. Someone he could just rest his head on for a change. Where could he find someone like that?

He had been locked in an unreality for so long. Forced onto social media to find friends because he couldn't cling to anyone in real life. After high school, his old friends dispersed. Most of them just remembered him as that quirky weird guy who told conspiracy theories about the Catholic Church or that guy who had all these different outbursts. How would anyone recognize him as the convert he was now? Even if he could reconnect with them, they'd be in disbelief at who he was at least attempting to become. They would consider him out of his mind. He didn't really talk to anyone at church. He tried, but most people were going about their lives. Such are things in the deep suburbs. If it isn't work, it's sleeping from exhaustion. People connect with people who are closer to them in physical difference, no one wants to drive out an hour's length to connect with someone it seems.

Of course, even the people on social media aren't enough. Even they could not withstand his outbursts. Blocked, unfriended, unfollowed by mutuals. Was there ever any hope of retaining any such friendships both real or in the online world? Probably not. We don't always see what's behind someone's sufferings. We assume everything is great, everything is perfect. Perhaps she can shed some light on all of the brokenness hidden behind. There she is, perfect and beautiful. She is the most beautiful soul he has ever met. Perhaps if the Theotokos hadn't overtaken her before, she would have been the most beautiful woman who ever walked the earth. She gives him a shoulder to rest his head on. She smiles at him and listens to him. She cares about him and her own children. She looks at him as one of her own children. And yet deep down, even she is fighting a battle.

People are not perfect, despite their outward experiences. They wrestle with dragons that are far more terrible than the myths and legends of the romance world. These dragons try to pry their lives from them. How is it that the richest nations can experience so many psychologically and clinically depressed people? We can provide, we have jobs, but there is something missing from our lives. Like an incomplete puzzle, missing a piece. Children are starving across the world, being forced into grueling labors against their wills, but depression hits at the richest of nations. Because in spite of our wealth, we have chosen to feign relationships across. We have refused to accept our fleshly kin. We have our friends in real life but we have forgotten to talk to them in anything other than, "LOL", "TTYL", "ROTFL", "TBH", "IMO", and several other choice smiley face emojis. We have been programmed for the age of electronic communication and deceived into thinking that reality has been usurped. But our friends are right before our eyes. Someone cares deeply for us as a son, someone cares deeply for us as a mother, someone cares deeply for us as a father.

The sun is shining...but the rain continues to fall. But the sun is shining so the rain must not be real.