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JUNE 14

June 14

THE HOLY PROPHET ELISHA

Elisha lived nine hundred years before Christ. When the Lord willed to take the aged Prophet Elias (Elijah) to Himself, He revealed to him that He had designated Elisha, the son of Shaphat, of the tribe of Reuben from the town of Abel-Meholah, as his successor in the prophetic service. Elias informed Elisha of God's will and draped him with his mantle, imploring God for a two-fold portion of grace of prophecy for him. Elisha immediately left his home and family and followed Elias. When the Lord took Elias in a fiery chariot, Elisha remained to continue the prophetic service with yet greater power than Elias. By his purity and zeal, Elisha was equal to the greatest prophets, and by the miraculous power that was given to him by God, Elisha exceeded them all. He parted the waters of the Jordan as Moses once parted the Red Sea; he made drinkable the bitter waters in Jericho; he brought forth water into the excavated trenches during the war with the Moabites; he multiplied the oil in the pots of the poor widow; he resurrected the dead son of the Shunammite woman; he fed a hundred people with twenty small loaves of bread; he healed commander Naaman of leprosy; he called down leprosy upon his servant Gehazi because of the latter's greed; he blinded the entire Syrian army and also forced another army to flee; he foretold many events to the nation as well as to individuals. Elisha died at a very old age.

SAINT METHODIUS, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE

Methodius was born in the town of Syracuse in Sicily. After the completion of his secular studies, he was tonsured a monk and began to live a life of asceticism in a monastery. Patriarch Nicephorus took him into his service. During the reign of the iconoclastic emperors, he became widely known as a firm defender of the veneration of icons. For this, the wicked Emperor Theophilus exiled him to an island with two common criminals, where he languished in a damp prison for seven years, without light and without sufficient food, as though in a grave. During the time of the pious Empress Theodora and her son Michael, Methodius was freed and was chosen as patriarch (in accordance with an earlier prophecy of St. Joannicius the Great). On the first Sunday of the Great Fast [Lenten Season], Methodius solemnly carried the icons into the church, and he also wrote a canon in honor of the icons. Unable to outwit him, the vile heretics hired a woman who declared that the patriarch had engaged in an impure relationship with her. The whole of Constantinople was horrified at this slander. Nevertheless, not knowing how he could otherwise prove his innocence, the patriarch overcame his embarrassment, removed his clothes and stood naked before the court, which he had assembled at his request, and showed his withered body, debilitated from fasting. The court was clearly convinced that the patriarch had been slandered. Hearing of this, the people rejoiced and the heretics were put to shame. Then, the woman admitted that she had been persuaded and paid to bring this slander against the saint of God. Thus, those who thought to bring shame upon Methodius, unintentionally increased his fame. This great confessor of the Faith died peacefully in the year 846 A.D. and took up habitation in the Kingdom of God.

SAINT JOHN, METROPOLITAN OF EUCHAITA

John was surnamed Mavron [The Black.] He was a very educated man and at the same time a spiritual man. In his old age, during the reign of Emperor Alexius Comnenus, John became Metropolitan of Euchaita. He is especially well known for that fact that St. Basil, St. Gregory the Theologian and St. John Chyrsostom (see January 30) appeared to him and explained how all three of them are equally glorified in heaven. After this vision the dispute among the people—concerning who of the three saints was the greatest and who was the least—quieted down. St. John also wrote the famous Canon to the Most Sweet Jesus and a canon to the Guardian Angel as well as other beneficial writings. He died peacefully in the year 1100 A.D.

VENERABLE NIPHON

Niphon was born in the region of Argyrokastron in the village of Lukov. He was the son of a priest. From his youth he was attracted to solitude and prayer. That desire finally led him to Mt. Athos, where he lived a life of asceticism, at first in the cave of St. Peter the Athonite and later in the wilderness of St. Anna. He did not even want to eat bread but fed on vegetation and roots. Some envious people accused him of having an aversion to bread, but he easily and quickly cleared himself of this accusation. Finally he became associated with St. Maximus of Kapsokalyvia. Because of his sincere love for God, Niphon was endowed with the gift of miracle-working and discernment (clairvoyance). He healed the sick by his prayer and by anointing with oil, and he clearly saw events both past and future. About himself he prophesied that he would die during the Fast of Saint Peter [This fast precedes the feast of Saints Peter and Paul]. When the day of his death dawned, he said to the brethren assembled around him: "Do not weep, rather rejoice, for in me you will have an intercessor before God for your salvation." At the end he said: "It is time for me to depart," and he gave up his holy soul to God on June 14, 1330 A.D.

HYMN OF PRAISE

What good are riches and this beautiful world,
What good are authority and power, when a man is leprous?
But the commander Naaman is covered with leprosy,
From leprosy completely white, as though covered with purulence.
But the commander to the man of God hurries,
Only from him hoping for a cure,
With his entire caravan of clothing and gold.
This, to the man of God, let it be a payment!
Elisha said to him: to the Jordan go,
And in the water, seven times to bathe.
At his misfortune Naaman became angry:
"A river clearer and larger, do we not have?"
And quickly to his home, he wanted to return,
But from this, his wise servant dissuaded him.
"O Master," he said, "do not give up quickly.
Behold, the Jordan is nearby; go and bathe!"
Naaman hearkened to him and hastened toward the Jordan,
And in the river seven times he immersed himself.
Naaman became whole and the leprosy disappeared;
Naaman became whole and clean as a child.
"God is One, the God of Israel," he cried out;
"He works glorious miracles in abundance!"

REFLECTION

The all-wise St. John Chrysostom said: "A place will not save us if we do not carry out the will of God." There is a tale of a certain monk who lived in a monastery where five brethren loved him and one brother offended him. Because of this one brother who offended him, he moved to another monastery. However, in this monastery eight of the brethren loved him and two of the brethren offended him. He then fled to a third monastery. But here, seven of the brethren loved him and five of the brethren offended him. He set out for a fourth monastery, but along the way he thought: "How long will I flee from place to place? I will never find peace in the whole world. It would be better for me to become patient." He pulled out a piece of paper and wrote in bold letters: "I will endure all for the sake of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." When he entered the fourth monastery, here also some love him and others offended him. But he patiently began to endure the offenses. As soon as someone offended him, he would take out that piece of paper and read: "I will endure all for the sake of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." So with patience he succeeded and all came to love him, and he remained in that monastery until his death.

CONTEMPLATION

To contemplate the Lord's miraculous walking on the water as though on dry land: But in the fourth watch of the night Jesus came to them walking upon the sea (St. Matthew 14:25):

1. How the Lord, walking upon the water, called to Peter: "Come!" (St. Matthew 14:29), and Peter set out, but because of his weak faith began to sink;

2. How the Lord also calls me to walk over the waters and storms of the passions, and how I set out but sink because of my little faith.

HOMILY

Here the word is about true glory and not false glory; about glory that is eternal and not about glory that dies. Glory that is of man is glory that dies, and glory that is of God is eternal. Those whom men glorify are not glorified, and those whom God glorifies are glorified. Our Lord said to the Jewish scribes: How can you believe who receive glory [honor] from one another and do not seek the glory [honor] which is from the only God? (St. John 5:44). See how our Lord makes a distinction between the glory from men and the glory from God? And about Himself, He said: I do not receive glory from men (St John 5:41).

He who seeks glory from men travels the path of pride, and he who seeks glory from God travels the path of humility. No one is glorified by God without humility. The saints of God were the most humble servants of God. The Most Holy Birth-giver of God [Theotokos] was adorned with overwhelming humility. Her being chosen as the Mother of God is attributed to her great humility: Because He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaid (St. Luke 1:48). But the humblest of the humble was our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the Setter of the contest. During His earthly life humility always preceded glory. Brethren, it must also be that way in our life if we desire true glory. For if humility does not precede glory, glory will never come.

O Lord Jesus, Model and Teacher of humility, our only glory and the Glorifier of all the humble and meek, inspire us with Your inexpressible humility.

To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.

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