Evening Sermon: Holy Martyr Golinduc Reprised

Brothers and sisters in Christ--

Among the commemorations that we have for today (24 August O.S.) is the Holy Martyr Syra, who was a close friend and follower of the great Persian saint, the Martyr Mary Golinduc, whom the Church commemorates on the 12th day of July. Syra was converted to the Christian Faith by the example of Golinduc. Syra's conversion was so obnoxious to her father that he betrayed her to the authorities, and she was arrested and tried for being a Christian. She endured enormous sufferings, and, in the end, she was strangled to death with a cord by the order of the Persian Emperor Chosroes II.

Meditating on the life of St. Syra by necessity calls to mind the various episodes in the life of St. Mary Golinduc herself, St. Syra's spiritual mother. There is one particular episode, which I would like to recall today. At one point in her great sufferings, she was thrown into a pit, and in the pit was an enormous venomous serpent. Because of Golinduc's faith and through her prayer, the serpent, rather than attacking the saint as expected, fled into the very furthest corners of the pit. There, as if it were being poisoned by the venom of a larger, more powerful serpent, gave forth a loud sound and died.

This is a good story for each and every one of us, because these same circumstances are played out again and again in our own daily lives. God often wills that we meet the power of the Evil One face to face. He wills that we battle temptation, which he launches against us through anger and pleasure, etc. Yet, it is with the Lord's own power that we battle, and we must never forget this. The Holy Apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthian Church tells us:

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

What a tremendous honor and dignity we have to be able to fight God's enemy by God's own power. To Him be the glory for ever and ever.

Evening Sermon: The Holy Martyr Lupus of Thessaloniki

Brothers and sisters in Christ--

Today we commemorate the Holy Martyr Lupus of Thessaloniki. St. Lupus was a soldier and subordinate to the Great-Martyr Demetrius. Even more, due to St. Demetrius's good example, he had accepted the Christian Faith, although he initially kept that faith secret. After the martyrdom of St. Demetrius (who was driven through with a spear by the order of the Emperor Maximian), Lupus took his cloak and his ring and dipped them in the martyr's blood, thus making the robe and the ring a relic of the Great-Martyr.

For a year after the death of Demetrius, Lupus worked many miracles with his cloak and his ring, curing diseases and maladies, which the physicians were unable to address. On this account, Lupus was denounced to the authorities and arrested for being a Christian. The Emperor ordered that Lupus be tortured and killed, but the soldiers that advanced on Lupus to do the Emperor's bidding turned on one another, severely wounding one another.

Lupus was at that time a catechumen (he was not yet baptized), so he prayed to God that he would be granted the saving gift of the Mystery of Baptism before his death. In answer to his prayer, God Himself baptized Lupus by sending a gentle rain that fell only on him. After his miraculous baptism from on high, Lupus endured great sufferings from his tormentors and was finally beheaded, taking up his habitation in the Kingdom of God.

The story of St. Lupus is a good reminder to us concerning the importance of relics in the Early Church up until this present day. The robe and the ring of St. Lupus were associated with a holy person, a friend of God, St. Demetrius. Thus, when they were used with faith, they could work the marvelous deeds through God's power, just as in the time of the Old Law, a dead man was raised to life by his lifeless body coming into contact with the bones of the St. Elisha, the prophet of God. Relics are very powerful vehicles of grace for us when used with faith, and they should be treated with the most profound respect.

On the other hand, the story of St. Lupus is also a good reminder to us that the Church's Tradition is unanimous that the Mystery of Baptism is necessary for salvation. This doctrine is derived from clear Scripture, as the Gospel According to St. Mark tells us: "Those who believe and are baptized will be saved." We should spared no effort to bring to the Church those who are not members of it (especially those who have not been baptized). We should not reject Divine Revelation by entertaining the thought that "God will find some way to save these people anyway, even if they are not Christians." Let us respect what God has revealed, and not "hide our light under a bushel," because we have a false confidence in God's mercy that is born of presumption.