ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY Orthodox Calendar
Orthodox Calendar 2017
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Притча о блудном сыне Василий Великий, Иоанн Златоуст и Григорий Богослов
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Old Style
January 30 		Sunday
New Style
February 12
Sunday of the Prodigal Son. Tone 1.
No fast.

Совершается всенощное бдениеSynaxis of the Three Hierarchs: St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, and St. John Chrysostom. Cовершается служба, не отмеченная в Типиконе никаким знакомHieromartyr Hippolytus, priest, of Rome, and with him Martyrs Censorinus, Sabinus, Ares, the virgin Chryse, Felix, Maximus, Herculianus, Venerius, Styracius, Mennas, Commodus, Hermes, Maurus, Eusebius, Rusticus, Monagrius, Amandinus, Olympius, Cyprus, Theodore the Tribune, the priest Maximus, the deacon Archelaus, and the bishop Cyriacus, at Ostia (3rd c.). St. Pelagia of Diveyevo, fool-for-Christ (1884).

St. Zeno, hermit, of Antioch, disciple of St. Basil the Great (5th c.). Martyr Theophilus the New, on Cyprus (784). St. Peter, king of Bulgaria (967). St. Zeno the Faster, of the Kiev Caves (14th c.). St. Theophil, fool-for-Christ, of Svyatogorsk Monastery (1868).

“Tinos” Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos.

St. Adelgonda, foundress of Maubeuge (Neth.) (680). St. Bathilde, queen of France (680). New Martyr Hadji Theodore of Mytilene (Mt. Athos) (1784). New Martyr Demetrius of Sliven (1841).

Thoughts for Each Day of the Year
According to the Daily Church Readings from the Word of God
By St. Theophan the Recluse

St. Theophan the Recluse

Sunday of the Prodigal Son (34th). [I Cor. 6:12–20; Luke 15:11–32]

The week of the prodigal speaks of so much to us! It speaks about our peace and satisfaction in the house of the heavenly Father, about our mad departure from the Father’s guardianship to unbridled freedom, about the richness of the heritage given us despite our disobedience, about its reckless waste on all sorts of indecencies, and about our utter impoverishment as a result. But then it talks also about how one recovers his senses, and, coming to himself, decides to return to his greatly merciful Father. It talks about how he returns, how he is received lovingly, and is restored to his first state. Who will not find this lesson profitable? If you abide in your father’s house, do not strive for freedom. You see how a similar experience ended! If you have run away and are squandering all, end this quickly. If you have already squandered everything and are living in poverty, decide quickly to return—and then, return. There every indulgence, and all the former love and satisfaction, await you. This last step is the most necessary one. But there is no point in enlarging upon this. All has been said concisely and clearly. Come to your senses, decide to return, arise and hurry to the Father. His embrace is open and ready to receive you.

Articles

Sermon on the Feast of the Three Hierarchs

Leonidas Ioannou

The Feast of the Three Holy Fathers, Great Hierarchs and Ecumenical Teachers Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom is an annual commemoration of our Holy Orthodox Church on which we honour the unwavering faith and spiritual brilliance of three Saints who offered the entirety of their lives and abilities in the service of God and humankind.

Three Guiding Lights of True Faith

Fr. Stephen Rogers

As the month of January draws to a close, the Church calls us on the 30th to celebrate the Feast of the Three Holy Hierarchs: St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian and St. John Chrysostom. In celebrating these three great teachers of the Church, the Church in its hymnody refers to them as “harps of the Spirit,” “rays of light,” “scented flowers of Paradise,” “instruments of grace.”

Sermon on the Feast of the Three Hierarchs

Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev)

There is much in common among the three hierarchs and great ecumenical teachers whom we commemorate today: Saints Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom. All three lived in a time when the Christian Church, after almost three centuries of persecution, received freedom and was flourishing throughout the Byzantine ‘oikoumene’. All the three were involved in contesting contemporary heresies. All the three combined serving the Church in episcopal rank with literary activity, and it is precisely their literary legacy which secured for them the paramount place that they occupy in Christian Tradition. All the three were victims of ecclesiastical intrigues. Their posthumous glory, however, exceeded any expectations their contemporaries might have had, and their significance for the entire Christian Church in East and West cannot be overestimated.

Torch-bearers of the Triune Godhead

Jesse Dominick

From these fathers we learn that the content of theology, the entirety of the Christian spiritual life, is the Mystery of the Cross, which shapes the ethos of repentance—our prayerful striving to become like Christ in all things—in the Orthodox Church.

The Three Hierarchs

Ioannis Foundoulis

With one voice they told him: “We three are one, as you see, close to God and nothing can separate us or make us contend… There is no first or second among us… Arise, therefore, and tell those who are quarrelling not to divined into parties over us. Because in life and death we had no desire other than to bring peace and unity to everyone”.

Hieromartyr Hippolytus the Pope of Rome

The Hieromartyr Hippolytus, and the Martyrs Censorinus, Sabinus, Chryse the Virgin and 20 Others suffered during the third century.

Virginmartyr Chryse of Rome

The virgin Chryse was arrested and brought for interrogation. She bravely confessed herself a Christian and was subjected to torture. After horrible torments, she was drowned in the sea.

Blessed Peter the King of Bulgaria

Saint Peter, King of Bulgaria, was the son of the militant Bulgarian prince Simeon.

The Prodigal Son

James Iliou

In the parable we are told and in our minds we think of the younger as being the Prodigal. But which one of these two brothers is truly the Prodigal Son? Is it the younger who leaves and comes back in repentance, or the older brother who refuses to welcome him back? I

Instruction on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son. On Repentance

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov)

According to the holy fathers, the younger son could also be an image of all fallen mankind and of every sinner. The younger son’s inheritance is God’s gifts, with which every person is endowed, especially Christians. The most supreme gifts of God are the mind and heart, and especially the grace of the Holy Spirit given to every Christian.

The Sunday of the Prodigal Son

Archpriest Andrew Phillips

Perhaps we feel some sympathy with the elder son. After all, he never wasted his substance, he did remain loyal to the Father. The problem is that the elder son's service was a form of slavery, he did not stay with the Father out of love, but out of self-interest, in expectation of a reward. This was not love freely given, but an obligation fulfilled in the hope of the payment of the hireling.

He came to himself – what does this mean?The two things we must know to be saved.

Now we see another aspect of repentance that is so important today, especially in light of what we are going to read and contemplate next week. That is, God receives a man’s repentance. This may seem to be an obvious statement, hardly worth making, but in actuality, many people do not really believe God will receive their repentance, or that they can truly change.

Sermon on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son

Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware)

Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) delivers his sermon on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son in the presence of Metropolitan Nicholas at the Sts. Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Westland, MI.
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