Holy and Glorious Great-martyr Demetrius the Myrrh-gusher, of Thessalonica (306). Commemoration of the Great Earthquake at Constantinople in 740 (740).
Martyr Lupus, slave of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica (306). St. Athanasius of Medikion Monastery (814). St. Theophilus of the Kiev Caves, archbishop of Novgorod (1482). St. Demetrius of Basarabov in Bulgaria (1685). St. Anthony, bishop of Vologda (1588). St. Alexander (Okropiridze), bishop of Guria and Mingrelia, Georgia (1907).
St. Cedd, bishop of Lastingham (664). St. Eata, bishop of Hexham and abbot of Lindisfarne (686). New Martyr Ioasaph, monk, of Mt. Athos, disciple of St. Niphon, patriarch of Constantinople (1536).
Repose of Hieroschemamonk Nilus of Kryuchi (1924), Elder Ignatius the Bulgarian, of Mt. Athos (1927), and Matushka Olga (A’rrsamquq) Michael of Kwethluk, Alaska (1979).
Twenty-Second Sunday After Pentecost. [Gal. 6:11-18; Luke
16:19-31]
The parable about the rich man and
Lazarus shows that those who do not live as they should
will suddenly wake up to reality, but they will no longer
have the opportunity to correct their state. Their eyes
will open and they will clearly see where the truth lies.
Remembering that on the earth there are many who are blind
as they were, they would like someone to be sent from the
dead for the assurance that one must live and understand
things only according to the indication of the
Lord’s Revelation. But they will be denied even
this, because for those who desire to know the truth,
Revelation alone is a witness. But for those who do not
desire it, and do not love the truth, even the
resurrection of the dead will not be convincing. The
feelings of the rich man in this parable are probably felt
by everyone who departs this life. Consequently, according
to the conviction of that world which will be the
conviction of us all, the only guidance for us on the path
of life is the Lord’s Revelation. But there, for
many, this conviction will have come too late—it
would have been more useful here, but not everyone had it.
We will believe, at least, the testimony of those there,
putting ourselves into their state. Those who are in
torments do not lie; pitying us they want our eyes to be
opened, that we not come to the place of their torment. We
cannot say of this subject as we often do of current
affairs, “Maybe somehow things will go all
right.” No; it will not just go all right somehow.
We must be fundamentally certain that we will not find
ourselves in the place of the rich man.