2/19/2025
Hieromonk Laurus (Arkhipov)
St. Seraphim greeted everyone with these wonderful words: “My joy, Christ is Risen!” He showed absolute love, absolute simplicity and holiness.
The Day of the Holy Trinity, the feast of Pentecost, is called the birthday of the Church. It was from that moment, after the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, that they grasped everything the Lord had told them, and everything He had taught them.
The Ascension became a new stage of human salvation; the God-man entered the Heavenly Kingdom, and thenceforth, human nature was granted full participation in eternal blessedness.
Today we are celebrating the translation of the miracle-working relics of a great saint, Nicholas the Wonderworker, from Myra in Lycia to Bari. This event is ambiguous. What happened over nine centuries ago?
It wasn’t without God’s providence that I ended up here. Thus, from Sretensky Monastery in the center of Moscow, I wound up in the Northern Thebaid, which I’m very glad about. At the same time, there are plenty of opportunities for humility.
