Hieromonk Job (Gumerov)
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Holy Scripture calls any violation of Divine law a sin (see. 1 Jn. 3:4). The Lord and Creator bestowed particular emotional and physical qualities upon man and woman so that they would complete each other and thus make a unity. The Holy Bible witnesses that marriage, as a constant, lifetime union between a man and a woman, was instituted by God at the very onset of human existence.
After serving an all-night Vigil, and taking it out from the Blachernae church, the sacred Robe of the Mother of God was carried in a procession around the city walls. Its edge was dipped into the waters of the Bosphorus, and it was then carried to the center of Constantinople to the church of Hagia Sophia. The Mother of God protected the city and turned back the Russian warriors. An honorable truce was concluded, and the siege of Constantinople was lifted.
Holy Hieromartyr Thaddeus (Uspensky)
How often and with what indifference do we abandon the word of God, which is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Heb. 4:12), and turn to earthly wisdom, the rudiments of the world (Gal. 4:9; Col. 2:8), which does not in the least reveal to us the divine wisdom hidden throughout the world and in the life of mankind!
The reverent memory of Christians has retained the place where the two Apostles parted with each other from this life. On that place, along the Via Ostiensis (in Italian, Via Ostiense), is a church dedicated to both Apostles.
The Orthodox Church has a beautiful presentation of the importance and prominence of the Apostles Peter and Paul with the icon that shows both Apostles standing together holding an image of the Church. Both Apostles, being chosen by our Lord, were instrumental in the establishment and growth of the early Church through their boldness, spiritual strength, and wisdom. Thus they are recognized as "pillars" of the Church, having offered all even unto death for the sake of the Gospel of Christ.