Many times has the Most Holy Theotokos appeared to different great saints, usually accompanied by one or two of Christ’s apostles, to St. Seraphim of Sarov appearing alone. But she never appeared to anyone in such glory as in the Blachernae Church in Constantinople, on this great feast day called Her Protection.

The enemy of our salvation, the devil, especially hates Christ’s two main commandments—on humility and obedience—and pushes weak Christians with all his might onto the path of self-will and pride. He especially teaches them to disdain the canons and edicts of the Ecumenical and local Councils, and to completely denigrate the authority of the great fathers and teachers of the Church.

For the Saturday day of the commemoration of the dead that comes before the feast of Pentecost, as well as the day of St. Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky), we present the holy hierarch’s talk with parishioners on the commemoration of the dead.

You cannot get to know God with your mind—you can only feel Him with your heart. This is how the sixteen-year-old girl Barbara began to feel God in her heart. Her father, a wealthy and noble Roman, was a stubborn pagan, and, of course, she was not brought up in the knowledge of the True God. He did not want her to know people or the world. He permanently kept her locked up in a high tower, from the windows of which wide views of fields, meadows, and forests opened. At night, Barbara would admire the glow of the stars. And so, looking at nature—its great harmony and beauty, the amazing order that reigns in it—the maiden thought ever more deeply about who created all this.

In the current year, the Holy Church celebrates the memory of Holy Great Martyr Catherine in the twenty-seventh week after Pentecost. Therefore, I consider it appropriate to draw your attention to the great life of this saint.

Having fasted bodily, brothers, let us also fast spiritually. Let us look into these words, for they explain the aim and importance of the fast.

These are the words of the ancient, great prophet Isaiah. These words are directed to us, your pastors, for upon us lies the duty of teaching you—not only of showing you the path of Christ, but of showing our heartfelt love and care for you.

O prophet and forerunner of the coming of Christ, we who honor thee with love are at a loss how to praise thee worthily.

On this great day, we commemorate the glorious Transfiguration of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, when He revealed to us the Divine light of His Countenance and His entire Being.

It is fitting for us to contemplate what spiritual light is. My sermon today will be about this spiritual light.

You all know how every living creature yearns for the sun, for the material light shining from the heavens. Every insect, blade of grass, leaf, and flower reaches toward the light. The sunlight, the material light, is known to all of you—and you all love it.

But do you all know that besides the sunlight, there is another great light—an immaterial, spiritual light? Do all of you yearn for this spiritual light?

Oh, how hard it is for me to say it, but no, not all of us—far from all. Very few reach for it, while the vast majority of those living on earth have no need for spiritual light and do not wish to know anything about it. They only need material light and the blessings associated with it.

From statistical data on people who have reached extreme old age, we learn that there are especially many of them among those living in the high mountains of the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, and other high-elevation regions. Even in our time, there is an extraordinary elder somewhere in Azerbaijan who has reached the age of 150, and centenarians there are quite common.

What explains this remarkable influence of high mountains on human longevity?

Undoubtedly, it is largely due to the fact that mountain dwellers spend their lives breathing the purest air and subsist mainly on dairy products and the meat of healthy sheep.

And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.

The holy apostle Paul bequeathed to all of us: Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. And if we are to imitate him, then, of course, we must also imitate all the apostles, for they all walked the same path of Christ…