The Synaxis of the Holy and Righteous Symeon the God-Receiver and the Holy Prophetess Anna: Yesterday we celebrated the Meeting of our Lord in the Temple; today we honor the righteous Elder Symeon and Prophetess Anna, who prophesied concerning Him by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and were the first in Jerusalem to receive Him as the Messiah. Righteous Simeon the God-Receiver was, according to the testimony of the holy Evangelist Luke, a just and devout man waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him (Luke 2:25). God promised him that he would not die until the promised Messiah, Christ the Lord, came into the world. Ancient historians tell us that the Egyptian pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-247 B.C.) wished to include texts of Holy Scripture in the famous Library at Alexandria. He invited scholars from Jerusalem, and the Sanhedrin sent their wise men. The Righteous Simeon was one of the seventy scholars who came to Alexandria to translate the Holy Scriptures into Greek. The completed work was called “The Septuagint,” and is the version of the Old Testament used by the Orthodox Church. St Simeon was translating a book of the Prophet Isaiah, and read the words: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a Son” (Is 7:14). He thought that “virgin” was inaccurate, and he wanted to correct the text to read “woman.” At that moment an angel appeared to him and held back his hand saying, “You shall see these words fulfilled. You shall not die until you behold Christ the Lord born of a pure and spotless Virgin.” From this day, St Simeon lived in expectation of the Promised Messiah. One day, the righteous Elder received a revelation from the Holy Spirit, and came to the Temple. It was on the very day (the fortieth after the Birth of Christ) when the All-Pure Virgin Mary and St Joseph had come to the Temple in order to perform the ritual prescribed by Jewish Law. When St Simeon beheld their arrival, the Holy Spirit revealed to him that the divine Child held by the All-Pure Virgin Mary was the Promised Messiah, the Savior of the world. The Elder took the Child in his arms and said, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to enlighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32). There is a Christian epigram (Number 46) in “The Greek Anthology” which is addressed to St Simeon. It tells the righteous Elder to receive the Child Who was born before Adam, and Who will deliver Simeon from this life and bring him to eternal life. A similar idea is expressed in the Aposticha (Slavic use) for the Forefeast of the Nativity of the Lord (December 24). There the Mother of God refers to her Son as “older than ancient Adam.” Simeon blessed the All-Pure Virgin and St Joseph, and turning to the Mother of God he said, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against. Yea, a sword shall pierce through your own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35). The holy Evangelist continues: “And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Aser. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband for seven years from her virginity; and she was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not leave the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming at that very hour, also gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption at Jerusalem” (Luke 2:36-38). The holy righteous Simeon the God-Receiver died at a great age (Tradition says he was 360). His holy relics were transferred to Constantinople in the sixth century. His grave was seen by the Russian pilgrim St Anthony, the future Archbishop of Novgorod (October 8) in 1200. Stamatios, John, & Nicholas, New Martyrs of Chios: The Saints were from Spetses, and were brothers and worked as importers. It was a chaotic time because the Greek revolution had been declared in 1821. (Note: some accounts hold that only Sts. John and Stamatios were blood brothers, and that St. Nicholas was only a friend and co-worker.] The three brothers along with a group of another four people traveled the Aegean with their load of olive oil. Because of bad weather their boat was stranded on Asia Minor across from Chios, in the area of Tsesme. They went out where they met a Christian to whom they revealed their situation and they gave him money to buy them food and whatever they needed for the return of their small boat. He, however, as another Judas, betrayed them to the aga of the area, and after a short time the agas men appeared. They killed two from their group as they tried to flee, another two fell into the sea, and the three brothers were seized and led to the pasha of Chios. He, after questioning them, ordered the two younger brothers, Stamatios (18) and John (22), to be locked in the darkest prison on the castle, the oldest, Nicholas, would be taken out of the castle and be beheaded. Along the whole road they were incentivising Nicholas to convert to islam and to save his life. That blessed one responded to them: “Will I begin a new life? No, I was born a Christian and a Christian I will die, I dont deny my faith.” And he was beheaded. The pasha hoped to be able to get the two younger brothers to convert. He ordered two trusted men, one from Chios and one from Lazo, evil and very cunning, to go to the prison to try to get them to convert, enticing them with a lot of money. These men tried many different methods for a week, sometimes with promises and sometimes with threats, but it did not have any effect. Finally they went to the pasha and sought permission to torture them, as their words were not having any effect, and with great courage the Saints disputed with them. The pasha, having thought for a while, told them, “these heathen are stubborn, its easier to cut off their heads that defiance. Tomorrow theyll finally get the point.” The Saints, locked in the prison, understood through divine revelation, that the good fight was coming to an end, called for paper and ink secretly. They wrote their confessions, and sent them with a woman named Fragisa, whose husband was also in prison and who was free to visit him, to the Bishop of Chios, and sought him to commune them. The Bishop advised them through this woman to remain steadfast in their faith, to prepare with prayer, and to not be dismayed at all before death, because Paradise was remaining for them, where they will rejoice eternally with the other martyrs. The blessed youth heard the teachings of the Bishop from the womans mouth, and thanked the Lord with tears, and remained in vigil all night, chanting paraklesis services to the Theotokos, to grant them strength to not be dismayed by death. Towards dawn they slept a little, and after waking up they said to the other Christians: “O brothers, today we complete the journey of our life. We ask you to pray for the Lord to strengthen us.” When it was day, the Bishop, through the same woman (because the priest or other Christian were unable to enter the prison), sent to them Holy Communion and with tears communed the Spotless Mysteries. They gave their fellow prisoners whatever money they had and whatever clothes of theirs that they didnt need. With this woman they sent their thanks to the Bishop and some money for charity and for them to chant services for them after their death. They were taken out of the prison with their arms bound behind them, and they were brought below the sarai. They were questioned one last time if they would convert. The Saints with a great voice responded: “We were born Christians and we will die Christians. We will never deny Christ, even if you cut us into pieces. Whatever you have to do, do it an hour sooner, dont waste your time. We will not deny our faith.” So they were ordered to be executed. The executioners bound them and led them outside the castle, playing with their swords in front of them to scare them. In that instant, John was dismayed and changed his mind. Seeing this, Stamatios the younger brother told him: “What happened to you, brother? Dont you remember our decision to not betray our faith? Entreat our Panagia to give you strength.” With such words, he gave strength to John. When they reached the Vounaki valley outside of the castle, across from the execution site below the Lower Fountain, they were asked one final time if they would deny their faith. With a great voice the two of them responded and in fact said three times: “Christian bretheren, we are Christians and we will die for Christ. We will not change our faith. Remember us O Lord in Your Kingdom.” They beheaded them immediately. Their holy relics remained there scorned at the place of their martyrdom. After three days the Turks convinced some Christians to take them by boat and throw them in the sea. After fours days the sea cast them back out. Thus the Christians with great joy and reverence buried them. Nicholas, Archbishop & Enlightener of Japan: Ivan Dimitrievich Kasatkin was born on August 1, 1836 in the village of Berezovsk, Belsk district, Smolensk diocese, where his father served as deacon. At the age of five he lost his mother. He completed the Belsk religious school, and afterwards the Smolensk Theological Seminary. In 1857 Ivan Kasatkin entered the Saint Peterburg Theological Academy. On June 24, 1860, in the academy temple of the Twelve Apostles, Bishop Nectarius tonsured him with the name Nicholas. On June 29, the Feast of the foremost Apostles Peter and Paul, the monk Nicholas was ordained deacon. The next day, on the altar feast of the academy church, he was ordained to the holy priesthood. Later, at his request, Father Nicholas was assigned to Japan as head of the consular church in the city of Hakodate. At first, the preaching of the Gospel in Japan seemed completely impossible. In Father Nicholas’s own words: “the Japanese of the time looked upon foreigners as beasts, and on Christianity as a villainous sect, to which only villains and sorcerers could belong.” He spent eight years in studying the country, the language, manners and customs of the people among whom he would preach. In 1868, the flock of Father Nicholas numbered about twenty Japanese. At the end of 1869 Hieromonk Nicholas reported in person to the Synod in Peterburg about his work. A decision was made, on January 14, 1870, to form a special Russian Spiritual Mission for preaching the Word of God among the pagan Japanese. Father Nicholas was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and appointed as head of this Mission. Returning to Japan after two years in Russia, he transferred some of the responsibility for the Hakodate flock to Hieromonk Anatolius, and began his missionary work in Tokyo. In 1871 there was a persecution of Christians in Hakodate. Many were arrested (among them, the first Japanese Orthodox priest Paul Sawabe). Only in 1873 did the persecution abate somewhat, and the free preaching of Christianity became possible. In this year Archimandrite Nicholas began the construction of a stone building in Tokyo which housed a church, a school for fifty men, and later a religious school, which became a seminary in 1878. In 1874, Bishop Paul of Kamchatka arrived in Tokyo to ordain as priests several Japanese candidates recommended by Archimandrite Nicholas. At the Tokyo Mission, there were four schools: for catechists, for women, for church servers, and a seminary. At Hakodate there were two separate schools for boys and girls. In the second half of 1877, the Mission began regular publication of the journal “Church Herald.” By the year 1878 there already 4115 Christians in Japan, and there were a number of Christian communities. Church services and classes in Japanese, the publication of religious and moral books permitted the Mission to attain such results in a short time. Archimandrite Nicholas petitioned the Holy Synod in December of 1878 to provide a bishop for Japan. Archimandrite Nicholas was consecrated bishop on March 30, 1880 in the Trinity Cathedral of Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Returning to Japan, he resumed his apostolic work with increased fervor. He completed construction on the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Tokyo, he translated the service books, and compiled a special Orthodox theological dictionary in the Japanese language. Great hardship befell the saint and his flock at the time of the Russo-Japanese War. For his ascetic labor during these difficult years, he was elevated to the rank of Archbishop. In 1911, half a century had passed since the young hieromonk Nicholas had first set foot on Japanese soil. At that time there were 33,017 Christians in 266 communities of the Japanese Orthodox Church, including 1 Archbishop, 1 bishop, 35 priests, 6 deacons, 14 singing instructors, and 116 catechiSts On February 3, 1912, Archbishop Nicholas departed peacefully to the Lord at the age of seventy-six. The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church glorified him on April 10, 1970, since the saint had long been honored in Japan as a righteous man, and a prayerful intercessor before the Lord. Afterfeast of the Presentation of Our Lord and Savior in the Temple: On this first day of the Afterfeast of the Meeting of the Lord, the Church commemorates the righteous Simeon and Anna the prophetess. The following words are ascribed to Christ in Ode 9 of the Canon: “I am not held by the Elder; it is I Who hold him, for he asks Me for forgiveness.” Apolytikion in the First Tone: Hail Virgin Theotokos full of Grace, for Christ our God, the Sun of Righteousness, has dawned from you, granting light to those in darkness. And you, O Righteous Elder, rejoice, taking in your arms, the Deliverance of our souls, who grants us Resurrection.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 11:37:35 +0000
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