St Aethelheard Church – Louth
Sunday 1st September 2002
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Beloved,
On the 1st of September of each year we celebrate the anniversary of the Ecclesiastical New Year and the feast of St Simeon the Stylite.
We celebrate the anniversary of the New Ecclesiastical Year because we believe that God is the fountain of all good things. He is the creator and it is He who gives life to all men and creation, hence without Him there is no life. He is the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega. Therefore we always ask for His blessing. We ask Him to forgive us our sins and offences which we have committed during the past year, to strengthen us to perform good works in the New Year, to give us repentance and a painless, guiltless and peaceable life. We ask Him to bless our jobs, food and drink; our going out and our coming in. Because we believe that every good gift is from Him.
We celebrate, at the same time, the feast of St Simeon the Stylite, who was a man of God and spent 40 years of his life on a column near Aleppo in Syria. By the way, did you know that one meter of this column exists until the present day in the church which bears the name of St Simeon near Aleppo?
For this reason we read on this day the passage from the epistle of Colossians (3:12-16) which speaks about mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another, forgiving one another, charity, which is the bond of perfectness and the peace of God. This means that the Apostle Paul reminds us of the virtues and the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which are to the Christian true qualities and examples for life.
Some people believe that a person cannot realize these virtues in his daily life and live in the peace of God, because they are unattainable. Let us remind ourselves here of the words of our Lord: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:12). We speak for example about kindness and humbleness of mind! Yes, it’s true that man rejoices in praise, hates criticism, but he can be transformed by God’s grace from selfishness to self-denial or self-emptying. I will give you one example:
There was a hermit, who was a man of God, known by his virtuous life. Once, a person went to him and asked him for spiritual advice. The hermit was silent for a little while, and then he told him to go to the cemetery, which was five minutes away on foot from his hermitage, saying to him: “please, go to the cemetery; first, praise the dead for their good works and then listen to what they say to you. Then rebuke them and listen again to their answer. After that return to me”. When this person returned the hermit asked him: “What happened to you? Did you praise the dead and rebuke them? And what was their answer in both cases?” The person said to the hermit: “I praised the dead first but they did not answer me and then, I rebuked them and still they did not reply”. The hermit looked at him and said to him: “Do you do likewise. Don’t worry if men praise or rebuke you, because you seek the will of God”.
We also talk about charity, love and the peace of God! Yes, it’s true that man loves himself, condemns and doubts others; but he can by God’s grace obtain forgiveness, charity, love and peace. I will give you another example:
There were two brothers who were very close. One of them decided to become a monk, henceforth he left his house and went to a monastery where he was tonsured a monk. After a couple of years he received the blessing from his abbot to live outside the monastery as a hermit. Therefore he left and found a peaceful place in the desert where there was a spring. About this time his brother became the king of that country. The days passed and the first brother, the hermit, spent his time in prayer, fasting and spiritual struggle emptying himself and living according to the commandments of Christ; so God gave him many spiritual gifts. Thus he became well-known for his virtuous life. Hence many people came to him seeking his advice and he accepted them with warm love. On one occasion he learnt that his brother, who had become king, was a very good king, and that he judged wisely with authority and rules. Therefore he thought and said to himself: let me go and see my brother whom I have not seen for 30 years. Then he said to himself: what shall I take to my brother? Finally, because he didn’t have anything valuable he decided to get some water from the spring which was near his hermitage thinking that his brother would be very pleased, because that water had the blessing of God and many miracles had been done through this spring. He took his basket, which was made from cane, and filled it with water. And O, what a wonder! The water did not flow out of the basket. He took his basket and went to the city, and when he came to the palace told the guards that he was the king’s brother; the guards were puzzled because they didn’t know any thing about him, but they took him to the reception hall and told the vizier about the king’s brother. The vizier went immediately to the king and told him that his brother was in the palace; therefore the king went quickly to his brother. The hermit was amazed at the palace; its beauty, size, number of servants, wealth, splendour etc. and he began to condemn his brother for his rich way of life and having doubts as to whether his brother was a good king. In a little while the water flowed out of his basket. The king came and they embraced each other; they were very happy to be together again and they began to talk, to discuss things and to learn about each other. But the king noticed the empty basket from which the water had flowed, and he understood that his brother had condemned him for living a luxurious life. For this reason, after a short time, the king said to his brother: “let us go and have a look around the palace”; and the king showed his brother all over the palace which actually was wonderful, brilliant and luxurious. After that, he took him to his room where he spent his nights; the hermit was surprised and was in great wonder because it was very poor and simple. There was a mattress on a wooden bed frame where he slept, a small table, a chair, an old rug and a closet; the eastern corner of the room was reserved as a place for prayer with some icons, a lamp, the Holy Bible and other spiritual books. Then he understood that his brother spent the day as a king but his night as a true man of God, like a hermit. Thus he had a very useful spiritual experience, he learnt that the water flowed out his basket because he had judged his brother the king, and he decided in future never to condemn any one. Then, after a few days, he returned in peace to his hermitage thanking God.
Yes, this is the power of our faith: people who struggle in spirit shall be exalted by God and obtain His Peace which is not of this world, therefore man is sanctified, illuminated by grace and grows in grace and stature, becoming a perfect man, “unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ … a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing” (Eph4:13, 5:27).
I greatly rejoice in seeing you in this beautiful parish and in this holy church and I would like to relay to you the blessing and love of His Eminence, beloved brother, Metropolitan Gabriel who wishes you all prosperity and well-being.
I ask the holy Master to bless you, give you abundant blessings, and grant you to prosper in all your doings, so that you may grow in grace and stature to the glory of His name. May “the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord”(Col 3:16), Amen.
