P R I E D A N I S Y S O
S T E L E V
HOMILIES
Daniel Sysoev Inc. New Jersey, 2016
Approved for publication by the Publications Board of the Russian Orthodox Church PB 11-116-1697
Priest Daniel Sysoev. Homilies — New Jersey, Daniel Sysoev Inc, 2016. — 288 pp.
ISBN 978-5-4279-0003-4
The gift of eloquence is not given to everyone; and there are very few who have mastered the art of producing a homily that nourishes the mind of the listener and fills him with divine truth. This book is composed of the homilies given by Priest Daniel Sysoev in the church of the apostle Thomas. In reading these homilies filled with the spirit of joy, the reader will feel himself in the presence of a pastor who with all his strength preached to people the word of God, eternal and vital for all times. Protected by copyright law. Reproduction of this book in whole or in part is prohibited. Any violations of this law will be prosecuted.
© Daniel Sysoev Inc, 2016 © Yulia Sysoeva, 2016
Contents On God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 The Fourth and Fifth Days of the Creation of the World. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 The Sixth and Seventh Days of the Creation of the World. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 On Paradise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 The Day in Remembrance of Adam’s Banishment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 The Fall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 On the Ark and the Flood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 On the Prodigal Son. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 On Tithing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 On the Messiah. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 On the Miraculous Power of Jesus Christ . . . . . . . . 80 On Those Being Saved. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 On Wealth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 On Combat with the Devil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 On Unity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 On Spiritual Kinship. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 The Liturgy of the Great Teachers and Hierarchs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 In Commemoration of Basil the Great . . . . . . . . . . 129 The Day of Commemoration of the Prophet Daniel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 The Day of Commemoration of John the Baptist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
In Commemoration of Gregory Palamas. . . . . . . . In Commemoration of Gregory the Theologian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . In Commemoration of Theodore of Tyre. . . . . . . . The Day of Commemoration of Alexis the Man of God. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Day of Commemoration of John Climacus . . The Day of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Day of Commemoration of Blessed Xenia of Petersburg. . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. . . . . . . . . . . In the Iveron Chapel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. . . . . Explanation of the Icon “The Apocalypse”. . . . . . The Eve of Nativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord. . . . . . . The New Year. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Iveron Icon of the Mother of God “The Gatekeeper” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Day in Honor of the Robe of the Lord. . . . . . . The Day of the Veneration of the Chains of the Apostle Peter. . . . . . . . . . . The Day of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Antipascha. The All-Night Vigil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Antipascha. Liturgy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
144 154 160 167 171 179 187 195 200 203 211 212 217 228 232 237 246 256 266 275
On God
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit! Whom do you imagine God to be? When we speak of God, we have in mind the Holy Trinity, One-in-essence and Indivisible, abi ding in the fullness of His glory. Often, when speaking about the divine nature, we do not understand it correctly. People oftentimes create a mythology for themselves: they say either that God is everything or, on the contrary, that God is Something higher. This results in something most frightening: people begin to imagine God in their own image and likeness. They begin to search for, come to know, and serve not the actual living Lord, but rather a created one; they claim to have a sort of exalted concept of the Godhead, in which they are going to believe. This, however, is the God that they created for themselves in their minds. It is of course extremely harmful for one’s soul to believe not in the actual Lord of the universe, but in an idol of one's own making. It is with good reason that the book of Psalms says: The Lord Himself is our God; it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves. ... and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand (Ps. 99:3; 94:7). What does “the sheep of His hand” mean? Here the Most High is likened to a shep-
Homilies
herd who feels to see whether or not a sheep bears his brand. If the brand is someone else’s, he leads the sheep aside; but if the brand is his, he takes it. The Lord likewise put His mark on us in holy baptism, which makes us the sheep of God’s hand. The Lord by feel, so to speak, recognizes us as His own, as those faithful to Him, as those who act according to His holy will. When we speak of God, the first thing we must understand is that God is the Creator of the universe. Why is this important? Because in speaking of God, we must separate Him from that which is not God. There is the actual God, and there is that which is not the Lord God, but rather His creation. Thus, when people say that God is everything, they are saying the direct opposite of reality. Nothing of what exists in rea lity is God. Because God is not a stone, not water, not air, not electricity, not the earth, not the stars, not a constellation, not outer space. God is the Master of stone, air, outer space, and everything else. God is the great Creator, the Ruler and Lord of the universe, and He Himself is not confined by anything that exists. Blessed Augustine gives the following poetic description: “I went in search of God and asked the air, ’Perhaps you are God?’ The air answered, ’No, I am not God.’ I asked the sun, ’Perhaps you are God?’ But the sun said, ’I set; how could I be 6
Priest Daniel Sysoev
Homilies
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