Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord as well as the feastday of all the New-Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church, both those who are known to us or are included in the official church list of saints, as well as those who are not yet canonized, or are unknown to us!

In today’s Gospel reading we heard how Jesus Christ healed a blind man in Jericho and how he followed after Christ. All three synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) write about this miracle, although there are quite a few differences in their accounts. These differences, as is the case with other places in the Gospels that seem to contradict each other, may bring doubts to some people. But such passages should be for us not so much a stumbling block to strong faith, as a reason to dive deeper into the study of Holy Scripture and its explanation by the Holy Fathers.

The main takeaway from today’s reading is not how many blind people were healed – one, two or maybe even three – or when this miracle happened – when Christ was entering the city, or when He was leaving, but that there really was a miracle performed in Jericho, that a man or several men manifested deep faith and courage when they loudly called to Christ, and that they received not only physical, but also spiritual sight. All the evangelists agree on this point and emphasize it when they say that the healed man (or men) followed after Christ. Let’s note and remember that the blind man, hearing that the Saviour was passing by, loudly and persistently, disregarding the people around him, cried out, “Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.”

Today some words must also be said about the New-Martyrs. The memory of these saints is
timed to coincide with the day of the martyric death, in 1918, of Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev, the first bishop to be killed by the atheists in Russia. From a certain point of view, today is truly a feastday, since we remember the lives of so many wonderful people who, in the most difficult and fearful moments, showed their faith and love for God. You could say that today is the birthday of sorts for a great multitude of new saints. We can only be amazed, remembering how the Royal Martyrs lived meekly and calmly during their arrest, without a word of complaint, or how Grand-Duchess Elizabeth, herself injured and dying at the bottom of a mine, continued to tended to the suffering. Remembering how St. Vladimir of Kiev blessed his executioners at the moment of his death, or how Metropolitan Benjamin of Petrograd courageously praised God at his trial. Remembering how Peter Poliansky, knowing full well that sufferings and death await him, nevertheless agreed to become a bishop and the close helper of Patriarch Tikhon, or how Maria Kianovskaia, through her persistent requests, convinced the authorities to release an arrested bishop, only to be arrested and executed herself. And this is just a drop in the sea of the New-Martyrs.

Although today is a festive day, we can’t say that it is a joyous day. Probably it would be more correct to say that it is a day of sorrow. It’s frightful to think about all the talented, capable, good, and holy people that were eliminated after the revolution. Of course, the Lord God knows all of these people. He has given them all rest and all of them have been settled in His Heavenly Kingdom. Remembering that the goal of our life is to come closer to God, to become as much as possible God-like, let us not forget about the Christian martyrs. Without a doubt we remember the ancient martyrs, but perhaps this is because we are waiting for some kind of help from them in our daily lives (when we pray to St. Panteleimon for healing, etc.) and not so much just to praise or glorify their sufferings and, in such a way, bring ourselves closer to God. There are almost two thousand officially canonized New-Martyrs, but I fear that the majority of the faithful couldn’t name even a small number of these saints, let alone say something about them (we all know about Tsar Nicholas and his family, St. Elizabeth and Patriarch Tikhon, but what about the others?). This is very sad, since it is our Christian duty not to forget them. In addition, their lives are full of useful lessons and wonderful stories.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, today let’s not forget the blind man from Jericho. Let’s try to emulate him, praying persistently and loudly, as he did. Let’s ask for the forgiveness of our sins and the opening of our spiritual eyes. Let’s follow Christ like the healed blind man did. Let’s try not to forget the New-Martyrs, but instead to study their struggles.

priest Alexis