Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord, as well as the feast of All Saints – those canonized by the Church and the uncanonized, those whom we remember and those that may have never even been noticed, or those that have been forgotten by all, except God.

Today’s epistle reading, from St. Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, lists the ascetic struggles of different saints, which they were able to accomplish through faith. Despite the great signs and struggles done by them, the world around them often did not notice this, considered them to be somewhat strange, and persecuted them. The Apostle Paul notes that “the world was not worthy (of them). They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.” Today, meditating on the struggles of the saints, we can only be amazed and join ourselves to the following words of John Chrysostom: “When I reflect upon the achievements of the saints, it comes over me to feel despondency concerning my own condition, because we have not even in dreams experienced the things among which these men spent their whole lives, not paying the penalty of sins, but always doing rightly and yet always afflicted.”

Hearing such words and admitting to ourselves that we really are far from the ideal of a holy life, the following questions arise: What is to be done, and how should we live further? Here the Holy Apostle Paul doesn’t abandon us, but, like always, softens his words and very much encourages us all. He notes that we, the members of the Church, are surrounded by a cloud of saints, that we must set aside sin, continue our journey, and always have before us the image of Christ. John Chrysostom, explaining this place in the reading, says that like a regular cloud protects people from the scorching sun, so the saints protect us from passions and sins. Therefore, our journey is not as difficult, frightening, and impossible as it seems, for we are surrounded by a cloud of saints!

Therefore, let’s not lose hope, but instead let’s perceive the tangible help that is offered us and let’s follow the saints. First, let’s not forget to turn to them in prayer for help. Secondly, let’s diligently study their lives, especially those of the martyrs and the saints of the twentieth century, who in their world outlook and way of life are not unlike us. Perhaps there is no better spiritual reading than the lives of the saints (naturally, after the Holy Scriptures). Finally, let’s try to do emulate the saints in all our affairs.

Today it would appear that the world has turned away from Christ and His saints. Those Christian values that the saints manifested in their lives are, in the best-case scenario, considered old-fashioned, and in the worst case they are no longer considered values, but faults. Sometimes it seems that we, like the saints before us, are no longer citizens of the world and society, but instead are wanderers in deserts and mountains, and that our homes and churches are like dens and caves of the earth in which we carefully try to preserve our Christian faith and hide from the filth of our times. It may happen that we feel completely alone. But this is not so, because we are surrounded by a cloud of saints! Through the prayers of all the saints, let’s continue our journey and, with them, inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.

priest Alexis