Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord, as well as the feastday of the great hierarch of the Soviet period, the martyr Peter of Krutitsy, who was the first-hierarch of the Russian Church from 1925 until his execution in 1937!

The holy hierarch Peter became a priest and then a bishop already after the revolution, when the patriarch personally asked this of him. He understood perfectly that agreeing to become a bishop and a close helper to the patriarch meant that he was doomed to be killed. Here are his own words: “If I refuse, I will be a traitor of the Church; but I am aware that by accepting this offer, I am signing my own death sentence.” After the death of Patriarch Tikhon, he became the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, i. e. he was to carry out the responsibilities of the patriarch unit a council could be called and a new head of the Church elected. Of course the atheists refused to allow the Church to call a council and therefore Metropolitan Peter remained the head of the Russian Church for many years. Throughout all these years he was free for only eight months. For many years he did not even see the light of the sun, since he was only allowed out for a short walk in the prison courtyard at night. Despite all these hardships, he never made any compromises with the communists. He was shot on the October 10th, 1937.

In today’s Epistle reading we heard how Paul exhorts the Corinthians, as well as us, not to be lazy, not to forget that at our baptism we received the gift of God’s Grace and that we must use it to improve our spiritual condition. The apostle Paul brings up a quote from the prophet Isaiah where we hear the words of God the Father to His Son, Jesus Christ: “I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee.” That is, when You (the Son of God, Jesus Christ) became a man and prayed for mankind and freely suffered for the sake of the salvation of all people, I (God the Father) heard you and helped you open for them the gates into the Heavenly Kingdom. The apostle adds that since Christ has suffered for our sakes and opened to us the path to eternal life, right now is indeed a favourable time and truly the day of salvation. Later, the apostle presents himself as an example of how to use this acceptable time for salvation. Here the accent isn’t on his own salvation, but on his missionary struggles for the sake of the salvation of others.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, let’s remember today, and every morning when we awake, that “now is the accepted time…now is the day of salvation,” and let’s act accordingly. When it becomes difficult to do so and we wish to relax and slide into sin, let’s remember the martyric struggles of St. Peter, as well as the missionary work of St. Paul. Let’s be inspired by them and continue to use this favourable time to work on our salvation.

priest Alexis