Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Congratulations with the feasts of the Resurrection of the Lord and the 20th century New-Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church!

In the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer, we say the following words: “Hallowed be thy Name,” which mean “may your name be honored,” or “may your name be held as holy.” Those people who truly accepted into their hearts the idea that God is our heavenly Father, that He is the creator of all things, that He loves us more than the most loving earthly father, and that we are His children and heirs will, of course, firstly pray that His name be glorified and only afterwards ask whatever it might be that one wishes for oneself.

Without a doubt, the name of God everywhere and at all times is holy. We earthly people can do nothing to grow or diminish the Holiness of the Lord, but we hope that everyone will understand this and that all people will come to glorify God, not blaspheme Him. If one thinks about this, one could come to the conclusion that this petition is a fantasy. Only by a miracle would our whole evil world begin to honour and not curse our Heavenly Father. Are we not tempting God when we ask for something that we know will never come to be here on earth? How should be understand these words of the Lord’s Prayer? How should we pray with these words and have hope that the Lord will hear us and grant our petition?

It sometimes happens that we believers, members of the Holy Church, scandalize others through our unchristian behaviour and give them an excuse or reason to criticize the Church. In extreme cases, a person may not simple criticize, but even curse the Church and blaspheme the head of the Church – Christ. Therefore, when the Holy Hierarch Gregory of Nyssa was explaining the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer, he wrote: “We should pray and regard it as the sum of prayer, that the Name of God should not be blasphemed but rather be glorified and be hallowed through our way of life.” Naturally, we are not in a position to change other people so that they no longer curse God, but we can at least try to change ourselves. Therefore, when we say the words of this petition, we can think the following: Hallowed be Thy name in me. Help me, Lord, so that by my actions, by my behaviour no one is scandalized. Make it so that no one blasphemes You because of my sins. Help me to control my passions so that people see in me a true disciple of You and, as a consequence, glorify Your name!

Today’s saints lived precisely in such a fashion. In difficult times they tried to live so that the name of God was glorified through their actions. Today, let’s pray to them that they intercede on our behalf before the throne of the Most-High that we, through our actions, glorify the name of God.

priest Alexis