| Relics
of
the
Saints
In the
book
of
2
Kings
we
read:
“And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the
Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. And it came
to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band
of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha:
and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha,
he revived, and stood up on his feet.” (2 Kings 13:20-21)
 This
story involving the bones of the great prophet Elisha is the
earliest account in Scripture involving the relics of a saint.
Elisha, the great prophet, was filled with the Holy Spirit and did
many great wonders in Israel during his lifetime. The experience of
the people of God is that this same holiness continued to be
displayed by his body even after
iest account in Scripture involving the relics of a saint. Elisha,
the great prophet, was his death.
Such experience underlines for us the Orthodox teaching that
human beings are not just souls who live in bodies. We
are one being soul-and-body. Even after death, though the soul is
separated from the body, the body continues its identification with
the person whose soul is now with God. For this reason we treat the
bodies of our departed brothers and sisters with proper honor. It is
this same understanding which asks us not to cremate the bodies of
our
|
loved
ones.
The experience with the bones of Elisha continues in the life
of the Church through the ages. The bones and even possessions of
many of the saints are “wonderworking,” even as the saints
were themselves during their earthly ministries. For this reason
the Church has always treasured the bodies of the saints, or
portions of them, known as “relics.”
By canon law, a priest is not to celebrate the Divine Liturgy
without the presence of the relic of a saint. This relic is
contained in the Antimens, the holy cloth signed by the
Bishop and given to the parish as a token of his blessing for the
Eucharist to take place. This cloth is reverently unfolded on the
altar during the course of each Divine Liturgy.
In addition to this required presence of relics, there are also
relics which may have be given to the parish for the faithful to
venerate.
These are venerated in the same way as the holy icons.
Generally, the faithful make two reverences before them with the
sign of the cross, kiss the reliquary (the container of the relic)
and make a third reverence.
St. Anne has been given a number of relics just recently which
will be made available for veneration on the small table in front
of the icon of the Resurrection in the front of the Church. Those
relics received are of St. Anne, the patroness of our parish, St.
Stephen the Protomartyr, St. Seraphim of Sarov, St. Basil the
Great. In addition to these relics portions of the original coffin
of St. Herman of Alaska and of the original coffin of St. Alexis
Toth will be made
|
available for
veneration.
Holy Saints of God, pray for us sinners!
Let us
Learn
to
pray
Advice given
by
St.
Theofan
the
Recluse
Translated from
Russian
by
Irina
Nabatova-Barrett
How one
can
enter
the
praying
state
of
mind.
Being a
soul’s
breath,
a
prayer
is
most
important
in
the
life
of
a
Christian.
The
presence
of
prayer
in
someone’s
life
means
that
the
person
is
spiritually
alive,
without
a
prayer
a
person
is
dead.
Standing in
front
of
icons
and
bowing
is
not
yet
a
prayer
itself,
those
are
just
attributes
of
a
prayer.
The
same
can
be
said
about
reading
a
prayer,
whether
recited
by
memory
it
or
read
from
a
book,
it
would
be
not
a
prayer
itself,
but
merely
a
means
to
start
it.
The
main
thing
in
praying
is
invocation
of
feelings
of
reverence
to
God:
devotedness
to
the
Father,
gratitude,
submission
to
the
will
of
God,
an
aspiration
to
glorify
Him
and
similar
feelings.
That
is
why
while
praying
we
should
make
those
feelings
permeate
ourselves
so
that
our
hearts
would
not
be
dry.
It
is
only
when
our
hearts
appeal
to
God
that
our
reading
prayers
(evening
or
morning
praying)
becomes
a
true
prayer,
otherwise
it
is
not
yet
a
prayer.
A
prayer,
which
is
an
appeal
of
our
heart
to
God,
should
be
invoked
and
strengthened;
a
spirit
of
intercession
should
be
brought
up
within
us.
The first
way
to
do
it
is
to
pray
through
reading
or
listening
to
prayers
written
in
prayer-books.
Read
the
prayer-book
or
listen
to
it
very
attentively
and
you
will
|
The
Mission