CATECHESIS & DAILY INSPIRATION
THE HOLY MARTYRS CYRUS AND JOHN
Reflections and Daily Inspiration
“Having read Holy Scripture very carefully, you should also read the holy Fathers who interpret the Scriptures. You will receive no less delight from reading the Fathers than you do from the Scriptures. The Fathers develop the hidden meanings in Scripture and with their own writings help us to understand what we did not before. Because of that philosophic axiom that all men by nature seek knowledge, we must say that great delight follows naturally when we learn about hidden and unknown matters. This is why there will be ineffable joy and gladness that will come to your soul from the interpretations and the words of the holy Fathers. You too will be shouting, as did David, those enthusiastic words in the Psalms.”

- St. Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain
TODAY'S RECOMMENDATION
"YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN"

Fr. Norman Kosanovich
July Catechesis

Our Lord gave us the keys of restorative healing and synergy with God with words like these: “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you.”

Saint John Chrysostom helped to prove it in his treatise that demonstrated if a man doesn’t suffer injury by his own hand then nothing or no one can harm him. In a time where so many derive self-worth from how they’re perceived by strangers on social media, while surveys show church attendance decreasing – well before the pandemic – Saint John’s words have never been more relevant and needed in order to bring a portion of God’s people back to Him in soul-saving humility.

FROM THE NEWS
Statement on the Tragic Conversion of Hagia Sophia from Museum to Mosque

We, the Executive Committee of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America, protest the decision of the civil courts in Turkey, as well as the clear direction of their government, to re-convert Hagia Sophia into a mosque. As citizens of the United States of America, we implore our government to intervene for the reversal of this decision. Furthermore, we urge the Turkish government to return to the status quo whereby Hagia Sophia remains a museum, respecting both its origins and history.

SAINT OF THE DAY

 JULY 11 / JUNE 28
The Holy Martyrs Cyrus and John

These holy martyrs are commemorated on January 31, and their lives and sufferings are described under that date. But June 28 commemorates the translation of their relics from Canopus to Menuthis and the numerous miracles that occurred through their relics. St. Cyril, the Patriarch of Alexandria, prayed fervently to God to destroy the idolatrous impurity in the town of Menuthis, where there was a pagan temple and where the power of the demons ruled. An angel of God appeared to the patriarch and told him that Menuthis would be cleansed of its impurity if he translated the relics of Saints Cyrus and John to that town. The patriarch did so immediately: he translated the relics of the martyrs to Menuthis and built a church there in honor of Saints Cyrus and John. Through the relics of these martyrs, Ammonius, the son of Julian, the governor of Alexandria, was healed of scrofula; a certain Theodore was healed of blindness; Isidore of Maiuma was cured of a wasting disease of the liver; the wife of Theodore of poisoning; a certain Eugenia of dropsy; and many other people of various diseases and torments. All this occurred in the year 412.