Lives of all saints commemorated on April 25

Great and Holy Saturday is the day on which Christ reposed in the tomb. The Church calls this day the Blessed Sabbath.

“The great Moses mystically foreshadowed this day when he said:
God blessed the seventh day.
This is the blessed Sabbath
This is the day of rest,
on which the only-begotten Son of God rested from all His works....”

(Vesperal Liturgy of Holy Saturday)

By using this title the Church links Holy Saturday with the creative act of God. In the initial account of creation as found in the Book of Genesis, God made man in His own image and likeness. To be truly himself, man was to live in constant communion with the source and dynamic power of that image: God. Man fell from God. Now Christ, the Son of God through whom all things were created, has come to restore man to communion with God. He thereby completes creation. All things are again as they should be. His mission is consummated. On the Blessed Sabbath He rests from all His works.

THE TRANSITION

Holy Saturday is a neglected day in parish life. Few people attend the Services. Popular piety usually reduces Holy Week to one day—Holy Friday. This day is quickly replaced by another—Easter Sunday. Christ is dead and then suddenly alive. Great sorrow is suddenly replaced by great joy. In such a scheme Holy Saturday is lost.

In the understanding of the Church, sorrow is not replaced by joy; it is transformed into joy. This distinction indicates that it is precisely within death that Christ continues to effect triumph.

TRAMPLING DOWN DEATH BY DEATH

We sing that Christ is “...trampling down death by death” in the troparion of Easter. This phrase gives great meaning to Holy Saturday. Christ’s repose in the tomb is an “active” repose. He comes in search of His fallen friend, Adam, who represents all men. Not finding him on earth, he descends to the realm of death, known as Hades in the Old Testament. There He finds him and brings him life once again. This is the victory: the dead are given life. The tomb is no longer a forsaken, lifeless place. By His death Christ tramples down death by death.

THE ICON OF THE DESCENT INTO HADES

The traditional icon used by the Church on the feast of Easter is an icon of Holy Saturday: the descent of Christ into Hades. It is a painting of theology, for no one has ever seen this event. It depicts Christ, radiant in hues of white and blue, standing on the shattered gates of Hades. With arms outstretched He is joining hands with Adam and all the other Old Testament righteous whom He has found there. He leads them from the kingdom of death. By His death He tramples death.

“Today Hades cries out groaning:
I should not have accepted the Man born of Mary.
He came and destroyed my power.
He shattered the gates of brass.
As God, He raised the souls I had held captive.
Glory to Thy cross and resurrection, O Lord!”
(Vesperal Liturgy of Holy Saturday)

THE VESPERAL LITURGY

The Vespers of Holy Saturday inaugurates the Paschal celebration, for the liturgical cycle of the day always begins in the evening. In the past, this service constituted the first part of the great Paschal vigil during which the catechumens were baptized in the “baptisterion” and led in procession back into the church for participation in their first Divine Liturgy, the Paschal Eucharist. Later, with the number of catechumens increasing, the first baptismal part of the Paschal celebration was disconnected from the liturgy of the Paschal night and formed our pre-paschal service: Vespers and the Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great which follows it. It still keeps the marks of the early celebration of Pascha as baptismal feast and that of Baptism as Paschal sacrament (death and resurrection with Jesus Christ—Romans 6).

On “Lord I Call” the Saturday Resurrectional stichiras of Tone 1 are sung, followed by the the special stichiras of Holy Saturday, which stress the death of Christ as descent into Hades, the region of death, for its destruction. But the pivotal point of the service occurs after the Entrance, when fifteen lessons from the Old Testament are read, all centered on the promise of the Resurrection, all glorifying the ultimate Victory of God, prophesied in the victorious Song of Moses after the crossing of the Red Sea (“Let us sing to the Lord, for gloriously has He been glorified”), the salvation of Jonah, and that of the three youths in the furnace.

Then the epistle is read, the same epistle that is still read at Baptism (Romans 6:3-11), in which Christ’s death and resurrection become the source of the death in us of the “old man,” the resurrection of the new, whose life is in the Risen Lord. During the special verses sung after the epistle, “Arise, O God, and judge the earth,” the dark lenten vestments are put aside and the clergy vest in the bright white ones, so that when the celebrant appears with the Gospel the light of Resurrection is truly made visible in us, the “Rejoice” with which the Risen Christ greeted the women at the grave is experienced as being directed at us.

The Liturgy of Saint Basil continues in this white and joyful light, revealing the Tomb of Christ as the Life-giving Tomb, introducing us into the ultimate reality of Christ’s Resurrection, communicating His life to us, the children of fallen Adam.

One can and must say that of all services of the Church that are inspiring, meaningful, revealing, this one: the Vespers and Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great and Holy Saturday is truly the liturgical climax of the Church. If one opens one’s heart and mind to it and accepts its meaning and its light, the very truth of Orthodoxy is given by it, the taste and the joy of that new life which shines forth from the grave.

Rev. Alexander Schmemann

Saint Basil, the Elder of Saint Paisius Velichkovsky (November 15), was born toward the end of the seventeenth century. He received monastic tonsure at Dalhautsi-Focshani Skete in 1705 or 1706, laboring in asceticism with great fervor.

Saint Basil was ordained to the holy priesthood, and became igumen of Dalhautsi in 1715. He remained in that position for twenty years, and was a wise instructor of monks, teaching them obedience, humility, and the art of the Jesus Prayer.

The fame of this great spiritual Father began to spread, so that even Prince Constantine Mavrocordat heard of him. Saint Basil’s community became known as a spiritual school of hesychasm, based on the wisdom of the Holy Fathers. When the number of his disciples increased until there was no longer room for all of them at Dalhautsi, they settled in other Sketes in the area. In this way, his influence and teaching spread to other places, inspiring a spiritual renewal of Romanian monastic life in the eighteenth century.

Saint Basil renovated the Poiana Marului (Apple Orchard) Skete near the city of Romni-Sarat between 1730-1733, then moved there with twelve disciples. In addition to his duties as Igumen of Poiana Marului, Saint Basil was the spiritual guide of all the Sketes in the Buzau Mountains. One of his most famous disciples was Saint Paisius Velichkovsky, whom he tonsured on Mount Athos in 1750.

The holy Elder Basil also wrote introductions to the writings of Saints Gregory of Sinai, Nilus of Sora, and others who wrote about the spiritual life, guarding the mind, and on the Jesus Prayer. He taught that the Holy Scriptures are a “saving medicine” for the soul, and recommended reading the Holy Fathers in order to obtain a correct understanding of Scripture, and to avoid being led astray through misunderstanding. Saint Basil also warned against any inclination to excuse ourselves and our sins, for this hinders true repentance.

Saint Basil fell asleep in the Lord on April 25, 1767, leaving behind many disciples. His influence has been felt in other Orthodox countries beyond the borders of Romania.

The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark, also known as John Mark (Acts 12:12), was one of the Seventy Apostles, and was also a nephew of Saint Barnabas (June 11). He was born at Jerusalem. The house of his mother Mary adjoined the Garden of Gethsemane. As Church Tradition relates, on the night that Christ was betrayed he followed after Him, wrapped only in a linen cloth. He was seized by soldiers, and fled away naked, leaving the cloth behind (Mark 14:51-52). After the Ascension of the Lord, the house of his mother Mary became a place where Christians gathered, and a place of lodging for some of the Apostles (Acts 12:12).

Saint Mark was a very close companion of the Apostles Peter and Paul (June 29) and Barnabas. Saint Mark was at Seleucia with Paul and Barnabas, and from there he set off to the island of Cyprus, and he traversed the whole of it from east to west. In the city of Paphos, Saint Mark witnessed the blinding of the sorcerer Elymas by Saint Paul (Acts 13:6-12).

After working with the Apostle Paul, Saint Mark returned to Jerusalem, and then went to Rome with the Apostle Peter. From there, he set out for Egypt, where he established a local Church.

Saint Mark met Saint Paul in Antioch. From there he went with Saint Barnabas to Cyprus, and then he went to Egypt again, where he and Saint Peter founded many churches. Then he went to Babylon. From this city the Apostle Peter sent an Epistle to the Christians of Asia Minor, in which he calls Saint Mark his son (1 Pet 5:13).

When the Apostle Paul came to Rome in chains, Saint Mark was at Ephesus, where Saint Timothy (January 22) was bishop. Saint Mark went with him to Rome. There he also wrote his holy Gospel (ca. 62-63).

From Rome Saint Mark traveled to Egypt. In Alexandria he started a Christian school, which later produced such famous Fathers and teachers of the Church as Clement of Alexandria, Saint Dionysius of Alexandria (October 5), Saint Gregory Thaumatourgos (November 5), and others. Zealous for Church services, Saint Mark composed a Liturgy for the Christians of Alexandria.

Saint Mark preached the Gospel in the inner regions of Africa, and he was in Libya at Nektopolis.

During these journeys, Saint Mark was inspired by the Holy Spirit to go again to Alexandria and confront the pagans. There he visited the home of Ananias, and healed his crippled hand. The dignitary happily took him in, listened to his words, and received Baptism.

Following the example of Ananias, many of the inhabitants of that part of the city where he lived were also baptized. This roused the enmity of the pagans, and they wanted to kill Saint Mark. Having learned of this, Saint Mark made Ananias a bishop, and the three Christians Malchos, Sabinos, and Kerdinos were ordained presbyters to provide the church with leadership after his death.

The pagans seized Saint Mark when he was serving the Liturgy. They beat him, dragged him through the streets and threw him in prison. There Saint Mark was granted a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who strengthened him before his sufferings. On the following day, the angry crowd again dragged the saint through the streets to the courtroom, but along the way Saint Mark died saying, “Into Your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.”

The pagans wanted to burn the saint’s body, but when they lit the fire, everything grew dark, thunder crashed, and there was an earthquake. The pagans fled in terror, and Christians took up the body of Saint Mark and buried it in a stone crypt. This was on April 4, 63. The Church celebrates his memory on April 25.

In the year 310, a church was built over the relics of Saint Mark. In 820, when the Moslem Arabs had established their rule in Egypt and oppressed the Christian Church, the relics of Saint Mark were transferred to Venice and placed in the church named for him.

In the ancient iconographic tradition, which adopted symbols for the holy Evangelists borrowed from the vision of Saint John the Theologian (Rev 4:7) and the prophecy of Ezekiel (Ez. 1:10), the holy Evangelist Mark is represented by a lion, symbolizing the might and royal dignity of Christ (Rev 5:5).

Saint Mark wrote his Gospel for Gentile Christians, emphasizing the words and deeds of the Savior which reveal His divine Power. Many aspects of his account can be explained by his closeness to Saint Peter. The ancient writers say that the Gospel of Mark is a concise record of Saint Peter’s preaching.

One of the central theological themes in the Gospel of Saint Mark is the power of God achieving what is humanly impossible. The Apostles performed remarkable miracles with Christ (Mark 16:20) and the Holy Spirit (Mark 13:11) working through them. His disciples were told to go into the world and preach the Gospel to all creatures (Mark 13:10, 16:15), and that is what they did.

Venerable Sylvester of Obnora lived in the XIV century and was the contemporary of Saint Alexei, Metropolitan of Moscow, and one of the disciples of Saint Sergius of Radonezh. The long Life of Saint Sylvester has not survived. From his youth he had a great love of solitude. After receiving the blessing of his instructor Saint Sergius, the Igoumen of Holy Trinity Monastery, the monk Sylvester went to look for a remote place to live in silence. He set up a cross in the dense forest on the bank of the Obnora River, about 20 kilometers from the former town of Lyubima in the land of Yaroslavl, in the remote wilderness. After building a small cell, the holy hermit began to spend his days and nights in tireless prayer and strict fasting. Tradition says that one day, as he went to the river for water, the Saint received a revelation that the wilderness he had chosen for his ascetical labors would become known and would attract many monks.

After some time, the Saint's cell was discovered by a traveler who had lost his way. The traveler told the Saint that the inhabitants of the surrounding villages used to see bright rays, or a column of cloud hovering over his habitation. Saint Sylvester wept when he realized that his isolation had been discovered. He told the traveler that he had been there a long time, eating the bark of trees and roots. Since he had no bread, at first he would grow weak and fall on the ground. But after an Angel appeared to him in the form of a certain wondrous man and touched his hand, he no longer suffered from physical deprivation. Shortly afterward, as more people heard about the hermit, they came to see him, and others started coming to him for his advice and blessing, seeking his spiritual guidance. Saint Sylvester refused no one, but came out of his cell to bless the pilgrims, and he had long conversations with them.

Soon a monastic community gathered around him. Venerable Sylvester greeted everyone with love and he blessed those who wished to labor together in asceticism to build separate cells. When the number of the desert dwellers grew, Saint Sylvester decided to build a church in that place, with a monastery attached to it. He received a blessing for this from Saint Alexei, Metropolitan of Moscow († 1378), as well as an antimension for the altar. Saint Sylvester became the first Igoumen of that Monastery on the Obnora River, where later Venerable Paul of Obnora and Sergius of Nurom were glorified for their spiritual podvigs. The wooden temple at the Monastery was consecrated in honor of Christ's Resurrection. As Igoumen, Saint Sylvester provided the brethren with a constant example of prayerful struggle and tireless labor, but the love of quietude still dwelt in the holy ascetic's heart. From time to time, he would leave the Monastery and go deep into the forest for seclusion; and each time, crowds of people would be waiting for his return. They brought children and sick persons, who hoped that the Saint would heal them. The miracles worked by Saint Sylvester after his repose were recorded over many centuries.

Even during his lifetime, the place where the Saint retired was called a "protected" grove, which the locals treated with reverence from generation to generation, passing down the Holy Elder's orders not to cut any trees there. In the midst of this grove Saint Sylvester dug three wells, and a fourth on the slope of the mountain near the Obnora River, which was known and honored in the XIX century.

In 1645, Hieromonk Job, the builder of Holy Resurrection Monastery, ignored the ascetic's injunction and decided to cut down the grove. Because of this, he was punished with blindness, from which he was healed after a Moleben was served at Saint Sylvester's tomb. From that time, and to this day, no one has dared to cut down a tree in the protected grove.

When the Saint was stricken with a terminal illness, the brethren who were saddened whenever he went into solitude, were even more distressed about his impending death. "Do not grieve over this, my beloved brethren," he said to console them, "everything happens by God's will. Keep the Lord's commandments and do not be afraid to endure adversity in this life in order to receive a reward in heaven. But if I have boldness with God, and if my work pleases Him, then this holy place will not be impoverished even after my departure. Pray only that the Lord God and His Most Pure Mother will deliver you from the snares of the Evil one."

Saint Sylvester reposed on April 25, 1379, and he was buried to the right of the wooden church of the Resurrection.

There is an icon from the XVII century, on which Saint Sylvester is depicted holding a scroll in his hand; On the scroll is part of the text of his will, which has come down to us.

Soon after the Saint's death, at the place of his spiritual conversations, a chapel was built, around which Cross Processions took place annually on the holy ascetic's Feast Day. The Saint's burial place was especially venerated, because miraculous healings took place at his tomb. Like other northern monasteries, the Resurrection Monastery was repeatedly devastated: in 1538 the Kazan Tatars attacked, in 1612 it was laid waste by the Poles. By 1647, the destroyed monastery was restored. In 1656, with the blessing of Patriarch Nikon, instead of a wooden chapel over the tomb of Saint Sylvester, a church was built in honor of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos. In 1764, the Monastery was abolished, and its cathedral church was turned into a parish church. church. In 1821, Archbishop Philaret of Yaroslavl (later Metropolitan of Moscow) sent a gramota blessing the construction of a stone church instead of the wooden church of the Protection–Resurrection Church, which was completed in 1825. In one of the chapels of the Resurrection church, the incorrupt relics of Saint Sylvester were placed in a bronze silver-plated tomb. In 1860 Saint Sylvester again caused people to remember him by means of several miraculous signs, a description of which was printed in the Yaroslavl and Vologda diocesan gazettes for 1860–1870.

The Saint's relics were lost in the 1920s, during a campaign to open his relics. Shortly thereafter, the church was closed. At present, his relics have been returned to the church, and services are being conducted in it.

The Constantinople Icon of the Theotokos is locally venerated at Moscow’s Dormition church on Malaya Dimitrovka. This image is different from the Constantinople Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos celebrated on September 17, although it appears to be a copy of it.

The wonderworking Constantinople Icon appeared on April 25, 1071.