The Gifts of the Magi are still with us

Many Christian people are unaware of the history and existence of the Gifts of the Magi.  It shouldn’t surprise the Orthodox that the Church knows the whereabouts and keeps watch over the gifts that were presented to Christ even until now.  Enjoy this informative entry by the author of Trust and Grace Blogspot:  

http://full-of-grace-and-truth.blogspot.com/2009/12/precious-gifts-of-magi-and-monastery-of.html

Dec 27--The Stoning of Stephen, Proto-Martyr

From Grace and Truth blogspot (very nicely done!)

http://full-of-grace-and-truth.blogspot.com/search/label/St.%20Stephen%20the%20Protomartyr

 

(The Stoning of St. Stephen—portable icon found at Vatopaidi Monastery, Mt. Athos)

Wondrous is God in His Saints! St. Nicholas of Myra

http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/history-myrrh-streaming-icon/

http://www.visionsofjesuschrist.com/weeping2152.html

KOSOVO--An Advent Update and Your Blessed Involvement

Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ,

Many of you know that I am a board member of the Decani Monastery Relief Fund.  The suffering Serbian Christian population is near and dear to my heart.

Please take time to read this update from our dear brother in Christ, Fr. Nektarios Serfes, President of the DMRF.

Thank you & Blessed Holy Advent,

Presbytera Candace

26 November 2017

Beloved Benefactors & Friends of the Decani Monastery Relief Fund,

May our gracious and loving Lord God always bless you!

While preparing to write to you, three phrases kept repeating in my mind,

• KEEP LOOKING UP

• FOCUS ON THE GOOD

• BE A BLESSING

Whenever I make a humanitarian trip to Kosovo (my tenth trip to the region), I remind myself to KEEP LOOKING UP. Why? Because it is God who is working to sustain the Christian people who live in impoverished conditions there. They are not lazy; they suffer oppression by political enemies. They would love to change their circumstances for the better. However, for now, it appears that God is allowing things to be as they have been for some years running.  

The needs remain the same, albeit amplified. Even so, the Christian people continue to look up to God Who is their sustainer and upholder day by day. 

 

On the Decani Monastery Grounds

How is it that the Christians remain steadfast when their political and spiritual enemies prefer they be uprooted from their homeland? Because they look up to God. They pray. They live with the expectation of God’s goodness, mercy, and care where little exists they can do to improve their situation. And, God sends them assistance.  He moves the hearts of others with compassion and generosity over their plight. Then, there is relief and joy!

This is why the DMRF exists. This is why we partner with you to bring relief and sustenance to the oppressed Serbians of Kosovo. People continue to live in vibrant Christian faith because you help make it possible.  

I cannot tell you how many people asked me to give thanks to the supporters of the DMRF during my recent visit to Kosovo. Such gratitude expressed—it humbled me to receive it. I replied, “It is not me who provides, it is all those who are benefactors of the DMRF!” With sincerity I pass on their message to you, HEARTFELT THANK YOU’s from the faithful Orthodox people of Kosovo!

Four women’s monasteries comprised of holy strugglers asked me to especially thank the benefactors of the DMRF for the blessings they’d received from the Fund. In some cases, this meant not only food and fuel, but also appliances—a cook stove, a refrigerator, a washing machine. Monasteries and individual families receive new appliances according to need.

We take so many things for granted here in the West. Essential home devices mean so much for those who’ve lived without them. The Decani Fund gladly provides efficient home tools so life can be less harsh and more efficient. Someone wrote, “We live in deprivation, but with the hope of expectation.” This is very much how it is in Kosovo today.

Let me now FOCUS ON THE GOOD from my recent trip that I hope will inspire you as it has me:

During one of my meetings with Fr. Sava, Abbot of the Decani Monastery, I learned something new.  Six students from Kosovo seek to serve the Church and enter the seminary in Prizren. What a blessing for the Church!  Even with a population under spiritual and physical oppression, God is raising up young men in Kosovo to serve His Church. Glory to God! 

These seminarians have financial needs anywhere from $250-$360 per month to undertake their continuing education.  If anyone would be willing to support a seminarian on a monthly basis, please contact me, and I will supply details.

Fr. Nektarios and seminarians

Up until recently, there were six soup kitchens supported by the DMRF routinely serving the impoverished of the area. Now, I can report there are SEVEN soup kitchens, the most recent one opened in Prekovce. It serves approximately 800 men, women & children daily. More people fed; more needs met.  Thank God for this provision! Thank God for all the people who keep the soup kitchens up and running, day after day!

  

Soup Kitchen in Kosovo

Most recently, Serbian TV (outside Kosovo) began giving focus to the humanitarian work offered through the Kosovo soup kitchens. As a result, awareness has heightened, and another source of support is cultivated. How this will manifest long term is yet unknown. I can say we are hopeful for the future. Wherever God is, wherever compassion is, the makings of miracles exist.  

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of meeting students while making a stop to distribute cold weather wear.  Over 300 scarves, hats & gloves were given out—the result of our early autumn scarf drive.  How generous and kind you were, dear benefactors!  About 80% of the clothing fit children and 20% fit adults.  

I’ll say this--it would’ve cost a bundle to buy all these items new.  Instead, you gathered, laundered and mailed me beautiful pieces to bring over.  It was your loving effort which made this possible.  I was glad to deliver many ready to wear items in such fantastic shape!  Again, THANK YOU!

See this cold weather gear video captured at a school in the village of Osojane:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6XWXuuQUYY&feature=em-share_video_user.

Food & heating fuel (firewood) is essential for the cold weather months. That is our Fund’s primary focus this season. During the week of November 13, the DMRF transferred just over $5,100 to Kosovo to help cover these needs. Wire transfers are always met with thanksgiving to God by the fathers of the Decani Monastery! It allows them to provide practical assistance while demonstrating God’s consistent care for His people.

Right now, the DMRF is actively securing firewood to keep homes, schools & monasteries supplied with winter fuel. Doing so is essential to keep people healthy, warm and nourished. The Fund recently provided one village with firewood. A second village then asked for the same. In faith, I said yes, we would certainly help. Some people came to me and asked, “Fr., will there be pork roasts for us again for the Nativity Feast?” In faith, I replied, “Yes.” 

Can I make this happen? No. Rather, I have faith in the generosity and love of many people who have given before. I’ve seen loving hands unfold with gifts that say, “Here, Fr., let’s bless the brethren. Let us do for them what they cannot do for themselves. It is Christ’s way. Why should we be disproportionately blessed?”

Kosovo kids happy to receive firewood!

Indeed. Why should we with more resources be disproportionately blessed? II Corinthians 9:7 states that God loves a cheerful giver. The word in Greek for cheerful is hilarós. It describes spontaneous, non-reluctant giving. Someone asks, and you respond because you are already inclined to give without reluctance. And, why not? God makes all things possible. Especially for the non-reluctant, spontaneous giver. The giver already knows that he or she follows God’s way and that blessings will ensue. Such is part and parcel of a faithful Christian life.  

At this point, I ask those who can and are willing to BE A BLESSING to one or more of 200 families who hope and pray to have meat on their table for the Feast of the Holy Nativity on January 7. These are families who have meat on their table just twice a year. A pork roast that will feed a family of four for one week costs USD 100. Would you be willing and able to provide one or more Christmas roasts for Serbian Christians in Kosovo this season?  

These dear people will never be able to repay you monetarily, and you will likely not meet them in this life. Be assured they will thank God heartily for their benefactor(s) and ask God’s blessing on you. What more can we hope for? To bless and be blessed in return? To rejoice the heart of God? To have the good done in faith and love eternally rewarded? To experience genuine joy within? All these things, yes, are available to the person who participates with compassionate love. Is that person you?  Will you help us spread the warmth and peace of true Christian love in Kosovo this season?

A Serbian Nativity Feast Remembrance

·       GOAL: To put a pork roast (whole pig) on the tables of 200 families in Kosovo for the Nativity Feast. 

·       PURCHASE PRICE:  USD 100. per roast. 

·       PLEASE CONSIDER FEEDING ONE OR MORE FAMILIES FOR THE NATIVITY FEAST IN KOSOVO (JANUARY 7). 

·       WE ASK THAT YOU SEND YOUR GIFT BEFORE DECEMBER 31, 2017.

Here’s how to partner with us this season: 

Donate via Paypal

(use the button on our website: www.thedecanifund.org)

OR

Send a check payable to:

Decani Monastery Relief Fund

2618 West Bannock Street

Boise, ID  83702-4705

The Decani Monastery Relief Fund is a 501c3 tax-exempt charity and issues receipts for donations made.  Please send your gift no later than December 31 to receive a tax receipt for this year.

God love and bless you!  Peace to you and peace to your soul!

Humbly in our Lord Jesus Christ,

+Very Reverend Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes

President of the Decani Monastery Relief Fund

Contact information: Cell Phone 208-860-2479 / Email father@serfes.org

The Lord sees our wrest with the Enemy

We must always remember that the Lord sees us wrestling with the Enemy, and so we must never be afraid. Even should all hell fall upon us, we must be brave. 

On Serenity and its Development

If we look to correct ourselves and look more intently towards our inner activity - rather than our external, giving precedence to divine help - we can, in turn, be of greater and more positive help to others.  We will also achieve an inner serenity that will quietly help the souls of the people we encounter, because spiritual serenity reflects the virtue of the soul and transforms souls.

When someone applies himself to external activity, before having polished his spiritual inner state, he may struggle spiritually; but he will be fraught with worry, anxiety, lack of confidence in God and frequent loss of serenity.  If he does not improve himself, he cannot say that his interest for the common good is pure.  When he is liberated from the old self and all worldly things, then he will receive divine Grace; and be not only at peace with himself, but also able to bring peace to everyone else. 

October 1--A Short Life of St. Romanos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnxpdlesudY

God’s blessings on all those with Romanos as their Patron Saint, who celebrate their Name Day on October 1!

Forgiveness Requires Courage

A blog posting from Fr. Alexis Trader, Orthodox monastic, on his website: https://ancientchristianwisdom.wordpress.com/2014/07/08/forgiveness-requires-courage/

July 8, 2014  

Anyone who has experienced forgiving another human being recognizes that the act of loosening our grip and extending our hand that has recently been bitten requires courage, courage to act like Christ when our impulses drive us to act like wounded beasts. We know this on an experiential, intuitive level. Psychologists, however, have confirmed that fact in their study of forgiveness.

In his dissertation, John W. Beiter writes, “Thoresen (2001) highlighted that forgiveness was difficult, demanding and requiring courage.” Courage can be defined as a willingness and ability to face fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, hardship, death, or public disapproval. Courage is also required in order to let go of anger and the desire for revenge when one has been wronged or offended by another, to leave behind the dog-eat-dog world where we usually live, and to step into the unfamiliar terrain of the Gospel of Christ.

That forgiveness requires courage means that forgiveness is not a moral calculation or a balance on the scales of justice. Courage means we leave those calculations and balances on the side. Courage is required to forgive our brother without reflecting upon whether he deserves it. Forgiveness is, moreover, a courageous act of love that requires patience. Saint Ephraim the Syrian once said, “The life of the righteous was radiant. How did it become radiant if it wasn’t by patience? Love patience, O monk, as the mother of courage.” Patience in keeping God’s commandments provides the courage to do so in times of trial and temptation.

How is courage linked to forgiveness? In so far that it takes courage to be a Christian, in so far that it takes courage to be a person of faith, in so far that it takes courage to be obedient to the Gospel of Christ in a world that runs on the basis of other laws and criteria, it requires courage to forgive. After all, Saint Paul described the Christian as a courageous warrior of light: “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:13-17). Is courage useful in forgiveness? In so far as it is linked to doing all to stand, meaning doing all to be bearers of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, benevolence, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:23), courage is undoubtedly most useful for those who long to forgive.

Consider for a moment, the absence of courage. In such a condition is forgiveness even possible? Saint Isaac the Syrian writes in Homily 40, “Faintness of heart is a sign of despondency, and negligence is the mother of both. A cowardly man shows that he suffers from two diseases: love of his flesh and lack of faith; for love of one’s flesh is a sign of unbelief. But he who despises the love of the flesh proves that he believes in God with his whole heart and awaits the age to come. . . A courageous heart and scorn of perils comes from one of two causes: either from hardness of heart or from great faith in God. Pride accompanies hardness of heart, but humility accompanies faith. A man cannot acquire hope in God unless he first does His will with exactness. For hope in God and manliness of heart are born of the testimony of the conscience, and by the truthful testimony of the mind we possess confidence towards God.”

Saint Isaac makes the important point that Christian courage is the courage of the humble and soft-hearted, not the courage of the proud and hard-hearted. To have a humble and soft-heart after being wounded requires more courage than the most lion-hearted soldier, a super-human courage that can only be attained and sustained through faith and hope in God. To stop nursing one’s wounds and to start turning to God are acts of courage that are also antecedents to forgiveness, turning to our neighbors and nursing their wounds. The notions of courage, faith, hope, patience and a strengthened heart are expressed most beautifully in psalm 26: “I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be thou manful, and let thy heart be strengthened, and wait on the Lord.”

Since forgiveness is central to the Christian life, courage is an indispensable virtue. It is not possible to live the Christian life without the heroic courage of the righteous. Saint John Chrysostom remarks, “Sin makes man a coward; but a life in the Truth of Christ makes Him bold” (St. John Chrysostom, On the Statues, VIII. 2).

The more we forgive, the more courage we gather within our heart which in turn makes it easier to forgive the next time, and the time after that, and seventy-times seven that follow. When we begin living according to a life in Christ, our world changes, we perceive those around us differently. We begin to see them as Christ sees them. Most importantly, we recognize the grace of Christ operative in our lives. We can then echo the words of Saint Paul, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phillippians 4:13) and that includes forgiving everyone, even those who have wronged us grievously.

Remember, O Lord, those who have Fallen Asleep

Today we solemnly remember those who lost their lives, suddenly, unexpectedly here in the United States through terrorism attacks on September 11, 2001. 

 What recourse do Orthodox people have in remembrance of all these individuals?  We have a beautiful akathist, The Akathist for the Reposed, which covers all manner of departures from this life and may be prayed for both Orthodox and non-Orthodox people.  It is a consoling canon of prayers.  Here is a link to the akathist:  http://www.orthodox.net/akathists/akathist-for-those-who-have-fallen-asleep.pdf

 

 

Here is a way to bring comfort to the souls that only God really knows.  May His will be accomplished in ways unknown to us, that lie beyond our comprehension.  While we yet have time, let us pray. 

Photographs of those killed during the terrorist attacks* on Sept. 11, 2001.

Photo credit: Jeeny via United States Department of Justice

*missing are photos of 92 additional victims (apart from the terrorists which do not appear above)

A Prayer Against Bad Weather

A Prayer Against Bad Weather

 

O Master, Lord our God,

Who through Thy Consubstantial and Beginningless Word

and Thy Life-Giving Spirit Who is equal in honor,

hath brought everything out of nothingness into being;

 Who hath set sandy barriers to the sea,

and weighed the mountains and the valleys in a balance;  

Who hath measured the skies and holdeth the water in the palm of Thy hand;

Who hath given to this visible world of the senses its laws and rules,

its harmony and order;

 Who hath appointed changes to the weather

and variations in the orbit of the sun;

Who, through the mingling of the elements,

holdeth all things together by Thine inexpressible power,

and keep them from harm and intact:  

Do Thou Thyself, O All-Good King,  

extending to us Thine innate and customary love and goodness,

visit the works of Thy hands. 

Do not deprive us of Thy mercies and Thy compassion,

 and do not destroy Thine inheritance,

 for Thou didst ineffably create us in Thine own image. 

 Thou hast given Thine Only-Begotten Son as a ransom for us,

and through the mystical communion of Thy Spirit

hath made us to share in Thine own Divinity;

forgive, we pray, the multitude of our sins,

in the far greater multitude of Thy mercies. 

Thou didst wash away the sin of mankind

through the Cross and the Blood of Thy Son. 

 Restore the world of nature,

which hath been grievously disturbed into an unnatural state

because of the unruliness and disorderliness

of our lawless and corrupt behavior,

and bring it back to its natural harmony and order. 

Make the great ocean return to its usual calmness,

 bring to an end the tempest and the disturbance of the elements

that threaten us,

 order the winds to blow once more with gentleness and moderation. 

Rebuke the raging of the sea and the unnatural violence of the gales;

allow the spirit of the storm to be stilled, 

and the tempest to be returned to tranquility. 

Through the intercessions of the Most-Blessed Lady Theotokos,

of the God-like Angels and all the Saints,

and through the good pleasure and love of Thine Only-Begotten Son,

with Whom Thou art blessed,

together with Thine All-Holy, Good and Life-Giving Spirit,

now and ever,

and unto the ages of ages.

AMEN.

Hurricane Harvey--Providing Relief

From the IOCC (International Orthodox Christian Charities) website:

IOCC is closely monitoring the progression of Hurricane Harvey as it continues to impact Southern Texas and Louisiana. IOCC staff remains in contact with partners, including members of national and local VOADs (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) and expresses concern for the well-being of the people in the path of the storm.

Additionally, IOCC is activating its Emergency Response Network, the Frontliners, to deploy in the coming days to help the people affected by the storm with emotional and spiritual care and conducting needs assessments. Even after their deployment, IOCC’s work to clean and rebuild homes will continue into the weeks and months following the storm’s devastation.

How Can You Help?

IOCC continues praying for the safety and well-being of those affected by this storm. Your gift to our Hurricane Harvey Response Fund will help us to react quickly and effectively to conditions in Southern Texas and Louisiana as they unfold. Your help will provide immediate relief, as well as long-term support through the provision of emergency aid, recovery assistance, and other support to help those in need.

To make a donation, visit:

https://www.iocc.org/

Sincerely,

Pres. Candace

What's happening in Kosovo these days?

Pogrom: 

from the Russian meaning literally

destruction or devastation

(usually referring to a town or country).   

On behalf of the Decani Monastery Relief Fund
+ Very Reverend Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes, President

 

If you knew someone was suffering under a pogrom, would you step in to deliver the person? Would you make an effort, because if you turned a blind eye or deaf ear, someone’s suffering would intensify? What if death would result without your intervention?

Sounds drastic, doesn’t it? It is. What if the intent of the pogrom was targeted at members of your family? Today, members of Christ’s Body, our Christian family, are suffering a pogrom in Kosovo. An on-going pogrom—now in its 20th year! Hard to believe, isn’t it? Imagine living with both deprivation and Christian persecution in various forms for two decades running. It is no small thing.

Is suffering intensifying in Kosovo & Metohija? Yes! Could death result without intervention? Yes! Has death already occurred? Yes! The pogrom in Kosovo has taken various forms over the years. The express purpose has been to demoralize and drive the remaining Serbian Orthodox Christian population from their native province.

Terror is the Game

The on-going pogrom includes various forms of terror—physical harassment and harm, unexpected deaths. Property damage. Destruction of homes, leaving some homeless and others now living in shipping containers. Destruction of 160 churches and monasteries in the region, some dating back to the 12th century. Vandalizing and desecration of 400 cemeteries in the area. Theft of vehicles, farm equipment and farm animals. Unexpected loss of utility services (electricity—often resulting in food spoilage, lack of light and water service in some areas). A growing scarcity of food. High gas prices. Lack of medical services—only two hospitals in the region are allowed to serve the Serbian population—and they are very poorly equipped as of this writing. Most pregnant women opt to take the long ride to Belgrade (a 6 hour drive away) in order to deliver a child safely.

All the above are deplorable circumstances, DELIBERATELY inflicted on the Serbian population by the current Albanian majority to drive them out of Kosovo for good! 

 

aka Ethnic Cleansing

Marko Djuric, Republic of Serbia Director of the Office for Kosovo & Metohija, recently reported, “We should also bear in mind the fact that two-thirds of Kosovo’s pre-war Serbian population remain refugees and only about 120,000 still live in Kosovo and Metohija in poor economic conditions and political isolation while over 200,000 now live in central Serbia.” He also pointed out that over 80,000 houses and apartments in Kosovo are now used by other people, and together with security problems, are the biggest obstacles preventing the Serbs’ return to Kosovo. Those who do return may find bullet holes in their homes along with routine harassment by their Albanian “neighbors.”

How the EU Spends Money in Kosovo

It’s interesting to note that the European Union has invested the ethnic Albanian population in Kosovo with 60 billion Euros to date. However, for the Serbian population of Kosovo—NOTHING.

Serbs previously driven from Kosovo, who then want to return, face obstacles as noted. Is it any wonder why the ethnic Albanians continue to push for their ouster? Thus, the long-standing, intensified pogrom continues.

Neutralizing the Assault

One of the more effective tools used in the pogrom is the lack of available food. Lack of food is the greatest concern right now. The Decani Monastery Relief Fund is routinely tapped for assistance in providing food. With your help we will continue to source and provide needed food for the oppressed population. Most often this requires us to travel outside the province to source provisions. This is just one of the many ministries the fathers of the Decani Monastery provide for the brethren.

Funds received by the DMRF are applied in these ways:
• Routinely providing staple foods for families and monasteries
• Providing farm animals and farm equipment
• Providing food for six active soup kitchen ministries in the region
• Providing needed medical supplies and equipment
• Providing funds to help cover utility bills for families and monasteries
• Providing a hot lunch for students (a necessity during cold seasons)
• Providing firewood to heat homes, schools & monasteries during cold seasons

Overcoming Evil With Good

You can relieve those who are suffering a spiritual pogrom thinly disguised as a physical one. Yes, this pogrom is physical and needs are acute. Even so, the Christians recognize the true battle is spiritual as it is in every place where Christian persecution exists. Now is the time to save the brethren by your prayers and your material support.

The Decani Monastery Relief Fund exists for this purpose. With your support, we will let the brethren know, TANGIBLY, that they are not forgotten by God. His people remain the lifeline for their support during these times of crisis and uncertainty.

You CAN Provide Deliverance--TODAY!

Help us meet this crucial need, please. Let the persecutors be put to shame by the loving care these Christians receive from you! There is a genuine need—there is a pogrom in progress and you can be deliverers in Christ’s name through the Decani Monastery Relief Fund. Your generous response will speak volumes to the hearts of suffering Serbian Christians. You cannot know the depth of their need or their appreciation when they find there is a way to cope with these on-going hardships. Assuredly, God knows and will reward everyone for their generous and loving deeds.

Donations can be made on-line via Paypal on our website: www.thedecanifund.org

Or by mail: Decani Monastery Relief Fund
c/o Very Reverend Nektarios Serfes
2618 West Bannock Street
Boise, ID 83702

You will receive a receipt for your gift.

The DMRF is a tax-exempt charity. For those who might be wondering, the DMRF runs “lean.” We have no paid staff, all who serve the Fund do it voluntarily. We are a “no overhead” organization. All the proceeds given to the Fund go to Kosovo to meet needs there. So, the money you give yields maximum effect.

The Love of God will Reign in Kosovo

Because You Care

Unless we see with our own eyes we may not realize the severity and its effect when food runs short. But I assure you, the situation is critical and the DMRF will help with whatever means God provides. Your gift today will nourish people physically. In doing so, you will save this now Christian minority population from a severe humanitarian crisis.

We ask, too, that you remember and sustain the brethren of Kosovo and Metohija spiritually through your prayers. They pray for you, too—their benefactors!

God remember your love and reward it eternally in His Kingdom! Thank you!  Peace to your soul!

Humbly in our Lord Jesus Christ,

+ Very Reverend Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes
Who always prays for you! 

A Godly Reminder: 1 Timothy 2:1-3

Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol speaks on the Signs of the Times

 

 

Beautiful and inspiring talk given by Metropolitan Athanasios: 

http://pemptousia.com/video/metropolitan-of-lemesus-athanasios-signs-of-the-times/

The Armor of God

Putting on the Armor of God:

Being a Warrior When it’s Popular to Be a Weaner 

Being a warrior for Christ has no minimum age or athletic qualifications. All warriors for Christ, however, must want to “be men” or “be manly”. It means to be what a human is really meant to be: brave, courageous, and authentic in obedience to God. 

Archpriest Thaddaeus Hardenbrook | 08 November 2014 

Saint Nestor was only a teenager when he decided he’d had enough of the local Christians being slaughtered in forced combat against a giant named Lyaeus. The Emperor Maximian had set up a raised platform in the center of Thessaloniki where he forced Christians to fight for their lives against the seemingly unconquerable Vandal mercenary “who was a beast in both appearance and character.”

Nestor was thin and not very tall, but apparently that did not concern him. He visited Saint Demetrios in prison and took his blessing to challenge Lyaeus. The saint made the sign of the cross over his head and heart, prophesying, “You will both be victorious and suffer for Christ.”

Nestor entered the city center and approached the combat platform. Around the platform were numerous spears set into the ground. Lyaeus had made a name for himself by hurling his defeated victims down onto the spears.

So young and slight of build was Nestor that both the emperor and the Vandal hesitated to accept his challenge. But when he explained he would be victorious by the power of Christ, both men longed to see him dead. Mounting the platform, Nestor cried out, “O God of Demetrios, help me!”

Lyaeus charged at him from across the platform, and wonder of wonders, Nestor engaged him, deftly steered his momentum, and threw him from the platform onto the very spears that had killed so many Christians. The crowd exploded spontaneously, “Great is the God of Demetrios!”

Soon afterwards, both Saints Demetrios and Nestor were put to death for their faith. Yet clearly they were not “afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do” (Lk. 12:4). They had “put on the full armor of God” (Eph. 6:11). They stood, girded their waists with truth, put on the breastplate of righteousness, shod their feet with the readiness of the gospel of peace, and took up the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. They were warriors of Christ and victors to the end.

Being a warrior for Christ has no minimum age or athletic qualifications; the child-martyr Kyriacos was only three years old, but that’s another story. All warriors for Christ, however, must want to “be men” or “be manly” (1 Cor. 16:13). This doesn’t mean to be masculine (the term “manly” is used to describe female saints as often as male); it means to be what a human is really meant to be: brave, courageous, and authentic in obedience to God.

When we are little, obedience to our parents teaches us how to obey. As “men,” adults, we put that ability into action in our relationship with God. Obeying God is manly; it’s what authentically mature humans do. And that obedience leads us to a courageous and brave Christian existence. It leads us on the way of being warriors for the heavenly kingdom, where we vanquish, by the power of Christ, “principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this age, and spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Spiritual battle is the life, and the identity, of the Christian warrior, the grown-up Christian.

When I was a kid, my grandfather once took me to look over a bunch of young calves on the ranch next to his. They were in a large corral, newly separated from their mothers, mooing mournfully, and clearly unhappy with the new arrangement. Some fretted their loss, some lashed out angrily at their neighbors, while others just found a corner to mope in. “All of them just got finished being weaned from their mothers; that’s why we call ’em weaners. It’s time for them to grow up whether they want to or not. It’s just the way life is.”

He laughed aloud as he surveyed the self-pitying critters. “Take a good look at them, the way they’re all acting as if life’s too tough.” Then he turned to me with a little “get-ready-for-some-words-of-wisdom” in his eyes. “You can be a lot of things in life, but don’t be a weaner.”

Through the prayers of the holy warriors Demetrios and Nestor!

Source: St. Lawrence Orthodox Church

http://www.pravmir.com/putting-armor-god-warrior-s-popular-weaner/