In the third week (in the church calendar, Sunday is called a week) after Easter, our Church glorifies the feat of the holy myrrh-bearing women: Mary Magdalene, Mary of Cleopas, Salome, Joanna, Martha and Mary, Susanna and others.
These are the same women who witnessed the death of the Savior on the cross, who saw how the sun darkened, the earth shook, stones crumbled, and many righteous people rose from the dead when Jesus Christ was crucified and died on the cross. These are the same women in whose houses the Divine Teacher visited because of their love for Him, who followed Him to Golgotha and did not leave the cross, despite the malice of the scribes and elders of the Jews, and the atrocities of the soldiers. These are the same women who, loving Christ with pure, holy love, decided to go in the dark to the Holy Sepulcher, by the grace of God overcoming the horror that made the apostles run away in fear, hide behind closed doors, and forget about their discipleship duty.
Weak, fearful women, by the miracle of faith, grow before our eyes into evangelist wives, giving us an image of courageous and selfless service to God. It was to these women that the Lord first appeared, and then to Peter and the other disciples. Before anyone else, before any man in the world, they learned about the Resurrection. And having learned, they became the first and powerful preachers, began to serve Him in a new, higher - apostolic calling, and carried the news of the Resurrection of Christ. Well, aren’t SUCH women worthy of our memory, admiration and imitation?
Why do all the evangelists pay so much attention to the coming of the myrrh-bearers to the Holy Sepulcher, and two of them add a story about how Mary Magdalene was chosen to be the first to see the Risen One? After all, Christ did not choose these women and did not call them to follow Him, like the apostles and 70 disciples? They themselves followed Him as their Savior and Son of God, despite His visible poverty, simplicity and the obvious hostility of the high priests towards Him.
Imagine what these women must have experienced, standing at the Cross of the Savior and seeing all the shame, horror and, finally, the death of their beloved Teacher?! When the Son of God gave up the ghost, they hurried home to prepare spices and ointment, while Mary Magdalene and Mary of Joseph watched where Jesus' body was laid in the tomb. They left only after complete darkness had fallen, so that before dawn they would come to the tomb again.
“And behold, more disciples - apostles! - remained at a loss, Peter himself bitterly mourned his renunciation, but the women were already hurrying to the Teacher’s tomb. Isn’t fidelity the highest Christian virtue? When the word “Christians” was not yet used, they were called “faithful.” Liturgy of the Faithful. One of the famous ascetic fathers told his monks that in the last times there will be saints, and their glory will surpass the glory of all those who came before, because then there will be no miracles and signs, but they will remain faithful. How many feats of fidelity have been accomplished by good Christian women over the centuries of the history of the Church!” – writes historian Vladimir Makhnach.
Sin came into the world with woman. She was the first to be tempted and tempted her husband to fall away from the will of God. But the Savior was born from the Virgin. He had a Mother. To the remark of the iconoclast Tsar Theophilos: “A lot of evil has come into the world from women,” nun Cassia, the future creator of the canon of Great Saturday “By the Wave of the Sea,” answered weightily: “Through a woman, the highest good came.”
The path of the myrrh-bearers was neither mysterious nor complicated, but quite simple and understandable to each of us. These women, so different in life, served and helped their beloved Teacher in everything, took care of His needs, made His way of the cross easier, and sympathized with all His trials and torments. We remember how Mary, sitting at the feet of the Savior, listened with all her being to His teaching about eternal life. And another Mary - Magdalene, anointing the Teacher’s feet with precious myrrh and wiping them with her long, wonderful hair, and how she cried on the way to Calvary, and then ran at dawn of the day of resurrection to the tomb of the tortured Jesus. And all of them, frightened by the disappearance of Christ from the tomb, sobbing in inexpressible despair and amazed by the appearance of the Crucified One on the way, when they hurried to inform the apostles about what had happened.
Hieromartyr Seraphim (Chichagov) drew the attention of Soviet women: “They are all the more dear to us and close to our hearts because they were the same simple people as we are, with all human weaknesses and shortcomings, but out of boundless love for Christ they were completely reborn and changed morally, they achieved righteousness and justified on themselves every word of the teaching of the Son of God. With this rebirth, the holy myrrh-bearing women irrefutably proved to all the followers of Christ that the same saving rebirth is not only possible for them, but also obligatory, provided they are sincere, and that it is accomplished by the grace-filled power of the Gospel reproof, admonition, strengthening, inspiration or encouragement to spiritual deeds , and ascetics acquire the Kingdom of God, which is truth, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
They achieved sincerity through their love for Christ and through perfect repentance they were delivered and healed from passions. And they will forever serve the entire Christian world as an example of strong and living love, Christian women’s care for people, and a model of repentance!
For many centuries we have had an Orthodox folk women's holiday, kind, bright, associated with the most important event in human history, the Resurrection of Christ - the week of the holy myrrh-bearing women. Authentic International Women's Day. It is very important to revive it, because the calendar is the most precious asset of our culture. “Through the calendar, the cult influences culture, determines our life, the life of our country,” writes Vladimir Makhnach. - From the order of worship, from liturgical texts - to folk customs, to raising children, to the moral health of society. And we, undoubtedly, should preserve everything that remains of our calendar, and gradually restore what is lost, stolen, distorted... Our state, of course, is secular, but the country is Orthodox. And the state exists to serve society, the nation.”
In the meantime, let's congratulate all good Orthodox women on the Day of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women. And celebrate. And rejoice.
Marina Gorinova Newspaper "Blagovest"
SUNDAY OF THE MYRRH-BEARING WOMEN. Sermon by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
2nd Sunday after Easter
May 15, 1974
It is not convictions or even deep conviction that can overcome the fear of death and shame, but only love can make a person faithful to the end, without limit, without looking back. Today we celebrate solemnly and reverently the memory of Saints Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea and the Myrrh-Bearing Women.
Joseph and Nicodemus were secret disciples of Christ. While Christ preached to the crowds of people and was the object of hatred and increasing vindictiveness of His opponents, they timidly went to Him at night, when no one could notice their arrival. But, when suddenly Christ was taken, when He was captured and brought to death, crucified and killed, these two people, who during His life were timid disciples who did not decide their fate, suddenly, out of devotion, out of gratitude, out of love for Him , in amazement before Him, they turned out to be stronger than His closest disciples. They forgot fear and opened up to everyone when others were hiding. Joseph of Arimathea came to ask for the body of Jesus, Nicodemus came, who only dared to visit Him at night, and together with Joseph they buried their Teacher, whom they never abandoned again.
And the myrrh-bearing women, about whom we know so little: one of them was saved by Christ from eternal destruction, from demonic possession; others followed Him: the mother of James and John and others, listening, accepting His teaching, becoming new people, learning Christ’s only commandment about love, but about the kind of love that they did not know in their past, righteous or sinful, life. And they, too, were not afraid to stand at a distance - while Christ was dying on the cross and there was no one from His disciples except John. They were not afraid to come to anoint the body of Jesus, rejected by people, betrayed by His own, a criminal condemned by strangers.
Later, two disciples, when the news of the resurrection of Christ reached them, quickly hurried to the tomb; one was John, who stood at the cross, the one who became the Apostle and preacher of Divine love and whom Jesus loved; and Peter, who denied three times, about whom the myrrh-bearing women were told to “tell My disciples and Peter” - because others hid from fear, and Peter three times in front of everyone denied his Teacher and could no longer consider himself a disciple: And to him bring news of forgiveness...
And when this news reached him, how he rushed to the empty tomb to make sure that the Lord had risen and that everything was still possible, that it was not too late to repent, that it was not too late to return to Him, that it was not too late to become His faithful disciple again. And indeed, later, when he met Christ by the Sea of Tiberias, Christ did not ask about his betrayal, but only about whether he still loved Him...
Love turned out to be stronger than fear and death, stronger than threats, stronger than horror of any danger, and where reason and conviction did not save the disciples from fear, love overcame everything... So throughout the entire history of the world, both pagan and Christian, love wins. The Old Testament tells us that love, like death, is strong: it is the only thing that can fight death - and win.
And therefore, when we test our conscience in relation to Christ, in relation to our Church, in relation to those closest or most distant, to our homeland, we will ask ourselves the question not about our convictions, but about our love. And whoever has a heart so loving, so faithful and unshakable in love, as was in the timid Joseph, in the hidden disciple Nicodemus, in the quiet myrrh-bearing women, in the traitor Peter, in young John - whoever has such a heart will resist torture , against fear, against threats, he will remain faithful to his God, and his Church, and to his neighbors, and those far away, and to everyone.
And whoever has only strong convictions, but a cold heart, a heart that is not lit up with such love that can burn away any fear, know that he is still fragile, and ask God for this gift of weak, fragile, but so faithful, so invincible love . Amen.
The Day of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women is always celebrated by the Orthodox Church on the third Sunday after Easter. On this day we remember all those believers and good women who, after the burial of the Lord, “very early” in the morning, went to the tomb in order, according to pious tradition, to anoint the body of the deceased with fragrant aromas - myrrh. That is why we actually call the holy women myrrh-bearers. But a great miracle happened: the Lord was resurrected - and the first to know about this (after the Most Holy Theotokos) were the myrrh-bearing women who came to the tomb with aromas. Here, in fact, is a brief history of this holiday, but there is also a background. That is, of course, these pious and kind wives are glorified by the Church for their selfless and kind service to the Lord, not only after His death and after the Resurrection, but also during His difficult earthly life. This service was, perhaps, unnoticeable, in contrast to the service of the apostles, who were always “in sight”, next to the Lord, and preached, and convinced, and argued, and performed miracles... Women always seemed to remain in the shadows, but precisely they greatly eased the hardships of the daily everyday life of the Savior, Who, according to His own word, sometimes had “no place to lay His head.” That is, we, in the person of the holy myrrh-bearing women, glorify the best feminine qualities: selfless love, deep faith, modesty, patience and constancy in good deeds.
And if we are talking about myrrh-bearing wives not only in the biblical context, but also in the everyday-historical context, then every woman, of course: grandmother, mother, wife, sister, daughter - is called to this special service, to a special mission, if you like , which cannot be replaced by anything. After all, every woman is called to be a myrrh-bearer, where by peace we mean the wealth of faith and selfless love with boundless patience - that fragrant composition that makes our sick life, distorted by passions, at least a little brighter and better.
...we’ll say at least a little about our daughters at the end. I really want them to preserve that purity and kind spontaneity that the Lord gave them, but not just preserve it, but multiply it through their faith, obedience, and diligence with constancy. Because this is precisely what makes even the youngest of our dear wives – myrrh-bearers. And how can one not remember the words of the Apostle Peter:
“Let your adornment be not the outward appearance of braided hair, or gold ornaments, or finery in clothing, but the hidden person of the heart, in the imperishable beauty of a meek and silent spirit” (1 Peter 3:3-4).
In a word, dear women, our daughters, sisters, wives, mothers and grandmothers! What a blessing that we have you! May God grant you to preserve, carry and patiently spread the valuable ointment of faith, selfless love and patience. And perhaps, by opening and showing the restless world the beauty and height of women’s vocation and ministry, you will encourage many people, even if they are still far from the Church, to glorify the Lord. Because these people will perhaps see and understand that God has planned something most sublime and beautiful, joyful and holy for each of us and for all of us together! And the whole point is to listen sensitively to this plan of God, believe in it, trust and step by step, with patience and constancy, begin to bring it to life.
Priest Dimitry Shishkin
Men philosophize more
And they doubt with Thomas,
And the myrrh-bearers are silent,
Sprinkling the feet of Christ with tears.
The men are frightened by the soldiers,
Hiding from rage,
And wives are bold with fragrances
As soon as it’s light they hurry to the Tomb.
Great human sages
Nations are being led to nuclear hell,
And the white handkerchiefs are quiet
The churches are held together by vaults.
1960s
Alexander Solodovnikov
“Let your adornment be not the outward braiding of your hair, nor the golden ornaments or finery in clothing, but the hidden person of the heart in the imperishable beauty of a meek and silent spirit, which is precious in the sight of God "(1 Peter 3, 2-4)
On the 3rd Sunday after Easter, the Holy Church celebrates the memory of the holy myrrh-bearing women: Mary Magdalene, Mary of Cleopas, Salome, Joanna, Martha and Mary, Susanna and others, and the righteous Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus - the secret disciples of Christ. With its divine service, the Church once again places us on Golgotha at the Cross of Christ, from which Joseph and Nicodemus remove His Most Pure Body, and in Vertograd at the tomb, where they lay the Body of Jesus Christ, and where then the myrrh-bearers, who came to anoint the Body with fragrant oils, are the first to be rewarded with seeing the Risen One Gentlemen.
The myrrh-bearers are the same women who witnessed the death of the Savior on the cross, who saw how the sun darkened, the earth shook, stones crumbled, and many righteous people rose from the dead when Jesus Christ was crucified and died on the cross. These are the same women in whose houses the Divine Teacher visited because of their love for Him, who followed Him to Golgotha and did not leave the cross, despite the malice of the scribes and elders of the Jews, and the atrocities of the soldiers. These are the same women who, loving Christ with pure, holy love, decided to go in the dark to the Holy Sepulcher, by the grace of God overcoming the horror that made the apostles run away in fear, hide behind closed doors, and forget about their discipleship duty.
Weak, fearful women, by the miracle of faith, grow before our eyes into evangelist wives, giving us an image of courageous and selfless service to God. It was to these women that the Lord first appeared, and then to Peter and the other disciples. Before anyone else, before any man in the world, they learned about the Resurrection. And having learned, they became the first and powerful preachers, began to serve Him in a new, higher - apostolic calling, and carried the news of the Resurrection of Christ. Well, aren’t SUCH women worthy of our memory, admiration and imitation?
| Myrrh-bearing women at the Holy Sepulcher. Fresco of the Church of St. Nicholas the Mokroy in Yaroslavl. 1673 |
Why do all the evangelists pay so much attention to the coming of the myrrh-bearers to the Holy Sepulcher, and two of them add a story about how Mary Magdalene was chosen to be the first to see the Risen One? After all, Christ did not choose these women and did not call them to follow Him, like the apostles and 70 disciples? They themselves followed Him as their Savior and Son of God, despite His visible poverty, simplicity and the obvious hostility of the high priests towards Him.Imagine what these women must have experienced, standing at the Cross of the Savior and seeing all the shame, horror and, finally, the death of their beloved Teacher?! When the Son of God gave up the ghost, they hurried home to prepare spices and ointment, while Mary Magdalene and Mary of Joseph watched where Jesus' body was laid in the tomb. They left only after complete darkness had fallen, so that before dawn they would come to the tomb again.
“And behold, more disciples - apostles! - remained at a loss, Peter himself bitterly mourned his renunciation, but the women were already hurrying to the Teacher’s tomb. Isn't fidelity the highest Christian virtue? When the word “Christians” was not yet used, they were called “faithful.” Liturgy of the Faithful. One of the famous ascetic fathers told his monks that in the last times there will be saints, and their glory will surpass the glory of all those who came before, because then there will be no miracles and signs, but they will remain faithful. How many feats of fidelity have been accomplished by good Christian women over the centuries of the history of the Church!” - writes historian Vladimir Makhnach.
Sin came into the world with woman. She was the first to be tempted and tempted her husband to fall away from the will of God. But the Savior was born from the Virgin. He had a Mother. To the remark of the iconoclast Tsar Theophilos: “A lot of evil has come into the world from women,” nun Cassia, the future creator of the canon of Great Saturday “By the Wave of the Sea,” answered weightily: “Through a woman, the highest good came.”
The path of the myrrh-bearers was neither mysterious nor complicated, but quite simple and understandable to each of us. These women, so different in life, served and helped their beloved Teacher in everything, took care of His needs, made His way of the cross easier, and sympathized with all His trials and torments. We remember how Mary, sitting at the feet of the Savior, listened with all her being to His teaching about eternal life. And another Mary - Magdalene, anointing the Teacher’s feet with precious myrrh and wiping them with her long, wonderful hair, and how she cried on the way to Calvary, and then ran at dawn on the day of resurrection to the tomb of the tortured Jesus. And all of them, frightened by the disappearance of Christ from the tomb, sobbing in inexpressible despair and amazed by the appearance of the Crucified One on the way, when they hurried to inform the apostles about what had happened.
|
The appearance of an angel to wives. Armenia 1038 Miniature Gospel |
Following the example of the holy myrrh-bearing women, we must kindle in our hearts true self-sacrificing love for our Savior, so that, as the Apostle says (Rom. 8:38-39), nothing can separate us from Him - neither the present, nor the future, nor life, not death, not angels, not men. In addition, just as the holy women, wounded by fierce sorrow at the sight of the crucified Lord, sought and found consolation in His tomb, so every Christian soul should seek consolation in sorrows and sorrows at the tomb and cross of its Savior.
Saint Mary of Cleopas, the myrrh-bearer, according to the tradition of the Church, was the daughter of Righteous Joseph, the Betrothed of the Blessed Virgin Mary (December 26), from her first marriage and was still very young when the Most Holy Virgin Mary was betrothed to Righteous Joseph and introduced into his house. The Holy Virgin Mary lived with the daughter of Righteous Joseph, and they became friends like sisters. Righteous Joseph, upon returning with the Savior and the Mother of God from Egypt to Nazareth, married his daughter to his younger brother Cleopas, therefore she is called Mary Cleopas, that is, the wife of Cleopas. The blessed fruit of that marriage was the holy martyr Simeon, an apostle from the age of 70, a relative of the Lord, the second bishop of the Church of Jerusalem (April 27). The memory of Saint Mary of Cleopas is also celebrated on the 3rd Sunday after Easter, the holy myrrh-bearing women.
Saint Joan the Myrrh-Bearer, the wife of Chuza, the steward of King Herod, was one of the wives who followed the Lord Jesus Christ during His preaching and served Him. Together with other wives, after the Savior's death on the Cross, Saint Joan came to the Tomb to anoint the Holy Body of the Lord with myrrh, and heard from the Angels the joyful news of His glorious Resurrection.
Righteous sisters Martha and Mary, who believed in Christ even before His resurrection of their brother Lazarus, after the murder of the holy Archdeacon Stephen, the onset of persecution against the Church of Jerusalem and the expulsion of righteous Lazarus from Jerusalem, helped their holy brother in preaching the Gospel in different countries. No information has been preserved about the time and place of their peaceful death.
Since ancient times, the Feast of the Myrrh-Bearing Women has been especially revered in Rus'. Noble ladies, rich merchant women, poor peasant women led strictly pious lives and lived in faith. The main feature of Russian righteousness is the special, purely Russian type, chastity of Christian marriage as a great Sacrament. The only wife of the only husband is the life ideal of Orthodox Rus'.
|
Myrrh-Bearing Women. Romania, Sucevita Monastery |
Another feature of ancient Russian righteousness is the special “rite” of widowhood. Russian princesses did not marry a second time, although the Church did not prohibit second marriage. Many widows took monastic vows and entered a monastery after the burial of their husbands. The Russian wife has always been faithful, quiet, merciful, meekly patient, and all-forgiving.
The Holy Church honors many Christian women as saints. We see their images on the icons - the holy martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia, the holy venerable Mary of Egypt and many, many other holy martyrs and saints, the righteous and blessed, equal to the apostles and confessors.
Every woman on Earth is a myrrh-bearer in life - she brings peace to the world, her family, her home, she gives birth to children, and is a support to her husband. Orthodoxy exalts the woman-mother, the woman of all classes and nationalities. The Week (Sunday) of the Myrrh-Bearing Women is a holiday for every Orthodox Christian, Orthodox Women's Day.
In Old Testament times, before the coming of Christ to earth, a woman had an extremely subordinate, often semi-slave position in our world, and in her dignity was considered incomparably lower than a man. Many people of antiquity generally refused to recognize a woman as a full-fledged person. And this took place not only among pagan peoples, but also among Jews. It is known, for example, that one of the prayers said by men in the synagogue was the following: “Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe, Who did not create me as a woman.” While the women prayed in other words: “Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe, Who created me according to His will.” It is also known that a pious Jew was not supposed to talk to women. Even with your own wife you had to say as little as possible. And therefore, the fact that Christ was often surrounded by women, that they listened to His teaching and followed Him, seemed in those days an unprecedented and unheard of thing. This behavior went against the centuries-old rules of Old Testament piety.
Why did Christ violate these established and generally accepted customs of the people of God? In order to answer this question, we need to remember what reasons determined the inferiority of women in the Ancient world and their subordinate position in relation to men. From the Bible we know that when the devil wanted to destroy our first parents, Eve was the first to succumb to his temptation, who then persuaded Adam to break the commandment of God. After their fall, pronouncing His judgment, the Lord told Eve that her position would now be subordinate and dependent on a man and that a man would dominate her. This God's definition has completely come true - the position of women has indeed been defined in history as extremely subordinate and dependent on men. Thus, we see that a woman’s subordination and dependence were a consequence of original sin and were a punishment for this sin. This is the true and deep reason for the inferiority of the status of women in the ancient world.
Further, we know that Christ, by His coming into the world, delivered people from original sin and from its consequences. And from this it follows that the position of a woman after the coming of Christ did not remain the same, but changed: from inferior it became full, from slavery to free. For this reason, Christ did not distance himself from women, as the pious Pharisees and teachers of the law did. For the same reason, women, feeling in their hearts that the coming of Christ was very important for them, more important, perhaps, than for men, rejoiced at this and followed Him relentlessly.
So, Christ, having destroyed the consequences of original sin, changed the dignity of a woman from inferior to full. And the results of this were not slow to appear. We see that from the very beginning of the historical path of the Church, women have played the most active role in it. For example, from the letters of the Apostle Paul it follows that in the 1st century, special ministers were chosen from among women - deaconesses, who helped the bishop in many matters, including the performance of the most important church sacraments. This was impossible to imagine in the Old Testament Church, where women could not even be in the temple with men, but they were assigned a separate courtyard adjacent to the temple for prayer.
By the way, it must be said that to this day in the East, among peoples who did not accept Christianity and for this reason remained at the level of the Old Testament - that is, among Jews and Muslims, the attitude towards women continues to remain basically the same as in ancient times, they do not have equal religious rights with men. Consider, for example, the fact that in most Muslim countries it is not customary for women to pray in the mosque with men - they are only allowed to pray at home.
|
Myrrh-Bearing Women at the Holy Sepulcher, Vologda icon, dated 15th century. |
In the Church of Christ it is not so, but it was women who often turned out to be the most constant parishioners of churches, the most faithful followers of Christ at all times, and especially in times of persecution and trials. After all, it was women who did not leave the Church during the most difficult times of its history: the persecution of the Roman Empire, iconoclastic unrest, the Muslim yoke in the East and the Balkans. Just as the Myrrh-Bearing wives did not leave Christ during the days of His arrest, desecration and death on the cross (while the majority of the apostles left and fled), so in all other difficult times for the Church, it was women who remained faithful to her more than men. This was the case during the last great persecutions in communist Russia, when there were incomparably more women among church people than men, so that the expression even arose: “handkerchiefs saved the Church.”
Why are women more faithful to Christ than men in difficult times? The reason here is that women have faith that is more heartfelt than rational, and therefore their loving heart remains faithful to Christ not only in glory, but also in disgrace. This heartfelt faith unmistakably guesses the great mystery of Divine love, guesses that the path of Christ in our world is not the path of loud glory, but is the path of Golgotha, the path of crucifixion. That is why they did not abandon Christ in His humiliation of the Myrrh-Bearing wife, while the apostles, whose faith was more rational, could not then clearly see this mystery, which is why they were tempted by the death of their Teacher on the cross and did not show such fidelity as the Myrrh-Bearing Women.
A woman has a great gift from God - a loving heart, which can help her a lot in the Christian life, in following Christ. But this is only on condition that the woman finds the right use for her love. Elder Paisiy of Athos says that for this a woman needs to bringto sacrifice oneself, that is, to live not for oneself, but for the sake of others. Because otherwise - if the love that she has in herself does not find the right way out - a woman’s heart becomes unusable. According to the old man’s figurative comparison, without directing her love in the right direction, a woman is likened to an idling machine that shakes itself and shakes others.
How can a woman direct her love in the right direction? The most natural and common way for this is family life. Here many women's love finds the right way out; here a woman sacrifices herself to others - her husband and children. Here she lives not for herself, but for others, and in this way she serves and pleases God. That is why the holy Apostle Paul says that a woman is saved through childbearing, that is, through the birth and raising of children, family life. And for most women, this path of a Christian family is the most suitable.
|
|
However, the path of family life is not the only one; there are other paths that women who do not have a family can choose. These paths also involve sacrificing oneself, serving God and people. One such path is, for example, monasticism. But not necessarily only monasticism. Women who are not ready to enter a monastery can, nevertheless, while living in the world, follow the godly path of sacrifice to the best of their ability - through the service of mercy, helping the sick, disabled, prisoners, or even simply through a pure Christian life of prayer. And if you follow this path correctly, then it can turn out to be even incomparably higher than the family path. For a family woman, although she sacrifices herself, sacrifices herself to people - her husband and children, and the one who leads a high Christian life - directly to God. The family one works for people, and the one who lives spiritually works for God. After all, the Apostle Paul says that a married woman thinks about how to please her husband, and an unmarried woman thinks about how to please God, which is incomparably higher.
It should also be said that there are also dangers for women, their own traps that are set by the enemy of our salvation, the devil, who knows well the strengths and weaknesses of the female soul. One of these dangers, according to Elder Paisius, is a woman’s tendency to become overly attached to vain empty objects: beautiful clothes, trinkets, trinkets, coziness, comfort, luxury and the like. If a woman becomes too attached to such vanity, then she is in danger of spending the love of her heart - this priceless gift - on empty and useless objects, so that in the end there will be nothing left for Christ, for the love of God. To prevent this from happening, a woman needs to be careful and carefully monitor what she gives, what she spends, what she devotes the love of her heart to.
|
Myrrh-Bearing Women at the Holy Sepulcher |
There is another dangerous temptation for a woman - envy and jealousy. If a woman does not become attached to empty objects, does not waste her love on them, but tries to direct it in the right direction, then the devil changes tactics and tries to poison the woman’s love with envy and jealousy. And if a woman is not attentive to this abuse and is not careful, then her love, being strangled by envy, can very soon turn into hatred. “A woman by nature has a lot of kindness and love,” says Elder Paisios, “and the devil attacks her strongly: he gives her poisonous jealousy and poisons her love. And when her love is poisoned and becomes malice, then the woman turns from a bee into a wasp and surpasses the man in cruelty.”
So, female nature has both strengths and weaknesses, and carries within itself both gifts and dangers. If a Christian woman can develop her strengths and increase her God-given gifts, if she can not waste her love on sin and vanity, but direct it to Christ and people, then she can succeed a lot in the Christian life. And in this case, she will truly be like those great and holy Myrrh-bearing women who, despite all the trials, did not separate from Christ, but remained faithful to Him to the end. These holy wives remained inseparable with the Lord on earth, and therefore remain inseparable with Him in heaven, in the blessed Kingdom of Saints.
Sermon by priest Mikhail Zakharov
On the second Sunday after Easter, the Holy Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of the holy myrrh-bearing women, as well as the righteous Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. When Judas handed Christ over to the high priests, all His disciples fled. The Apostle Peter followed Christ to the court of the high priest and there, we denounce that he was His disciple, denied Him three times. All the people shouted to Pilate: “Take him, take him, crucify him!” (John 19.15). When Jesus was crucified, the passing people reviled and mocked Him. And only His Mother and his beloved disciple John stood at the Cross, and the women who followed him and His disciples during His sermon and served them looked from afar at what was happening. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, mother of James, Salome and others.
After Jesus gave up the spirit, Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the council, but not participating in the condemnation of Jesus, His secret disciple came to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus and, having received permission, together with Nicodemus, another secret disciple of the Lord, buried Him in a new tomb .
On the first day of the week, the holy myrrh-bearing women, having bought spices, came early to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus, but they saw the stone rolled away from the tomb and an angel who told them that Jesus had risen. The Lord appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom he cast out seven demons, and asked him to tell the apostles to wait for Him in Galilee.
The holy myrrh-bearing women show us an example of true sacrificial love and selfless service to the Lord. When everyone left Him, they were nearby, not afraid of possible persecution. It is no coincidence that the Risen Christ was the first to appear to Mary Magdalene. Subsequently, according to legend, Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene worked hard in preaching the Gospel. It was she who presented the Roman Emperor Tiberius with a red egg with the words: “Christ is Risen!”, hence the custom of coloring eggs at Easter.
The Holy Orthodox Church celebrates this day as a holiday for all Christian women, celebrates their special and important role in the family and society, strengthens them in their selfless feat of love and service to their neighbors.
How different is this holiday from the so-called International Women's Day on March 8, established by feminist organizations in support of their fight for the so-called women's rights, or rather for the liberation of women from family, from children, from everything that makes up the meaning of life for a woman. Isn’t it time for us to return to the traditions of our people, restore the Orthodox understanding of the role of women in our lives and celebrate the wonderful holiday of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women more widely? Amen.
From the diaries of St. royal martyr Empress of Russia Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova
- Christianity, like heavenly love, elevates the human soul. I am happy: the less hope, the stronger the faith. God knows what's best for us, but we don't. In constant humility I begin to find a source of constant strength. “Daily dying is the path to daily life”... Life is nothing if we do not know Him, thanks to Whom we live.
- Love does not grow, does not become great and perfect suddenly and on its own, but requires time and constant care.
- Religious education is the richest gift that parents can leave to their child; inheritance will never replace this with any wealth.
- The meaning of life is not to do what you like, but to do what you should do with love.
- Self-sacrifice is a pure, holy, effective virtue that crowns and sanctifies the human soul.
- In order to climb the great heavenly ladder of love, you yourself must become a stone, a step of this ladder, on which others will step as they climb up.
- The important work a man can do for Christ is what he can and should do in his own home. Men have their share, it is important and serious, but the true creator of the home is the mother. The way she lives gives the house a special atmosphere. God first comes to the children through her love. As they say: “God, in order to become closer to everyone, created mothers,” is a wonderful thought. Mother's love, as it were, embodies the love of God, and it surrounds the child's life with tenderness... There are houses where the lamp is constantly burning brightly, where words of love for Christ are constantly spoken, where children are taught from an early age that God loves them, where they learn to pray, just starting to babble. And, after many years, the memory of these sacred moments will live, illuminating the darkness with a ray of light, inspiring in times of disappointment, revealing the secret of victory in a difficult battle, and the angel of God will help to overcome cruel temptations and not fall into sin.
- How happy is a home where everyone - children and parents, without a single exception - believes in God together. In such a house there is a joy of camaraderie. Such a house is like the threshold of Heaven. There can never be alienation in it.
Wisdom of the Holy Fathers. Woman and Christianity
In Christ, the female sex is also at war, included in the army according to spiritual courage and not rejected for bodily weakness. And many wives were no less distinguished than their husbands: there are those who became even more famous. Such are the virgins who fill the face with themselves, such are the confessions shining with the exploits and the victories of martyrdom.
(St. Basil the Great)
The truly chaste, making every effort to take care of the soul, do not refuse to serve the body, as an instrument of the soul, in moderation, but consider it an unworthy and low thing for themselves to adorn the body and be proud of it, so that it, by nature, being a slave, did not become proud before the soul to which the right of dominion was entrusted...
(St. Isidore Pelusiot)
A number of Orthodox holidays overlapped with ancient pagan ones, and some, on the contrary, received new meaning after the events of the twentieth century. An example of such a holiday was the Day of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, an Orthodox women's day that became an alternative to the Eighth of March - the holiday of revolutionaries and feminists.
In our article we will tell you who the Myrrh-Bearing Women are and how their holiday is celebrated.
Date of the Day of the Myrrh-Bearing Women
This holiday is moving, it falls, in Church Slavonic terms, on the “third week of Easter,” that is, the second Sunday after Easter (2 weeks after Easter, which is celebrated differently every year, depending on the lunar calendar). With early Easter, the feast of the Myrrh-Bearing Women will be celebrated at the end of April.
Who are the Myrrh-Bearing Women?
The myrrh-bearing women followed Christ and the apostles, “serving with their property,” that is, helping in everyday life. They received the name “myrrh-bearers” thanks to their main feat of fearlessness - they brought precious myrrh to the Holy Sepulcher in order to perform the complete burial of Christ, despite the danger from the Roman guards.
Thanks to Dan Brown, the name of one of these saints, Mary Magdalene, has attracted the attention of modern society. Many became interested in the life of the saint, even without ever reading the Gospel story. However, the life of Mary Magdalene, her miracles and missionary activities are not the subject of fiction, but are confirmed by the apostolic books and the testimonies of early Christians and Roman historians.
Mary Magdalene and the Myrrh-Bearing Women
In the Holy Gospel and throughout the New Testament, Saint Mary Magdalene is mentioned more than once. The nickname "Magdalene" indicates that she came from the city of Magdala, north of Jerusalem.
In the Gospel of Luke, the evangelist mentions that Christ cast out seven demons from Mary Magdalene, but does not say how and when this happened. The famous researcher and writer, Archpriest Nikolai Agafonov, in his novel “The Myrrh-Bearing Wives,” suggests that Mary’s father was killed by robbers after ruining the family home, and therefore she went mad with grief.
There is no mention in any Gospel, in any early Christian testimony or Roman historical annals that the Lord Jesus Christ was married or had a relationship with Mary Magdalene. This should be recognized as an invention of later historians.
It is known that Mary Magdalene, together with other myrrh-bearing women, stood at the Cross of the Lord on Golgotha while all the apostles fled. Seeing the death of Christ, all the apostles, afraid to approach His Cross, betrayed the Lord. Christ, except the apostles and His Mother, had no loved ones - and so, abandoned by almost all the apostles, the Lord died on the Cross. Perhaps this is why only one of the apostles who remained with Christ at the time of His death, the Apostle John the Theologian, died of old age; the rest, in order to achieve holiness, atone for their sin and sit on the throne in the Kingdom of Heaven, had to testify to their loyalty to God. They died a martyr's death, while the myrrh-bearing women were at the Cross, not afraid of the Roman soldiers, and subsequently peacefully carried the teachings of Christ to people.
The Appearance of Christ to the Myrrh-Bearing Women after the Resurrection
All the Gospels also tell us that it was to Saint Mary Magdalene that Christ was one of the first to appear after the Resurrection. Together with Mary of Cleopas, Salome, Mary of Jacob, Susanna and Joanna (the exact number of myrrh-bearing women is unknown), she wanted to go to the tomb of Christ, but she came first, and it was to her after His Resurrection that He appeared alone. At first she mistook Him for a gardener, obviously not recognizing Him after the Resurrection, but then she fell to her knees and exclaimed: “My Lord and my God!” - realizing that Christ was in front of her. It is interesting that the apostles, actually the closest disciples of Christ, for a long time did not believe the myrrh-bearing women that Christ had risen, until He Himself appeared to them.
It is not known what the myrrh-bearing women did after the Resurrection of Christ; they probably preached. In the Acts of the Apostles - a continuation of the Gospel of Luke - only the life of St. Mary Magdalene is described. She went around many cities preaching the word of the Lord. One of the most important episodes of her apostolic activity was a sermon before the Emperor of Rome Tiberius himself. Let us note that no other apostles came to the emperor, only a weak woman, Saint Mary. It was customary to come to the emperor with gifts, but the poorest people brought at least chicken eggs. Saint Mary told Tiberius about Christ, His death and Resurrection, but he did not believe her, saying that the egg she brought as a gift would sooner turn red than a person would be resurrected after three days in the tomb. When the saint handed the egg to the emperor, it turned red - since then, scarlet has become the symbolic color of Easter and the Easter vestments of priests.
In her declining years, she settled in a Christian community led by the holy Apostle John the Theologian in the city of Ephesus. (However, according to Catholic tradition, the last years of Saint Mary were spent in Marseilles - in Italy). It was revealed to her by the Lord Himself when her last hour would come. She died happy.
Temples of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women
Since the holy myrrh-bearing women are known not only for their missionary work, but also for their miraculous help to people, a number of hospitals, shelters and schools in Russia were named after them even before the revolution. The most common name was in honor of Mary Magdalene. Today the name of Saint Mary is remembered again. So, the most famous temples in her honor
- In Moscow: in South Butovo, at the Imperial Commercial School, in Lyubertsy.
- In St. Petersburg: at the Mariinsky Hospital and the Children's Hospital of St. Mary Magdalene, named in her honor.
- In Minsk, there is a youth community that conducts active missionary and charitable activities and makes pilgrimage trips.
The meaning of the icon of the Myrrh-Bearing Women
The strength of spirit and the scale of personality of the holy myrrh-bearing women are reflected in each of their icons.
On icons, the myrrh-bearing women are traditionally depicted standing or waist-deep, with a cross - a symbol of preaching in the right hand and a small vessel of holy myrrh in the left (sometimes without a cross, but with the first hand held as a sign of acceptance of God's grace).
Saint Mary Magdalene is one of only six women equal to the apostles in history. In addition to her, this face includes the martyr Apphia, the first martyr Thekla, Queen Elena, the Russian princess Olga and the enlightener of Georgia Nina. It is interesting that Equal-to-the-Apostles Queen Helen was the mother of Equal-to-the-Apostles Tsar Constantine the Great, who enlightened the Byzantine Empire, and Princess Olga was the grandmother of Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, the enlightener of Rus'.
The expression of the saint’s face in the images is interesting: often it is stern, even stern - the saint courageously walks with a vessel of peace towards the possible danger of being killed by Roman soldiers for the teachings of Christ. However, today more and more icons are appearing, inheriting the tradition of iconography created by Viktor Vasnetsov. This icon painter of the early 20th century created a sketch of a mosaic for the Darmstadt Cathedral in the homeland of the Holy Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Nicholas II. Vasnetsov depicted the saint as a moving forward, spiritualized woman, perhaps even at the moment when she saw the Risen Christ.
Myrrh-Bearing Women - patroness of women
Every Orthodox Christian knows and venerates many saints. Prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ and His Most Pure Mother is a common petition that accompanies the life of a believer. But often it seems to us that our requests are small for God, and we are overcome by doubts: will He hear us, will He have mercy... In such cases, we pray to spiritual patrons - saints. Traditionally, it is customary to pray to different saints in different areas of life. In addition, every Christian has his own patron - the namesake saint. Find the patron saint by date of birth.
Women with one of the most common names in our country, Mary, will not have difficulty identifying their patron saint - you can choose Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene as your saint. Every Orthodox Christian can pray to Saint Mary: she is an example of courage, service to God and people, and willpower.
The name Joanna can also serve as an example of a common patron saint: girls with the names Yana, Zhanna, Ivana, Ivanka can be baptized in her honor.
We need to know well the life and exploits of our patron: we cannot sincerely love our saint if we do not know him. Many lives of saints are described in fiction. In the book of Archpriest Nikolai Agafonov, “The Myrrh-Bearing Women,” the life of the patron saints of all Mary, Jeanne, and John is beautifully described.
Women bearing the names of myrrh-bearing women can serve God and people by preaching and teaching the Law of God.
Woman in the Church and the veneration of the myrrh-bearing women
Let us note that at some point Saint Mary Magdalene began to be associated in culture with a repentant harlot, despite the fact that the Gospel does not speak in any way about her sins, only that Christ expelled demons who had appeared from God knows where.
In the Middle Ages, according to researchers, three female images dominated: the female temptress, the female penitent and forgiven sinner, and the female Queen of Heaven, the Mother of God. Saint Mary Magdalene appeared in the form of a repentant sinner. It was she who became the most revered saint among ordinary parishioners, believers who did not dare to compare themselves with the Mother of God, but who did not want to tempt. Christian women found an analogy for their earthly life in the repentant Magdalene.
Many women became famous for their service to the Church, and women’s feats are also not forgotten among the saints. Thus, the life of Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga is an amazing historical evidence of how the life of one person according to the commandments of God can enlighten an entire state. Considering the difficult position of women in Ancient Rus', the Russians’ rejection of Christianity and the loneliness of the saint in Christian life, the personality of the holy Princess Olga evokes admiration. And believers have great joy from the fact that the saint comes to the aid of all those who ask for her mercy and intercession in many troubles.
The most famous Russian blessed ones are also women - Saint Ksenyushka and Saint Matronushka. Xenia the Blessed is one of the most revered and beloved saints by the people, who lived in the 18th century. Matronushka, blessed Matrona, Saint Matrona of Moscow - all these are the names of one saint, revered by the entire Orthodox Church, beloved and dear to Orthodox Christians around the world. The saint was born in the 19th century and died in 1952. There are many witnesses to her holiness who saw Matronushka during her lifetime.
Feast of the Myrrh-Bearing Women: traditions and rituals, commemoration
This holiday was not as widespread in pre-revolutionary Russia as, for example, Trinity. It was sometimes called "Indian Week". On the eve of the week of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, Radonitsa was celebrated - the deceased were remembered. You should not eat at the cemetery, even kutya, and especially drink alcohol. Bring a candle (usually in a glass lantern) with you and read prayers for the deceased.
There is no need to drink alcohol “in memory of a person” and leave a glass of alcohol and a piece of bread on the grave. All these are ritual traditions with roots in paganism. It is better to bring flowers and an icon of Christ, the Mother of God or the patron saint of the deceased to the grave. In the days after Easter, colored eggs are left on the graves.
At the cemetery, you can read an akathist about the deceased and after it perform a litia - translated from Greek, the word “lithia” means fervent prayer. The funeral lithium can be performed by both a priest and a layman (that is, any baptized person). This lithium was created for a special prayer for the deceased and is performed before removing the coffin from the house, in the cemetery over a fresh grave, and even at any time, if you wish, to ask the Lord for help in the afterlife for your loved one - most often at the cemetery and before the funeral, after returning home from the funeral.
Orthodox Women's Day - is it a sin to celebrate the Eighth of March?
Today, the feast of the Myrrh-Bearing Women has become an international Orthodox women's day. On this day, plays are staged about saints; many parishes have started a good tradition, during which priests give flowers and small icons to all parishioners. Sunday school students give homemade gifts to their mothers and teachers.
However, it would not be a sin to congratulate women of the “old school”, Soviet upbringing - mothers, grandmothers, aunts - on the Eighth of March. Even though this is a feminist holiday with a rather bloody history, in the history of our country it is associated with the warmth of a mother’s hands, mother’s care, and grandmother’s joy. Celebrate it, but don’t forget the day of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women.
May the Lord protect you through the prayers of the holy myrrh-bearing women!
On April 22, Orthodox believers will begin to celebrate one of the most beautiful church dates - the week of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women. Beautiful not only because 40 days after Easter the churches are still decorated and the altar gates are open in honor of the holiday, but also because this date is dedicated to all women. It’s not for nothing that it’s compared to International Women’s Day, but for Christians.
Who are the myrrh-bearing women and why are they glorified immediately after the Holy Resurrection?
The feast of the Myrrh-Bearing Women is moveable, that is, it does not have a specific date,” he told our website Archpriest Alexander Ilyashenko, rector of the Moscow Church of the All-Merciful Savior. - It is celebrated on the second Sunday after Easter (this year – April 22), and the entire week after it is considered a holiday. On this day, Orthodox Christians honor Mary Magdalene, Mary of Cleopas, Salome, Joanna, Martha, Mary, Susanna and other saints. It was they who joyfully showed Jesus Christ hospitality in their homes, accepted his teaching and, out of love for him, followed him on the way of the cross to Golgotha, where they witnessed his suffering.
Early in the morning after the crucifixion, they hurried to the Holy Sepulcher to anoint the body of Christ with myrrh according to Jewish tradition, and were the first to learn that he had risen from the angel sitting on a stone near an empty cave. It is also surprising that after the resurrection the Savior first appeared to a woman - the repentant sinner Mary Magdalene, and after her to a woman - Salome, the mother of the apostles Jesus, James and John.
Among the Orthodox these days, it is customary to congratulate mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, grandmothers, aunts - all women who live according to the commandments of God, since they are all myrrh-bearers in life - they are the support of their family, the keepers of the home.
The myrrh-bearing women, with their meekness, fidelity, patience and mercy, became role models, so the holiday is a kind of Orthodox Women’s Day for pious and righteous Christians, agrees Archpriest Alexander Ilyashenko.
Saint Mary Magdalene
The holiday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women has not gained any special traditions, but somehow it can be distinguished from other days. For the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem we decorate our houses with willow, for Easter we paint eggs and prepare Easter cakes, and on the week of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women...
It would be a pious act for all women - both married and unmarried - to go to church services, advises Father Alexander. - Afterwards, you can please your relatives with something around the house - for example, bake a cake or arrange something kind like games or dances for your beloved men - husbands, fathers, brothers... In return they can give their ladies flowers - and not necessarily mimosa . This holiday is home, family.
