Third Finding of the Precious Head of the Holy, Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John. Passing into Eternal Life (1951) of Blessed Mykola (Nicholas) Tsehelsky, Priest and Martyr.
Polyeleos Feast.
Romans 1:7-12. 2 Corinthians 4:6-15. Matthew 5:42-48. Matthew 11:2-15.
Read Romans 1:7-12
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory for ever!
Does the phrase “Having Remembered all the saints again and again in peace” sound familiar? This is the beginning of the “Angel of Peace” litany in the Divine Liturgy, or the litany just before the “Our Father.” At this point we have done just this: “remembered all the saints” not in some encyclopedic or historical fashion with various canonized people, but we have remembered the needs of all our Christian brothers and sisters around the world through our intersessions.
Perhaps we have also heard (or even used) the expression “ Well…I’m no saint…” usually just before some questionable action is justified. The truth is that through our baptism we are all called to be saints. St. Paul begins his letter by addressing all God’s beloved in Rome who are called to be saints- and that includes you and me! Don’t fall into the trap of relegating saints to the history books or simply in litanies in Church, where they can be kept safely away from you, but instead recognize your incredible call and vocation to struggle for sanctity. The Catholic writer Leon Bloy famously stated: “The only real tragedy in life is not to have become a saint.” Let us renew ourselves in our baptismal call to this incredible adventure of sanctity!