The Orthodox Church celebrates each year on October 26th the feast of St Great Martyr Demetrius the Myrrh-gusher. In Bucharest, the Divine Liturgy was officiated at the outer altar next to the Patriarchal Cathedral by an assembly of hierarchs led by His Eminence Pavlos, Metropolitan of Drama (Orthodox Church of Greece). On this occasion, His Eminence Metropolitan Pavlos delivered a sermon, the text of which we present below:
The fragment of the Apostolos (Epistle Lectionary) read today is entirely appropriate for the feast of St Demetrius. St Paul the Apostle writes from the jail in Rome to his beloved disciple, Apostle Timothy. Right from jail he begins to sound the trumpet for battle. For St Paul the Apostle jail does not represent a place of captivity, but rather a starting point for the holy battle.
As a soldier of Christ, he is being tested. While a soldier of the Roman Army he received many golden awards, but as a soldier of Christ he received the ensanguined awards of martyrdom. St Demetrius exchanged the worldly dignities for the unchangeable spiritual values, while today we give up every value for a high dignity.
St Demetrius was a soldier of Christ. His primary care was represented by youth. A mosaic in his Church in Thessaloniki depicts him between two young men. In times such as today, there is a need of a loving mission in order to guide young people to Christ. In an age in which atheism and spiritual corruption determine young people to live a licentious life, there is a need of Christians, imitators of St Paul and St Demetrius, who by their word and example of living can call young people to true life.
St Demetrius, even if he was an officer of the Roman Army, he was actually a soldier of the army of Christ. He was a Christian in times in which being a Christian had a high cost. This means that, no matter what dignity one holds, he can also be a soldier of Christ and His Church. One’s profession and dignity does not represent an obstacle for Christian life and faith. In a country in which an atheistic regime had been established happened that an important state authority suddenly died. Next to him a bag was found. They opened it, and what do you think they found in it? Priestly vestments! That person was a priest, but the atheistic state did not recognize this, and he secretly served during the night.
Do you think that in our days there are no new martyrs shown? In Middle-East countries the pitiless sword of Islam cuts down authentic Christians and counts them in the same army of St Great Martyr Demetrius.
The life of St Demetrius wasn’t a life full of interest, as our life is. It happened that he suddenly was discovered to be a Christian, but he did not hesitate to publicly confess Jesus Christ. All his worldly dignities were taken away from him and he was thrown in jail like a common thief. He was tortured and then shed his blood.
He was an imitator of Christ. Christ was pierced in his side with a spear. Likewise St Demetrius was pierced with a spear, becoming a worthy imitator of the passions of Christ, and from his pierced body gushed myrrh, the fragrance of Christ. Because our Saint was and is an imitator of Christ, it would be best for us to establish ourselves in the likeness of Christ; let us imitate the saints, according to the word of St Paul the Apostle: ‘Therefore I urge you, imitate me, (as I imitate Christ)’ (1 Corinthians 11:1).
St Demetrius served God in two ways: by word and by his blood. His word and his blood were his seed. And the seed of St Demetrius has not been wasted. After centuries, he is still honoured as a Great Martyr of Christ. He sprinkled the trunk of the tree of the Church with his blood. That is why the hatchet of the worldly power cannot cut off the trunk of the tree of the Church. Because its roots have been sprinkled with the Blood of Christ and the blood of millions of martyrs. St Demetrius is loved and cherished by the faithful. He is a refuge and deliverance against tribulations for those who address to him with faith, as we chant in his troparion: The world has found you to be a great defence against tribulation and a vanquisher of heathens, O Passion-bearer.
We see reflected the power of Christ in the life of St Demetrius. St Paul the Apostle clarifies the meaning of this power of Christ: be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:1). We need the power of the divine grace. Alone we will be defeated. Let us ask for the intercessions of St Demetrius so that in this spiritual battles we can become as Nestor and defeat the Lyaios of sufferings, tribulations, atheism and the demons.
Beloved brothers,
There is a great blessing for us to be here and take part in the feast dedicated to St Pious Demetrius the New, Protector of Bucharest.
The fiery love of your Patriarch towards you, the people of God, who has suffered many bitter tribulations, persecution and martyrdom, which have enhanced your love towards the Church and Christ, is the cause of the arrival of the holy relics of the Three Holy Great Ecumenical Teachers and Hierarchs, in order that you receive blessing, holiness and strength in this spiritual battle.
The blessing that protects your blessed country comes from Holy Mount Athos, which is the Garden of the Theotokos.
We rejoice like true brothers observing your spiritual ascent, seeing the renewal of your spiritual life, after a period of great tribulation and persecution, seeing the renewal and glory of Christ’s Church in Romania. We rejoice when we see that your hierarchs are faithful, competent and industrious, and the priests serve you with sacrificial love. Also your monastics struggle to be on the front line of this spiritual battle. The many and different spiritual, cultural and social activities of the everyday life, the systematic study of theology and the cultivation of literature in theological schools and seminaries confer us the trust that all these represent a solid foundation and the hope of tomorrow’s and future Romania.
All these that I have reminded lead us here on the Hill of Joy, where the headquarters of the Romanian Patriarchate is located and where His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel, the Prime Servant of your Church, serves.
A man full of faith and love. A visionary regarding the presence and the life of the Church in the 21st century, always having an actual message to deliver to the contemporary man. Therefore he harnessed all modern means of communication to spread the message of the Gospel.
By his superhuman effort to build the Cathedral for the Salvation of the Romanian People, he desires to show the gratitude and the faith of the Romanian People in our Saviour Jesus Christ.
And now, let us remind the worldly dignitaries who come and go from time to time into the world that the Church is a divine institution that cannot be defeated. Therefore, the symbolic presence of the Cathedral for the Salvation of the Romanian People close to the pharaonic monument of the House of the People (House of Parliament) reminds us one of the words of St John Chrysostom: “Nothing is more powerful than the Church, o man! Cease the war against the Church so that you won’t destroy your own powers. Do not switch this war into heavens. If you fight against a man, either you will defeat him, or he will defeat you. But, if you fight against the Church, it will be impossible for you to defeat her, because God is more powerful than everybody” (Greek Fathers of the Church, Word before the exile, 33, 36).
As Metropolitan of the Holy Metropolis of Drama I now express my humble thanks for the official enlisting of the name of our Venerable Elder and New Confessor Saint George in the calendar of your Church, for building here in Bucharest a church dedicated to him and for editing his biography in Romanian language.
Saints truly are our common treasure. When rising from the bath of Baptism, we have all been enlisted as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.
May the Saints Demetrius the Myrrh-gusher and Demetrius the New intercede for us before the throne of the Most Holy Trinity, so that we will worthily step on the way we were called to step on, and to become worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven! Amen.
