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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

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of the Holy Spirit. Amen. In the first Gospel

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reading today, when we began to listen to the

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Word of God, we read about the healing of the

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two blind men, and whom Jesus has healed in the

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house, in a hidden manner. And he commanded them

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not to tell anyone about what had happened, which,

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of course, as often happens in the Gospel, which

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they immediately go out and tell everyone. And

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so here we behold Jesus, our Lord, the Messiah.

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the Christ of God, the Son of God, who performs

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the deeds that are appropriate only for God himself,

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to heal, to restore, to heal the blind, to forgive

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sins, to give to the people, as he says, in accordance

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with their faith. But he is still hidden. He

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is still... not understood, for his hour has

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not yet come, and his glory has not yet been

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revealed, even though his glory is already present

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in his body, for his glory is fully revealed

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when he is crucified, when he is, when we celebrate,

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when we behold, the Pascha of the Lord, Pascha

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of his crucifixion and his resurrection. Today

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we also celebrate another uncovering, uncovering

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of what was hidden. We celebrate the memory of

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our venerable and God -bearing Father Seraphim

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of Sarov and specifically the feast of uncovering

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of his relics. in 1903, when he was glorified,

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when the witness of many Orthodox Christians

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have resulted in the Church's recognition of

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his sanctity, Church's clear witness that he

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is the saint of God. And to him, to St. Seraphim,

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we can turn with petitions. for his intercessions

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for us before Christ our God and before the Holy

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Mother of God. And we recall, of course, from

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history that this action itself, the glorification

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of St. Seraphim, the uncovering of his relics,

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did not come easy, did not happen without struggle,

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without attempts by the... people who were opposed

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to it for whatever reason, to resist it or to

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hide his sanctity. There was a resistance from

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church authorities. There was a resistance from

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society who was undergoing rapid secularization.

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And there was, of course, also unfortunate resistance

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from his own place of repentance, with attempts

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to hide the memory. of Saint Seraphim in his

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own monastery. But the glorification of this

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of monk Seraphim on the eve of the two Russian

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revolutions the uncovering of his relics in a

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humble state in which those relics were for they

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were not incorrupt but but the incorruption is

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not an absolute requirement for glorification

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of a saint. So they were revealed as Saint Seraphim

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himself was, humble, unassuming, but through

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this humility, the glory of God has been revealed.

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The healing power of God has been revealed, and

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it gave hope to the people. through the witness

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of the Church, through the witness of this remarkable,

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amazing saint revealed in their midst. For, as

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we know, one of the fathers of the Church, St.

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John of Damascus, speaks to us about and reminds

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us that the saints, the holy ones of God, the

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children and heirs of God, the friends of Christ.

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Those for they have, he even calls them kings

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and rulers, for they were not because they ruled

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over anything earthly, but because they prevailed

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over the hardships and passions and kept the

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likeness of God, the image and likeness of God

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intact in their heart. They received God in their

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heart and were sanctified, made holy by the union

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with him who is the only holy one. And therefore,

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God makes them witness. God makes the saints

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witness that how to live the life according to

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the gospel, how to live this life humbly in an

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unassuming manner, in a hidden manner. But through

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this hiddenness, the glory of God is revealed.

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For this is everything that the fathers of the

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church say about the saints of God. This is perfectly

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applicable. perfectly made apparent in our father,

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Seraphim. For he received the revelation from

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the mother of God, but this revelation led him

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to go into solitude, into hiddenness, experiencing

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hardships, deprivation. And again, misunderstanding

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of his own brothers and superiors. For they were

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confused. Why this monk was doing something strange?

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Why is he not like everybody else? He accepted

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asceticism so that he may bear the burden, endeavor

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of incessant prayer for others. And we know that

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he prayed for almost a thousand days on a rock,

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accepting this, this podvik of incessant, unceasing

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prayer, showing, demonstrating how an unceasing,

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really unceasing, the prayer can be. As St. Paul

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says today, we who are strong must bear the infirmities

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of the weak. And this is what St. Seraphim did.

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While still remaining in his seclusion, in his

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solitude, he continued to receive others. Any

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hardship that came, he endured it with patience

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and loving kindness. When he was famously, famous

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episode, when he was beaten by the robbers who

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thought to find in his cell an enormous treasure,

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he accepted it. He did not resist. He did not,

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and he insisted that people who assaulted him

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would not be harmed or punished in any way. He

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accepted their sin. He accepted the crime that

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they have committed. Accepted it as the will

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of God. So he is therefore when he finally was

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glorified and his relics were uncovered, his

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relics were revealed to be the source of healing,

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of consolation, and the hope for the people of

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God. But after a while, these relics were again

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hidden, for the communist regime has seized those

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relics. And they were hidden for decades and

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decades until for almost 70 years until after

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the fall of the communist regime. These relics

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were revealed again as a witness to the consolation

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and hope that God gives to his people. They again

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were revealed. so that they would be venerated,

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so that the witness to the sanctity of St. Seraphim

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may be proclaimed. They were revealed again in

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modern times, when people are in need of consolation,

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when we see again rapid secularization of society.

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on a global scale. And so we have St. Seraphim

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again in the midst of us through his relics,

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through his intercessions, through his icons,

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through the churches dedicated to him, assembling

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the people of God and receiving their prayers,

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their petitions, for his intercession for us.

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For he has perfectly fulfilled what St. Paul

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again tells us today in the first epistle that

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we read. Receive one another as Christ received

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us into the glory of God. The glory of God and

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the light of God were revealed in the humble

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body of monk Seraphim. revealed through his relics

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after his death, but also, of course, revealed

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through his humble and quiet life during his

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life, when he was alive. Through his hiddenness,

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through his humility, through his quietude, the

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glory of God and the power of God has been revealed.

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And so, if we venerate St. Seraphim, if we truly

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try to be his disciples, as we should be the

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disciples of the saints, so let us also receive

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one another. Receive one another, for Christ

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received us into his glory, into the glory of

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God. to give us eternal joy and eternal, everlasting,

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incorruptible life. Let us live humbly, and through

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this humility, let us with one mouth and one

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heart praise and glorify God every day. Glorify

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the name of God. Proclaim the gospel of the love

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of Christ, of the new life that has been given

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to us, humbly and quietly shining with the light

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of Christ, which illumines everyone who comes

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into the world. Amen.