Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishop Varlaam of Ploiești, general secretary of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church, urged the faithful on Tuesday to pray to Saint Menas for the recovery of lost or weakened faith, during celebrations dedicated to the saint known for helping believers find lost objects.
“First of all,” said Bishop Varlaam, “let us pray to Saint Menas the Great Martyr to help us regain the faith we have lost or which has grown weak; to rediscover the virtues that once adorned our souls in childhood, when, innocent and pure, we came to church brought by our parents or grandparents to receive Holy Communion, and the time spent in church was a joy — a foretaste of Paradise.”
The Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishop spoke at the end of the Divine Liturgy celebrated at the Saint Menas – Vergu Church, a Patriarchal Metochion in Bucharest.
“Let us ask for help to become merciful again, as we were in childhood, when we felt love for everything around us — a world that has gradually narrowed with each passing day of our lives. Often, we find that we have become isolated, lacking empathy, love, and compassion for those around us,” he said.
“Let Us Pray to Recover Only What Is Truly Ours”
His Grace went on to remind the faithful that, although material possessions are temporarily useful, they are transient and will one day be left behind. What truly matters, he said, is to recover what will never be taken from us.
“Let us pray to Saint Menas to help us recover only what truly belongs to us — for we also have our own prayers and meditations in the unceasing prayer of the heart, and our own ascetic practices in the fasts throughout the year, as well as those on Wednesdays and Fridays,” Bishop Varlaam explained.
“Therefore, let us remain devoted to Saint Menas and ask him only for that which truly benefits our lives — the goods that will never be taken from us, namely the virtues and deeds of mercy.”
Saint Menas: From Pagan Land to Soldier of Christ
Bishop Varlaam went on to describe how Saint Menas was born in a pagan land, once considered “a country of demons,” and yet God had a different plan for it.
“Egypt was considered a land of demons, for there were many temples, and countless deities were worshipped there. Later, the Fathers of the Church said that this demonic activity in Egypt also manifested itself through the emergence of various disturbances, heresies, and schisms within the life of the Church. Yet God, in His providence, had a special plan for this land, despite its polytheism,” the bishop noted.
In this hostile context, Saint Menas became a Roman soldier and openly confessed Christ, thus earning the crown of martyrdom.
“He began to preach Christ and was arrested by soldiers of the imperial army, brought before the governor of Alexandria, Pyrrhus, who tried to persuade him to renounce his Christian faith. Seeing Saint Menas’s firm refusal, the governor ordered that he be tortured,” said Bishop Varlaam.
“Because he did not renounce his faith even while suffering severe torments, Pyrrhus ordered that he be beheaded. The pagans then took the body of Saint Menas and threw it into a fire, which they kept burning for three days and three nights — yet his body remained unburnt,” the hierarch concluded.
Photo: Basilica.ro / Raluca Ene
Source: basilica.ro
