St. Tikhon Chapel
This Sunday is the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, the Afterfeast of the Transfiguration, and the commemoration of the Glorification of Venerable Herman of Alaska. In the Gospel, a father brings his suffering son to Christ after the disciples have been unable to heal him. The Lord rebukes the demon and the child is healed. When the disciples ask why they could not cast it out, Christ directs them again to faith, prayer, and fasting.
That Gospel falls in the middle of the Dormition Fast. The Church is not asking us simply to change what is on our plates. Prayer and fasting belong together as part of the Christian struggle to turn away from distraction and place our hope more fully in God.
Saint Paul tells the Corinthians to imitate him as he imitates Christ. Saint Herman of Alaska gives us a striking example of that life in our own land: prayer, ascetic struggle, care for the poor and orphaned, and tireless witness to Christ among the native peoples of Alaska.
On August 9, the Church commemorates the glorification of Saint Herman of Alaska, Wonderworker of All America. Saint Herman was among the monks sent from Valaam in 1793 to preach the Gospel in northwestern America. He eventually settled on Spruce Island, which he called “New Valaam,” and lived there for more than forty years.
His missionary life was not separated from works of mercy. The OCA life of Saint Herman describes his care for the Aleut people, his school for orphaned children, his teaching of the Faith and church music, and his willingness to speak on behalf of those who were mistreated. His life joined prayer, fasting, simplicity, teaching, and love of neighbor.
At this week’s Liturgy, we were blessed to venerate an icon and relic connected with the Protection of our Most Holy Lady the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary. Although the feast is kept on October 1, the icon and relic gave us an opportunity to consider what the Church remembers in this miraculous appearance.
According to the OCA account, the miracle occurred in the mid-tenth century at the Blachernae church in Constantinople. The church already preserved precious relics of the Mother of God: her robe, her veil, and part of her belt, which had been transferred from Palestine centuries earlier. During an All-Night Vigil, with the church filled with people at prayer, Saint Andrew the Fool-for-Christ looked upward and saw the Theotokos coming through the air in heavenly light, surrounded by saints and accompanied by Saint John the Baptist and the Apostle John the Theologian.
The Theotokos appeared as one praying for the Church. She knelt and prayed tearfully for Christians for a long time, asking her Son to receive the prayers of those who call upon Him and seek her intercession. After her prayer, she took her veil and spread it over the people in the church, protecting them from enemies both visible and invisible. The veil shone with heavenly glory while she remained present.
Saint Andrew did not receive the veil from her as a physical gift. Rather, he and his disciple Epiphanius were granted to see the Theotokos at prayer and the protecting veil spread over the faithful. The OCA account says that when she departed, the veil also became invisible; she took it with her, while leaving behind the grace of her visitation. This is why Saint Andrew appears in the icon: he was a witness to the vision and called Epiphanius to behold the Mother of God praying for the world.
The relic present with the icon gives a tangible connection to the Church’s veneration of the garments of the Mother of God. The OCA specifically records that her robe, veil, and part of her belt were preserved at Blachernae. The feast itself directs our attention beyond the material veil to what the vision revealed: the Theotokos continually interceding before Christ and the faithful seeking her prayers and protection.
The Prophet Micah, one of the Twelve Minor Prophets, was from Moresheth in the land of Judah and prophesied for nearly fifty years. He was a contemporary of the Prophet Isaiah and warned both Israel and Judah of the suffering that would follow their unfaithfulness.
The OCA especially recalls Micah’s prophecy that the ruler of Israel would come forth from Bethlehem. The Church therefore remembers him not only as one who called God’s people to repentance, but also as one who pointed ahead to the coming of Christ.
As the Dormition Fast draws to its close, the Church gives us these days as a time of preparation rather than simply a change in diet. An OCA reflection by Fr. Steven Kostoff describes fasting as part of the Orthodox Christian “way of life”: a received Tradition that calls us to restraint and discipline so that our inner life may be strengthened. He especially warns against reducing the fast either to convenience or to legalism.
That same reflection connects the fast with what we hand on to the next generation. Our fasting, prayer, and faithfulness are not private exercises alone; they help form the life of the household and show our children that the Tradition of the Church is something we actually live. The goal is not severity, but a willing commitment to the life we have received in the Church.
The feast toward which we are fasting proclaims the victory of Christ over death. The OCA’s teaching on the Dormition emphasizes that the Theotokos truly died and was raised by her Son, already participating in the eternal life promised to those who hear the word of God and keep it. In these final days, we can therefore keep the fast with prayer, restraint, almsgiving, and greater attention to God, preparing to celebrate the Dormition in the hope of the Resurrection.
- His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon.
- His Eminence Archbishop Daniel.
- Our clergy, monastics, seminarians, missionaries, and every parish and mission of the Orthodox Church in America.
- Those preparing for Holy Baptism and Holy Chrismation.
- Those who are ill, homebound, or traveling.
- Those who have recently reposed in the Lord.
- The faithful, benefactors, and everyone laboring for the growth of St. Tikhon Orthodox Chapel.
- The continued growth of Orthodox Christianity throughout North America.
May the Lord remember all those who have asked for our prayers and all those known to Him who are in need of mercy, healing, strength, and consolation.
Sunday, August 9: Herman, Matthias, Euthymios, Anthony, Psoï, Julian, Marcian, John, James, Alexius, Demetrius, Photius, Peter, Leontius, and Mary — saints of the day
Monday, August 10: Lawrence, Sixtus, Felicissimus, and Agapitus — saints of the day
Tuesday, August 11: Euplus, Basil, Theodore, Theodosius, Susanna, Gaius, Gabinus, Maximus, Claudius, and Niphon — saints of the day
Wednesday, August 12: Anicetus, Photius, and Alexander — saints of the day
Thursday, August 13: Tikhon, Maximus, Maxim, Hippolytus, Concordia, Irenaeus, and Abundius — saints of the day
Friday, August 14: Micah and those commemorated on the Forefeast of the Dormition — saints of the day
Saturday, August 15: Those celebrating in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos — feast of the day