The Holy Myrrh-Bearing women, the righteous Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus remind us of what a person should be like said His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine in his sermon during the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Venerable Agapit of the Caves of the Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra on May 8, 2022, on the commemoration day of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing women, reports the Information and Educational Department Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
“Today the Holy Church honors and prayerfully remembers the Holy Myrrh-Bearing women, the faithful disciples of the Savior, who were honored to be the first to learn about the Resurrection of Christ, and through the Myrrh-Bearing women this message was conveyed to all the other apostles. The holy myrrh-bearing women were pious women who followed the Savior, like the apostles, served Him and were faithful to Him until their death. While the apostles, being filled with the fear of the Jews, hid, the Holy Myrrh-Bearing women stood at the Cross, near the Lord crucified on Mount Golgotha,” His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry pointed out.
The archpastor recalled the lives of these holy women, as well as two secret disciples of Christ, the righteous Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, who gave the Savior a worthy burial. Moreover, Joseph buried the Body of the Lord in his tomb, and Nicodemus alone raised his voice when the Pharisees condemned Christ: “Does our Law judge a person whom they will not first listen to?”
“These holy men and women, whom the Church honors today, remind us of what a person should be like, no matter what he does: whether he is a member of the government, or a great adviser, or how myrrh-bearing women were the wives of great people – they all must live according to sacred Divine laws. And when a person lives according to the sacred laws, he becomes a disciple of God. He is sanctified by these laws and makes himself able to contain the gift of Salvation. He shows other people the way to Heaven, to the place which the Lord has prepared for all those who love Him in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be the glory, honor and worship from us now and forever and ever,” His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry noted.
During the divine service, solemn prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine.
After the service, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry congratulated the parishioners on the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women.
“The Day of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women is a holiday for all pious Christian women, also myrrh-bearing women in this earthly life. May the Lord bless you, help you carry your ministry, your crosses. Through the prayers of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing women, may the Lord bless our land with peace,” Archpastor concluded.
You can follow Pravmir.com on Twitter, Facebook*, Instagram, or Telegram.
*Currently we are experiencing some issue with adding posts on our official page on Facebook. Our IT specialists are working on solving this issue at the moment.
