St. Archangel Michael Serbian Orthodox Church

If any of you would like to sponsor lunch for this or any Sunday, please call Fr. Slobodan at 408-867-0421 to put you on the list and for the Church announcement.

§ April 24^th Katerina Visnjic - Concert of Serbian and Greek Music (more info to come)

FOR RENT: A 3 bedroom, 2 bath, completely renovated house with all new appliances,
a huge back yard and a beautiful front yard, for rent. It is like a brand new house. Everything inside the house is new and beautiful. If you need a very nice place to rent, call: 408-603-3294

VENERABLE MAXIMUS, THE CONFESSOR

Maximus was a Constantinopolian by birth and, at first, a high-ranking courtier at the court of Emperor Heraclius and, after that, a monk and abbot of a monastery not too far from the capitol. He was the greatest defender of Orthodoxy against the so-called Monothelite heresy which proceeded from the heresy of Eutyches. That is to say: As Eutyches claimed that there is only one nature in Christ [Monophysitism], so the Monothelites claimed that there is only one will in Christ [Monothelitism]. Maximus opposed that claim and found himself as an opponent of the emperor and the patriarch. Maximus did not frighten easily but endured to the end in proving that there were two wills as well as two natures in Christ. Because of his efforts, a council was held in Carthage and another in Rome. Both councils anathematized the teachings of the Monothelites. The suffering of Maximus for Orthodoxy cannot be described: he was tortured by princes, deceived by prelates, spat upon by the masses of the people, beaten by soldiers, exiled, imprisoned, until finally, with a severed tongue and hand, he was condemned to exile for life in the land of Skhemaris [near Batum on the Black Sea] where he spent three years in prison and gave up his soul to God in the year 666 A.D.

ПРЕПОДОБНИ МАКСИМ ИСПОВЕДНИК

Цариграђанин по роду и најпре високи дворјанин на двору цара Ираклија, а потом монах и игуман једног манастира недалеко од престонице. Највећи бранилац Православља од тзв. монотелитске јереси, која се ишчаури из јереси Евтихијеве. Наиме: као што је Евтихије тврдио, да је у Христу једна природа, тако су монотелити тврдили, да је у Христу једна воља. Максим се опре томе тврђењу и нађе се као противник и цара и патријарха. Но он се не устраши, него истраја до краја у доказивању да су у Господу биле две воље као и две природе. Његовим настојањем одржи се један сабор у Картагини а други у Риму, и оба та сабора анатемишу учење монотелита. Страдање Максимово за Православље не да се описати: истјазаван од кнежева, обмањиван од прелата, пљуван од масе народне, тучен од војника, прогоњен, затваран, док најзад, са одсеченим језиком и руком, не би осуђен на доживотно прогонство у земљу Скитску, где три године проведе у тамници, па предаде душу Богу, 666. године.