Θαυμαστὸς ὁ Θεὸς ἐν τοῖς Αγίοις Αὐτοῦ (Ψαλμ ΞΖ᾽ 36)

God is Wonderful in His Saints (Ps. 68:36)

This verse is used as the Prokeimenon, which precedes that Epistle reading on the feast days of our Saints. The Orthodox Church places a special emphasis on the Saints, teaching us that they are our brethren, who dwelling near us, are ever ready to help us by the Grace of God. St John of Kronstadt explains how we live with the Saints in the same house of our Heavenly Father. We live in the earthly, while they live in the heavenly half, but we are always able to converse with them, and they with us.

The psalmist expresses God being “Wonderful” in His Saints. By their Holy way of life, the Saints attracted God’s Grace and allowed Him to perform great things through their humility and purity. All Orthodox Christians are called to be saints, and we can only achieve this by cleansing our souls through the Mysteries of the Church and aligning our will to God’s Will. Everyone who has been baptised in Christ must live in such a way that Christ lives within us. “Do you not know,” Saint Paul asks, “that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16). St Paul, in his letter to the Hebrews, encourages the faithful by saying: “since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Heb 12:1).

We are so blessed to have such support, not merely overlooking us, but “surrounding” us as we strive to imitate their lives. poor, sing for your consolation Psalm 102, and use the two that follow it 103, 104) to lift your heart in thankful praise to God, as in and through all circumstances we should always do. Psalms 105, 107, 113, 117, 135, and 146 to 150 not only show the reasons why God should be praised, but tell you how to do it…’

Source: Lychnos June / July 2016