Beacon of Hope

The Teaching of Fr. Ilarion

By Natalia Mikhailovna KopyttsevaTranslated by Nathan K. Williams,

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Description

O my God and Creator… do Thou Thyself teach
me to speak what I ought, both for myself and for the people here present, unto
salvation of soul.

The Russian village priest, Fr. Ilarion, used this prayer of the
twelfth century Greek saint, Symeon the New Theologian as he preached over a
forty-year period from 1966 until his death in 2008. Here we are offered a
selection of these sermons given on Sundays and other days throughout the
Christian year. They are startling in their clarity and universal in their
appeal. The theme of hope is persistent whilst always rooted in the necessity of
repentance. Fr. Ilarion tells us that:

Repentance is the first step on the path to turning to
Christ, on the path to Christian life. Without repentance, Christianity is
impossible and unthinkable. Whoever wishes to follow Christ must begin with
repentance. Repentance is God’s call to men to come out of the kingdom of sin
and slavery and into the kingdom of virtue and freedom… The spiritual Sun, Jesus
Christ, appears, and the sinner, illumined by His presence and pervaded by His
desired voice, receives His summons: “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are
heavy laden and I will give you rest (Mt. 11:28).”

This book is the ideal companion to the previously published
Champion of Good: The Life of Father Ilarion (Holy Trinity
Publications, Jordanville, 2011). All who have already encountered Father
Ilarion through his life will be equally engaged by his words. Those who meet
him first through his preaching will want to go on to read his life. Together,
they convey a potent message of the possibilities that open to the human soul
that turns to God with singleness of mind and humility.

The sermons are grouped by subjects. One index lists the sermons in
church calendar order and the other index lists the sermons in chronological
order for those who wish to see what was preached in an historical
context.

Additional information

Author Name

Natalia Mikhailovna Kopyttseva

Format

ED

Publication Date

20120830

Imprint

Publisher

Translator

Nathan K. Williams

Language

Russian

Book Dimensions

0

Format Detail

eBook

Author Biography

Nathan K. Williams is a professional
translator. He studied Russian at Holy Trinity Seminary (Jordanville, NY), where
he earned a bachelor’s degree in Theology, and went on to receive a master’s
degree in Russian from Middlebury College,Vermont. In addition to his work as a
translator he serves as an Orthodox priest at St. Alexander Nevsky Church in
Gardiner, Maine.

 

Contents

CONTENTS

Preface

A Short Biography of Father Ilarion

Father Ilarion on Preaching

Prayer of Saint Symeon the New Theologian before Giving a
Sermon

1. On Repentance

Sermon on the Day of Commemoration of Saint Ilarion (October
21)

Sermon on the Twenty-Ninth Sunday after Pentecost (December
14)

Sermon on the Thirty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost,on the Apodosis of
the Feast of Theophany (January 14)

Sermon on the Sunday after Theophany (January 7)

Sermon on the Day of the Meeting of Our Lord Jesus Christ (February
2)

Sermon on Repentance (February 11)

Sermon on the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy (March 3)

2. On the Cross

Sermon on the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the
Lord (September 14)

Sermon on the Third Sunday of Great Lent, of the Veneration of the
Cross (March 17)

3. On Forgiveness and Humility

Sermon at the Rite of Forgiveness (February 9)

Sermon on the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee (February
11)

Sermon on Cheesefare Sunday, in Commemoration of the Casting Out of
Adam (March 4)

4. On Love, Patience, and
Providence

Sermon on the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, on the Parable of the
Catch of Fishes (September 28)

Sermon on the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, on How to Treat One
Another (October 5)

Sermon on the Fourth Sunday after Pascha, of the Paralytic (April
23)

5. On the Incarnation, the Eucharist, and the Holy
Spirit

Sermon on the Sunday of the Nativity of Christ (December 25)

Sermon on Great Thursday, on the Day of the Commemoration of the
Mystical Supper (April 11)

Sermon on the Day of the Holy Spirit (June 11)

6. On Prayer, Fasting, and
Almsgiving

Sermon on the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost (September 2)

Sermon on the Temptation in the Wilderness (September 26)

Sermon on Meatfare Sunday, on Spiritual Fasting and the Labor of
Repentance (February 5)

Sermon on the First Sunday of Great Lent, on the Necessity of Fasting
(March 11)

Sermon on the Third Sunday after Pentecost, on Faith, Prayer, and
Fasting (June 11)

Sermon on the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, on the Eve of the Dormition
Fast (July 30)

7. On Preparation for the Kingdom to
Come

Sermon on the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, on the Parable of the
Sower (October 13)

Sermon on the Day of Commemoration of Saint Barlaam of Khutyn (November
6)

Sermon on the Feast of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem (March
22)

8. On the Mother of God

Sermon on the Nativity of Our Most-Holy Lady Mother of God (September
8)

Sermon on the Feast of the Protection of the Mother of God (October
1)

Sermon on the Feast of the Icon of the Mother of God “Of the Sign”
(November 27)

Sermon on the Feast of the Annunciation of the Most-Holy Mother of God
(March 25)

Sermon on the Feast of the Annunciation of the Most-Holy Mother of God
(March 25)

9. On the Saints

Sermon on the Day of Commemoration of Saint Ilarion (October
21)

Sermon on the Day of Commemoration of Saint Barlaam of Khutyn (November
6)

Sermon on the Thirty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost,

Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia (January
28)

Sermon on the Thirty-Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, on the Day of
Commemoration of Saint Nikita of Novgorod (January 31)

Sermon on the Third Sunday after Pascha, of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing
Women (April 9)

Sermon on the Third Sunday after Pascha, of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing
Women (May 1)

Sermon on the Day of the Finding of the Relics of Holy Hierarch Nikita
of Novgorod (May 14)

Sermon on the Day of Commemoration of Saint Barlaam of Khutyn (June
2)

Sermon on the Second Sunday after Pentecost, of All the Saints Who Have
Shone Forth in the Russian Land (June 24)

Appendix 1: Sermons in Church Calendar
Order

Appendix 2: Sermons in Chronological
Order

Notes