As you know, the Holy Orthodox Church glorifies the Holy Myrrh-bearing Women, which is why this Sunday is called the Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women.

Yesterday we mentioned that the Myrrh-bearing Women were essentially the first ones to preach about the Resurrection of Christ, and in this sense, as one Russian hierarch remarked, they were apostles to the Apostles themselves. In reading the Gospel we cannot help but notice the following circumstance: when the Apostles themselves see the Risen Teacher, they are seized by the spirit of complete faith ; but when others tell them that theTeacher has risen, they cannot believe as they should have. The Holy Evangelist Mark even remarks that one time the Lord, having appeared to them, began to upbraid them, i. e. He directly rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they could not believe those who told them about His Resurrection. Even though the Apostles could in no way believe in the miracle of the resurrection, the Myrrh-bearing Women immediately recognized the One who appeared to them. In a state of excitement, amazement, and fear, they ran from the tomb of the Lord.

At first they were afraid to speak to anyone about this, because what they heard from the angel was so unusual and frightening; but as they were fleeing. He Whom they wanted to anoint with fragrant myrrh appeared to them. He appeared to them and said one word: "Hail"! The faithful Myrrh-bearing Women immediately recognized the Saviour Who appeared to them and they joyfully worshipped Him. Why such joy? Blessed Metropolitan Anthony indicated that faithfulness to the truth, and unfaithfulness, are very significant for a person. Constant and firm faithfulness in everything is the opposite of faint-hearted unfaithfulness. So it was in this instance, says Metropolitan Anthony. The Apostles, instead of following their Teacher after He was arrested, scattered in different directions. When the Lord had gone to raise Lazarus, the Apostle Thomas said. Let us also go, that we may die with Him (John 11:16). There followed not one objection from the Apostles. This means that they were in agreement with the Apostle Thomas. But instead, in the Garden of Gethsemane they became frightened and fled. Only the apostle of love, the Apostle John, resisted this fear and remained inseparably with the Teacher, even until Golgotha, where he stood along with the Most Pure Mother of the Saviour. But the Apostles fled — see how that unbelief and faintheartedness darkened their eyes, as Vladyka Anthony indicated. The faithful Myrrh-bearers, however, who went with Him to Golgotha, stood at the very Cross — lamenting, and at the same time trying to somehow lessen the terrible, supernatural sorrow of the Most-blessed Virgin Mary with their love and compassion. They did not leave Her. We know from the Gospel how they buried Him, and that the Myrrh-bearing Women watched where they laid Him. But there were no Apostles here... they fled. The Myrrh-bearing Women remained faithful to Him until the very end, and therefore, as Vladyka Anthony says, their conscience and inner feeling of spiritual intuition remained bright and pure, and therefore they immediately recognized Christ when He appeared to them, and without any doubt they worshipped Him as their beloved Teacher and Victor over death.

Just picture what the holy myrrh-bearer Mary Magdalene experienced as she wept inconsolably at the tomb of Him Who had freed her from the unclean enemy powers, casting seven demons out of her. After this happened, she became a constant follower of the Beloved Teacher. Here she weeps inconsolably at His tomb and suddenly she hears from the One Who appeared to her that very voice: "Mary" — that dear and unforgettable voice — by which seven demons had once been cast out of her. That the heart of Mary did not burst at this moment from joy and rapture, is because the Source of Life was speaking to her — the Lord Himself. Such a transition — from inconsolable sorrow to complete, rapturous joy! So then, let us remember what faithfulness and devotion mean, what a pure conscience means. The Holy Women did everything they could to attend to their Teacher. Not fearing any kind of dangers they go to Golgotha, they accompany Him, they stand at the Cross on Golgotha, they observe, they watch how their Teacher is piously buried — and for this they have the joy of seeing, before the Apostles, Christ in His glory. Risen from the dead.

Remember, man, how important it is to be faithful to God. Faithfulness and devotion to God illumine the conscience of man and enlighten the mind of man. And conversely, when a man repeatedly performs acts of unfaithfulness, which betray his Lord and the truth, his soul becomes hardened, his conscience becomes coarse and darkened, and it is not easy for him to recognize the truth, it is not easy for him to worship it. Every one of us must remember this and always pray that the Lord will teach us to be faithful to Him, always and in everything, as the Holy Glorious Myrrh-bearing Women were faithful to Him. They persevered in their faithfulness until the end, and they received the ineffable joy of seeing the Risen Teacher, and immediately they worshipped Him. This example of their faithfulness and love must be an instructive example for every Christian soul, so that by following it, a person can demonstrate faithfulness to the Lord until the end and receive the joy of His Countenance.

Amen.