On this day, the commemoration of the 
Hieromartyr Metropolitan Seraphim (Chichagov)It is said that the day of Saint Seraphim’s death was foretold to him by Saint John of Kronstadt, iwho said: ”Remember the day of the Three Hierarchs.”
“>Holy New Martyr Seraphim (Chichagov), we publish this translation of his homily on contemporary martyrdom–a subject he knew from his own martyric experience.
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Photo: azbyka.ru Our Lord Jesus Christ said: Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in Heaven (Mt. 5:11-12).
Some may think that the Lord’s instruction not to fear hatred doesn’t apply to them and wasn’t given for our times and circumstances. We don’t live now, they say, among enemies and persecutors of Christianity as did the first followers of Christ; we live as Christians among Christians. The world, which once hated the Christian race, over the course of time was reborn into the Christian world.
Let us listen, my beloved ones, to the inimitable word on this occasion from the great Holy Hierarch 
Saint Philaret (Drozdov), Metropolitan of MoscowKnowledge has for its object things visible and comprehensible; faith, things which are invisible, and even incomprehensible. Knowledge is founded on experience, on examination of its object; but faith on belief of testimony to truth. Knowledge belongs properly to the intellect, although it may also act on the heart; faith belongs principally to the heart, although it is imparted through the intellect.
“>Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow. Thus, he says, the world has indeed been overcome, though not destroyed; it’s still alive and still hates those who are Christ’s or who try to be so. The world, having been conquered by faith and captured in its obedience, and thus admitted into its domain, imperceptibly brought its own spirit with it and spread it within. Thus, this enemy of Christ and Christianity found itself within the bounds of Christianity itself; and having covered itself with the name of the Christian world, it acts freely and establishes a worldly Christianity for itself. It strives to transform the sons of faith back into sons of the world, to prevent the sons of the world from being reborn into true Christian life; and against those who disobey it, it arms itself with hatred, cunning, scandal, slander, contempt, and every weapon of unrighteousness.
Those who are truly Christ’s and want to understand how the world can hate today can always experience it for themselves. The more perfect and visible they are to the world, the sooner hatred will be aroused. Let them turn to the wise and learned of this age, for example, with the teaching about the wisdom of God, or about the corruption of human nature, or about the inner man, or about the contemplative life, or about the activity of the Holy Spirit—the deeper they expound upon this infinitely deep teaching, the less the learned ones will understand it, and the sooner, due to their confidence in the superiority of their minds, they will despise them as dangerous teachers. Let someone of means dare with complete Christian determination to reject splendor and luxury, amusements and spectacles, distribute his possessions to the poor, and resolve to live exclusively by the Church, and see with what stinging glances people will pursue this outlaw. How many arrows of wit, or more accurately, of acute madness will be showered upon him! There’s no doubt there will be people who will doubt his sanity solely because he dared to think and act in a Christian way, without conforming to the world and its false concepts.
But perhaps the hatred of the world isn’t yet martyrdom? In that case, let’s define what it means to revile someone for faith and fidelity to Christ. It means to revile, mock, and taunt, as they reviled Christ Himself, calling Him a Samaritan and demoniac and as they laughed at Him as He hung upon the Cross for the salvation of men. What does it mean to be outcast for the truth? It means to be deprived of communication with people, to be persecuted and oppressed. By truth we must understand every virtue, and its persecutors are those who are devoted to sin and ungodliness. As the zealots of piety and virtue serve as a rebuke for them, they become intolerant. 
St. John the Theologian
“>St. John the Apostle writes that every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved, because they’re evil (Jn. 3:20). Is it not martyrdom to be subjected to abuse, ridicule, mockery, to be deprived of communication with people, to experience persecution, oppression, to be deprived of means of living, to be plunged into needs, troubles, and diseases? Is it not a slow death, not tyranny, not torment that determines martyrdom?
The existence of martyrdom can be judged by the fear that some people have of the hatred of the world. They pander to the world out of cowardice and to avoid being subjected to this hatred. People who seem grounded and prudent allow themselves to commit frivolous and worldly acts; those who want to be honest allow themselves to fall into dishonorable deeds. Subordinates, afraid of losing the favor of their superiors, imitate their bad deeds.
To understand why this happens, why martyrdom is contemporary to us, we have to delve into the question of who these tormentors are. Indeed, who can create enmities, discord, turmoil, hatred, and persecution within Christianity itself? He who filled the first centuries with Christian martyrs; he who gave no rest to the pillars of the Orthodox Church, who tormented Sts. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, who exiled St. Athanasius several times, who confined St. John Chrysostom. Who has produced and continues to produce such horrors if not the world, once defeated by our faith? But then again—oh, woe and disgrace to Christianity!—often defeating the faith within us, not due to its weakness, but due to our weakness and cowardice…
All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, says the holy Apostle (2 Tim. 3:12). Consequently, all true Christians will be persecuted until the end of the age; they will suffer from sorrows, woes, temptations, slander, and disasters. We shouldn’t be troubled by such an order of things. For a man who fights evil, says 
St. John Chrysostom
“>St. John Chrysostom, it’s impossible not to experience sorrows. A wrestler can’t indulge in luxury, a soldier can’t feast during battle. Therefore, let no one engaged in a struggle seek rest or give himself over to pleasures. The present time is a time of struggle, battle, sorrows, and sighs—it’s an arena of spiritual labors. The time for rest will come later, but now is the time for effort and toil. The righteous endure hardships to test them while sinners endure them as punishment for their sins. He who knows the Holy Scriptures as he should isn’t tempted by anything that happens; he bears everything courageously, accepts some things through faith and attributes them to the incomprehensible providence of God, while for other things he sees foundations and finds examples in Scripture.
Enmity, persecution, and martyrdom aren’t anything new, and therefore Christ teaches us to look at them indifferently, without fear or confusion, and tells us: If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you (Jn. 15:18).
Take courage, and let your heart be strengthened, all you who hope in the Lord!
Amen.