The Wonderworkers Peter and Febronia

Today is a special day of commemoration and celebration in the Russian Orthodox Church. On this third Sunday of September we remember and honor Holy Prince Peter and Princess Febronia of Murom. Saints Peter and Febronia of Murom are the patrons of marriage and family and are held before us as examples of love and fidelity.

Let me share with you briefly about these great saints…

Peter and Febronia were benevolent rulers and always helped their people with alms and prayers. They treated all as if they were their own children. They loved everyone equally, and disliked only those who were proud or who exploited the people. Peter and Febronia laid up their treasures, not on earth, but in heaven. They were real pastors of their city. They always ruled with truth and humility, and never with anger. They gave shelter to pilgrims, fed the hungry, and clothed the naked. And they helped the poor in their misfortune.

When death was nearing, Peter and Febronia prayed to God that they both might die in the same hour. And they requested that they be buried in the same tomb and in a common coffin in which their bodies would be separated only by a partition. Before their deaths they took monastic vows, Prince Peter becoming Brother David, and Princess Febronia, Sister Euphrosinia.

After their deaths, some of the people decided that Prince Peter should be buried in the Cathedral of the Holy Virgin, which was within the walls of the city of Murom, and that Princess Febronia should be buried in the Church of the Elevation of the Holy Cross, which was outside the walls of the city. The body of Prince Peter was put in a casket and was placed in the cathedral, where it was left overnight. The body of Princess Febronia was put in another casket and placed in the church outside the city walls. A tomb, which had earlier been carved from a huge rock as a resting-place for Peter and Febronia, remained empty in the yard of the Cathedral of the Holy Virgin.

The next morning the people went to the caskets of Peter and Febronia and found them empty. The bodies of the holy prince and princess were found together in the tomb of stone, which they had ordered prepared for them. The people, not understanding the meaning of this event, once more placed the bodies in separate caskets. On the following day the bodies of Prince Peter and Princess Febronia were once again found together in the tomb of stone. Since that time no man has dared to disturb their holy bodies, but left them in their common tomb in the yard of the Cathedral of the Holy Virgin, which is located in the city of Murom. To this day, those who approach the holy relics of Peter and Febronia with prayer, always receive comfort and healing.

In honor of these beloved saints, the Russian Orthodox Church marks the Sunday before their feast as a special day of blessing and honor for Orthodox families.

And so, on this day let’s say a word about family life, which is something we all experience – either as husbands, wives, parents, grandparents, children, brothers, sisters… and we should include in this the family which is our parish church community.

I pray that your family may be a source of warmth and consolation, a place where you feel love and where you share traditions, joys, and sorrows… but I know it is also often the case that within family relationships we find some of the greatest temptations and stumbling blocks.

It is hard to live in such close proximity to others. This is why our Lord Jesus Christ counseled us specifically to love our neighbor – the person right in front of us. Much idealism comforts itself in having love for ‘mankind’… but who is ‘mankind’? Mankind is a safe and sterile abstraction. Mankind will not bother you with their idiosyncrasies, or the way they leave their stuff on the floor, or the way their objectives conflict with your own. Christ’s call to love our neighbor is enacted in the million and one ways in which we must exercise love and patience and kindness toward our brother and sister, our father and mother, our husband and wife.

God places the context of the process of our salvation in community… the family, the parish. He does so because it is in those close encounters that we face temptation and in which we are challenged to practice that self-sacrificial love toward others wherein our disease of pride may be challenged and healed.

If we are diligent about saying our prayers each day, this is good. If we faithfully attend church services as often as we can, this is good. If we nurture our souls with the reading of scripture and other spiritually profitable books, this is good. May God bless you if you do all these things. But let us not deceive ourselves… we may follow all the practices of an Orthodox life, but if we still find that we are short-tempered, irritated, and quick to judge and condemn those souls placed right in front of us in the context of our family and of our parish, something is not right and we need to repent of this and seek God’s grace to grow in Christian love and virtues.

It is within the context of the family wherein we are called to practice the Christian virtues – especially those virtues of patience, forgiveness, and love. These things are not abstract ideals that we should just read about and appreciate… they are calls to action. And it is precisely in the family and in the family of the parish where we can and should put these virtues into action.

May God, through the prayers of the holy wonderworkers Sts Peter and Febronia, bless, protect, strengthen and increase our families and our parish family… and may the blessings of our Lord be upon each of you and grant faithfulness and love in your lives.