Good King Wenceslaus went out
on the Feast of Stephen 
When the snow lay round about, 
deep and crisp and even;
Brightly shone the moon that night, 
tho’ the frost was cruel,
When a poor man came in sight, 
gath’ring winter fuel.

“Hither, page, and stand by me
If thou knows it telling:
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?”
“Sire, he lives a good league hence
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes’ fountain”

“Bring me flesh and bring me wine
Bring me pine logs hither
Thou and I will see him dine
When we bear them thither”
Page and monarch, forth they went
Forth they went together
Through the rude wind’s wild lament
And the bitter weather.

“Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind blows stronger
Fails my heart, I know not how
I can go no longer”
“Mark my footsteps, my good page
Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter’s rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly”

In his master’s step he trod
Where the snow lay dented
Heat was in the very sod
Which the saint had printed
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing”

So goes the famous old English carol for the passion-bearer Prince Wenceslaus whom we commemorate today, the patron saint of the Czechs and Bohemia, his feast being the national day of the Czech Republic to this day. In Slavic, by the way, his name is Vyacheslav.

This Orthodox Christian duke or prince was known as a righteous ruler, meaning a just ruler in Christian terms. Although his martyrdom true to his faith is commemorated, his life was remembered for deeds of kindness such as the one celebrated in the carol.

Our Lord’s Gospel teachings remind us at the start of the Beatitudes that blessed are ye poor in spirit, for yours is the Kingdom of heaven, and blessed are the meek, for ye shall inherit the earth. In the original Greek, poor in spirit can mean destitute in the spirit, having no other hope but the Holy Spirit. Meek in the original Greek carries the meaning of mild or gentle. All these remind us of the importance of following our Lord’s command to love our neighbor as he loved us, and to ourselves be that poor in spirit and meek person, even if we are in some situations powerful and privileged, like Prince Wenceslaus.

There was a brilliant electrical engineer, mathematician, and philosopher, outstanding in many fields, Father Pavel Florensky, a devoted Orthodox Christian priest, who however got somewhat offtrack in some of his views about so-called Sophiology at the time of the Russian Revolution. That heresy, advanced also by others, was condemned by the Church, although he was not sanctioned personally. Father Pavel bravely wore his priestly clothes while working on Soviet industrial projects and became sentenced to prison for his faith. It is thought that he was condemned partly because of his efforts to save the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh, whom we commemorated this past week. While in trouble with the authorities, in order to save another man, Father Pavel signed a false confession. At the same time, the relics of St. Sergius were saved by the secret committee that Fr. Pavel chaired.

Those miracle working relics were restored to St. Sergius Monastery of the Holy Trinity after World War II because of this, but Fr Pavel in the meantime had been killed by the godless communists. Although he is included in a famous icon of the New Martyrs of the Church, he has never formally been glorified. Like all of us he made mistakes, notably his confusion about so-called Sophiology, a heresy. Yet nonetheless his care as a priest for his flock led him to put his own life at risk for the sake of another man even though that other man had falsely informed on him. And he risked his life again to preserve the relics of one of Russia’s greatest saints for the sake of the faithful in time to come, even as those faithful were spiritually destitute under the godless Communist state.

In this he, like the deeds and intercessions of the Passion-bearer Wenceslaus, remind us of the Christian imperative that we care for others even more than for ourselves, even with all our sins and unworthiness, as we must seek wisdom humbly from God.

As we move ahead in this new Church year, growing the missionary work that Christ also made part of our purpose in His great Commission, let us consider how we too can care for others more. Consider our parish ministries to the ill and shut-ins, and to prisoners, we can always use more volunteers and support for those efforts.

Also, consider how, in the spirit of Christ’s words in Matthew 25 that when we help the least of those in need, we help Him, and He will remember us.

How can we in the Church year ahead also expand our ministries to the poor, perhaps through a program of Christmas gifts to children in need, expanding our existing help to poor children of Orthodox families in Africa, perhaps making food for poor families in the area, and so forth.

Such efforts also can include inviting those destitute in spirit and meek to come to Church, to events such as our Bishop’s visit tonight and tomorrow–by being ourselves destitute in the Holy Spirit and meek in emptying our selves in our Lord, to help others.

For in losing ourselves, as He said, we find ourselves in Him.

Glory to God for all things!