The memory of the blessed Muses

St. Gregory the Great (Dvoeslov) was a famous teacher of the Western Church who lived in the 6th century. His works are particularly noteworthy: "Dialogue on the Life of the Italian Fathers" (for this work, written in the dialogue, i.e.

In his book, "Pastoral Rule", which contains discussions about what a shepherd should be and how he should fulfill his duties; The Act of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts; Discourses on the Gospel and the book of the prophet Ezekiel, etc. - His memory is celebrated by the Church on March 12.], he told his archdeacon Peter the following tale about the blessed young girl Muse (from the words of Provo, the brother of Muse):

"When Moses was a young boy, the Virgin Mary appeared to him in a dream during the night, and the Mother of God was accompanied by many young girls of the same age as Moses.

Then the Mother of God told Moses to refrain from childish games and from all that was unholy, for in thirty days Moses would come to her and join the faces of the other young women.

When Moses' parents saw this change in their daughter's life, they were amazed, and when they asked her why, she told them that she had seen the Blessed Virgin in a dream, and told them about the command that the Mother of God had given her, and also told them about the day she would depart this life and join the company of other virgins who accompanied the Mother of God.

And when the twenty-fifth day came, the child became very sick, and burned like a flame. And on the thirtieth day, when the time came for the blessed child, Moses saw the Mother of God come to him again, accompanied by the same children.

With these words the blessed Muse gave up her soul into the hands of the Most Holy Mother of God and, leaving this earthly life, settled in the abodes of eternity with the other virgins who accompanied the Mother of God". [The end of the holy adolescence of the Muse followed in the fifth century.] When Archdeacon Peter heard this story, he asked Pope Gregory: "I would like to know, honorable master, whether the souls of the righteous can be received in heaven before they separate from the body.

And St. Gregory said, We cannot say of all righteous men that their souls shall be admitted to heaven, nor can we say of those whose souls shall not be admitted to heaven; but it is probable that there are righteous men whose souls are as it were removed from the kingdom of heaven, because they have not attained to a certain perfection in their virtuous life.

As for the fact that the souls of the righteous who have lived godly on earth are resettled in heavenly dwelling places when they renounce their union with the flesh, this truth is clearer than the sunlight itself, for our Lord Jesus Christ himself says: "For wherever the corpse is, there the eagles will be gathered together" (Matt. 24:28).

(Philippians 1:23) If you believe that the Lord is in heaven, you must also believe that Paul's soul is in heaven with Christ.

The same apostle clearly testifies to the fact that the souls of the righteous will be taken to a heavenly homeland when they are separated from the body, for he says: "We know that if our earthly house, this tabernacle, is dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, an everlasting one in the heavens". (2 Cor. 5:1) To our God be the glory, the honor, and the worship, now and forever.

On the same day, the memory of our holy father George, bishop of Mitylen, who was made bishop in 842, is commemorated. On the same day, the memory of the holy martyrs Vit, Modest and Criscent, who suffered in the reign of Diocletian, is commemorated. On the same day, the relics of the reverend Ephrem of Perekop, the Novgorodian miracle worker, who died on September 26, 1523, are celebrated.

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