On this day the Church honors the memory of all the saints who by their lives bore witness to faithfulness to God and became an example of Christian struggle for every Christian.

After the reading of the Gospel, Archimandrite Konstantyn (Marchenko) delivered a sermon devoted to the theme of holiness. Father Konstantyn emphasized that in the modern world holiness is often not a popular value, for society not infrequently contents itself only with loud headlines, unwilling to delve into the things that are truly important.

Holiness is not a privilege, but the result of persistent work upon oneself. Every person who is developing and psychologically healthy has natural needs. The need for love, for care, and for the inner satisfaction of work accomplished. At the same time, today many Christians experience pain, anxiety about the future, and beyond the walls of the church they not infrequently encounter despair.

Archimandrite Konstantyn observed that holiness is the road to spiritual growth. In order to have peace in one's heart, it is necessary to turn one's gaze to the lives of the saints, imitating their example. Without work upon oneself, without inner struggle, it is impossible to attain genuine change.

Father Konstantyn drew particular attention to the importance of cultivating good habits through efforts of the will, the ability to deny oneself that which harms spiritual development, and learning to say «no» to one's own weaknesses. It is precisely in this way that a person becomes truly strong and steadfast.

The task of spiritual struggle is constant development; to be a person of depth is the path of holiness. Development in the end gives a result and inner steadfastness. If you want to be successful and happy — work upon yourself. Holiness is constant labor and a path. And the path is overcome by the one who walks it.