On this day, in the Holy Orthodox Church, the sixth Sunday of Pascha, we celebrate the miracle wrought by our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ upon the man who was blind from his birth.

The Savior met this man, born blind and incurable after every human effort, while leaving the Temple on the Sabbath. Jesus spat into the dirt, made clay, rubbed it in his eyes and told him to wash in the pool of Siloam, a famous water spring in Jerusalem. The Savior did not send him there because his eyes were covered in clay, nor did the pool have healing power, but instead to test his faith and obedience. The blind man proclaimed that Jesus healed him, but this confession caused him to be cast out by the enemies of the truth. Even his own parents would not defend him. However, the blind man followed Jesus from that moment forward.

By Thy boundless mercy, O Christ our God, Giver of light, have mercy on us. Amen.