In the Antiochian Orthodox Church, St. Raphael of Brooklyn is commemorated on the first Saturday in November. At Divine Liturgy, the assigned readings are from the gospel of John and from the epistle to Hebrews. In Chapter 10 of John, Jesus speaks of himself as the good shepherd, the one whose voice the sheep hear when he calls them by name and leads them out. The emphasis on his leading them out reflects a scriptural motif. God takes his people out of Egypt to lead them into Canaan; in between the two is a 40-year period of instruction and testing in the wilderness. It is through obedience to that instruction, to the words that proceed out of the mouth of God, that the people are promised life.

Our understanding of the text in John chapter 10:3 in which the Shepherd first leads his sheep out hinges on the meaning of the Greek term αὐλή, which is translated as “sheepfold.” Later in John chapter 18, the same word is translated as “courtyard,” and is thus associated with the temple. Jesus leads his sheep out of the earthly Jerusalem, represented by the temple, into a place of pasture. And along with others which are not of this fold, he leads them to the temple in the Jerusalem above. In her commemoration of hierarchs, such as St. Raphael, the Church applies this aspect of shepherding to them.

Notes:
Ezekiel 34:23-24
John 10:1-3; 9-16; 18:15
Hebrews 7:26-28; 8:1-2
αὐλή aulé - sheepfold, courtyard
Icon by the hand of Diana Voyajalou.
Troparion and Kontakion are performed by *Ncense.