[Readingsandsaints] Readings and saints

[Daily Orthodox Readings and Saints]

Scripture Readings and Saints for Tue Apr 3 2007

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------ READINGS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
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Matthew 22:15-23:39  (Bridegroom Matins Gospel)
15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in
His talk.
16 And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying,
"Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in
truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person
of men.
17 Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to
Caesar, or not?
18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why do you test
Me, you hypocrites?
19 Show Me the tax money. So they brought Him a denarius.
20 And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"
21 They said to Him, "Caesar's." And He said to them, "Render
therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the
things that are God's."
22 When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and
went their way.
23 The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came
to Him and asked Him,
24 saying: "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no
children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for
his brother.
25 Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had
married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.
26 Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.
27 Last of all the woman died also.
28 Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she
be? For they all had her.
29 Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the
Scriptures nor the power of God.
30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in
marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.
31 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what
was spoken to you by God, saying,
32 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?
God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."
33 And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His
teaching.
34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together.
35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and
saying,
36 Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.'
40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.
41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,
42 saying, "What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?" They
said to Him, "The Son of David."
43 He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him
'Lord,' saying:
44 The LORD said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your
enemies Your footstool"'?
45 If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?
46 And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did
anyone dare question Him anymore.
1 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples,
2 saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.
3 Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do,
but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.
4 For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's
shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their
fingers.
5 But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their
phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.
6 They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the
synagogues,
7 greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi,
Rabbi.'
8 But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the
Christ, and you are all brethren.
9 Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He
who is in heaven.
10 And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.
11 But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles
himself will be exalted.
13 But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up
the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves,
nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour
widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you
will receive greater condemnation.
15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land
and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice
as much a son of hell as yourselves.
16 Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple,
it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is
obliged to perform it.'
17 Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that
sanctifies the gold?
18 And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever
swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'
19 Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that
sanctifies the gift?
20 Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all
things on it.
21 He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in
it.
22 And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him
who sits on it.
23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of
mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of
the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done,
without leaving the others undone.
24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the
outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and
self-indulgence.
26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that
the outside of them may be clean also.
27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like
whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside
are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.
28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you
are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build
the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,
30 and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not
have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'
31 Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of
those who murdered the prophets.
32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.
33 Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of
hell?
34 Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some
of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge
in your synagogues and persecute from city to city,
35 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth,
from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of
Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
36 Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this
generation.
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones
those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children
together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were
not willing!
38 See! Your house is left to you desolate;
39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed
is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'
Scripture Reading 1 of 5


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Ezekiel 1:21-28  (6th Hour)
21 When those went, these went; when those stood, these stood; and
when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up
together with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the
wheels.
22 The likeness of the firmament above the heads of the living
creatures was like the color of an awesome crystal, stretched out over
their heads.
23 And under the firmament their wings spread out straight, one toward
another. Each one had two which covered one side, and each one had two
which covered the other side of the body.
24 When they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of
many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a tumult like the noise
of an army; and when they stood still, they let down their wings.
25 A voice came from above the firmament that was over their heads;
whenever they stood, they let down their wings.
26 And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a
throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the
throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it.
27 Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were,
the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it;
and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were,
the appearance of fire with brightness all around
28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was
the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the
appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. So when I saw it,
I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking.
Scripture Reading 2 of 5


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Exodus 2:5-10  (Vespers, 1st Reading)
5 Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And
her maidens walked along the riverside; and when she saw the ark among
the reeds, she sent her maid to get it.
6 And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby
wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the
Hebrews children.
7 Then his sister said to Pharaohs daughter, Shall I go and call a
nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for
you?
8 And Pharaohs daughter said to her, Go. So the maiden went and called
the childs mother.
9 Then Pharaohs daughter said to her, Take this child away and nurse
him for me, and I will give you your wages. So the woman took the
child and nursed him.
10 And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaohs daughter, and
he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, Because I
drew him out of the water.
Scripture Reading 3 of 5


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Job 1:13-22  (Vespers, 2nd Reading)
13 Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and
drinking wine in their oldest brothers house;
14 and a messenger came to Job and said, The oxen were plowing and the
donkeys feeding beside them,
15 when the Sabeans raided them and took them awayindeed they have
killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have
escaped to tell you!
16 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, The fire
of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and
consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you!
17 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, The
Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels and took them away,
yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone
have escaped to tell you!
18 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, Your sons
and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brothers
house,
19 and suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness and
struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people,
and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you!
20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to
the ground and worshiped.
21 And he said: Naked I came from my mothers womb, And naked shall I
return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be
the name of the Lord.
22 In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.
Scripture Reading 4 of 5


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Matthew 24:36-26:2  (Gospel)
36 But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of
heaven, but My Father only.
37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of
Man be.
38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the
ark,
39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so
also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other
left.
41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the
other left.
42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.
43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour
the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house
to be broken into.
44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an
hour you do not expect.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler
over his household, to give them food in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find
so doing.
47 Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his
goods.
48 But if that evil servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying
his coming,'
49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with
the drunkards,
50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not
looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of,
51 and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the
hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
1 Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took
their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them,
4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
6 And at midnight a cry was heard: 'Behold, the bridegroom is coming;
go out to meet him!'
7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.
8 And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our
lamps are going out.'
9 But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there should not be enough
for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for
yourselves.'
10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were
ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to
us!'
12 But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know
you.'
13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which
the Son of Man is coming.
14 For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country,
who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.
15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another
one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on
a journey.
16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with
them, and made another five talents.
17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.
18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his
lord's money.
19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled
accounts with them.
20 So he who had received five talents came and brought five other
talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have
gained five more talents besides them.'
21 His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you
were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many
things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'
22 He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you
delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents
besides them.'
23 His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you
have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many
things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'
24 Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I
knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and
gathering where you have not scattered seed.
25 'And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground.
Look, there you have what is yours.'
26 But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy
servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where
I have not scattered seed.
27 'So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at
my coming I would have received back my own with interest.
28 'Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten
talents.
29 'For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have
abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be
taken away.
30 'And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
31 When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels
with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate
them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the
left.
34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you
blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world:
35 'for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave
Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;
36 'I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I
was in prison and you came to Me.'
37 Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see
You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?
38 'When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and
clothe You?
39 'Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'
40 And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you,
inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you
did it to Me.'
41 Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me,
you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his
angels:
42 'for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you
gave Me no drink;
43 'I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not
clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'
44 Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You
hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did
not minister to You?'
45 Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you,
inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did
not do it to Me.'
46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the
righteous into eternal life.
1 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that
He said to His disciples,
2 You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man
will be delivered up to be crucified.
Scripture Reading 5 of 5



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Great and Holy Tuesday
Holy Week: A Liturgical Explanation for the Days of Holy Week
3. MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY: THE END These three days, which the
Church calls Great and Holy have within the liturgical development of
the Holy Week a very definite purpose. They place all its celebrations
in the perspective of End ; they remind us of the eschatological
meaning of Pascha. So often Holy Week is considered one of the
"beautiful traditions" or "customs," a self-evident "part" of our
calendar. We take it for granted and enjoy it as a cherished annual
event which we have "observed" since childhood, we admire the beauty
of its services, the pageantry of its rites and, last but not least,
we like the fuss about the paschal table. And then, when all this is
done we resume our normal life. But do we understand that when the
world rejected its Savior, when "Jesus began to be sorrowful and very
heavy... and his soul was exceedingly sorrowful even unto death," when
He died on the Cross, "normal life" came to its end and is no longer
possible. For there were "normal" men who shouted "Crucify Him [" who
spat at Him and nailed Him to the Cross. And they hated and killed Him
precisely because He was troubling their normal life. It was indeed a
perfectly "normal" world which preferred darkness and death to light
and life.... By the death of Jesus the "normal" world, and "normal"
life were irrevocably condemned. Or rather they revealed their true
and abnormal inability to receive the Light, the terrible power of
evil in them. "Now is the Judgment of this world" (John 12:31). The
Pascha of Jesus signified its end to "this world" and it has been at
its end since then. This end can last for hundreds of centuries this
does not alter the nature of time in which we live as the "last time."
"The fashion of this world passeth away..." (I Cor. 7:31).
Pascha means passover, passage. The feast of Passover was for the Jews
the annual commemoration of their whole history as salvation, and of
salvation as passage from the slavery of Egypt into freedom, from
exile into the promised land. It was also the anticipation of the
ultimate passage - into the Kingdom of God. And Christ was the
fulfillment of Pascha. He performed the ultimate passage: from death
into life, from this "old world" into the new world into the new time
of the Kingdom. And he opened the possibility of this passage to us.
Living in "this world" we can already be "not of this world," i.e. be
free from slavery to death and sin, partakers of the "world to come."
But for this we must also perform our own passage, we must condemn the
old Adam in us, we must put on Christ in the baptismal death and have
our true life hidden in God with Christ, in the "world to come...."
And thus Easter is not an annual commemoration, solemn and beautiful,
of a past event. It is this Event itself shown, given to us, as always
efficient, always revealing our world, our time, our life as being at
their end, and announcing the Beginning of the new life.... And the
function of the three first days of Holy Week is precisely to
challenge us with this ultimate meaning of Pascha and to prepare us to
the understanding and acceptance of it.
1. This eschatological (which means ultimate, decisive, final)
challenge is revealed, first, in the common troparion of these days:
Troparion - Tone 8
Behold the Bridegroom comes at midnight, And blessed is the servant
whom He shall find watching, And again unworthy is the servant whom He
shall find heedless. Beware, therefore, O my soul, do not be weighed
down with sleep, Lest you be given up to death and lest you be shut
out of the Kingdom. But rouse yourself crying: Holy, Holy, Holy, are
You, O our God! Through the Theotokos have mercy on us!
Midnight is the moment when the old day comes to its end and a new day
begins. It is thus the symbol of the time in which we live as
Christians. For, on the one hand, the Church is still in this world,
sharing in its weaknesses and tragedies. Yet, on the other hand, her
true being is not of this world, for she is the Bride of Christ and
her mission is to announce and to reveal the coming of the Kingdom and
of the new day. Her life is a perpetual watching and expectation, a
vigil pointed at the dawn of this new day. But we know how strong is
still our attachment to the "old day," to the world with its passions
and sins. We know how deeply we still belong to "this world." We have
seen the light, 'We know Christ, we have heard about the peace and joy
of the new life in Him, and yet the world holds us in its slavery.
This weakness, this constant betrayal of Christ, this incapacity to
give the totality of our love to the only true object of love are
wonderfully expressed in the exapostilarion of these three days:
"Thy Bridal Chamber I see adorned, O my Savior And I have no wedding
garment that I may enter, O Giver of life, enlighten the vesture of my
soul And save me."
2. The same theme develops further in the Gospel readings of these
days. First of all, the entire text of the four Gospels (up to John
13: 31) is read at the Hours (1, 3, 6 and 9th). This recapitulation
shows that the Cross is the climax of the whole life and ministry of
Jesus, the Key to their proper understanding. Everything in the Gospel
leads to this ultimate hour of Jesus and everything is to be
understood in its light. Then, each service has its special Gospel
lesson
On Tuesday: At Matins: Matthew 22: 15-23, 39. Condemnation of
Pharisees, i.e. of the blind and hypocritical religion, of those who
think they are the leaders of man and the light of the world, but who
in fact "shut up the Kingdom of heaven to men."
At the Presanctified Liturgy: Matthew 24: 36-26, 2. The End again and
the parables of the End: the ten wise virgins who had enough oil in
their lamps and the ten foolish ones who were not admitted to the
bridal banquet; the parable of ten talents ". . . Therefore be ye also
ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh."
And, finally the Last Judgment.
3.These Gospel lessons are explained and elaborated in the hymnology
of these days: the stichiras and the triodia (short canons of three
odes each sung at Matins). One warning, one exhortation runs through
all of them: the end and the judgment are approaching, let us prepare
for them: '"
"Behold, O my soul, the Master has conferred on thee a talent Receive
the gift with fear; Lend to him who gave; distribute to the poor And
acquire for thyself thy Lord as thy Friend; That when He shall come in
glory, Thou mayest stand on His right hand And hear His blessed voice:
Enter, my servant, into the joy of thy Lord." (Tuesday Matins)
4. Throughout the whole Lent the two books of the Old Testament read
at Vespers were Genesis and Proverbs. With the beginning of Holy Week
they are replaced by Exodus and Job. Exodus is the story of Israel's
liberation from Egyptian slavery, of their Passover. It prepares us
for the understanding of Christ's exodus to His Father, of His
fulfillment of the whole history of salvation. Job, the Sufferer, is
the Old Testament icon of Christ. This reading announces the great
mystery of Christ's sufferings, obedience and sacrifice.
5. The liturgical structure of these three days is still of the Lenten
type. It includes, therefore, the prayer of St Ephrem the Syrian with
prostrations, the augmented reading of the Psalter, the Liturgy of the
Presanctified Gifts and the Lenten liturgical chant. We are still in
the time of repentance for repentance alone makes us partakers of the
Pascha of Our Lord, opens to us the doors of the Paschal banquet. And
then, on Great and Holy Wednesday, as the last Liturgy of the
Presanctified Gifts is about to be completed, after the Holy Gifts
have been removed from the altar, the priest reads for the last time
the Prayer of St Ephrem. At this moment, the preparation comes to an
end. The Lord summons us now to His Last Supper.
by THE VERY REV. ALEXANDER SCHMEMANN
_________________________________________________________________
Venerable Nicetas the Confessor the Abbot of Medikion
Saint Nicetas the Confessor was born in Bithynian Caesarea (northwest
Asia Minor) of a pious family. His mother died eight days after his
birth, and his father Philaretos became a monk. The child remained in
the care of his grandmother, who raised him in a true Christian
spirit. From his youth St Nicetas attended church and was a disciple
of the hermit Stephanos. With his blessing, St Nicetas set off to the
Mydicia monastery, where St Nicephorus (March 13) was the igumen.
After seven years of virtuous life at the monastery, famed for its
strict monastic rule, St Nicetas was ordained presbyter. St
Nicephorus, knowing the holy life of the young monk, entrusted to him
the guidance of the monastery when he himself became ill.
Not wanting power, St Nicetas devoted himself to the enlightenment and
welfare of the monastery. He guided the brethren by his own example.
Soon the fame of the lofty life of its inhabitants of the monastery
attracted many seeking salvation. After several years, the number of
monks had increased to one hundred.
When St Nicephorus departed to the Lord in his old age, the brethren
unanimously chose St Nicetas as igumen.
The Lord granted St Nicetas the gift of wonderworking. Through his
prayer a deaf-mute child received the gift of speech; two
demon-possessed women were healed; he restored reason to one who had
lost his mind, and many of the sick were healed of their infirmities.
During these years under the emperor Leo the Armenian (813-820), the
Iconoclast heresy resurfaced and oppression increased. Orthodox
bishops were deposed and banished. At Constantinople a council of
heretics was convened in 815, at which they deposed the holy Patriarch
Nicephorus (806-815), and in his place they chose the heretical layman
Theodotus. They also installed heretics in place of exiled and
imprisoned Orthodox bishops.
The emperor summoned all the heads of the monasteries and tried to
bring them over to the Iconoclast heresy. Among those summoned was St
Nicetas, who stood firmly for the Orthodox confession. Following his
example, all the igumens remained faithful to the veneration of holy
icons. Therefore, they threw him into prison. St Nicetas bravely
underwent all the tribulations and encouraged firmness of spirit in
the other prisoners.
Then the emperor and the false patriarch Theodotus attempted to trick
those who remained faithful to Orthodox teaching. They promised that
the emperor would give them their freedom and permit the veneration of
the icons on one condition: that they take Communion from the
pseudo-patriarch Theodotus.
For a long time the saint had doubts about entering into communion
with a heretic, but other prisoners begged him to go along with them.
Acceding to their entreaties, St Nicetas went into the church, where
icons were put out to deceive the confessors, and he accepted
Communion.
But when he returned to his monastery and saw that the persecution
against icons was continuing, he then repented of his deed, returned
to Constantinople and fearlessly denounced the Iconoclast heresy. He
ignored all the emperor's threats.
St Nicetas was again locked up in prison for six years until the death
of the emperor Leo the Armenian. Enduring hunger and travail, St
Nicetas worked miracles by the power of his prayers: through his
prayer the Phrygian ruler released two captives without ransom; three
shipwrecked men for whom St Nicetas prayed, were thrown up on shore by
the waves.
St Nicetas reposed in the Lord in 824. The saint's body was buried at
the monastery with reverence. Later, his relics became a source of
healing for those coming to venerate the holy confessor.
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Virginmartyr Theodosia of Tyre
Once, during a persecution against Christians, which had already
lasted for five years, the seventeen-year-old St Theodosia visited
condemned Christian prisoners in the Praetorium in Caesarea,
Palestine. It was the day of Holy Pascha, and the martyrs spoke about
the Kingdom of God. St Theodosia asked them to remember her before the
Lord, when they should come to stand before Him.
Soldiers seized her and led her before the governor Urban after seeing
the maiden bow to the prisoners. The governor advised her to offer
sacrifice to the idols but she refused, confessing her faith in
Christ. Then they subjected the saint to cruel tortures, raking her
body with iron claws until her bones were exposed.
The martyr was silent and endured the sufferings with a happy face,
and when the governor told her again to offer sacrifice to the idols
she answered, "You fool, I have been granted to join the martyrs!"
They threw the maiden with a stone about her neck into the sea, but
angels rescued her. Then they threw the martyr to the wild beasts to
be eaten by them. Seeing that the beasts would not touch her, they cut
off her head.
By night St Theodosia appeared to her parents, who had tried to talk
their daughter out of her intention to suffer for Christ. She was in
bright garb with a crown upon her head and a luminous gold cross in
her hand, and she said, "Behold the great glory of which you wanted to
deprive me!"
The Holy Martyr Theodosia of Tyre suffered in the year 307. She is
also commemorated on May 29 (the transfer of her relics to
Constantinople, and later to Venice).
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Martyr Irene
No information available at this time.
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St Illyricus the Monk of Mt. Myrsinon in the Peloponnesus
Saint Illyricus the Wonderworker devoted himself to ascetic struggles
on Mount Marsion in the Peloponessos. The dates of his birth and death
are unknown.
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Martyr Elpidephorus
The Holy Martyrs Elpidephorus, Dius, Bithonius, and Galycus suffered
for their faith in Jesus Christ. They cut off the head of St
Elpidephorus with a sword.
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Martyr Dius
The Holy Martyrs Dius, Elpidephorus, Bithonius, and Galycus suffered
for their faith in Jesus Christ. St Dius was executed by stoning.
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Martyr Bithonius
The Holy Martyrs Bithonius, Elpidephorus, Dius, and Galycus suffered
for their faith in Jesus Christ. St Bithonius was drowned in the sea.
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Martyr Galycus
The Holy Martyrs Galycus, Elpidephorus, Dius, and Bithonius suffered
for their faith in Jesus Christ. St Galycus was condemned to be eaten
by wild beasts.
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Icon of the Mother of God "the Unfading Bloom"
The "Unfading Bloom" Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. On this icon the
Most Holy Theotokos holds Her Divine Son upon Her right arm, and in
Her left hand is a bouquet of white lilies. This bouquet symbolically
signifies the unfading flower of virginity and spotlessness of the
All-Pure Virgin, Whom the Church hymns: "Thou art the Root of
virginity and the Unfading Blossom of purity." Copies of this icon
were glorified at Moscow, Voronezh, and other places in Russia.
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