[Readingsandsaints] Readings and saints

Mon Apr 23 05:11:47 CDT 2007

Scripture Readings and Saints for Mon Apr 23 2007

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------ READINGS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
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Isaiah 43:9-14  (Vespers, 1st Reading)
9 Let all the nations be gathered together, And let the people be
assembled. Who among them can declare this, And show us former things?
Let them bring out their witnesses, that they may be justified; Or let
them hear and say, It is truth.
10 You are My witnesses, says the Lord, And My servant whom I have
chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me.
11 I, even I, am the Lord, And besides Me there is no savior.
12 I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no
foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses, Says the Lord,
that I am God.
13 Indeed before the day was, I am He; And there is no one who can
deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?
14 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: For your
sake I will send to Babylon, And bring them all down as fugitives The
Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships.
Scripture Reading 1 of 6

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Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9  (Vespers, 2nd Reading)
1 But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no
torment will ever touch them.
2 In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their
departure was thought to be affliction,
3 and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at
peace.
4 For though in the sight of men they were punished, their hope is
full of immortality.
5 Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,
because God tested them and found them worthy of himself;
6 like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial burnt
offering he accepted them.
7 In the time of their visitation they will shine forth, and will run
like sparks through the stubble.
8 They will govern nations and rule other peoples, and the Lord will
reign over them for ever.
9 Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will
abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are upon his elect,
and he watches over his holy ones.
Scripture Reading 2 of 6

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Wisdom of Solomon 4:7-15  (Vespers, 3rd Reading)
7 And let it be, when these signs come to you, that you do as the
occasion demands; for God is with you.
8 You shall go down before me to Gilgal; and surely I will come down
to you to offer burnt offerings and make sacrifices of peace
offerings. Seven days you shall wait, till I come to you and show you
what you should do."
9 So it was, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, that God
gave him another heart; and all those signs came to pass that day.
10 When they came there to the hill, there was a group of prophets to
meet him; then the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied
among them.
11 And it happened, when all who knew him formerly saw that he indeed
prophesied among the prophets, that the people said to one another,
"What is this that has come upon the son of Kish? Is Saul also among
the prophets?"
12 Then a man from there answered and said, "But who is their father?"
Therefore it became a proverb: "Is Saul also among the prophets?"
13 And when he had finished prophesying, he went to the high place.
14 Then Saul's uncle said to him and his servant, "Where did you go?"
So he said, "To look for the donkeys. When we saw that they were
nowhere to be found, we went to Samuel."
15 And Saul's uncle said, "Tell me, please, what Samuel said to you."
Scripture Reading 3 of 6

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Luke 12:2-12  (Matins, Gospel)
2 For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden
that will not be known.
3 Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the
light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be
proclaimed on the housetops.
4 And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the
body, and after that have no more that they can do.
5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has
killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!
6 Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them
is forgotten before God.
7 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear
therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
8 Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of
Man also will confess before the angels of God.
9 But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of
God.
10 And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be
forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it
will not be forgiven.
11 Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and
authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what
you should say.
12 For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought
to say.
Scripture Reading 4 of 6

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John 15:17-16:2  (St. George)
17 These things I command you, that you love one another.
18 If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated
you.
19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because
you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore
the world hates you.
20 Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater
than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.
If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
21 But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake,
because they do not know Him who sent Me.
22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but
now they have no excuse for their sin.
23 He who hates Me hates My Father also.
24 If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they
would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and
My Father.
25 But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written
in their law, 'They hated Me without a cause.'
26 But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the
Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will
testify of Me.
27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from
the beginning.
1 These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to
stumble.
2 They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming
that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.
Scripture Reading 6 of 6

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Greatmartyr, Victory-bearer and Wonderworker George
The Holy Great Martyr George the Victory-Bearer, was a native of
Cappadocia (a district in Asia Minor), and he grew up in a deeply
believing Christian family. His father was martyred for Christ when
George was still a child. His mother, owning lands in Palestine, moved
there with her son and raised him in strict piety.
When he became a man, St George entered into the service of the Roman
army. He was handsome, brave and valiant in battle, and he came to the
notice of the emperor Diocletian (284-305) and joined the imperial
guard with the rank of comites, or military commander.
The pagan emperor, who did much for the restoration of Roman might,
was clearly concerned with the danger presented to pagan civilization
by the triumph of the Crucified Savior, and intensified his
persecution against the Christians in the final years of his reign.
Following the advice of the Senate at Nicomedia, Diocletian gave all
his governors full freedom in their court proceedings against
Christians, and he promised them his full support.
St George, when he heard the decision of the emperor, distributed all
his wealth to the poor, freed his servants, and then appeared in the
Senate. The brave soldier of Christ spoke out openly against the
emperor's designs. He confessed himself a Christian, and appealed to
all to acknowledge Christ: "I am a servant of Christ, my God, and
trusting in Him, I have come among you voluntarily, to bear witness
concerning the Truth."
"What is Truth?" one of the dignitaries asked, echoing the question of
Pontius Pilate. The saint replied, "Christ Himself, Whom you
persecuted, is Truth."
Stunned by the bold speech of the valiant warrior, the emperor, who
had loved and promoted George, attempted to persuade him not to throw
away his youth and glory and honors, but rather to offer sacrifice to
the gods as was the Roman custom. The confessor replied, "Nothing in
this inconstant life can weaken my resolve to serve God."
Then by order of the enraged emperor the armed guards began to push St
George out of the assembly hall with their spears, and they then led
him off to prison. But the deadly steel became soft and it bent, just
as the spears touched the saint's body, and it caused him no harm. In
prison they put the martyr's feet in stocks and placed a heavy stone
on his chest.
The next day at the interrogation, powerless but firm of spirit, St
George again answered the emperor, "You will grow tired of tormenting
me sooner than I will tire of being tormented by you." Then Diocletian
gave orders to subject St George to some very intense tortures. They
tied the Great Martyr to a wheel, beneath which were boards pierced
with sharp pieces of iron. As the wheel turned, the sharp edges
slashed the saint's naked body.
At first the sufferer loudly cried out to the Lord, but soon he
quieted down, and did not utter even a single groan. Diocletian
decided that the tortured one was already dead, and he gave orders to
remove the battered body from the wheel, and then went to a pagan
temple to offer thanks.
At this very moment it got dark, thunder boomed, and a voice was
heard: "Fear not, George, for I am with you." Then a wondrous light
shone, and at the wheel an angel of the Lord appeared in the form of a
radiant youth. He placed his hand upon the martyr, saying to him,
"Rejoice!" St George stood up healed.
When the soldiers led him to the pagan temple where the emperor was,
the emperor could not believe his own eyes and he thought that he saw
before him some other man or even a ghost. In confusion and in terror
the pagans looked St George over carefully, and they became convinced
that a miracle had occurred. Many then came to believe in the
Life-Creating God of the Christians.
Two illustrious officials, Sts Anatolius and Protoleon, who were
secretly Christians, openly confessed Christ. Immediately, without a
trial, they were beheaded with the sword by order of the emperor. Also
present in the pagan temple was Empress Alexandra, the wife of
Diocletian, and she also knew the truth. She was on the point of
glorifying Christ, but one of the servants of the emperor took her and
led her off to the palace.
The emperor became even more furious. He had not lost all hope of
influencing St George, so he gave him over to new and fiercesome
torments. After throwing him into a deep pit, they covered it over
with lime. Three days later they dug him out, but found him cheerful
and unharmed. They shod the saint in iron sandals with red-hot nails,
and then drove him back to the prison with whips. In the morning, when
they led him back to the interrogation, cheerful and with healed feet,
the emperor asked if he liked his shoes. The saint said that the
sandals had been just his size. Then they beat him with ox thongs
until pieces of his flesh came off and his blood soaked the ground,
but the brave sufferer, strengthened by the power of God, remained
unyielding.
The emperor concluded that the saint was being helped by magic, so he
summoned the sorcerer Athanasius to deprive the saint of his
miraculous powers, or else poison him. The sorcerer gave St George two
goblets containing drugs. One of them would have quieted him, and the
other would kill him. The drugs had no effect, and the saint continued
to denounce the pagan superstitions and glorify God as before.
When the emperor asked what sort of power was helping him, St George
said, "Do not imagine that it is any human learning which keeps me
from being harmed by these torments. I am saved only by calling upon
Christ and His Power. Whoever believes in Him has no regard for
tortures and is able to do the things that Christ did" (John 14:12).
Diocletian asked what sort of things Christ had done. The Martyr
replied, "He gave sight to the blind, cleansed the lepers, healed the
lame, gave hearing to the deaf, cast out demons, and raised the dead."
Knowing that they had never been able to resurrect the dead through
sorcery, nor by any of the gods known to him, and wanting to test the
saint, the emperor commanded him to raise up a dead person before his
eyes. The saint retorted, "You wish to tempt me, but my God will work
this sign for the salvation of the people who shall see the power of
Christ."
When they led St George down to the graveyard, he cried out, "O Lord!
Show to those here present, that You are the only God in all the
world. Let them know You as the Almighty Lord." Then the earth quaked,
a grave opened, the dead one emerged from it alive. Having seen with
their own eyes the Power of Christ, the people wept and glorified the
true God.
The sorcerer Athanasius, falling down at the feet of St George,
confessed Christ as the All-Powerful God and asked forgiveness for his
sins, committed in ignorance. The obdurate emperor in his impiety
thought otherwise. In a rage he commanded both t Athanasius and the
man raised from the dead to be beheaded, and he had St George again
locked up in prison.
The people, weighed down with their infirmities, began to visit the
prison and they there received healing and help from the saint. A
certain farmer named Glycerius, whose ox had collapsed, also visited
him. The saint consoled him and assured him that God would restore his
ox to life. When he saw the ox alive, the farmer began to glorify the
God of the Christians throughout all the city. By order of the
emperor, St Glycerius was arrested and beheaded.
The exploits and the miracles of the Great Martyr George had increased
the number of the Christians, therefore Diocletian made a final
attempt to compel the saint to offer sacrifice to the idols. They set
up a court at the pagan temple of Apollo. On the final night the holy
martyr prayed fervently, and as he slept, he saw the Lord, Who raised
him up with His hand, and embraced him. The Savior placed a crown on
St George's head and said, "Fear not, but have courage, and you will
soon come to Me and receive what has been prepared for you."
In the morning, the emperor offered to make St George his
co-administrator, second only to himself. The holy martyr with a
feigned willingness answered, "Caesar, you should have shown me this
mercy from the very beginning, instead of torturing me. Let us go now
to the temple and see the gods you worship."
Diocletian believed that the martyr was accepting his offer, and he
followed him to the pagan temple with his retinue and all the people.
Everyone was certain that St George would offer sacrifice to the gods.
The saint went up to the idol, made the Sign of the Cross and
addressed it as if it were alive: "Are you the one who wants to
receive from me sacrifice befitting God?"
The demon inhabiting the idol cried out, "I am not a god and none of
those like me is a god, either. The only God is He Whom you preach. We
are fallen angels, and we deceive people because we are jealous."
St George cried out, "How dare you remain here, when I, the servant of
the true God, have entered?" Then noises and wailing were heard from
the idols, and they fell to the ground and were shattered.
There was general confusion. In a frenzy, pagan priests and many of
the crowd seized the holy martyr, tied him up, and began to beat him.
They also called for his immediate execution.
The holy empress Alexandra tried to reach him. Pushing her way through
the crowd, she cried out, "O God of George, help me, for You Alone are
All-Powerful." At the feet of the Great Martyr the holy empress
confessed Christ, Who had humiliated the idols and those who
worshipped them.
Diocletian immediately pronounced the death sentence on the Great
Martyr George and the holy Empress Alexandra, who followed St George
to execution without resisting. Along the way she felt faint and
slumped against a wall. There she surrendered her soul to God.
St George gave thanks to God and prayed that he would also end his
life in a worthy manner. At the place of execution the saint prayed
that the Lord would forgive the torturers who acted in ignorance, and
that He would lead them to the knowledge of Truth. Calmly and bravely,
the holy Great Martyr George bent his neck beneath the sword,
receiving the crown of martyrdom on April 23, 303.
The pagan era was coming to an end, and Christianity was about to
triumph. Within ten years, St Constantine (May 21) would issue the
Edict of Milan, granting religious freedom to Christians. Of the many
miracles worked by the holy Great Martyr George, the most famous are
depicted in iconography. In the saint's native city of Beirut were
many idol-worshippers. Outside the city, near Mount Lebanon, was a
large lake, inhabited by an enormous dragon-like serpent. Coming out
of the lake, it devoured people, and there was nothing anyone could
do, since the breath from its nostrils poisoned the very air.
On the advice of the demons inhabiting the idols, the local ruler came
to a decision. Each day the people would draw lots to feed their own
children to the serpent, and he promised to sacrifice his only
daughter when his turn came. That time did come, and the ruler dressed
her in her finest attire, then sent her off to the lake. The girl wept
bitterly, awaiting her death. Unexpectedly for her, St George rode up
on his horse with spear in hand. The girl implored him not to leave
her, lest she perish.
The saint signed himself with the Sign of the Cross. He rushed at the
serpent saying, "In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit." St George pierced the throat of the serpent with his
spear and trampled it with his horse. Then he told the girl to bind
the serpent with her sash, and lead it into the city like a dog on a
leash.
The people fled in terror, but the saint halted them with the words:
"Don't be afraid, but trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in
Him, since it is He Who sent me to save you." Then the saint killed
the serpent with a sword, and the people burned it outside the city.
Twenty-five thousand men, not counting women and children, were then
baptized. Later, a church was built and dedicated to the Most Holy
Theotokos and the Great Martyr George.
St George went on to become a talented officer and to amaze the world
by his military exploits. He died before he was thirty years old. He
is known as Victory Bearer, not only for his military achievements,
but for successfully enduring martyrdom. As we know, the martyrs are
commemorated in the dismissal at the end of Church services as "the
holy, right victorious martyr...."
St George was the patron saint and protector of several of the great
builders of the Russian state. St Vladimir's son, Yaroslav the Wise
(in holy Baptism George), advanced the veneration of the saint in the
Russian Church. He built the city of Yuriev [i.e., "of Yurii." "Yurii"
is the diminutive of "George", as "Ivan" is of "John"], he also
founded the Yuriev monastery at Novgorod, and he built a church of St
George the Victory Bearer at Kiev.
The day of the consecration of St George's Church in Kiev, November
26, 1051 by St Hilarion, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus, has entered
into the liturgical treasury of the Church as a special church
feastday. Yuriev Day is beloved by the Russian people as an "autumn
Feast of St George."
The name of St George was also borne by the founder of Moscow, Yurii
Dolgoruky (+ 1157), who was the builder of many churches dedicated to
St George, and the builder of the city of Yuriev-Polsk. In the year
1238 the heroic fight of the Russian nation against the Mongol Horde
was led by the Great Prince Yurii (George) Vsevolodovich of Vladimir
(February 4), who fell at the Battle at the Sita River. His memory,
like that of Igor the Brave, and defender of his land, was celebrated
in Russian spiritual poems and ballads.
The first Great Prince of Moscow, when Moscow had become the center of
the Russian Land, was Yurii Danilovich (+ 1325), the son of St Daniel
of Moscow, and grandson of St Alexander Nevsky. From that time St
George the Victory Bearer, depicted as a horseman slaying the serpent,
appeared on Moscow's coat of arms, and became an emblem of the Russian
state. This has strengthened Russia's connections with Christian
nations, and especially with Iberia (Georgia, the Land of St George).
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Martyr Alexandra the Empress, wife of Diocletian
The Holy Empress Alexandra was the wife of Diocletian (284-305). Her
supposed death was described in the Martyrdom of Saint George, which
was written immediately after his death. The empress, however,
received the crown of martyrdom several years later, in 314.
Many events occurred during these years. In 305 the emperor Diocletian
resigned the throne and power passed to his co-ruler Maximian Galerius
(305-311), a fanatic pagan, as well as a coarse and fierce soldier.
His wife was St Valeria, the daughter of the holy Empress Alexandra,
whom Diocletian had given in marriage against her will.
St Alexandra raised her daughter in Christian piety. When Galerius
died, the emperor Maximinus sought her hand in marriage. When he was
refused, he banished St Valeria to Syria, where she lived with her
mother.
After the death of Maximinus in 311 the mother and daughter arrived in
Nicomedia, trusting in the mercy of the emperor Licinius (311-324).
Together with St Constantine, he had subscribed to the Edict of Milan,
which gave Christians the freedom of religion, but secretly he
remained an enemy of Christianity. Licinius gave orders to execute the
holy Empress Alexandra and her daughter Valeria. They were beheaded,
and their bodies thrown into the sea.
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Martyr Anatolius the Soldier converted by witnessing the
martyrdom of St George
Two illustrious officials, Sts Anatolius and Protoleon, who were
secretly Christians, openly confessed Christ after seeing St George
tortured, then miraculously healed of his wounds. Immediately, and
without a trial, they were beheaded with the sword by order of the
emperor.
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Martyr Protoleon, the soldier converted by witnessing the
martyrdom of St George
Two illustrious officials, Sts Anatolius and Protoleon, who were
secretly Christians, openly confessed Christ after seeing St George
tortured, then miraculously healed of his wounds. Immediately, and
without a trial, they were beheaded with the sword by order of the
emperor.
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New Martyr Lazarus of Bulgaria
No information available at this time.
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