[Readingsandsaints] Readings and Saints

[Daily Orthodox Readings and Saints]

Scripture Readings and Saints for Mon Aug 13 2007

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------ READINGS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
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Composite 2  - Proverbs 10, 3, 8 (Vespers, 1st Reading)
The memory of the righteous is with praise and the blessing of the
Lord is upon his head. Blessed is the man who has found wisdom and the
mortal who has understanding. For it is better to purchase her than
treasuries of gold and silver. She is more precious than precious
stones and all that is precious is unworthy of her. For length of days
and years of life are in her right hand; and in her left hand are
riches and glory. Out of her mouth proceeds righteousness and she
bears law and mercy upon her tongue.
Hear me, O child, for I will speak noble things. Blessed is the man
who keeps my ways, for my ways are the way of life, and in them is
prepared favor from the Lord. Therefore, I pray you, and utter my
voice to the sons of men: For I, wisdom, have dwelt with counsel and
knowledge and I have called upon understanding. Counsel and safety are
mine, understanding and strength are mine. I love those who love me
and those seeking me shall find grace.
Understand craftiness, O you who are simple, and imbibe knowledge, you
who are untaught. Hear me again, for I will speak noble things: I will
open _my mouth_ and from my lips _shall_ come what is right. For my
throat shall meditate truth; false lips are an abomination before me.
All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing in them that
is twisted or perverse. They are all straight to him who understands
and right to those who find knowledge.
I shall instruct you in truth, so that your hope will be in the Lord
and you shall be filled with the Spirit.
Scripture Reading 1 of 6


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Proverbs 10:31-11:12  (Vespers, 2nd Reading)
31 The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, But the perverse
tongue will be cut out.
32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, But the mouth of
the wicked what is perverse.
1 Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, But a just weight
is His delight.
2 When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.
3 The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the perversity of
the unfaithful will destroy them.
4 Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, But righteousness delivers
from death.
5 The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way aright, But
the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.
6 The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, But the
unfaithful will be caught by their lust.
7 When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish, And the hope of
the unjust perishes.
8 The righteous is delivered from trouble, And it comes to the wicked
instead.
9 The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor, But through
knowledge the righteous will be delivered.
10 When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices; And when
the wicked perish, there is jubilation.
11 By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted, But it is
overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.
12 He who is devoid of wisdom despises his neighbor, But a man of
understanding holds his peace.
Scripture Reading 2 of 6


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Wisdom of Solomon 4:7-15  (Vespers, 3rd Reading)
7 But the righteous man, though he die early, will be at rest.
8 For old age is not honored for length of time, nor measured by
number of years;
9 but understanding is gray hair for men, and a blameless life is ripe
old age.
10 There was one who pleased God and was loved by him,
11 He was caught up lest evil change his understanding or guile
deceive his soul.
12 For the fascination of wickedness obscures what is good, and roving
desire perverts the innocent mind.
13 Being perfected in a short time, he fulfilled long years;
14 for his soul was pleasing to the Lord, therefore he took him
quickly from the midst of wickedness.
15 Yet the peoples saw and did not understand, nor take such a thing
to heart, that God's grace and mercy are his elect, and he watches
over his holy ones.
Scripture Reading 3 of 6


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John 10:9-16  (Matins Gospel)
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go
in and out and find pasture.
10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to
destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have
it more abundantly.
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the
sheep.
12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own
the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and
the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.
13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about
the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My
own.
15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down
My life for the sheep.
16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must
bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and
one shepherd.
Scripture Reading 4 of 6


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Hebrews 7:26-8:2   (St. Tikhon)
26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the
heavens;
27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up
sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this
He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the
word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has
been perfected forever.
1 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such
a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the
Majesty in the heavens,
2 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the
Lord erected, and not man.
Scripture Reading 5 of 6


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Matthew 5:14-19  (St. Tikhon)
14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot
be hidden.
15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a
lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good
works and glorify your Father in heaven.
17 Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did
not come to destroy but to fulfill.
18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one
jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is
fulfilled.
19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments,
and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven;
but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the
kingdom of heaven.
Scripture Reading 6 of 6



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Leavetaking of the Transfiguration of our Lord
On the Leavetaking of the Transfiguration, all of the service for the
Feast is repeated, except for the Entrance at Vespers, the Old
Testament readings, Litya, the Polyeleos and Gospel at Matins, and the
blessing of grapes at Liturgy. The Gospel and Epistle readings at
Liturgy are those prescribed for the day.
The Typikon should be consulted for any possible variations.
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Translation of the relics of St Maximus the Confessor
Saint Maximus the Confessor was born in Constantinople around 580 and
raised in a pious Christian family. He received an excellent
education, studying philosophy, grammar, and rhetoric. He was
well-read in the authors of antiquity and he also mastered philosophy
and theology. When St Maximus entered into government service, he
became first secretary (asekretis) and chief counselor to the emperor
Heraclius (611-641), who was impressed by his knowledge and virtuous
life.
St Maximus soon realized that the emperor and many others had been
corrupted by the Monothelite heresy, which was spreading rapidly
through the East. He resigned from his duties at court, and went to
the Chrysopolis monastery (at Skutari on the opposite shore of the
Bosphorus), where he received monastic tonsure. Because of his
humility and wisdom, he soon won the love of the brethren and was
chosen igumen of the monastery after a few years. Even in this
position, he remained a simple monk.
In 638, the emperor Heraclius and Patriarch Sergius tried to minimize
the importance of differences in belief, and they issued an edict, the
"Ekthesis" ("Ekthesis tes pisteos" or "Exposition of Faith), which
decreed that everyone must accept the teaching of one will in the two
natures of the Savior. In defending Orthodoxy against the "Ekthesis,"
St Maximus spoke to people in various occupations and positions, and
these conversations were successful. Not only the clergy and the
bishops, but also the people and the secular officials felt some sort
of invisible attraction to him, as we read in his Life.
When St Maximus saw what turmoil this heresy caused in Constantinople
and in the East, he decided to leave his monstery and seek refuge in
the West, where Monothelitism had been completely rejected. On the
way, he visited the bishops of Africa, strengthening them in
Orthodoxy, and encouraging them not to be deceived by the cunning
arguments of the heretics.
The Fourth Ecumenical Council had condemned the Monophysite heresy,
which falsely taught that in the Lord Jesus Christ there was only one
nature (the divine). Influenced by this erroneous opinion, the
Monothelite heretics said that in Christ there was only one divine
will ("thelema") and only one divine energy ("energia"). Adherents of
Monothelitism sought to return by another path to the repudiated
Monophysite heresy. Monothelitism found numerous adherents in Armenia,
Syria, Egypt. The heresy, fanned also by nationalistic animosities,
became a serious threat to Church unity in the East. The struggle of
Orthodoxy with heresy was particularly difficult because in the year
630, three of the patriarchal thrones in the Orthodox East were
occupied by Monothelites: Constantinople by Sergius, Antioch by
Athanasius, and Alexandria by Cyrus.
St Maximus traveled from Alexandria to Crete, where he began his
preaching activity. He clashed there with a bishop, who adhered to the
heretical opinions of Severus and Nestorius. The saint spent six years
in Alexandria and the surrounding area.
Patriarch Sergius died at the end of 638, and the emperor Heraclius
also died in 641. The imperial throne was eventually occupied by his
grandson Constans II (642-668), an open adherent of the Monothelite
heresy. The assaults of the heretics against Orthodoxy intensified. St
Maximus went to Carthage and he preached there for about five years.
When the Monothelite Pyrrhus, the successor of Patriarch Sergius,
arrived there after fleeing from Constantinople because of court
intrigues, he and St Maximus spent many hours in debate. As a result,
Pyrrhus publicly acknowledged his error, and was permitted to retain
the title of "Patriarch." He even wrote a book confessing the Orthodox
Faith. St Maximus and Pyrrhus traveled to Rome to visit Pope Theodore,
who received Pyrrhus as the Patriarch of Constantinople.
In the year 647 St Maximus returned to Africa. There, at a council of
bishops Monotheletism was condemned as a heresy. In 648, a new edict
was issued, commissioned by Constans and compiled by Patriarch Paul of
Constantinople: the "Typos" ("Typos tes pisteos" or "Pattern of the
Faith"), which forbade any further disputes about one will or two
wills in the Lord Jesus Christ. St Maximus then asked St Martin the
Confessor (April 14), the successor of Pope Theodore, to examine the
question of Monothelitism at a Church Council. The Lateran Council was
convened in October of 649. One hundred and fifty Western bishops and
thirty-seven representatives from the Orthodox East were present,
among them St Maximus the Confessor. The Council condemned
Monothelitism, and the Typos. The false teachings of Patriarchs
Sergius, Paul and Pyrrhus of Constantinople, were also anathematized.
When Constans II received the decisions of the Council, he gave orders
to arrest both Pope Martin and St Maximus. The emperor's order was
fulfilled only in the year 654.St Maximus was accused of treason and
locked up in prison. In 656 he was sent to Thrace, and was later
brought back to a Constantinople prison.
The saint and two of his disciples were subjected to the cruelest
torments. Each one's tongue was cut out, and his right hand was cut
off. Then they were exiled to Skemarum in Scythia, enduring many
sufferings and difficulties on the journey.
After three years, the Lord revaled to St Maximus the time of his
death (August 13, 662). Three candles appeared over the grave of St
Maximus and burned miraculously. This was a sign that St Maximus was a
beacon of Orthodoxy during his lifetime, and continues to shine forth
as an example of virtue for all. Many healings occurred at his tomb.
In the Greek Prologue, August 13 commemorates the Transfer of the
Relics of St Maximus from Lazika on the southeast shore of the Black
Sea to Constantinople, to the Monastery of the Theotokos at
Chrysopolis (where he had been the igumen), across the Bosphoros from
Constantinople. This transfer took place after the Sixth Ecumenical
Council.
August 13 could also be the date of the saint's death, however. It is
possible that his main commemoration was moved to January 21 because
August 13 is the Leavetaking of the Feast of the Transfiguration of
the Lord.
St Maximus has left to the Church a great theological legacy. His
exegetical works contain explanations of difficult passages of Holy
Scripture, and include a Commentary on the Lord's Prayer and on Psalm
59, various "scholia" or "marginalia" (commentaries written in the
margin of manuscripts), on treatises of the Hieromartyr Dionysius the
Areopagite (October 3) and St Gregory the Theologian (January 25).
Among the exegetical works of St Maximus are his explanation of divine
services, entitled "Mystagogia" ("Introduction Concerning the
Mystery").
The dogmatic works of St Maximus include the Exposition of his dispute
with Pyrrhus, and several tracts and letters to various people. In
them are contained explanations of the Orthodox teaching on the Divine
Essence and the Persons of the Holy Trinity, on the Incarnation of the
Word of God, and on "theosis" ("deification") of human nature.
"Nothing in theosis is the product of human nature," St Maximus writes
in a letter to his friend Thalassius, "for nature cannot comprehend
God. It is only the mercy of God that has the capacity to endow
theosis unto the existing... In theosis man (the image of God) becomes
likened to God, he rejoices in all the plenitude that does not belong
to him by nature, because the grace of the Spirit triumphs within him,
and because God acts in him" (Letter 22).
St Maximus also wrote anthropological works (i.e. concerning man). He
deliberates on the nature of the soul and its conscious existence
after death. Among his moral compositions, especially important is his
"Chapters on Love." St Maximus the Confessor also wrote three hymns in
the finest traditions of church hymnography, following the example of
St Gregory the Theologian.
The theology of St Maximus the Confessor, based on the spiritual
experience of the knowledge of the great Desert Fathers, and utilizing
the skilled art of dialectics worked out by pre-Christian philosophy,
was continued and developed in the works of St Simeon the New
Theologian (March 12), and St Gregory Palamas (November 14).
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Uncovering of the relics of the Venerable Maximus of Moscow
the Fool-for-Christ
Saint Maximus of Moscow, the Fool for Christ. Nothing is known about
his parents, or the time and place of birth. St Maximus chose one of
the most difficult and thorny paths to salvation, having taken upon
himself the guise of a fool for the sake of Christ. Summer and winter
Maximus walked about almost naked, enduring both heat and cold. He had
a saying, "The winter is fierce, but Paradise is sweet."
Russia loved its holy fools, it esteemed their deep humility, it
heeded their wisdom, expressed in the proverbial sayings of the
people's language. And everyone heeded the holy fools, from the Great
Princes down to the least beggar.
Blessed Maximus lived at a difficult time for the Russian people.
Tatar incursions, droughts, epidemics were endemic and people
perished. The saint said to the unfortunate, "Not everything is by the
weave of the wool, some is opposite... They have won the fight,
submit, and bow lower. Weep not, you who are beaten; but weep, you who
are unbeaten. Let us show tolerance, and in this at least, we shall be
human. Gradually, even green wood will burn. God will grant salvation
if we bear all with patience."
But the saint did not only speak words of consolation. His angry
denunciations frightened the mighty of his world. Blessed Maximus
would often say to the rich and illustrious, "The house has an icon
corner, but the conscience is for sale. Everyone makes the Sign of the
Cross, not everyone prays. God sees every wrong. He will not deceive
you, nor will you deceive Him."
Blessed Maximus died on November 11, 1434 and is buried at the church
of the holy Princes Boris and Gleb. Miraculous healings began
occurring from the relics of God's saint. In an encyclical of 1547,
Metropolitan Macarius enjoined "the singing and celebration at Moscow
for the new Wonderworker Maximus, Fool-for-Christ." That same year on
August 13 the incorrupt relics of Blessed Maximus were uncovered. The
church of Sts Boris and Gleb, where the saint was buried, burned in
the year 1568. On the site a new church was built, which they
consecrated in the name of St Maximus, Fool-for-Christ. The venerable
relics of St Maximus were placed in this church.
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St Tikhon the Bishop of Voronezh and Wonderworker of Zadonsk
and All Russia
Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, Bishop of Voronezh (in the world Timothy),
was born in the year 1724 in the village of Korotsk in the Novgorod
diocese, into the family of the cantor Sabellius Kirillov. (A new
family name, Sokolov, was given him afterwards by the head of the
Novgorod seminary). His father died when Timothy was a young child,
leaving the family in such poverty that his mother was barely able to
make ends meet. She wanted to give him to be raised by a neighbor, a
coachman, since there was nothing with which to feed the family, but
his brother Peter would not permit this. Timothy often worked a whole
day with the peasants for a single piece of black bread.
As a thirteen-year-old boy, he was sent to a clergy school near the
Novgorod archbishop's home, and earned his keep by working with the
vegetable gardeners. In 1740, he was accepted under a state grant set
up for the Novgorod seminary. The youth excelled at his studies. Upon
finishing seminary in 1754, he became a teacher there, first in Greek,
and later in Rhetoric and Philosophy. In the year 1758, he was
tonsured with the name Tikhon. In that same year they appointed him to
be prefect of the seminary.
In 1759, they transferred him to Tver, elevating him to be
archimandrite of the Zheltikov monastery. Later, they appointed him
rector of the Tver seminary and, at the same time, head of the Otroch
monastery.
His election as bishop was providential. Metropolitan Demetrius, the
presiding member of the Holy Synod, had intended to transfer the young
archimandrite to the Trinity-Sergiev Lavra. On the day of Pascha, at
Peterburg, Archimandrite Tikhon was one of eight candidates being
considered for selection as vicar-bishop for Novogorod. The lot fell
on him three times.
On the same day, during the Cherubic Hymn, Bishop Athanasius of Tver,
without realizing it, commemorated him as a bishop while cutting out
particles from the prosphora at the Table of Oblation. On May 13, 1761
he was consecrated Bishop of Keksgolma and Ladoga (i.e., a vicar
bishop of the Novgorod diocese).
In 1763, St Tikhon was transferred to the See of Voronezh. During the
four and a half years that he administered the Voronezh diocese, St
Tikhon provided constant edification, both by his life and by his
numerous pastoral guidances and soul-saving books. He wrote a whole
series of works for pastors:
Concerning the Seven Holy Mysteries
A Supplement to the Priestly Office
Concerning the Mystery of Repentance
An Instruction Concerning Marriage
The saint considered it essential that each priest, deacon and monk
have a New Testament, and that he should read it daily. In an
Encyclical, he called on pastors to perform the Holy Mysteries with
reverence, with the fear of God, and love for one's neighbor. (An
Explanation of Christian Duties was often republished in Moscow and
Peterburg during the eighteenth century).
At Voronezh the saint eradicated an ancient pagan custom, the
celebration in honor of Yarila (a pagan god associated with the
fertility of grain and cattle). In the outlying districts where
military units of the Don Cossacks were dispersed, he formed a
missionary commission to restore sectarians to the Orthodox Church.
In 1765, St Tikhon transformed the Voronezh Slavic-Latin school into a
seminary. He invited experienced instructors from Kiev and Kharkhov,
and planned the courses for it. He exerted much attention and effort
to build up both the churches and the school, and to guide pastors to
understand the need for education.
The saint was unflagging in his efforts to administer the vast
diocese, and he often spent nights without sleep. In 1767, poor health
compelled him to give up running the diocese and withdraw for rest to
the Tolshevsk monastery, at a distance 40 versts from Voronezh.
In 1769, the saint transferred to the monastery of the Theotokos in
the city of Zadonsk. Having settled into this monastery, St Tikhon
became a great teacher of the Christian life. With deep wisdom he set
forth the ideal of true monasticism in his Rule of Monastic Living and
his Guidances to Turn from the Vanity of the World, and in his own
life he fulfilled this ideal. He kept strictly to the precepts of the
Church. Zealously (almost daily) he visited the temple of God, and he
often sang and read in the choir. In time, out of humility, he
altogether ceased participating and serving, but merely stood in the
altar, reverently making the Sign of the Cross over himself. He loved
to read the Lives of the Saints and the works of the holy Fathers. He
knew The Psalter by heart, and he usually read or sang the Psalms on
his journeys.
The saint underwent much tribulation because he had to leave his
flock. When he recovered his health, he thought about returning to the
Novgorod diocese, where Metropolitan Gabriel had invited him to head
the Iveron Vallaisk monastery. But when his cell-attendant mentioned
this to the Elder Aaron, he declared: "Are you mad? The Mother of God
does not direct him to move away from here." The cell-attendant
conveyed this to His Grace.
"If that is so," said the saint "I shall not move away from here," and
he tore up the invitation. Sometimes he journeyed to the village of
Lipovka, where he celebrated church services at the Bekhteev house.
The saint journeyed also to the Tolshev monastery, which he loved for
its solitude.
The fruition of all his spiritual life were the books that the saint
wrote while in retirement: A SPIRITUAL TREASURY, GATHERED FROM THE
WORLD (1770), and ON TRUE CHRISTIANITY (1776).
The saint lived in very simple circumstances: he slept on straw,
covered by a sheepskin coat. His humility was so great that he paid no
attention to the workers who laughed at him as he walked about the
monastery, pretending that he did not hear it. He used to say, "It is
pleasing to God that even the monastery workers mock me, and I deserve
it because of my sins." He often said, "Forgiveness is better than
revenge."
Once, a fool named Kamenev struck the saint on the cheek saying,
"Don't be so haughty" The saint, accepting this with gratitude, gave
the fool three kopeks every day for the rest of his life.
All his life the saint "in troubles, and sorrows, and insults...
joyfully endured, mindful that there can be no crown without the
victory, nor victory without effort, nor effort without struggle, nor
struggle without enemies" (Ode 6 of the Canon).
Strict towards himself, the saint was indulgent towards others. On the
Friday before Palm Sunday, he entered the cell of his friend the
schemamonk Metrophanes, and he saw him at table together with Cosmas
Ignatievich, of whom he was also fond. There was fish on the table,
and his friends became upset (Fish is not permitted during Lent,
except for Feast days). The saint said, "Sit down, for I know you.
Love is higher than fasting." To further calm them, he ate some of
their fish soup.
He especially loved the common folk, and comforted them in their
grievous lot, interceding with the landowners, and moving them to
compassion. He gave away his pension, and gifts from admirers, to the
poor.
By his deeds of self-denial and love of soul, the saint advanced in
contemplation of Heaven and foresaw the future. In 1778, he had a
vision in his sleep: the Mother of God stood in the clouds, and near
Her were the Apostles Peter and Paul. On bended knees, the saint
prayed to the All-Pure Virgin for the peace of the whole world. The
Apostle Paul loudly exclaimed: "When they shall say, peace and safety;
then sudden destruction will come upon them" (I Thess. 5:3). The saint
fell asleep in trembling and in tears. The following year, he again
saw the Mother of God in the air and several people near Her. The
saint knelt down, and near him four others in white garments also fell
to their knees. The saint entreated the All-Pure Virgin for someone,
that She would not leave him (the saint did not tell his
cell-attendant who the four people were, nor for whom the request was
made). She answered, "Let it be as you ask."
St Tikhon prophesied much about the future, particularly the victory
of Russia over the French in 1812. More than once they saw the saint
in spiritual rapture, with a transformed and luminous face, but he
forbade them to speak about this.
For three years before his repose he prayed each day, "Tell me, O
Lord, of my end." And a quiet voice in the morning dawn said, "It will
be on a Sunday." In that same year, he saw in a dream a beautiful
meadow with wondrous palaces upon it. He wanted to go inside, but they
said to him: "In three years, you may enter. For now, continue your
labors." After this the saint secluded himself in his cell and
admitted only a few friends.
Both clothing and a grave were prepared for the time of his death. He
often came to weep over his coffin, while standing hidden from people
in a closet. A year and three months before his death, in a vivid
dream, it seemed to the saint that he was standing in the monastery
church. A priest of his acquaintance was carrying the Divine Infant,
covered with a veil, out of the altar through the Royal Doors. The
saint approached and kissed the Infant on the right cheek, and he felt
himself stricken on the left. Awakening, the saint sensed a numbness
in his left cheek, his left leg, and a trembling in his left hand. He
accepted this illness with joy.
Shortly before his death, the saint saw in a dream a high and twisting
ladder and he heard a command to climb it. "At first, I was afraid
because of weakness," he told his friend Cosmas. "But when I started
to go climb, the people standing around the ladder lifted me higher
and higher, up to the very clouds."
"The ladder," said Cosmas, "is the way to the Heavenly Kingdom. Those
who helped were those you have helped by your advice, and they
remember you." The saint said with tears, "I thought so, too. I feel
that my end is near." He frequently received the Holy Mysteries during
his illness.
St Tikhon died, as was revealed to him, on Sunday August 13, 1783, at
the age of fifty-nine. The first uncovering of his relics occurred on
May 14, 1846.
Saint Tikhon's glorification took place on Sunday August 13, 1861.
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Martyr Hippolytus of Rome
The Martyr Hippolytus was a chief prison guard at Rome under the
emperors Decius (249-251) and Valerian (253-259). He was converted to
Christ by the Martyr Laurence (August 10), and he buried the martyr's
body.
They informed the emperor of this, and St Hippolytus was arrested.
Valerian asked: "Are you then a sorcerer, to have stolen away the body
of Laurence?" The saint confessed himself a Christian, and they beat
him fiercely with rods. His only response was, "I am a Christian."
The emperor gave orders to clothe St Hippolytus in his soldier's garb,
saying, "Be mindful of your calling and be our friend. Offer sacrifice
to the gods together with us, just as before." But the martyr
answered, "I am a soldier of Christ, my Savior, and I desire to die
for Him."
They then confiscated all his property, and whipped his foster mother,
the Martyr Concordia, with olive switches, and they beheaded all his
household before his very eyes. The saint himself was tied to wild
horses, which dragged him over the stones to his death. This occurred
on August 13, 258, the third day after the martyr's death of
Archdeacon Laurence, just as he had foretold to St Hippolytus.
By night the priest Justin buried all the martyrs at the place of
execution. However, the body of St Concordia had been thrown into an
unclean place at Rome. After a while two Christians, the Martyrs
Irenaeus and Abundius, learned from a soldier where the body of the
martyr had been thrown, and they buried her beside St Hippolytus. For
this reason, they were drowned on August 26, just as the martyr had
been. Christians took up the bodies of the martyrs by night and buried
them near the relics of the holy Archdeacon Laurence.
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Martyr Concordia of Rome
Saint Concordia was the foster mother of St Hippolytus, and she was
whipped with olive branches before being executed. Her body was thrown
in an unclean place, but was later recovered by Sts Irenaeus and
Abundius. She was then buried beside St Hippolytus.
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Martyr Irenaeus of Rome
Saints Irenaeus and Abundinus were Christians who learned from a
soldier where the body of St Concordia had been thrown. They buried
her beside St Hippolytus, and they were drowned on August 26, 258.
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Martyr Abundius of Rome
Saints Abundinus and Irenaeus were Christians who learned from a
soldier where the body of St Concordia had been thrown. They buried
her beside St Hippolytus, and they were drowned on August 26, 258.
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Icon of the Mother of God "of the Passion"
The Icon of the Mother of God "Of the Passion" The icon received its
name because on either side of the Mother of God are two angels with
the implements of the Lord's suffering: the Cross, the lance, and the
sponge.
There was a certain pious woman, Katherine, who began to suffer
seizures and madness after her marriage. She ran off into the forest
and attempted suicide more than once.
In a moment of clarity she prayed to the Mother of God and vowed that
if she were healed, she would enter a monastery. After recovering her
health, she only remembered her vow after a long time. Afraid and
mentally afflicted, she took to her bed. Three times the Most Holy
Theotokos appeared to her, commanding the sick woman to go to
Nizhni-Novgorod and to buy Her icon from the iconographer Gregory.
After she had done this, Katherine received healing. From that time
on, miracles have occurred from this icon. The Feast day of this icon
is on August 13, commemorating its transfer from the village of
Palitsa to Moscow in 1641. A church was built at the place where it
was met at the Tver gates, and in 1654, the Strastna monastery was
built.
The icon is also commemorated on April 30, and on the sixth Sunday
after Pascha (the Sunday of the Blind Man) in memory of the miracles
which occurred on this day. Other "Passion" icons of the Mother of God
have been glorified in the Moscow church of the Conception of St Anna,
and also in the village of Enkaeva in Tambov diocese.
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Icon of the Mother of God "of the Seven Arrows"
The "Seven Arrows" Icon of the Mother of God depicts the Virgin's
heart pierced by seven arrows. For a long time the icon was located at
the belltower stairway entrance of a church in honor of the Apostle
John the Theologian (near Vologda). Since it was face downwards, they
mistook the icon for an ordinary board and walked on it. Then a
cripple in the city of Kadnikova had a vision that he would receive
healing after praying before this icon. They served a Molieben before
the newly-discovered icon, after which the sick one became well. The
icon was especially glorified in 1830 during a cholera epidemic at
Vologda.
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Second Finding of the relics of St Tikhon the Wonderworker of
Zadonsk
No information available at this time.
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Icon of the Mother of God of Minsk
The Minsk Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was brought by the holy
Prince Vladimir from Korsun in the Crimea and placed in Kiev's
Cathedral of the Tithes (the consecration of the church in 996 is
commemorated on May 12).
In the year 1500, during the capture of Kiev by Khan Mengli-Gyr, a
certain Tatar stripped the cover and adornments from the icon, and
threw it into the Dniepr River. After a while it was found floating in
the River Svislocha, near Minsk.
Surrounded by an extraordinary light, the icon was brought to shore
and taken to the church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, in
the holdings of the Minsk appanage princes. This occurred on August
13, 1500.
The Minsk Icon was brought to the Uniate Monastery of the Holy Spirit
in 1616, and returned to the Orthodox in 1839. The church of the Holy
Spirit Monastery became an Orthodox cathedral, which was dedicated to
Sts Peter and Paul. Every Friday, an Akathist was served before the
holy icon, and many miracles have been recorded.
The Minsk Icon, of the Hodigitria type, is more than four and a half
feet tall, and three feet wide.
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Empress Irene, tonsured Xenia
No information available at this time.
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Monkmartyr Dositheus
No information available at this time.
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