[Readingsandsaints] Readings and Saints

[Daily Orthodox Readings and Saints]

Scripture Readings and Saints for Sat Aug 18 2007

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------ READINGS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
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1 Corinthians 1:26-29
26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.
27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame
the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to
shame the things which are mighty;
28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised
God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the
things that are,
29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.
Scripture Reading 1 of 2


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Matthew 20:29-34
29 Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him.
30 And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that
Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord,
Son of David!"
31 Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they
cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of
David!"
32 So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want
Me to do for you?"
33 They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."
34 So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately
their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.
Scripture Reading 2 of 2



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------ SAINTS/FEASTS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
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Afterfeast of the Dormition of the Mother of God
On the third day of the Afterfeast of the Dormition, the hymns at
Vespers call upon us to "sing the praises of the pure and most holy
Virgin." She did not ascend to heaven in a chariot of fire, as did the
Prophet Elias, but "He Who is truly the Sun of Righteousness" received
her pure soul.
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Martyr Florus of Illyria
The Martyrs Florus and Laurus were brothers by birth not only in flesh
but in spirit. They lived in the second century at Byzantium, and
afterwards they settled in Illyria [now Yugoslavia]. By occupation
they were stone-masons (their teachers in this craft were the
Christians Proclus and Maximus, from whom also the brothers learned
about life pleasing to God).
The prefect of Illyria, Likaion, sent the brothers to a nearby
district for work on the construction of a pagan temple. The saints
toiled at the structure, distributing to the poor the money they
earned, while they kept strict fast and prayed without ceasing.
Once, the son of the local pagan-priest Mamertin carelessly approached
the structure, and a chip of stone hit him in the eye, severely
injuring him. Sts Florus and Laurus assured the upset father, that his
son would be healed.
They brought the youth to consciousness and told him to have faith in
Christ. After this, as the youth confessed Jesus Christ as the true
God, the brothers prayed for him, and the eye was healed. In view of
such a miracle, even the father of the youth believed in Christ.
When the construction of the temple was completed, the brothers
gathered the Christians together, and going through the temple, they
smashed the idols. In the eastern part of the temple they set up the
holy Cross. They spent all night in prayer, illumined with heavenly
light. Having learned of this, the head of the district condemned to
burning the former pagan priest Mamertin and his son and 300
Christians.
The martyrs Florus and Laurus, having been sent back to the prefect
Likaion, were thrown down an empty well and covered over with earth.
After many years, the relics of the holy martyrs were uncovered
incorrupt, and transferred to Constantinople. In the year 1200 the
Novgorod pilgrim Anthony saw them. Stephen of Novgorod saw the heads
of the martyrs in the Pantokrator monastery around the year 1350.
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Martyr Laurus of Illyria
The Martyrs Florus and Laurus were brothers by birth not only in flesh
but in spirit. They lived in the second century at Byzantium, and
afterwards they settled in Illyria [now Yugoslavia]. By occupation
they were stone-masons (their teachers in this craft were the
Christians Proclus and Maximus, from whom also the brothers learned
about life pleasing to God).
The prefect of Illyria, Likaion, sent the brothers to a nearby
district for work on the construction of a pagan temple. The saints
toiled at the structure, distributing to the poor the money they
earned, while they kept strict fast and prayed without ceasing.
Once, the son of the local pagan-priest Mamertin carelessly approached
the structure, and a chip of stone hit him in the eye, severely
injuring him. Sts Florus and Laurus assured the upset father, that his
son would be healed.
They brought the youth to consciousness and told him to have faith in
Christ. After this, as the youth confessed Jesus Christ as the true
God, the brothers prayed for him, and the eye was healed. In view of
such a miracle, even the father of the youth believed in Christ.
When the construction of the temple was completed, the brothers
gathered the Christians together, and going through the temple, they
smashed the idols. In the eastern part of the temple they set up the
holy Cross. They spent all night in prayer, illumined with heavenly
light. Having learned of this, the head of the district condemned to
burning the former pagan priest Mamertin and his son and 300
Christians.
The martyrs Florus and Laurus, having been sent back to the prefect
Likaion, were thrown down an empty well and covered over with earth.
After many years, the relics of the holy martyrs were uncovered
incorrupt, and transferred to Constantinople. In the year 1200 the
Novgorod pilgrim Anthony saw them. Stephen of Novgorod saw the heads
of the martyrs in the Pantokrator monastery around the year 1350.
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Martyr Hermes of Rome
The martyrs Hermes, Serapion, and Polyaenus were Romans who suffered
for Christ in the second century. They were thrown into prison, and
under interrogation they firmly confessed their faith in Christ and
refused to offer sacrifice to idols. The martyrs were dragged through
crowds and impassable places. Pelted with stones and other material,
they died, receiving their heavenly crowns.
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Martyr Serapion of Rome
The martyrs Serapion, Hermes, and Polyaenus were Romans who suffered
for Christ in the second century. They were thrown into prison, and
under interrogation they firmly confessed their faith in Christ and
refused to offer sacrifice to idols. The martyrs were dragged through
crowds and impassable places. Pelted with stones and other material,
they died, receiving their heavenly crowns.
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Martyr Polyaenus of Rome
The martyrs Polyaenus, Hermes, and Serapion were Romans who they
suffered for Christ in the second century. They were thrown into
prison, and under interrogation they firmly confessed their faith in
Christ and refused to offer sacrifice to idols. The martyrs were
dragged through crowds and impassable places. Pelted with stones and
other material, they died, receiving their heavenly crowns.
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Hieromartyr Emilian
Saints Emilian the Bishop, and with him Hilarion, Dionysius, and
Hermippus were born and lived in Armenia. After the death of their
parents, the hieromartyrs Emilian, Dionysius, and Hermippus (they were
brothers), and their teacher Hilarion left their native land and
arrived in Italy, in the city of Spoleto.
St. Emilian began to preach the Gospel to the pagans. He won the deep
respect of the Christian community because of his strict and virtuous
life, and he was chosen bishop of the city of Trebium. He was
consecrated by Marcellinus, the Bishop of Rome). After moving to
Trebium, St. Emilian converted many pagans to Christ, for which he was
brought to trial before the emperor Mamimian (284-305).
The saint suggested that the emperor see for himself the power of
prayer to Christ. A man who had been crippled for a long time was
brought before him. However much the pagan priests tried to heal him
by appealing to the idols, they accomplished nothing. Then St. Emilian
prayed to the Lord and commanded the crippled man, in the name of
Jesus Christ, to get up. The man stood up healthy and went home
rejoicing.
This miracle was so convincing that the emperor was inclined to admit
the truth about Christ, but the pagan priests told him that the saint
had worked magic. He was subjected to fierce tortures, in which the
Lord encouraged him, saying: "Fear not, Emilian, I am with you."
They tied him to a wheel, threw him on hot tin, dunked him in a river,
and put him in the arena to be eaten by wild beasts, but he remained
unharmed. In view of all these miracles the people began to shout:
"Great is the Christian God! Free His servant!" On this day 1000 men
believed in Christ, and all received the crown of martyrdom.
In a rage, the governor ordered that the beasts be killed since they
did not attack the saint. The martyr gave thanks to the Lord because
even the wild beasts accepted death for Christ. They locked St.
Emilian in prison together with his brothers and teacher, and after
fierce tortures the hieromartyrs Hilarion, Dionysius, and Hermippus
were beheaded with the sword.
St. Emilian was executed outside the city. When the executioner struck
the martyr on the neck with a sword, it became soft like wax, and did
not wound the saint. Soldiers fell on their knees to him asking
forgiveness and confessing Christ as the True God. The saint prayed on
his knees for them and asked the Lord to grant him a martyr's death.
His prayer was heard, and another executioner cut off the saint's
head. Seeing a milky liquid flowing from his wounds, many of the
pagans believed in Christ and they buried the martyr's body with
honor.
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Martyr Hilarion
Saints Hilarion, Emilian the Bishop, and his brothers Dionysius, and
Hermippus were born and lived in Armenia.
St Hilarion was beheaded around the year 300 along with St Emilan,
Dionysius, and Hermippus.
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Martyr Dionysius
Saints Dionysius, Emilian the Bishop, their brother Hermippus, and
their teacher Hilarion, were born and lived in Armenia.
St Hilarion was beheaded around the year 300 along with St Emilan,
Dionysius, and Hermippus.
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Martyr Hermippus
Saints Hermippus, his brothers Emilian the Bishop and Dionysius, and
their teacher Hilarion, were born and lived in Armenia.
St Hermippus was beheaded around the year 300 along with St Emilan,
Dionysius, and Hilarion.
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St John the Patriarch of Constantinople
Saint John V was Patriarch of Constantinople from 669-674. He lived
during the reign of the emperor Constantine Pogonatos (668-685).
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St George the Patriarch of Constantinople
Saint George I was Patriarch of Constantinople from 678-683. He lived
during the reign of the emperor Constantine Pogonatos (668-685).
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Venerable Macarius the Monk of Pelekete
Saint Macarius was igumen of the Pelekete monastery. During the time
of the Iconoclast heresy he underwent torture and imprisonment for
icon veneration. He died about the year 830.
St Macarius, Igumen of the Pelekete Monastery, was born at
Constantinople in 785. While still a child, he lost his parents. The
saint fervently read the Scriptures and came to realize that earthly
things are temporary and perishable, and that heavenly things are
permanent and imperishable. Therefore, he decided to devote his life
entirely to God. He entered the Pelekete monastery in Bithynia, where
at the time the igumen was the renowned ascetic, St Hilarion (March
28).
After the death of St Hilarion, St Macarius was unanimously chosen as
igumen by the brethren. During the reign of the Byzantine Emperors Leo
V the Armenian (813-820) and Michael II the Stammerer (820-829), St
Macarius suffered as a confessor for the veneration of holy icons. He
was sent to the island of Aphousia, where he died in about the year
830.
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Repose of the Venerable John the Abbot of Rila
Saint John of Rila, the great spiritual ascetic of the Bulgarian
Orthodox Church and Heavenly Protector of the Bulgarian nation, was
born in the year 876 in the village of Skrino in the Sredets district
[now Sofia].
After he had been orphaned, the boy became a cowherd in order to avoid
people. Once the rich man beat him for losing a cow with its calf. The
boy cried long and he prayed, that God would help him. When he found
the cow with the calf, the water at that time flowed high and strong
in the River Struma. The young cowherd prayed, he placed his own
tattered shirt on the water, made the Sign of the Cross over it, took
up the calf in his arms and went with it, as though on dry land, to
the other bank of the river where the cow was.
The rich man, hidden in the forest, was frightened upon seeing this
miracle. He rewarded the youth generously, then sent him away from his
home. Having given away his things, the boy left his village. Where
and when the saint took monastic tonsure is unknown.
At the very first he pursued asceticism on a high and barren hill,
eating only wild plants. His hut was of brushwood. After a short while
robbers fell upon him by night, beat him, and drove him off from
there. Then he found a deep cave and settled in it. Soon, his nephew
St Luke also settled there.
The place was quite unpopulated, so that St John at first considered
the appearance of Luke a demonic trick, but learning that the youth
sought the salvation of his soul, he lovingly accepted him. Not for
long, however, did they live together. St John's brother found the
ascetics, and forcibly took away his son. Along the way home the youth
died from the bite of a snake. The brother repented and asked
forgiveness of the monk. The wanderer went then frequently to the
grave of the righteous youth; his beloved place of rest was there.
St John spent twelve years in the desolate cave, and then he went into
the Rila wilderness and settled in the hollow of a tree. He fasted and
prayed a great deal, wept incessantly, and ate only grass. Seeing such
endurance, God caused beans to grow, which he ate for a long time. The
beans and his exploits made him known to people.
Once a flock of frightened sheep ran along the hilly steep paths, and
did not stop until the place where the monk lived. The shepherds,
following after the flock, with astonishment saw the hermit, who
amicably greeted them: "You arrive here hungry. Pick some of my beans
and eat." All ate and were satisfied. One gathered many beans in
reserve. Along the way home he offered them to his comrades, but there
were no beans in the pilfered pods. The shepherds turned back
penitent, and the Elder stood there, saying with a smile: "See,
children, these fruits are appointed by God for subsistence in the
wilderness."
>From that time they began to bring to the monk the sick and those
troubled by unclean spirits, which he healed by prayer. Fleeing
celebrity, the monk went from his beloved tree-hollow and settled on a
high and rocky crag difficult of access, where he dwelt for seven
years under the open sky. Reports about the great ascetic reached even
the Bulgarian king Peter (927-969), who wanted to meet him. St John
wrote a letter, refusing such a meeting out of humility.
Later on St John accepted under him the guidance of monks, who built a
monastery with a church in the cave where St John formerly lived. He
wisely tended his flock and died on August 18, 946 at 70 years of age.
Five years before his end he wrote in his own hand "A Testament to
Disciples," one of the finest creations of Old Bulgarian literature.
The holy life of the ascetic and the remarkable mercies of God through
his prayers were a fine preaching of the Christian Faith in the
newly-baptized Bulgarian land. In the uneasy time of struggle of
Bulgaria with Byzantium, under the west Bulgarian king Samuel
(976-1014), St John appeared to his disciples, commanding them to
transfer his relics to Sredets (Sofia), where the Bulgarian Patriarch
Damian (927-972) was hiding. It is presumed that the transfer of
relics took place in the year 980.
Somewhat later, the right hand of St John of Rila was transferred to
Russia (presumably to the city of Rila, where a church was constructed
in the name of St John of Rila, with a chapel dedicated to the martyrs
Florus and Laurus, on the day of their commemoration (August 18) on
which he died).
The name of St John was known and loved by the Russian people from
antiquity. Data about the death of the saint is preserved, especially
in Russian sources (the MENAION for August in the twelfth century, in
the Mazurinsk Chronicle).
In the year 1183, the Hungarian king Bela II (1174-1196), during a
campaign against the Greeks, seized the chest with the relics of St
John, together with other booty, and took it to the city of Esztergom.
In the year 1187, after he embellished the reliquary, he sent back the
holy relics with great honor. On October 19, 1238 the relics of St
John were solemnly transferred to the new capital, Trnovo, and put in
a church dedicated to the saint. On July 1, 1469 the holy relics of St
John of Rila were returned to the Rila monastery, where they rest to
the present day, granting grace-filled help to all the believers.
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Venerable Sophronius of St Anne Skete, Mt. Athos
Saint Sophronius lived in the eighteenth century. He left home on his
wedding night and became a monk on Mount Athos. After living there for
fifty years, he died in peace.
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Venerable Arsenius of Paros
Today the Church commemorates the uncovering of the relics of Saint
Arsenius of Paros (1800-1877), who was glorified by the Patriarchate
of Constantinople in 1967.
The main Feast of St Arsenius, "the glory of Epirus and the boast of
Paros," is on January 31. St Arsenius and his Elder stayed on Mount
Athos for six years before being forced to leave by ignorant monks who
were against the Kollyvades movement. The Kollyvades called for a
strict adherence to holy Tradition, opposed performing memorial
services on Sundays, and believed that Christians should receive Holy
Communion more frequently than four times a year. They also practiced
unceasing prayer of the heart (hesychasm), which was misunderstood by
many people of that time. Some of the Athonite monks, in their
ignorance, were highly critical of the Kollyvades, insulting and
mistreating them, and forcing them into exile.
Fr Daniel and St Arsenius left Athos when the anti-Kollyvades
sentiments against frequent Communion were particularly intense. This
was just before the start of the Greek War of Independence on March
25, 1821. After a brief stay at the Penteli Monastery near Athens, the
two went to the island of Paros. Unable to remain there, they
ultimately settled on the island of Pholegandros.
Since there were no teachers on the island, the inhabitants asked Fr
Daniel to permit Fr Arsenius to teach their children. The Elder agreed
to their request, and also had Fr Arsenius ordained a deacon by the
Metropolitan of Thira. After his ordination, the Greek government
appointed Fr Arsenius as a teacher. His teaching career lasted from
1829 to 1840.
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St Barnabas of Asia Minor
Saints Barnabas and his nephew Sophronius were Athenians, saved upon
Mount Mela near Trebizond in Asia Minor. They died in the year 412.
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St Sophronius of Asia Minor
Saints Barnabas and his nephew Sophronius were Athenians, saved upon
Mount Mela near Trebizond in Asia Minor. They died in the year 412.
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St Christopher of Gazara
Saint Christopher was born in Gazara, near Trebizond. He was the head
of a monastery on Mount Mela in the second half of the seventh century
(641-668).
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Icon of the Mother of God, the "Directress"
The Hodigitria (or "Directress") Icon of the Mother of God. According
to Tradition, this icon in the Mela monastery near Trebizond was
painted by the Evangelist Luke.
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4 Ascetics
Today we celebrate the memory of Four Ascetics in the desert whose
names are unknown. Also 300 Saints who were burned in a fire for
smashing idols.
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Many Saints
On this day we celebrate the memory of Four Ascetics in the desert
whose names are unknown. Also Many (300) Saints burned in a fire for
smashing idols.
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Venerable Christodoulos the Philosopher
The great Church figure and philosopher St. Christodoulos was from the
village of Sakara in the Imereti region. He possessed an exceptional
knowledge of the Holy Scriptures and spoke several languages fluently.
To support his prodigious understanding of the Christian Faith,
Christodoulos became thoroughly acquainted with other creeds as well.
To this purpose, he even memorized the Koran.
Once the Persian king Iamame arranged a debate on theological issues
between the Muslims and the Christians, and he invited the elder
Christodoulos to take part in this event. At first the king himself
debated with the elder and suffered an upset. Then a certain pagan
astrologer was brought to replace him, and when it became clear that
he too was no match for the elder-philosopher, he summoned a renowned
scholar to outwit him. In the debates with this scholar, Christodoulos
freely cited both the Holy Scriptures and the Koran, and with his
brilliant logic and rhetoric he triumphed over his rival. His
challengers were disgraced.
In his work _Pilgrimage_, the famous 19th-century historian Archbishop
Timote (Gabashvili) describes his journey to Mt. Athos and notes that
St. Christodoulos had labored with the monks of the Iveron Monastery.
Church historians believe that St. Christodoulos labored first in
Georgia, then moved to Mt. Athos, and finally to the island of Patmos.
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