[Readingsandsaints] Readings and Saints

Thu Aug 23 05:00:17 CDT 2007

Scripture Readings and Saints for Thu Aug 23 2007

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------ READINGS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
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2 Corinthians 10:7-18
7 Do you look at things according to the outward appearance? If anyone
is convinced in himself that he is Christ's, let him again consider
this in himself, that just as he is Christ's, even so we are Christ's.
8 For even if I should boast somewhat more about our authority, which
the Lord gave us for edification and not for your destruction, I shall
not be ashamed-
9 lest I seem to terrify you by letters.
10 For his letters, they say, "are weighty and powerful, but his
bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible."
11 Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by
letters when we are absent, such we will also be in deed when we are
present.
12 For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who
commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and
comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
13 We, however, will not boast beyond measure, but within the limits
of the sphere which God appointed us-a sphere which especially
includes you.
14 For we are not overextending ourselves (as though our authority did
not extend to you), for it was to you that we came with the gospel of
Christ;
15 not boasting of things beyond measure, that is, in other men's
labors, but having hope, that as your faith is increased, we shall be
greatly enlarged by you in our sphere,
16 to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in
another man's sphere of accomplishment.
17 But "he who glories, let him glory in the LORD."
18 For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord
commends.
Scripture Reading 1 of 4

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Philippians 2:5-11  (Theotokos)
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be
equal with God,
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant,
and coming in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and
became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name
which is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in
heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
the glory of God the Father.
Scripture Reading 2 of 4

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Mark 3:28-35
28 Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men,
and whatever blasphemies they may utter;
29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has
forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation-
30 because they said, "He has an unclean spirit."
31 Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they
sent to Him, calling Him.
32 And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him,
"Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You."
33 But He answered them, saying, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?"
34 And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and
said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!
35 For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and
mother.
Scripture Reading 3 of 4

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Luke 10:38-42; 11:27-28  (Theotokos)
38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and
a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and
heard His word.
40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him
and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve
alone? Therefore tell her to help me."
41 And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are
worried and troubled about many things.
42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which
will not be taken away from her.
27 And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman
from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb
that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!"
28 But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word
of God and keep it!"
Scripture Reading 4 of 4

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Leavetaking of the Dormition of the Mother of God
The Leavetaking of the Feast of the Dormition falls on August 23. The
office of the Feast is repeated, except for the entrance, readings,
and Litya at Vespers; and the polyeleos and Gospel of the Feast at
Matins.
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Martyr Lupus the Slave of St Demetrius of Thessalonica
The Martyr Lupus lived at the end of the third century and beginning
of the fourth century, and was a faithful servant of the holy Great
Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica (October 26). Being present at the
death of his master, he soaked his own clothing with his blood and
took a ring from his hand. With this clothing, and with the ring and
the name of the Great Martyr Demetrius, St Lupus worked many miracles
at Thessalonica. He destroyed pagan idols, for which he was subjected
to persecution by the pagans, but he was preserved unharmed by the
power of God.
St Lupus voluntarily delivered himself into the hands of the
torturers, and by order of the emperor Maximian Galerius, he was
beheaded by the sword.
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Hieromartyr Irenaeus the Bishop of Lyons
The Hieromartyr Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, was born in the year 130 in
the city of Smyrna (Asia Minor). He received there the finest
education, studying poetics, philosophy, rhetoric, and the rest of the
classical sciences considered necessary for a young man of the world.
His guide in the truths of the Christian Faith was a disciple of the
Apostle John the Theologian, St Polycarp of Smyrna (February 23). St
Polycarp baptized the youth, and afterwards ordained him presbyter and
sent him to a city in Gaul then named Lugdunum [the present day Lyons
in France] to the dying bishop Pothinus.
A commission was soon entrusted to St Irenaeus. He was to deliver a
letter from the confessors of Lugdunum to the holy Bishop Eleutherius
of Rome (177-190). While he was away, all the known Christians were
thrown into prison. After the martyric death of Bishop Pothinus, St
Irenaeus was chosen a year later (in 178) as Bishop of Lugdunum.
"During this time," St Gregory of Tours (November 17) writes
concerning him, "by his preaching he transformed all Lugdunum into a
Christian city!"
When the persecution against Christians quieted down, the saint
expounded upon the Orthodox teachings of faith in one of his
fundamental works under the title: Detection and Refutation of the
Pretended but False Gnosis. It is usually called Five Books against
Heresy (Adversus Haereses).
At that time there appeared a series of religious-philosophical
gnostic teachings. The Gnostics [from the Greek word "gnosis" meaning
"knowledge"] taught that God cannot be incarnate [i.e. born in human
flesh], since matter is imperfect and manifests itself as the bearer
of evil. They taught also that the Son of God is only an outflowing
("emanation") of Divinity. Together with Him from the Divinity issues
forth a hierarchical series of powers ("aeons"), the unity of which
comprise the "Pleroma", i.e. "Fullness." The world is not made by God
Himself, but by the aeons or the "Demiourgos," which is below the
"Pleroma."
In refuting the heresy of Valentinus, St Irenaeus presents the
Orthodox teaching of salvation. "The Word of God, Jesus Christ,
through His inexplicable blessedness caused it to be, that we also,
should be made that which He is ... ," taught St Irenaeus. "Jesus
Christ the Son of God, through exceedingly great love for His
creation, condescended to be born of a Virgin, having united mankind
with God in His own Self." Through the Incarnation of God, creation
becomes co-imaged and co-bodied to the Son of God. Salvation consists
in the "Sonship" and "Theosis" ("Divinization") of mankind.
In the refutation of another heretic, Marcian, who denied the divine
origin of the Old Testament, the saint affirms the same divine
inspiration of the Old and the New Testaments: "It is one and the same
Spirit of God Who proclaimed through the prophets the precise manner
of the Lord's coming," wrote the saint."Through the apostles, He
preached that the fulness of time of the filiation had arrived, and
that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand."
The successors of the Apostles have received from God the certain gift
of truth, which St Irenaeus links to the succession of the episcopate
(Adv. Haer. 4, 26, 2). "Anyone who desires to know the truth ought to
turn to the Church, since through Her alone did the apostles expound
the Divine Truth. She is the door to life."
St Irenaeus also exerted a beneficial influence in a dispute about the
celebration of Pascha. In the Church of Asia Minor, there was an old
tradition of celebrating Holy Pascha on the fourteenth day of the
month of Nisan, regardless of what day of the week it happened to be.
The Roman bishop Victor (190-202) forcefully demanded uniformity, and
his harsh demands fomented a schism. In the name of the Christians of
Gaul, St Irenaeus wrote to Bishop Victor and others, urging them to
make peace.
After this incident, St Irenaeus drops out of sight, and we do not
even know the exact year of his death. St Gregory of Tours, in his
Historia Francorum, suggests that St Irenaeus was beheaded by the
sword for his confession of faith in the year 202, during the reign of
Severus.
The Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, St Polycarp of Smyrna,
and St Irenaeus of Lyons are three links in an unbroken chain of the
grace of succession, which goes back to the Original Pastor, our Lord
Jesus Christ Himself.
In his old age, St Irenaeus wrote to his old friend the priest
Florinus: "When I was still a boy, I knew you... in Polycarp's
house.... I remember what happened in those days more clearly than
what happens now.... I can describe for you the place where blessed
Polycarp usually sat and conversed, the character of his life, the
appearance of his body, and the discourses which he spoke to the
people, how he spoke of the conversations which he had with John and
others who had seen the Lord, how he remembered their words, and what
he heard from them about the Lord ... I listened eagerly to these
things, by the mercy of God, and wrote them, not on paper, but in my
heart" (Eusebius, Hist. Eccles.).
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St Eutychius of Nursia
Saints Eutychius and Florentius were monks pursuing asceticism in the
region of Nursa in Italy during the sixth century. St Eutychius
converted many to God by his teaching. When the igumen of a nearby
monastery died, they appealed to him to become its head. He consented,
but continued to be concerned with the former place of his ascetic
activity, where his companion Florentius remained.
St Florentius worked many miracles during his lifetime. For example,
he tamed a bear, which served him. It shepherded sheep, carried water
and obeyed other commands of the Elder. Jealous of the fame of St
Florentius, four monks killed the bear. The saint predicted that the
wrath of God would fall upon the murderers. So it happened as he said.
The monks were stricken with illness, and died shortly afterwards. On
learning of the death of the monks, St Florentius was grievously
saddened and distressed, considering himself the murderer of those
monks. He wept for them the rest of his life.
St Eutychius did not work miracles during his lifetime, but after
death his clothing began to produce healings. During a time of drought
the people of Nursia went to the fields with his clothing, and God
sent rain (this was in the year 1492). St Eutychius died on May 23,
540, and St Florentius, on June 1, 547.
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St Florentius of Nursia
Saints Eutychius and Florentius were monks pursuing asceticism in the
region of Nursa in Italy during the sixth century. St Eutychius
converted many to God by his teaching. When the igumen of a nearby
monastery died, they appealed to him to become its head. He consented,
but continued to be concerned with the former place of his ascetic
activity, where his companion Florentius remained.
St Florentius worked many miracles during his lifetime. For example,
he tamed a bear, which served him. It shepherded sheep, carried water
and obeyed other commands of the Elder. Jealous of the fame of St
Florentius, four monks killed the bear. The saint predicted that the
wrath of God would fall upon the murderers. So it happened as he said.
The monks were stricken with illness, and died shortly afterwards. On
learning of the death of the monks, St Florentius was grievously
saddened and distressed, considering himself the murderer of those
monks. He wept for them the rest of his life.
St Eutychius did not work miracles during his lifetime, but after
death his clothing began to produce healings. During a time of drought
the people of Nursia went to the fields with his clothing, and God
sent rain (this was in the year 1492). St Eutychius died on May 23,
540, and St Florentius, on June 1, 547.
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St Callinicus the Patriarch of Constantinople
Saint Callinicus, Patriarch of Constantinople (693-705), was at first
a presbyter in the temple of the Most Holy Theotokos at Blachernae,
but in 693 with the death of Patriarch Paul (686-693), he was elevated
to the episcopal throne of Constantinople. The cruel Justinian II
(685-695) reigned at this time. He undertook the construction of a
palace very near the church of the Most Holy Theotokos and decided to
demolish it. The emperor ordered Patriarch Callinicus to give his
blessing for tearing it down. The patriarch replied that he had
prayers only for the building of churches, not their destruction. When
the church was demolished, he cried out with tears, "Glory to Thee, O
Lord, in enduring all things."
Soon the wrath of God befell Justinian. He was toppled from the throne
and sent for imprisonment to Cherson, where they cut off his nose
(from which he received the nickname "Short-nose"). Leontius (695-698)
succeeded him on the throne.
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