[Readingsandsaints] Readings and Saints

Sat Dec 15 05:00:13 CST 2007

Scripture Readings and Saints for Sat Dec 15 2007

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2 Timothy 1:1-2, 8-18
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to
the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, a beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the
Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me
His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel
according to the power of God,
9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to
our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given
to us in Christ Jesus before time began,
10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus
Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to
light through the gospel,
11 to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of
the Gentiles.
12 For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not
ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is
able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.
13 Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me,
in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
14 That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit
who dwells in us.
15 This you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me,
among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.
16 The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often
refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain;
17 but when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and
found me.
18 The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that
Day-and you know very well how many ways he ministered to me at
Ephesus.
Scripture Reading 1 of 2

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Mark 9:33-41
33 Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked
them, "What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?"
34 But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among
themselves who would be the greatest.
35 And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone
desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."
36 Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And
when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them,
37 Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives
Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me.
38 Now John answered Him, saying, "Teacher, we saw someone who does
not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him
because he does not follow us."
39 But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle
in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me.
40 For he who is not against us is on our side.
41 For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because
you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means
lose his reward.
Scripture Reading 2 of 2

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Hieromartyr Eleutherius the Bishop of Illyria, and His Mother
Hieromartyr Eleutherius, his mother Evanthia and Caribus the Eparch:
St Eleutherius, the son of an illustrious Roman citizen, was raised in
Christian piety by his mother. His virtue was such that at the age
twenty, he had been elevated to bishop of Illyria. In the reign of the
emperor Hadrian, St Eleutherius was tortured for his bold preaching
about Christ, then was beheaded at Rome with his mother Evanthia. The
Eparch Caribus, who had tortured St Eleutherius, also came to believe
in Christ and was executed.
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Venerable Paul of Latros
Saint Paul of Latros was a native of the city of Aelen in Pergamum.
Early bereft of his father, he was educated at the monastery of St
Stephen in Phrygia. After the death of his mother, he devoted himself
completely to monastic deeds at a monastery on Mount Latra, near
Miletos.
Seeking even loftier accomplishments, he secluded himself in a cave.
For his ascetic deeds he gained the gifts of clairvoyance and
wonderworking. The emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos (912-959)
often wrote to him, asking his prayers and counsel. St Paul twice
withdrew to the island of Samos, where he established a monastery and
restored three monasteries ravaged by the Hagarenes (Arabs).
Foretelling his end, the monk reposed in the year 955.
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St Stephen the Confessor the Archbishop of Surozha in the
Crimea
Saint Stephen the Confessor, Archbishop of Surrentium (Surozh), was a
native of Cappadocia and was educated at Constantinople. After
receiving the monastic tonsure, he withdrew into the wilderness, where
he lived for thirty years in ascetic deeds.
Patriarch Germanus of Constantinople (May 12) heard of Stephen's
humility and virtuous life, and wished to meet him. He was so
impressed with Stephen that he consecrated him bishop of the city of
Surrentium (presently the city of Sudak in the Crimea). Within five
years, St Stephen's ministry was so fruitful that no heretics or
unbaptized pagans remained in Surrentium or its environs.
St Stephen opposed the iconoclasm of the emperor Leo III the Isaurian
(716-741). Since he refused to obey the orders of the emperor and the
dishonorable Patriarch Anastasius to remove the holy icons from the
churches, he was brought to Constantinople. There he was thrown into
prison and tortured. He was released after the death of the emperor.
Already quite advanced in years, he returned to his flock in
Surrentium, where he died.
There is an account of how the Russian prince Bravlin accepted Baptism
at the beginning of the ninth century during a campaign into the
Crimea, influenced by miracles at the saint's crypt.
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Venerable Tryphon the Abbot of Pechenga (Kolsk)
Saint Tryphon of Pechenga and Kola, in the world Metrophanes, was born
in the Novgorod governia into a priestly family. The pious parents
raised their son in the fear of God. From his early years Tryphon had
resolved to devote his life to apostolic deeds and to go to the pagan
Laplanders and proclaim the Gospel of Christ. He knew of them only
through the accounts of fish vendors.
Once, while praying in the forest he had heard a voice, "Tryphon, this
is not your place. An empty and thirsty land awaits you." Forsaking
his parental home, the saint went out onto the Kola Peninsula and
halted at the banks of the Pechenga River, where the Lapps lived.
There he began to carry on trade with them. The saint first acquainted
himself with the pagan beliefs of these people and studied their
language, and then began to preach the Christian Faith to them. The
Lapps greeted the words of the saint with great mistrust. The holy
preacher suffered much hardship, enduring hostility and even beatings.
But gradually, through his wise and kindly words and meekness, many
were converted to Christ.
With the blessing of Archbishop Macarius of Novogord, St Tryphon and
St Theodoretos built a church for the newly-converted. In 1532 he
founded the Pechenga-Trinity monastery for those eager for the
monastic life, "on the cold sea, on the frontier of Murmansk."
Tsar Ivan the Terrible helped him and richly endowed the monastery.
The Enlightener of the Lapps died in old age in 1583, having lived at
the Pechenga almost 60 years. Local veneration of St Tryphon began
soon after his death.
In 1589, the Swedes destroyed the Pechenga monastery. Later, by order
of Tsar Theodore, the monastery was transferred to the Kola Peninsula.
On the site of the restored monastery a church was built and named for
St Tryphon. Over the saint's grave a church was constructed in honor
of the Meeting of the Lord. St Tryphon has often come to the aid of
perishing seamen, who call upon his name with faith.
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Martyr Jonah the Disciple of Tryphon of Pechenga
Saint Jonah of Pechenga and Kola was, as tradition tells us, a priest
in the city of Kola. After the death of his daughter and wife he went
off to the Pechenga-Trinity monastery near Kola, and became a disciple
of its founder, St Tryphon. After the death of his teacher, he settled
in 1583 at the site of what was to become his grave in the neighboring
Dormition wilderness, where he was killed by the Swedes in the year
1590.
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Martyr Eleutherius at Constantinople
The Holy Martyr Eleutherius Cubicularius was an illustrious and rich
chamberlain ["cubicularius"] at the Byzantine court. With all his
courtly privileges, Eleutherius was not beguiled by worldly
possessions and honors. Instead, he thought of imperishable and
eternal things. Having accepted holy Baptism, he began daily to
glorify God with psalmody and to adorn his life with virtuous deeds.
But one of his servants through diabolic promptings, informed against
his master to the [then still pagan] emperor. The emperor tried to
turn Eleutherius from his faith in Christ, but after the unsuccessful
attempts the emperor gave orders to behead him, and to throw his body
to be eaten by dogs and vultures. A certain Christian priest took up
the saint's body and buried it.
There is a second commemoration of the martyr on August 4.
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Venerable Pardus the Hermit, of Palestine
St Pardus the Hermit, a Roman, was involved in his youth with the
teamster's craft. Once, when he traveled to Jericho, a boy
accidentally fell under the legs of his camels. The camels trampled
the boy to death. Shaken by this occurrence, Pardus became a monk and
withdrew to Mount Arion.
Thinking himself as a murderer, and deserving of death, St Pardus
entered the den of a lion. He poked the wild beast and prodded it with
a spear so that the lion would tear him apart, but the creature would
not touch the hermit. St Pardus then took off his clothes and lay down
upon the path that the lion would take for water. But even here, the
lion merely leaped over the hermit. And the Elder then understood that
he had been forgiven by the Lord. Returning to his mountain, St Pardus
dwelt there in fasting and prayer until the end of his days. He died
in the sixth century.
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Hieromartyr Hilarion, Archbishop of Vereiya
The holy New Martyr Archbishop Hilarion (Vladimir Alexeevich Troitsky
in the world), an outstanding theologian, an eloquent preacher, and a
fearless defender of Christ's holy Church, was born around 1885.
Vladika Hilarion wrote many books and articles on various topics,
including "The Unity of the Church." His Master's thesis, "An Outline
of the History of the Church's Dogma," was over five hundred pages
long, and was a well-documented analysis of the subject.
During the Council of 1917 he delivered a brilliant address calling
for the restoration of the Moscow Patriarchate, which had been
dissolved byTsar Peter I in the eighteenth century. When St Tikhon
(April 7) was chosen as Patriarch, St Hilarion became his fervent
supporter.
St Hilarion was consecrated as bishop on May 20, 1920, and so the
great luminary was placed upon the lampstand (Luke 11:33). From that
time, he was to know less than two years of freedom. He spent only six
months working with Patriarch Tikhon.
Vladika was arrested and exiled in Archangelsk for a year, then he
spent six years (1923-1929) in a labor camp seven versts from Solovki.
There at the Filomonov Wharf he and at least two other bishops were
employed in catching fish and mending nets. Paraphrasing the hymns of
Pentecost, Archbishop Hilarion remarked, "Formerly, the fishermen
became theologians. Now the theologians have become fishermen."
Archbishop Hilarion was one of the most popular inmates of the labor
camp. He is remembered as tall, robust, and with brownish hair.
Personal possessions meant nothing to him, so he always gave his
things away to anyone who asked for them. He never showed annoyance
when people disturbed him or insulted him, but remained cheerful.
In the summer of 1925, Vladika was taken from the camp and placed in
the Yaroslav prison. There he was treated more leniently, and received
certain privileges. For example, he was allowed to receive religious
books, and he had pleasant conversations with the warden in his
office. St Hilarion regarded his time at the Yaroslav Isolated
Detention Center as the best part of his imprisonment. The following
spring he was back at Solovki.
In 1929 the Communists decided to exile Archbishop Hilarion to
Alma-Atu in central Asia. During his trip southward from the far
north, St Hilarion was robbed and endured many privations. When he
arrived in Petrograd, he was ill with typhus, infested with parasites
and dressed in rags. When informed that he would have to be shaved, he
replied, "You may now do with me whatever you wish." He wrote from the
prison hospital, "My fate will be decided on Saturday, December 15. I
doubt I will survive."
St Hilarion died at the age of forty-four in the hospital of a
Petrograd prison on December 15, 1929. His body was placed in a coffin
hastily made from some boards, and then was released to his family.
The once tall and robust Archbishop Hilarion had been transformed by
his sufferings into a pitiful white-haired old man. One female
relative fainted when she saw the body.
Metropolitan Seraphim (Chichagov) provided a set of white vestments
for the late Archbishop. He was also placed in a better coffin.
Metropolitan Seraphim presided at the funeral of St Hilarion, assisted
by six bishops and several priests. The saint was buried at
Novo-Divichy Monastery.
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Martyr Evanthia of Illyria
Hieromartyr Eleutherius, his mother Evanthia and Caribus the Eparch:
St Eleutherius, the son of an illustrious Roman citizen, was raised in
Christian piety by his mother. His virtue was such that at the age
twenty, he had been elevated to bishop of Illyria. In the reign of the
emperor Hadrian, St Eleutherius was tortured for his bold preaching
about Christ, then was beheaded at Rome with his mother Evanthia. The
Eparch Caribus, who had tortured St Eleutherius, also came to believe
in Christ and was executed.
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St Nectarius of Bitel
Saint Nectarius of Bitel was born in the small town of Bitl (or
Butili) in Bulgaria. In the world he was named Nicholas. Before a
Turkish invasion he mother had a vision: the Most Holy Virgin Herself
appeared and told her to flee and go into hiding with her husband and
children. Nicholas's father, having taken the boy with him, withdrew
to a monastery dedicated to the Holy Unmercenaries (Sts Cosmas and
Damian), not far from Bitel, where he became a monk with the name
Pachomius.
Nicholas, having reached adolescence, went on to Athos. The
clairvoyant Elder Philotheus accepted him and tonsured him into the
angelic schema with the name Nectarius. The monk suffered for a long
time from the envy and spite of one of the novices, but he displayed
complete humility. He was distinguished for his charity. Any money he
obtained from his handicraft was distributed to the poor. St Nectarius
died in the year 1500.
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