[Readingsandsaints] Readings and Saints

Sun Dec 16 05:00:15 CST 2007

Scripture Readings and Saints for Sun Dec 16 2007

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------ READINGS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
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John 20:1-10  (7th Matins Gospel)
1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb
early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken
away from the tomb.
2 Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple,
whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken away the Lord out
of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him."
3 Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to
the tomb.
4 So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and
came to the tomb first.
5 And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying
there; yet he did not go in.
6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he
saw the linen cloths lying there,
7 and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with
the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself.
8 Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also;
and he saw and believed.
9 For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again
from the dead.
10 Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.
Scripture Reading 1 of 3

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Colossians 3:4-11  (Epistle, Forefathers from the 28th Sunday)
4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with
Him in glory.
5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth:
fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness,
which is idolatry.
6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of
disobedience,
7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.
8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath,
malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.
9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with
his deeds,
10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according
to the image of Him who created him,
11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor
uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all
and in all.
Scripture Reading 2 of 3

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Luke 14:16-24  (Gospel, Forefathers from the 28th Sunday)
16 Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited
many,
17 and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were
invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.'
18 But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said
to him, 'I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I
ask you to have me excused.'
19 And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going
to test them. I ask you to have me excused.'
20 Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot
come.'
21 So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then
the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out
quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the
poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.'
22 And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and
still there is room.'
23 Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and
hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
24 'For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall
taste my supper.' "
Scripture Reading 3 of 3

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Sunday of the Forefathers
The Sunday that falls between December 11-17 is known as the Sunday of
the Holy Forefathers. These are the ancestors of Christ according to
the flesh, who lived before the Law and under the Law, especially the
Patriarch Abraham, to whom God said, "In thy seed shall all of the
nations of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 12:3, 22:18).
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Prophet Haggai
The Holy Prophet Haggai was the tenth of the Twelve Minor Prophets. He
was of the Tribe of Levi and he prophesied during the times of the
Persian emperor Darius Hystaspis (prior to 500 B.C.). Upon the return
of the Jews from the Babylonian Captivity, he persuaded the people to
build the Second Temple at Jerusalem, and he proclaimed that the
Messiah would appear in this Temple in the last times.
It is believed that Haggai was buried with the priests at Jerusalem,
since he was descended from Aaron.
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Martyr Marinus of Rome
The Martyr Marinus was a soldier who suffered in Caesarea of Palestine
in the third century. When he was about to be promoted to centurion,
he refused to swear the customary oath invoking the pagan gods, or to
offer sacrifice to idols. St Marinus was beheaded after cruel
tortures, and buried by St Asterius (August 7).
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Blessed Empress Theophano
The Holy Empress Theophano was the first wife of Emperor Leo VI the
Wise (886-911). She and Leo were locked up in prison for three years,
because Leo was falsely accused of intending to assassinate his
father, Emperor Basil the Macedonian. After receiving her freedom, she
spent her life in prayer and fasting, earnestly struggling for her
salvation.
Living in the world, she renounced everything worldly. She was a
benefactor to the poor, and was generous toward monasteries. She was a
true mother to her subjects, caring for widows and orphans, and
consoling the sorrowful. StTheophano died in 893 or 894.
Even before her death her husband started to build a church, intending
to dedicate it to Theophano, but she forbade him to do so. It was this
emperor who decreed that the Sunday after Pentecost be dedicated to
All Saints. Believing that his wife was one of the righteous, he knew
that she would also be honored whenever the Feast of All Saints was
celebrated.
Her holy relics are preserved in Constantinople.
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St Sophia
Saint Sophia, in the world Solomonia, a Great Princess, was the
daughter of the noble Yuri Saburov. In the year 1505 she was chosen as
bride by the heir to the throne, the future Great Prince Basil. Their
marriage was unhappy, because Solomonia remained childless, so he
divorced her. In order to have an heir, Great Prince Basil decided to
wed a second time (to Elena Glinsky) and on November 25, 1525 he
ordered Solomonia to become a nun. Forcibly tonsured with the name
Sophia, Solomonia was sent under guard to the Suzdal Protection
convent, where by ascetic deeds she banished from her heart worldly
thoughts, and totally dedicated herself to God.
Prince Kurbsky calls the blessed princess "a Monastic Martyr." In the
manuscript Lives of the Saints she is called "the holy Righteous
Princess Sophia the Nun, the wonderworker, who dwelt at the Protection
monastery." Under Tsar Theodore they revered her as a saint. Tsaritsa
Irene sent to Suzdal, "to the Great Princess Solomonia, also called
Sophia, a velvet veil with depiction of the Savior and other saints."
Patriarch Joseph wrote to Archbishop Serapion of Suzdal about serving
Panikhidas and Moliebens for Sophia. St Sophia departed to God in the
year 1542. The Suzdal sacristan Ananias speaks of several miraculous
healings at her grave.
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