[Readingsandsaints] Readings and saints

Sun Feb 4 05:00:21 CST 2007

Scripture Readings and Saints for Sun Feb 4 2007

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------ READINGS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
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Matthew 28:16-20  (1st Matins Gospel)
16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain
which Jesus had appointed for them.
17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been
given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and
lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.
Scripture Reading 1 of 3

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1 Corinthians 6:12-20
12 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All
things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of
any.
13 Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will
destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality
but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
14 And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His
power.
15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I
then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot?
Certainly not!
16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body
with her? For "the two," He says, "shall become one flesh."
17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the
body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit
who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body
and in your spirit, which are God's.
Scripture Reading 2 of 3

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Luke 15:11-32
11 Then He said: "A certain man had two sons.
12 And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the
portion of goods that falls to me.' So he divided to them his
livelihood.
13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together,
journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with
prodigal living.
14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that
land, and he began to be in want.
15 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and
he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the
swine ate, and no one gave him anything.
17 But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's
hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with
hunger!
18 'I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I
have sinned against heaven and before you,
19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one
of your hired servants. '
20 And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great
way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on
his neck and kissed him.
21 And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and
in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.'
22 But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and
put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.
23 'And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be
merry;
24 'for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is
found.' And they began to be merry.
25 Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to
the house, he heard music and dancing.
26 So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.
27 And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and because he has
received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.'
28 But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out
and pleaded with him.
29 So he answered and said to his father, 'Lo, these many years I have
been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time;
and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with
my friends.
30 'But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your
livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.'
31 And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I
have is yours.
32 'It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your
brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.' "
Scripture Reading 3 of 3

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------ SAINTS/FEASTS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
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Sunday of the Prodigal Son
The Sunday after the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee is the
Sunday of the Prodigal Son. This parable of God's forgiveness calls us
to come to ourselves" as did the prodigal son, to see ourselves as
being "in a far country" far from the Father's house, and to make the
journey of return to God. We are given every assurance by the Master
that our heavenly Father will receive us with joy and gladness. We
must only "arise and go," confessing our self-inflicted and sinful
separation from that "home" where we truly belong (Luke 15:11-24).
After the Polyeleion at Matins, we first hear the lenten hymn "By the
Waters of Babylon." It will be sung for the next two Sundays before
Lent begins, and it serves to reinforce the theme of exile in today's
Gospel.
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Afterfeast of the Meeting of our Lord in the Temple
The second day of the Afterfeast of the Meeting of the Lord falls on
February 4.
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Venerable Isidore of Pelusium
Saint Isidore of Pelusium lived during the fourth-fifth centuries. He
was a native of Alexandria, and was raised among pious Christians. He
was a relative of Theophilus, Archbishop of Alexandria, and of his
successor, St Cyril (January 18). While still a youth he quit the
world and withdrew to Egypt to Mount Pelusium, which became the site
of his monastic efforts.
St Isidore's spiritual wisdom and strict asceticism, combined with his
broad learning and innate knowledge of the human soul, enabled him to
win the respect and love of his fellow monks in a short time. They
chose him as their head and had him ordained a priest (The earliest
sources for his life, however, say nothing of him being an igumen).
Following the example of St John Chrysostom, whom he had managed to
see and hear during a trip to Constantinople, St Isidore devoted
himself primarily to Christian preaching, that "practical wisdom"
which, in his own words, is both "the foundation of the edifice and
the edifice itself", while logic is "its embellishment, and
contemplation its crown."
He was a teacher and a willingly provided counsel for anyone who
turned to him for spiritual encouragement, whether it was a simple
man, a dignitary, a bishop, the Patriarch of Alexandria, or even the
emperor. He left behind about 10,000 letters, of which 2,090 have
survived. A large portion of these letters reveal profound theological
thought and contain morally edifying interpretations of Holy
Scripture. St Photius (February 6) calls Isidore a model of priestly
and ascetical life, and also a master of style.
St Isidore's love for St John Chrysostom resulted in his support of St
John when he was persecuted by the empress Eudoxia and Archbishop
Theophilus. After the death of St John, St Isidore persuaded
Theophilus' successor St Cyril to inscribe the name of St John
Chrysostom into the Church diptychs as a confessor. Through the
initiative of St Isidore the Third Ecumenical Council was convened at
Ephesus (431), at which the false teaching of Nestorius concerning the
person of Jesus Christ was condemned.
St Isidore lived into old age and died around the year 436. The Church
historian Evagrius (sixth century) writes of St Isidore, "his life
seemed to everyone the life of an angel upon the earth." Another
historian, Nicephorus Callistus (ninth century), praises St Isidore
thus, "He was a vital and inspired pillar of monastic rules and divine
vision, and as such he presented a very lofty image of most fervent
example and spiritual teaching."
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Right-believing George the Great Prince of Vladimir
Holy Great Prince George was a son of Great Prince Vsevolod, nicknamed
"Big Nest." He was born in the year 1189, and he assumed the great
princely throne of Vladimir in 1212. He was distinguished for his
military valor and his piety. In the year 1237 the Tatar (Mongol)
Horde of Batu descended upon the Russian land. St George was compelled
to leave the capital city in charge of his sons, and went north to
meet up with the other princes.
On March 4, 1238 the Battle at the River Sita was fought, in which the
Tatars destroyed the small but valiant company of the Great Prince.
The saint himself fell in this fight, and Bishop Cyril buried his body
at the Rostov cathedral. Two years later, it was transferred to
Vladimir's Dormition cathedral with great solemnity.
The Church glorification of the saint occurred in 1645.
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Venerable Cyril the Abbot and Wonderworker of Novoezersk,
Novgorod
Saint Cyril of New Lake was born into a pious family. The Lord marked
him as one of the chosen even before he was born. Cyril's mother was
praying in church during the Divine Liturgy, and the infant in her
womb cried out, "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Sabaoth!"
>From the time of his childhood the saint was fond of solitude and
prayer, and he dreamt of monastic life. At fifteen years of age Cyril
secretly left his parental home, intending to enter the Pskov Caves
monastery. He did not know the way to the monastery, and took nothing
from home for the journey. He went his way, putting all his trust in
the Lord and His All-Pure Mother. Twenty versts from the city the
youth met a magnificent monastic Elder, who led him to the monastery.
As he left, he blessed him with the words, "May God bless you, my
child, and grant you the angelic schema, and may you be a chosen
vessel of the Divine Spirit." Having said this, the Elder became
invisible. The boy realized that this had been a messenger from God,
and he gave thanks to the Lord.
The igumen St Cornelius (February 20) saw with his clairvoyant eye the
grace manifest in the young man. He provided him with much guidance
and tonsured him into the monastic schema with the name Cyril. The
fifteen-year-old monk astonished the brethren with his efforts. He
emaciated the flesh through fasting and prayer, and zealously
fulfilled obediences. Day and night he was ready to study the Word of
God. Even then he thought to end his days in solitude in the
wilderness.
The boy's parents mourned him as one dead, but once an Elder of the
monastery of St Cornelius came to them and told them about their son
and his life at the monastery. The joyful news confirmed in Cyril's
mother her love for God. She spoke with her husband about leaving to
the monastery her portion of the inheritance, then left the world and
became a nun with the name Elena (Helen). She died in peace a short
time later.
The saint's father came to the monastery, and Igumen Cornelius told
Cyril to meet with him. The saint was troubled, but not daring to
disobey the igumen, he fell down at his father's feet, imploring
forgiveness for secretly leaving home. The father forgave his son, and
he himself remained at the monastery. St Cornelius tonsured him into
monasticism with the name Barsanuphius, and gave him to his son for
instruction.
Three years later, he peacefully fell asleep in the Lord. His son
continued to toil more fervently for the Lord, disdaining his own
will, and in was obedient not only to the igumen, but also to the
brethren. He thirsted to go about all the Russian land, venerating its
holy shrines and to find for himself a wilderness place for a life of
silence.
With the blessing of St Cornelius, St Cyril left the monastery in
which he had grown strong spiritually, and he went to the coastal
regions, roaming through the forests and the wild places, eating tree
roots and berries. The saint spent about twenty years in this
difficult exploit of wanderer, and he went to the outskirts of Moscow,
Novgorod and Pskov, but he never entered any house nor did he accept
alms. He wandered about during the day, and spent his nights at prayer
on church porches, and he attended the church services.
Once while at prayer, St Cyril saw a heavenly light indicating the
direction where he should found a monastery. He set off on his way at
once, and having reached the Tikhvin monastery, he spent three days
and three nights there in ceaseless prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos.
The Mother of God appeared to him in a dream. Showing Her approval of
him, She said, "My servant Cyril, pleaser of the Most Holy Trinity, go
to the Eastern region of White Lake, and the Lord My Son will show you
the place of rest for your old age."
The saint proceeded to White Lake, weeping copious tears at the
miraculous vision. On the lake he saw a small island, from which a
pillar of fire rose up to the sky. There, beneath a centuries old
spruce tree, St Cyril built a hut, and then set up two cells: one for
himself, the other for future brethren. The hermit also constructed
two small churches, one in honor of the Resurrection of Christ and the
other in honor of the Mother of God Hodigitria. He underwent many
temptations from invisible enemies, and from idlers roving about, but
he overcame everything by brave endurance and constant prayer. News of
his holy life spread everywhere, and brethren gathered around him.
There were many instances of healing through his prayers, and the Lord
also granted His saint the gift of foresight. Sensing his impending
end, St Cyril summoned the brethren. With tears of humility the saint
instructed his spiritual children one last time, until his voice gave
out. For a long time then he was silent, but suddenly he cried out
with loud sobbing, "I go to the Lord into life eternal, but I entrust
you to God the Word and His Grace, bestowing an inheritance and
sanctification upon all. May it help you. But I beseech you, do not
become lax in fasting and prayers, guard yourself from the snares of
the Enemy, and the Lord in His ineffable mercy will not condemn your
humility."
Having said this, the saint gave a final kiss to the brethren,
received the Holy Mysteries, signed himself with the Sign of the
Cross, and with the words "Glory to God for everything!" he gave up
his pure soul to the Lord on February 4, 1532.
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Venerable Abraham of Pechenga, Vologda
Saints Abraham and Coprius of Pechenga in 1492 founded the Savior
wilderness monastery at the River Pechenga, in Gryazovetsk district,
21 versts from Vologda. It required great work to bring in the
necessities to the wilderness spot, in order to build the monastery
and set everything in proper order. The blessed toilers did not spare
themselves, zealously living in asceticism until their death.
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Venerable Coprius of Pechenga, Vologda
Saints Abraham and Coprius of Pechenga in 1492 founded the Savior
wilderness monastery at the River Pechenga, in Gryazovetsk district,
21 versts from Vologda. It required great work to bring in the
necessities to the wilderness spot, in order to build the monastery
and set everything in proper order. The blessed toilers did not spare
themselves, zealously living in asceticism until their death.
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Martyr Jadorus
Saint Jadorus suffered martyrdom with St Isidore (not Isidore of
Pelusium) in the reign of Decius (249-251).
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Hieromartyr Abramius the Bishop of Arbela in Assyria
The Hieromartyr Abraham, Bishop of Arbilia, suffered during a
persecution against Christians in Persia under the emperor Sapor II.
When they demanded that the saint renounce Christ and worship the sun,
he answered, "How foolish to forsake the Creator and instead worship
creatures! Isn't the sun just a creation of my God?"
After this, they fiercely beat and tortured him. St Abraham prayed
during torture, echoing the words of the Savior: "Lord, do not count
this sin against us, for they know not what they do!" The hieromartyr
was beheaded by the sword in the village of Felman.
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Venerable Nicholas the Confessor the Abbot of Studion
Saint Nicholas the Confessor, Igumen of the Studion Monastery, lived
during the ninth century. He was born on the island of Crete in the
village of Kedonia into a Christian family. When he was ten, his
parents sent him to Constantinople to his uncle, St Theophanes
(October 11), who was a monk at the Studion monastery. With the
approval of St Theodore (November 11), the head of the Studion
monastery, the boy was enrolled in the monastery school. When he
finished school at sixteen years of age, he was tonsured a monk. After
several years, he was ordained a priest.
During this time there was a fierce persecution, initiated by the
Byzantine emperor Leo the Armenian (813-820), against those who
venerated the holy icons. St Nicholas and St Theodore the Studite were
repeatedly locked up in prison, tortured in various ways, and
humiliated. However, they zealously continued to defend Orthodoxy.
Under the holy Empress Theodora (February 11), who ruled the realm
while her son Michael was still a minor, icon veneration was restored,
and a time of relative peace followed. St Nicholas returned to the
Studite monastery and was chosen its head. But this calm did not last
very long.
The Empress Theodora was removed from the throne, and the emperor's
uncle, Bardas, a man who defiled himself by open cohabitation with his
son's wife, came to power. The attempts of Patriarch Ignatius (October
23) to restrain the impiety of Bardas proved unsuccessful. On the
contrary, he was deposed from the patriarchal throne and sent into
exile.
Unwilling to witness the triumph of iniquity, St Nicholas left
Constantinople. He spent seven years at various monasteries. Later on,
he returned as a prisoner to the Studite monastery, where he spent two
years imprisoned, until the death of the emperor Michael (855-867) and
Bardas. Whenthe emperor Basil I the Macedonian (867-886) ascended the
throne, St Nicholas was set free, and again became igumen on the
orders of the emperor. Because of his life as a confessor and ascetic
he received from God the gift of healing, which continued even after
his repose in the year 868.
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St Evagrisi the disciple of St Shio
No information available at this time.
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