[Readingsandsaints] Readings and saints

Wed Feb 7 05:00:15 CST 2007

Scripture Readings and Saints for Wed Feb 7 2007

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------ READINGS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
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1 John 3:21-4:6
21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence
toward God.
22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His
commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of
His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.
24 Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And
by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given
us.
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether
they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the
world.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in
the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist,
which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He
who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the
world hears them.
6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does
not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of
error.
Scripture Reading 1 of 2

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Mark 14:43-15:1
43 And immediately, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the
twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the
chief priests and the scribes and the elders.
44 Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying, "Whomever I kiss,
He is the One; seize Him and lead Him away safely."
45 As soon as he had come, immediately he went up to Him and said to
Him, "Rabbi, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.
46 Then they laid their hands on Him and took Him.
47 And one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant
of the high priest, and cut off his ear.
48 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Have you come out, as
against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?
49 I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize
Me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.
50 Then they all forsook Him and fled.
51 Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown
around his naked body. And the young men laid hold of him,
52 and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.
53 And they led Jesus away to the high priest; and with him were
assembled all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes.
54 But Peter followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of
the high priest. And he sat with the servants and warmed himself at
the fire.
55 Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against
Jesus to put Him to death, but found none.
56 For many bore false witness against Him, but their testimonies did
not agree.
57 Then some rose up and bore false witness against Him, saying,
58 We heard Him say, 'I will destroy this temple made with hands, and
within three days I will build another made without hands.'
59 But not even then did their testimony agree.
60 And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying,
"Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?"
61 But He kept silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest
asked Him, saying to Him, "Are You the Christ, the Son of the
Blessed?"
62 Jesus said, "I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the
right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven."
63 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "What further need
do we have of witnesses?
64 You have heard the blasphemy! What do you think? And they all
condemned Him to be deserving of death.
65 Then some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat
Him, and to say to Him, "Prophesy!" And the officers struck Him with
the palms of their hands.
66 Now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls
of the high priest came.
67 And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said,
"You also were with Jesus of Nazareth."
68 But he denied it, saying, "I neither know nor understand what you
are saying." And he went out on the porch, and a rooster crowed.
69 And the servant girl saw him again, and began to say to those who
stood by, "This is one of them."
70 But he denied it again. And a little later those who stood by said
to Peter again, "Surely you are one of them; for you are a Galilean,
and your speech shows it."
71 Then he began to curse and swear, "I do not know this Man of whom
you speak!"
72 A second time the rooster crowed. Then Peter called to mind the
word that Jesus had said to him, "Before the rooster crows twice, you
will deny Me three times." And when he thought about it, he wept.
1 Immediately, in the morning, the chief priests held a consultation
with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound
Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate.
Scripture Reading 2 of 2

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Afterfeast of the Meeting of our Lord in the Temple
The fifth day of the Afterfeast of the Meeting of the Lord falls on
February 7.
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St Parthenius the Bishop of Lampsacus on the Hellespont
Saint Parthenius, Bishop of Lampsacus, was a native of the city of
Melitoupolis (in northwestern Asia Minor), where his father
Christopher served as deacon. The youth did not receive adequate
schooling, but he learned the Holy Scripture by attending church
services. He had a good heart, and distributed to the poor the money
he earned working as a fisherman.
Filled with the grace of God, St Parthenius from age eighteen healed
the sick in the name of Christ, cast out demons and worked other
miracles. Learning of the young man's virtuous life, Bishop Philetus
of Melitoupolis educated him and ordained him presbyter.
In 325, during the reign of Constantine the Great, Archbishop Achilles
of Cyzicus made him bishop of the city of Lampsacus (Asia Minor). In
the city were many pagans, and the saint fervently began to spread the
faith in Christ, confirming it by through many miracles and by healing
the sick.
The people began to turn from their pagan beliefs, and the saint went
to the emperor Constantine the Great seeking permission to tear down
the pagan temple and build a Christian church in its place. The
emperor received the saint with honor, gave him a decree authorizing
the destruction of the pagan temple, and provided him with the means
to build a church. Returning to Lampsacus, St Parthenius had the pagan
temple torn down, and built a beautiful church of God in the city.
In one of the razed temples, he found a large marble slab which he
thought would be very suitable as an altar. The saint ordered work to
begin on the stone, and to move it to the church. Through the malice
of the devil, who became enraged at the removal of the stone from the
pagan temple, the cart overturned and killed the driver Eutychian. St
Parthenius restored him to life by his prayer and shamed the devil,
who wanted to frustrate the work of God.
The saint was so kind that he refused healing to no one who came to
him, or who chanced to meet him by the wayside, whether he suffered
from bodily illnesses or was tormented by unclean spirits. People even
stopped going to physicians, since St Parthenius healed all the sick
for free. With the great power of the name of Christ, the saint
banished a host of demons from people, from their homes, and from the
waters of the sea.
Once, the saint prepared to cast out a devil from a certain man, who
had been possessed by it since childhood. The demon began to implore
the saint not to do so. St Parthenius promised to give the evil spirit
another man in whom he could dwell. The demon asked, "Who is that
man?" The saint replied, "You may dwell in me, if you wish."
The demon fled as if stung by fire, crying out, "If the mere sight of
you is a torment to me, how can I dare to enter into you?"
An unclean spirit, cast out of the house where the imperial purple dye
was prepared, said that a divine fire was pursuing him with the fire
of Gehenna.
Having shown people the great power of faith in Christ, the saint
converted a multitude of idol-worshippers to the true God.
St Parthenius died peacefully and was solemnly buried beside the
cathedral church of Lampsacus, which he built
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Venerable Luke of Hellas
Saint Luke of Hellas was a native of the Greek village of Kastorion.
The son of poor farmers, the saint from childhood had toiled much,
working in the fields and shepherding the sheep. He was very obedient
to his parents and very temperate in eating. He often gave his own
food and clothing to the poor, for which he suffered reproach from his
parents. He once gave away almost all the seed which was needed for
planting in the fields. The Lord rewarded him for his charity, and the
harvest gathered was greater than ever before.
As a child, he prayed fervently and often. His mother saw him more
than once standing not on the ground, but in the air while he prayed.
After the death of his father, he left his mother and went to Athens,
where he entered a monastery. But through the prayers of his mother,
who was very concerned about him, the Lord returned him to his
parental home in a miraculous manner. He spent four months there, then
with his mother's blessing he went to a solitary place on a mountain
called Ioannou (or Ioannitsa). Here there was a church dedicated to
the holy Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian, where he lived an ascetical
life in constant prayer and fasting. He was tonsured there by some
Elders who were on pilgrimage. After this, St Luke redoubled his
ascetic efforts, for which the Lord granted him the gift of foresight.
After a seven years on Ioannou, the saint moved to Corinth because of
an invasion of the Bulgarian armies. Hearing about the exploits of a
certain stylite at Patras, he went to see him, and remained for ten
years to serve the ascetic with humility and obedience. Afterwards,
the saint returned again to his native land and again began to pursue
asceticism on Mount Ioannou.
The throngs of people flocking there disturbed his quietude, so with
the blessing of his Elder Theophylactus, St Luke went with his
disciple to a still more remote place at Kalamion. After three years,
he settled on the desolate and arid island of Ampelon because of an
invasion of the Turks. Steiris was another place of his ascetic
efforts. Here brethren gathered to the monk, and a small monastery
grew up, the church of which was dedicated to the Great Martyr
Barbara. Dwelling in the monastery, the saint performed many miracles,
healing sicknesses of soul and of body.
Foreseeing his end, the saint confined himself in a cell and for three
months prepared for his departure. When asked where he was to be
buried, the monk replied, "Throw my body into a ravine to be eaten by
wild beasts." When the brethren begged him to change these
instructions, he commanded them to bury his body on the spot where he
lay. Raising his eyes to heaven, he said, "Into Thy hands, O Lord, I
commend my spirit!"
St Luke fell asleep in the Lord on February 7, 946. Later, a church
was built over his tomb. Myrrh flowed from his holy relics, and many
healings occurred.
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1,003 Martyrs of Nicomedia
1003 Martyrs at Nicomedia, were servants of the four dignitaries
Bassos, Eusebius, Eutychius and Basilides, who suffered for Christ
with their wives (January 5) in the year 303 during the reign of the
emperor Diocletian (284-305).
After the martyric death of their masters, the servants decided to
follow their example, and they also confessed themselves Christians
before Diocletian. Swayed neither by persuasion nor promises nor
rewards, 1003 men, women, and small children were cut down by soldiers
who formed a tight circle around them so that none of them remained
alive.
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Holy Martyr Aule
Saint Aule suffered martyrdom in London during Diocletian's
persecution of Christians.
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