[Readingsandsaints] Readings and saints

Sun Feb 25 05:00:16 CST 2007

Scripture Readings and Saints for Sun Feb 25 2007

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------ READINGS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
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Luke 24:1-12  (4th Matins Gospel)
1 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they,
and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the
spices which they had prepared.
2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.
3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that
behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.
5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they
said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?
6 He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He
was still in Galilee,
7 saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful
men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'
8 And they remembered His words.
9 Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the
eleven and to all the rest.
10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the
other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.
11 And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not
believe them.
12 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the
linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to
himself at what had happened.
Scripture Reading 1 of 3

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Hebrews 11:24-26, 11:32-12:2
24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son
of Pharaoh's daughter,
25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to
enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,
26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures
in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.
32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of
Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and
the prophets:
33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained
promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out
of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to
flight the armies of the aliens.
35 Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were
tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better
resurrection.
36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of
chains and imprisonment.
37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain
with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being
destitute, afflicted, tormented-
38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and
mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.
39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did
not receive the promise,
40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not
be made perfect apart from us.
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily
ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before
us,
2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for
the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the
shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Scripture Reading 2 of 3

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John 1:43-51
43 The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found
Philip and said to him, "Follow Me."
44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom
Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote-Jesus of Nazareth, the
son of Joseph."
46 And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of
Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, "Behold, an
Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!"
48 Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and
said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig
tree, I saw you."
49 Nathanael answered and said to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God!
You are the King of Israel!"
50 Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you
under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than
these."
51 And He said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you
shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending
upon the Son of Man."
Scripture Reading 3 of 3

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------ SAINTS/FEASTS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
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1st Sunday of Great Lent Sunday of Orthodoxy
Originally, the Prophets Moses, Aaron, and Samuel were commemorated on
this Sunday. The Alleluia verses appointed for today's Liturgy reflect
this older usage.
Today we commemorate the "Triumph of Orthodoxy," the restoration of
the holy icons in the reign of the holy Empress Theodora (February
11).
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St Tarasius the Archbishop of Constantinople
Saint Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople was of illustrious
lineage. He was born and raised in Constantinople, where he received a
fine education. He was rapidly promoted at the court of the emperor
Constantine VI Porphyrogenitos (780-797) and Constantine's mother, the
holy Empress Irene (August 7), and the saint attained the rank of
senator.
During these times the Church was agitated by the turmoil of the
Iconoclast disturbances. The holy Patriarch Paul (August 30) although
he had formerly supported Iconoclasm, later repented and resigned his
office. He withdrew to a monastery, where he took the schema. When the
holy Empress Irene and her son the emperor came to him, St Paul told
them that the most worthy successor to him would be St Tarasius (who
at this time was still a layman).
Tarasius refused for a long time, not considering himself worthy of
such high office, but he then gave in to the common accord on the
condition, that an Ecumenical Council be convened to address the
Iconoclast heresy.
Proceeding through all the clerical ranks in a short while, St
Tarasius was elevated to the patriarchal throne in the year 784. In
the year 787 the Seventh Ecumenical Council was convened in the city
of Nicea, with Patriarch Tarasius presiding, and 367 bishops
attending. The veneration of holy icons was confirmed at the council.
Those bishops who repented of their iconoclasm, were again received by
the Church.
St Tarasius wisely governed the Church for twenty-two years. He led a
strict ascetic life. He spent all his money on God-pleasing ends,
feeding and giving comfort to the aged, to the impoverished, to widows
and orphans, and on Holy Pascha he set out a meal for them, and he
served them himself.
The holy Patriarch fearlessly denounced the emperor Constantine
Porphyrigenitos when he slandered his spouse, the empress Maria, the
granddaughter of St Philaretos the Merciful (December 1), so that he
could send Maria to a monastery, thus freeing him to marry his own
kinswoman. St Tarasius resolutely refused to dissolve the marriage of
the emperor, for which the saint fell into disgrace. Soon, however,
Constantine was deposed by his own mother, the Empress Irene.
St Tarasius died in the year 806. Before his death, devils examined
his life from the time of his youth, and they tried to get the saint
to admit to sins that he had not committed. "I am innocent of that of
which you accuse me," replied the saint, "and you falsely slander me.
You have no power over me at all."
Mourned by the Church, the saint was buried in a monastery he built on
the Bosphorus. Many miracles took place at his tomb.
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