[Readingsandsaints] Readings and saints

Sun Jan 28 05:00:19 CST 2007

Scripture Readings and Saints for Sun Jan 28 2007

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------ READINGS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
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John 21:15-25  (11th Matins Gospel)
15 So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter,
"Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?" He said to Him,
"Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Feed My
lambs."
16 He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you
love Me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He
said to him, "Tend My sheep."
17 He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love
Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you
love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know
that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep.
18 Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded
yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will
stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where
you do not wish.
19 This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And
when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me."
20 Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved
following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said,
"Lord, who is the one who betrays You?"
21 Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, "But Lord, what about this man?"
22 Jesus said to him, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is
that to you? You follow Me."
23 Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple
would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die,
but, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?"
24 This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these
things; and we know that his testimony is true.
25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they
were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could
not contain the books that would be written. Amen.
Scripture Reading 1 of 3

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2 Timothy 3:10-15
10 But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life,
purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance,
11 persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at
Iconium, at Lystra-what persecutions I endured. And out of them all
the Lord delivered me.
12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer
persecution.
13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and
being deceived.
14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been
assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them,
15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which
are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in
Christ Jesus.
Scripture Reading 2 of 3

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Luke 18:10-14
10 Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other
a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You
that I am not like other men-extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even
as this tax collector.
12 'I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.'
13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as
raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be
merciful to me a sinner!'
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than
the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who
humbles himself will be exalted.
Scripture Reading 3 of 3

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Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee _Beginning of the
Lenten Triodion_
The Sunday after the Sunday of Zacchaeus is devoted to the Publican
and the Pharisee. At Vespers the night before, the TRIODION (the
liturgical book used in the services of Great Lent) begins.
Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee who
scrupulously observed the requirements of religion: he prayed, fasted,
and contributed money to the Temple. These are very good things, and
should be imitated by anyone who loves God. We who may not fulfill
these requirements as well as the Pharisee did should not feel
entitled to criticize him for being faithful. His sin was in looking
down on the Publican and feeling justified because of his external
religious observances.
The second man was a Publican, a tax-collector who was despised by the
people. He, however, displayed humility, and this humility justified
him before God (Luke 18:14).
The lesson to be learned is that we possess neither the Pharisee's
religious piety, nor the Publican's repentance, through which we can
be saved. We are called to see ourselves as we really are in the light
of Christ's teaching, asking Him to be merciful to us, deliver us from
sin, and to lead us on the path of salvation.
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Venerable Ephraim the Syrian
Saint Ephraim the Syrian, a teacher of repentance, was born at the
beginning of the fourth century in the city of Nisibis (Mesopotamia)
into the family of impoverished toilers of the soil. His parents
raised their son in piety, but from his childhood he was known for his
quick temper and impetuous character. He often had fights, acted
thoughtlessly, and even doubted God's Providence. He finally recovered
his senses by the grace of God, and embarked on the path of repentance
and salvation.
Once, he was unjustly accused of stealing a sheep and was thrown into
prison. He heard a voice in a dream calling him to repent and correct
his life. After this, he was acquitted of the charges and set free.
The young man ran off to the mountains to join the hermits. This form
of Christian asceticism had been introduced by a disciple of St
Anthony the Great, the Egyptian desert dweller Eugenius.
St James of Nisibis (January 13) was a noted ascetic, a preacher of
Christianity and denouncer of the Arians. St Ephraim became one of his
disciples. Under the direction of the holy hierarch, St Ephraim
attained Christian meekness, humility, submission to God's will, and
the strength to undergo various temptations without complaint.
St James transformed the wayward youth into a humble and conrite monk.
Realizing the great worth of his disciple, he made use of his talents.
He trusted him to preach sermons, to instruct children in school, and
he took Ephraim with him to the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea (in
the year 325). St Ephraim was in obedience to St James for fourteen
years, until the bishop's death in 338.
After the capture of Nisibis by the Persians in 363, St Ephraim went
to a monastery near the city of Edessa. Here he saw many great
ascetics, passing their lives in prayer and psalmody. Their caves were
solitary shelters, and they fed themselves with a certain plant.
He became especially close to the ascetic Julian (October 18), who was
of one mind with him. St Ephraim combined asceticism with a ceaseless
study of the Word of God, taking from it both solace and wisdom for
his soul. The Lord gave him a gift of teaching, and people began to
come to him, wanting to hear his counsel, which produced compunction
in the soul, since he began with self-accusation. Both verbally and in
writing, St Ephraim instructed everyone in repentance, faith and
piety, and he denounced the Arian heresy, which at that time was
causing great turmoil. Pagans who heard the preaching of the saint
were converted to Christianity.
He also wrote the first Syriac commentary on the Pentateuch (i.e.
"Five Books") of Moses. He wrote many prayers and hymns, thereby
enriching the Church's liturgical services. Famous prayers of St
Ephraim are to the Most Holy Trinity, to the Son of God, and to the
Most Holy Theotokos. He composed hymns for the Twelve Great Feasts of
the Lord (the Nativity of Christ, the Baptism, the Resurrection), and
funeral hymns. St Ephraim's Prayer of Repentance, "O Lord and Master
of my life...", is recited during Great Lent, and it summons
Christians to spiritual renewal.
>From ancient times the Church has valued the works of St Ephraim. His
works were read publicly in certain churches after the Holy Scripture,
as St Jerome tells us. At present, the Church Typikon prescribes
certain of his instructions to be read on the days of Lent. Among the
prophets, St David is the preeminent psalmodist; among the Fathers of
the Church, St Ephraim the Syrian is the preeminent man of prayer. His
spiritual experience made him a guide for monastics and a help to the
pastors of Edessa. St Ephraim wrote in Syriac, but his works were very
early translated into Greek and Armenian. Translations into Latin and
Slavonic were made from the Greek text.
In many of St Ephraim's works we catch glimpses of the life of the
Syrian ascetics, which was centered on prayer and working in various
obediences for the common good of the brethren. The outlook of all the
Syrian ascetics was the same. The monks believed that the goal of
their efforts was communion with God and the acquisition of divine
grace. For them, the present life was a time of tears, fasting and
toil.
"If the Son of God is within you, then His Kingdom is also within you.
Thus, the Kingdom of God is within you, a sinner. Enter into yourself,
search diligently and without toil you shall find it. Outside of you
is death, and the door to it is sin. Enter into yourself, dwell within
your heart, for God is there."
Constant spiritual sobriety, the developing of good within man's soul
gives him the possibility to take upon himself a task like
blessedness, and a self-constraint like sanctity. The requital is
presupposed in the earthly life of man, it is an undertaking of
spiritual perfection by degrees. Whoever grows himself wings upon the
earth, says St Ephraim, is one who soars up into the heights; whoever
purifies his mind here below, there glimpses the Glory of God. In
whatever measure each one loves God, he is, by God's love,satiated to
fullness according to that measure. Man, cleansing himself and
attaining the grace of the Holy Spirit while still here on earth, has
a foretaste of the Kingdom of Heaven. To attain to life eternal, in
the teachings of St Ephraim, does not mean to pass over from one realm
of being into another, but rather to discover "the heavenly,"
spiritual condition of being. Eternal life is not bestown on man
through God's one-sided efforts, but rather, it constantly grows like
a seed within him by his efforts, toils and struggles.
The pledge within us of "theosis" (or "deification") is the Baptism of
Christ, and the main force that drives the Christian life is
repentance. St Ephraim was a great teacher of repentance. The
forgiveness of sins in the Mystery of Repentance, according to his
teaching, is not an external exoneration, not a forgetting of the
sins, but rather their complete undoing, their annihilation. The tears
of repentance wash away and burn away the sin. Moreover, they (i.e.
the tears) enliven, they transfigure sinful nature, they give the
strength "to walk in the way of the the Lord's commandments,"
encouraging hope in God. In the fiery font of repentance, the saint
wrote, "you sail yourself across, O sinner, you resurrect yourself
from the dead."
St Ephraim, accounting himself as the least and worst of all, went to
Egypt at the end of his life to see the efforts of the great ascetics.
He was accepted there as a welcome guest and received great solace
from conversing with them. On his return journey he visited at
Caesarea in Cappadocia with St Basil the Great (January 1), who wanted
to ordain him a priest, but he considered himself unworthy of the
priesthood. At the insistence of St Basil, he consented only to be
ordained as a deacon, in which rank he remained until his death. Later
on, St Basil invited St Ephraim to accept a bishop's throne, but the
saint feigned madness in order to avoid this honor, humbly regarding
himself as unworthy of it.
After his return to his own Edessa wilderness, St Ephraim hoped to
spend the rest of his life in solitude, but divine Providence again
summoned him to serve his neighbor. The inhabitants of Edessa were
suffering from a devastating famine. By the influence of his word, the
saint persuaded the wealthy to render aid to those in need. From the
offerings of believers he built a poor-house for the poor and sick. St
Ephraim then withdrew to a cave near Edessa, where he remained to the
end of his days.
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Venerable Theodosius the Abbot of Totma, Vologda
Saint Theodosius of Totma was born at Vologda about the year 1530. In
his youth he was raised in a spirit of Christian piety and the fear of
God. At the insistence of his parents he married, but family life did
not turn him away from God. He went fervently to church and prayed at
home, particularly at night. After the death of his parents and his
wife, he withdrew to the Priluki monastery not far from Vologda.
At the monastery Theodosius passed through the various obediences: he
carried water, chopped fire-wood, milled flour and baked bread. He
went to Totma on the igumen's orders to search for a salt-works for
the monastery. He sought the permission of Tsar Ivan Vasilevich and
the blessing of Archbishop Nicander to found a monastery at Totma.
Theodosius was appointed head of this newly-formed Totma monastery,
which in a grant of 1554 was declared free of taxation.
The saint founded the Totma Ephraimov wilderness monastery and brought
brethren into it. Eventually becoming the head of two monasteries,
Theodosius continued to lead an ascetic life. He wore down his body by
wearing chains and a hairshirt, and beneath his monastic cowl he wore
an iron cap. Fond of spiritual reading, he acquired many books for the
monastery. St Theodosius reposed in the year 1568 and was buried in
the monastery he founded, and miracles occurred at his grave.
On September 2, 1796 during the reconstruction of the Ascension
church, his relics were found incorrupt, and their glorification took
place on January 28, 1798, on the day of his repose.
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Venerable Ephraim, Abbot and Wonderworker of Novy Torg
Saint Ephraim of Novy Torg, founder of the Sts Boris and Gleb
monastery in the city of Novy Torg, was a native of Hungary. Together
with his brothers, St Moses the Hungarian (July 26) and St George (in
Hungarian "Sandor," pronounced "Shandor"), he quit his native land,
possibly because he was Orthodox.
Having come to Russia, all three brothers entered into the service of
the Rostov prince St Boris, son of St Vladimir (July 15). St Ephraim's
brother George also perished in the year 1015 at the River Alta, with
holy Prince Boris. The murderers cut off his head, and took the gold
medallion which he had received from St Boris. Moses managed to save
himself by flight, and became a monk at the Kiev Caves monastery.
St Ephraim, evidently in Rostov at this time, and arriving at the
place of the murder, found the head of his brother and took it with
him. Forsaking service at the princely court, St Ephraim withdrew to
the River Tvertsa in order to lead a solitary monastic life.
After several other monks settled near him, he founded a monastery in
honor of the holy Passion-Bearers Boris and Gleb in the year 1038. The
brethren chose him to lead them. Near the monastery, not far from a
merchant's road to Novgorod, a wanderer's home was built, where the
poor and travelers stayed for free. St Ephraim died in old age. His
body was buried at the monastery he founded. The head of his brother,
St George was also placed in the grave, in accordance with his last
wishes. The relics of St Ephraim were uncovered in the year 1572.
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St Ephraim the Bishop of Pereyaslavl, Kiev Caves, Far Caves
Saint Ephraim of the Caves, Bishop of Pereslavl, before his tonsure
into monasticism, was treasurer and steward of household affairs at
the court of the Kiev Great Prince Izyaslav (Demetrius) Yaroslavich
(1054-1068). Weighed down by this noisy and bustling life and wishng
to become a monk, he was accepted by St Anthony of the Kiev Caves and
was tonsured by St Nikon (March 23).
The enraged prince demanded that Ephraim return, threatening to lock
him up in prison and to destroy the Monastery of the Caves. St Anthony
and the brethren left the monastery and decided to go to another
place. Izyaslav, however, feared the wrath of God. He took his wife's
advice and withdrew his forces from the monastery in disgrace.
St Ephraim wished to go on pilgrimage to the holy places abroad. With
the blessing of St Anthony, he journeyed to Constantinople and settled
there in one of the monasteries. While in Constantinople, St Ephraim
made a copy of the Studite monastic Rule, and took it to Kiev at the
request of St Theodosius. As soon as he received the Rule, St
Theodosius implemented it in his monastery.
After the year 1072 Ephraim was made bishop in Pereslavl, with the
title of Metropolitan. He adorned Pereslavl with many beautiful
churches and public buildings, and he built stone walls around the
city in the Greek manner. He built free hospices for the poor and
travelers, and constructed several public bath-houses.
In the year 1091, St Ephraim participated in the opening and solemn
transfer of the relics of St Theodosius. A Life of St Ephraim existed
in former times, but it has not survived. We find an account of him
both in the Life of St Theodosius, and in the Russian Chronicles. A
tale and encomium for St Nicholas the Wonderworker is ascribed to St
Ephraim.
St Ephraim died in the year 1098. He was buried in the Antoniev (Far)
Caves of the Kiev Caves monastery.
His memory is also celebrated on September 28 and on the second Sunday
of Great Len
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Venerable Palladius the Hermit, of Antioch
Saint Palladius the Desert Dweller led an ascetical life in a certain
mountain cave near Syrian Antioch. Because of his struggles, he
received from the Lord a gift of wonderworking. Once, a merchant was
found murdered by robbers near his cave. People accused St Palladius
of the murder, but through the prayer of the saint, the dead man rose
up and named his murderers. The saint died at the end of the fourth
century, leaving behind several edifying works.
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St Isaac the Syrian the Bishop of Nineveh
Saint Isaac the Syrian, Bishop of Ninevah, lived during the sixth
century. He and his brother entered the monastery of Mar Matthew near
Ninevah and received the monastic tonsure. His learning, virtue, and
ascetic manner of life attracted the notice of the brethren, and they
proposed that he head the monastery. St Issac did not want this
burden, preferring a life of silence, so he left the monastery to live
alone in the desert.
His brother urged him more than once to return to the monastery, but
he would not agree. However, when the fame of St Isaac's holy life had
spread, he was made Bishop of Ninevah. Seeing the crude manners and
disobedience of the inhabitants of the city, the saint felt that it
was beyond his ability to guide them, and moreover, he yearned for
solitude.
Once, two Christians came to him, asking him to settle a dispute. One
man acknowledged that he owed money to the other, but asked for a
short extension. The lender threatened to bring his debtor to court to
force him to pay. St Isaac, citing the Gospel, asked him to be
merciful and give the debtor more time to pay. The man said, "Leave
your Gospel out of this!" St Isaac replied, "If you will not submit to
Lord's commandments in the Gospel, then what remains for me to do
here?" After only five months as bishop, St Isaac resigned his office
and went into the mountains to live with the hermits. Later, he went
to the monastery of Rabban Shabur, where he lived until his death,
attaining a high degree of spiritual perfection.
>From the early eighth century until the beginning of the eighteenth
century, nothing was known about St Isaac of Syria in Europe except
for his name and works. Only in 1719 was a biography of the saint
published at Rome, compiled by an anonymous Arab author. In 1896, more
information on St Isaac came to light. The learned French
soteriologist Abbot Chabot published some eighth century works on
Syrian history by Iezudena, bishop of Barsa, where the account of St
Isaac the Syrian was found.
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Icon of the Mother of God of Sumorin-Totem
The Sumorin Totma Icon of the Mother of God was glorified by numerous
healings at the Spaso-Sumorin monastery of the city of Totma. When the
inhabitants of the city turned to Tsar Ivan the Terrible for
permission to build a monastery in their city, the Rostov archbishop
Nicander in the year 1554 bestowed upon St Theodosius the grant for
building. The igumen of the Priluki monastery blessed St Theodosius
with an icon of the Mother of God for success at building the new
monastery.
The icon thereafter received the name Sumorin Totma (Sumorin is the
family name of St Theodosius, and Totma is a city). After the death of
the monk, the wonderworking icon was put in a case in front of the
crypt of the saint at the Ascension church of the monastery.
St Theodosius has appeared to many of the sick, holding this icon in
his hands.
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St. Archilius
No information available at this time.
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St. Luarsaab
No information available at this time.
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New Martyrs of Russia
No information available at this time.
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