[Readingsandsaints] Readings and saints

[Daily Orthodox Readings and Saints]

Scripture Readings and Saints for Sun Mar 4 2007

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------ READINGS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
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Luke 24:12-35  (5th Matins Gospel)
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.
13 Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village
called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.
14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened.
15 So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself
drew near and went with them.
16 But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.
17 And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you
have with one another as you walk and are sad?"
18 Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are
You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things
which happened there in these days?"
19 And He said to them, "What things?" So they said to Him, "The
things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed
and word before God and all the people,
20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be
condemned to death, and crucified Him.
21 But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.
Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things
happened.
22 Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb
early, astonished us.
23 When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had
also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.
24 And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it
just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.
25 Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe
in all that the prophets have spoken!
26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter
into His glory?
27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them
in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
28 Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He
indicated that He would have gone farther.
29 But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward
evening, and the day is far spent." And He went in to stay with them.
30 Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took
bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.
31 Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from
their sight.
32 And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us
while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the
Scriptures to us?"
33 So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found
the eleven and those who were with them gathered together,
34 saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"
35 And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and
how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.
Scripture Reading 1 of 5


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Hebrews 1:10-2:3
10 And: "You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
11 They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a
garment;
12 Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But
You are the same, And Your years will not fail."
13 But to which of the angels has He ever said: "Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool"?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for
those who will inherit salvation?
1 Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have
heard, lest we drift away.
2 For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every
transgression and disobedience received a just reward,
3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the
first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those
who heard Him,
Scripture Reading 2 of 5


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Hebrews 7:26-8:2   (Saint)
26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the
heavens;
27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up
sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this
He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the
word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has
been perfected forever.
1 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such
a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the
Majesty in the heavens,
2 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the
Lord erected, and not man.
Scripture Reading 3 of 5


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Mark 2:1-12
1 And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard
that He was in the house.
2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room
to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to
them.
3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four
men.
4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they
uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they
let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your
sins are forgiven you."
6 And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their
hearts,
7 Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins
but God alone?
8 But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they
reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, "Why do you reason
about these things in your hearts?
9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven
you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk'?
10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to
forgive sins-He said to the paralytic,
11 I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.
12 Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence
of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, "We
never saw anything like this!"
Scripture Reading 4 of 5


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John 10:9-16  (Saint)
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go
in and out and find pasture.
10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to
destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have
it more abundantly.
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the
sheep.
12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own
the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and
the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.
13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about
the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My
own.
15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down
My life for the sheep.
16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must
bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and
one shepherd.
Scripture Reading 5 of 5



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2nd Sunday of Great Lent St Gregory Palamas
This Sunday was originally dedicated to St Polycarp of Smyrna
(February 23). After his glorification in 1368, a second commemoration
of St Gregory Palamas (November 14) was appointed for the Second
Sunday of Great Lent as a second "Triumph of Orthodoxy."
Saint Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica, was born in the
year 1296 in Constantinople. St Gregory's father became a prominent
dignitiary at the court of Andronicus II Paleologos (1282-1328), but
he soon died, and Andronicus himself took part in the raising and
education of the fatherless boy. Endowed with fine abilities and great
diligence, Gregory mastered all the subjects which then comprised the
full course of medieval higher education. The emperor hoped that the
youth would devote himself to government work. But Gregory, barely
twenty years old, withdrew to Mount Athos in the year 1316 (other
sources say 1318) and became a novice in the Vatopedi monastery under
the guidance of the monastic Elder St Nicodemus of Vatopedi (July 11).
There he was tonsured and began on the path of asceticism. A year
later, the holy Evangelist John the Theologian appeared to him in a
vision and promised him his spiritual protection. Gregory's mother and
sisters also became monastics.
After the demise of the Elder Nicodemus, St Gregory spent eight years
of spiritual struggle under the guidance of the Elder Nicephorus, and
after the latter's death, Gregory transferred to the Lavra of St
Athanasius (July 5). Here he served in the trapeza, and then became a
church singer. But after three years, he resettled in the small skete
of Glossia, striving for a greater degree of spiritual perfection. The
head of this monastery began to teach the young man the method of
unceasing prayer and mental activity, which had been cultivated by
monastics, beginning with the great desert ascetics of the fourth
century: Evagrius Pontikos and St Macarius of Egypt (January 19).
Later on, in the eleventh century St Simeon the New Theologian (March
12) provided detailed instruction in mental activity for those praying
in an outward manner, and the ascetics of Athos put it into practice.
The experienced use of mental prayer (or prayer of the heart),
requiring solitude and quiet, is called "Hesychasm" (from the Greek
"hesychia" meaning calm, silence), and those practicing it were called
"hesychasts."
During his stay at Glossia the future hierarch Gregory became fully
embued with the spirit of hesychasm and adopted it as an essential
part of his life. In the year 1326, because of the threat of Turkish
invasions, he and the brethren retreated to Thessalonica, where he was
then ordained to the holy priesthood.
St Gregory combined his priestly duties with the life of a hermit.
Five days of the week he spent in silence and prayer, and only on
Saturday and Sunday did he come out to his people. He celebrated
divine services and preached sermons. For those present in church, his
teaching often evoked both tenderness and tears. Sometimes he visited
theological gatherings of the city's educated youth, headed by the
future patriarch, Isidore. After he returned from a visit to
Constantinople, he found a place suitable for solitary life near
Thessalonica the region of Bereia. Soon he gathered here a small
community of solitary monks and guided it for five years.
In the 1330s events took place in the life of the Eastern Church which
put St Gregory among the most significant universal apologists of
Orthodoxy, and brought him great renown as a teacher of hesychasm.
About the year 1330 the learned monk Barlaam had arrived in
Constantinople from Calabria, in Italy. He was the author of treatises
on logic and astronomy, a skilled and sharp-witted orator, and he
received a university chair in the capital city and began to expound
on the works of St Dionysius the Areopagite (October 3), whose
"apophatic" ("negative", in contrast to "kataphatic" or "positive")
theology was acclaimed in equal measure in both the Eastern and the
Western Churches. Soon Barlaam journeyed to Mt. Athos, where he became
acquainted with the spiritual life of the hesychasts'. Saying that it
was impossible to know the essence of God, he declared mental prayer a
heretical error. Journeying from Mount Athos to Thessalonica, and from
there to Constantinople, and later again to Thessalonica, Barlaam
entered into disputes with the monks and attempted to demonstrate the
created, material nature of the light of Tabor (i.e. at the
Transfiguration). He ridiculed the teachings of the monks about the
methods of prayer and about the uncreated light seen by the
hesychasts.
St Gregory, at the request of the Athonite monks, replied with verbal
admonitions at first. But seeing the futility of such efforts, he put
his theological arguments in writing. Thus appeared the "Triads in
Defense of the Holy Hesychasts" (1338). Towards the year 1340 the
Athonite ascetics, with the assistance of the saint, compiled a
general response to the attacks of Barlaam, the so-called "Hagiorite
Tome." At the Constantinople Council of 1341 in the church of Hagia
Sophia St Gregory Palamas debated with Barlaam, focusing upon the
nature of the light of Mount Tabor. On May 27, 1341 the Council
accepted the position of St Gregory Palamas, that God, unapproachable
in His Essence, reveals Himself through His energies, which are
directed towards the world and are able to be perceived, like the
light of Tabor, but which are neither material nor created. The
teachings of Barlaam were condemned as heresy, and he himself was
anathemized and fled to Calabria.
But the dispute between the Palamites and the Barlaamites was far from
over. To these latter belonged Barlaam's disciple, the Bulgarian monk
Akyndinos, and also Patriarch John XIV Kalekos (1341-1347); the
emperor Andronicus III Paleologos (1328-1341) was also inclined toward
their opinion. Akyndinos, whose name means "one who inflicts no harm,"
actually caused great harm by his heretical teaching. Akyndinos wrote
a series of tracts in which he declared St Gregory and the Athonite
monks guilty of causing church disorders. The saint, in turn, wrote a
detailed refutation of Akyndinos' errors. The patriarch supported
Akyndinos and called St Gregory the cause of all disorders and
disturbances in the Church (1344) and had him locked up in prison for
four years. In 1347, when John the XIV was replaced on the patriarchal
throne by Isidore (1347-1349), St Gregory Palamas was set free and was
made Archbishop of Thessalonica.
In 1351 the Council of Blachernae solemnly upheld the Orthodoxy of his
teachings. But the people of Thessalonica did not immediately accept
St Gregory, and he was compelled to live in various places. On one of
his travels to Constantinople the Byzantine ship fell into the hands
of the Turks. Even in captivity, St Gregory preached to Christian
prisoners and even to his Moslem captors. The Hagarenes were
astonished by the wisdom of his words. Some of the Moslems were unable
to endure this, so they beat him and would have killed him if they had
not expected to obtain a large ransom for him. A year later, St
Gregory was ransomed and returned to Thessalonica.
St Gregory performed many miracles in the three years before his
death, healing those afflicted with illness. On the eve of his repose,
St John Chrysostom appeared to him in a vision. With the words "To the
heights! To the heights!" St Gregory Palamas fell asleep in the Lord
on November 14, 1359. In 1368 he was canonized at a Constantinople
Council under Patriarch Philotheus (1354-1355, 1364-1376), who
compiled the Life and Services to the saint.
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Venerable Gerasimus of the Jordan
Saint Gerasimus was a native of Lycia (Asia Minor). From his early
years he was distinguished for his piety. Having received monastic
tonsure, he withdrew into the desert of the Thebaid (in Egypt).
Thereafter, in about the year 450, the monk arrived in Palestine and
settled at the Jordan, where he founded a monastery.
For a certain while St Gerasimus was tempted by the heresy of Eutyches
and Dioscorus, which acknowledged only the divine nature in Jesus
Christ, but not His human nature (i.e. the Monophysite heresy). St
Euthymius the Great (January 20) helped him to return to the true
Faith.
St Gerasimus established a strict monastic Rule. He spent five days of
the week in solitude, occupying himself with handicrafts and prayer.
On these days the wilderness dwellers did not eat cooked food, nor did
they kindle a fire, but ate only dry bread, roots and water.
On Saturday and Sunday all gathered at the monastery for Divine
Liturgy and to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. In the
afternoon, taking a supply of bread, tubers, water and an armload of
date-palm branches for weaving baskets, the desert-dwellers returned
to their own cells. Each had only old clothes and a mat, upon which he
slept. When they left their cells, the door was never locked, so that
anyone could enter and rest, or take whatever he needed.
St Gerasimus himself attained a high level of asceticism. During Great
Lent he ate nothing until the very day of the All-Radiant Resurrection
of Christ, when he received the Holy Mysteries. Going out into the
desert for all of Great Lent, St Gerasimus took with him his beloved
disciple St Cyriacus (September 29), whom St Euthymius had sent to
him.
When St Euthymius the Great died, St Gerasimus saw how angels carried
the soul of the departed up to Heaven. Taking Cyriacus with him, the
monk immediately set off to the monastery of St Euthymius and
consigned his body to the earth.
St Gerasimus died peacefully, mourned by his brethren and disciples.
Before his death, a lion had aided St Gerasimus in his tasks, and upon
the death of the Elder it died at his grave and was buried nearby.
Therefore the lion is depicted on icons of the saint, at his feet.
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Venerable Gerasimus of Vologda
Saint Gerasimus, First Vologda Wonderworker, accepted monastic tonsure
on March 4 (at that time it was customary to give a new monk the name
of the saint commemorated on the day of his tonsure) at the Kiev
Gniloe Dormition monastery, having been attracted to the Caves where
St Theodosius (May 3) secluded himself during Great Lent.
Out of obedience to the brethren, St Gerasimus accepted the rank of
hieromonk. In imitation of the exploits of the Fathers of old, the
monk felt drawn to Northern Rus and he arrived at the River Vologda
(August 19, 1147). He blessed the emerging settlement on the right
bank, "foretelling that here would be a great city."
The saint chose the dense virgin forest for his dwelling place,
separated from the settlement by the Kaisarova creek. There the monk
built a hut, and in the tranquil solitude he devoted himself to the
contemplation of God, unceasing prayer and work. He built a church in
honor of the Most Holy Trinity, and so the first monastery in the
north named for the Most Holy Trinity came into being. The monastery
served for the spiritual enlightenment of the surrounding peoples.
The monk peacefully fell asleep in the Lord on March 4, 1178, the day
of his monastic tonsure, and the Feast of his namesake St Gerasimus of
the Jordan.
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Venerable Joasaph of Snetogorsk, Pskov
The Holy Hieromartyrs Joasaph of Snetnogorsk and Basil of Mirozh
suffered under the Germans at two of the most ancient of the Pskov
monasteries during the thirteenth century. St Basil directed the
Savior-Transfiguration Mirozh monastery, founded in the year 1156 by
St Niphon, Bishop of Novgorod (April 8), and by St Abraham of Mirozh
(September 24).
St Joasaph was igumen (and according also to some Pskov Saints' Lives,
the founder) of the monastery of the Nativity of the Most Holy
Theotokos on Mount Snatna. The ascetics devoted much labor and concern
to both the outer and inner welfare of the monasteries. In accord with
the strict rule of cenobitic monastic life, introduced into his
monastery by St Joasaph, the life of the monks was filled with prayer,
abstinence and work. (Almost ninety years after the death of St
Joasaph, his monastic Rule was reintroduced in the new monastic Rule
of the Snetnogorsk monastery by Archbishop Dionysius of Suzdal). The
Snetnogorsk monastery traced its origins from the efforts of St
Euphrosynus of Pskov (May 15) and St Sava of Krypetsk (August 28).
Both these monasteries were outside the city walls and did not have
any defenses. On March 4, 1299, the Germans fell upon Pskov and burned
the Mirozh and Snetnogorsk monasteries. During the burning of the
churches, Sts Basil and Joasaph and the other monks endured an
agonizing death. There was at that time much suffering in the city,
and for the monks of other monasteries, and also for the women and
children, but "through the prayers of the holy monk martyrs, the Lord
preserved the fighting men." Under the lead of the Pskov prince, St
Dovmont-Timothy (May 20), they came out against the enemy and near the
church of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, they defeated the invaders
at the banks of the Pskova River.
Sts Basil and Joasaph were buried with their fellow ascetics beneath
crypts at the churches of their monasteries. The venerable head and
part of the relics of St Joasaph were preserved in the open in a
special reliquary in the church of the Snetnogorsk monastery. Holy
Prince Dovmont "out of his rightful inheritance" built a stone church
at the Snetnogorsk monastery in place of the one that had burned, and
he facilitated the restoration of monastic life at the ruined
monasteries.
Soon after the martyric death of Sts Basil and Joasaph their churchly
glorification took place at Pskov. On the manuscript Pskov Prologue of
the fourteenth-fifteenth centuries, they are listed on March 5. But in
the Pskov Chronicle and old Pskov Synodikons (Saint lists), the day of
the blessed death of the holy monk martyrs is given as March 4, and at
present, this is the day of their commemoration. The Chronicle
mentions the presbyter Joseph, and the Prologue mentions the presbyter
Constantine as their fellow sufferers.
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Right-believing Prince Basil (Vasilko) of Rostov
Holy Prince Basil of Rostov belonged in lineage to the Suzdal
Monomashichi, famed in Russian history. The saint's great-grandfather
was Yuri Dolgoruky, and his grandfather was Great Prince Vsevolod III
"Big-Nest" (+ 1212), brother to St Andrew Bogoliubsky (July 4), who
had been heir to and continuer of St Andrew Bogoliubsky's work. From
Vladimir-on-Klyazma, which became the capital of the old
Rostovo-Suzdal principality, Vsevolod "Big-Nest" single-handedly set
the course of affairs of the whole of Great Rus. The "Lay of Igor's
Campaign" ("Slovo o polku Igoreve") says that he could "splash the
Volga with oars, and bail out the Don with helmets."
St Basil (Basilko) was the oldest child of the "Big Nest". The oldest
grandson of Vsevolod from his oldest son Constantine, St Basil was
born on December 7, 1208 in Rostov, where his father ruled as prince.
He spent his childhood there, and in 1216, when Constantine
Vsevolodovich became Great Prince of Vladimir, Rostov was apportioned
to Basil (he was then eight years old) as his princely appanage to
rule himself.
Military valor, sacred duty of service to country, the sense of
justice and the heeding of one's elders, all these are traditional
features of a Russian princely defender of the land, and all were
present in Basil. The saint's father, Great-prince Constantine, died
on February 2, 1218, when Basil was not yet ten years of age. The
guide of the young Rostov prince then became his uncle, the Great
Prince St Yuri of Vladimir (February 4).
For twenty years Prince Yuri ruled Vladimir, and for all these years
Basil was his closest friend and confidant. The chronicles take note
of the vibrantly handsome figure of Basil, his bright and majestic
glance, his daring in trapping wild game, his beneficence, his mind
and deep studiousness, together with his mildness and good-nature in
relations with the nobles: "Whoever served him, whoever ate his bread
and drank the cup with him, could never be the servant of another
prince."
In the year 1219 Basil participated in a campaign of the
Vladimir-Suzdal forces against the Volga Bulgars, and in 1221 in a
campaign to the mouth of the River Oka. St Yuri was then held hostage
at Nizhni Novgorod.
In 1223 the first Tatars (Mongols) appeared on the southern steppes,
"an unknown people", coming out of Asia. Their first victims were the
Polovetsians allied with Rus. The Russian princes, with the
Polovetsian khans (many of whom had accepted Holy Baptism), decided to
resist the plunderers of the steppes before they reached the Russian
Land. St Basil headed an auxiliary detachment, sent by Great Prince
Yuri to participate in the Russian steppe campaign.
The enemy showed up sooner than they expected. And the centuries-old
division of appenage principalities proved incapable of effective
action in a large scale war. The detachment of Basil was not in time
for the decisive battle, and from Chernigov came the sad news of the
destruction of the Russian forces at the River Kalka on June 16, 1223.
This was a bad omen, and the storm loomed on the east. Basil and his
company returned to Rostov.
In 1227 (or 1228) Basil married, taking Maria, daughter of St Michael
of Chernigov (September 20) as his wife. Basil's uncle, St Yuri, had
previously married St Michael's sister [i.e. Basil's uncle Yuri had
married Maria's aunt]. In 1231 Basil's oldest son Boris was born.
The storm clouds thickened over Russia. On May 3, 1230, "the earth
shook during Liturgy", and famine and pestilence came upon Rus that
year. In 1232 the Tatars made winter camp, having barely reached the
capital of the Volga Bulgars. Life took its course, and Prince Yuri in
1236 married off his sons Vladimir and Mstislav, and Basil rejoiced at
their weddings. All of them, however, had little more than a year to
live, for the Tatars had already taken the Volga-Bulgarian land.
In 1237 the Tatar whirlwind broke upon Rus. In December Ryazan fell
under Batu. Prince Yuri had decided not to send his forces over to
provide assistance, since he was faced with the difficult defense of
Vladimir. The Tatars offered him peace, and he was prepared to
negotiate. But the conditions of the peace, tribute and vassal
servitude under the Khan, were unacceptable. "A glorious fight," said
the prince, "is better than a shameful peace." The first battle with
the Tatars was at Kolomna, and Vsevolod Yurievich commanded the
troops, but they were cut to pieces. The enemy turned then towards
Moscow, which they captured and burned. Yuri's other son, Vladimir,
was captured while leading the defense of Moscow.
St Yuri and his faithful companion St Basil were determined to fight
"for the Orthodox Christian Faith" against the "godlessly vile
Tatars." Having organized his defenses and leaving his sons Vsevolod
and Mstislav at Vladimir, Prince Yuri went beyond the Volga to gather
new troops to replace those annihilated by Batu.
With him were his nephews, St Basil of Rostov and his company, and his
brothers, Vsevolod and Vladimir. The Great Prince awaited the arrival
of his brothers Yaroslav and Svyatoslav and their forces.
On Meatfare Saturday, February 3, 1238, quickly and without hindrance
upon the wintry roads, the Tatar army approached Vladimir. Despite
heroic defense, the fate of the city was sealed. Bishop Metrophanes
for spiritual strength tonsured all the princes and princesses
remaining in the city into the angelic schema. The city fell on
February 7.
The final outpost of the Vladimirites was the Dormition cathedral,
repository of the most holy object in Russia: the wonderworking
Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. The Tatars piled wood and kindling
around the cathedral and made a tremendous fire. Bishop Metrophanes
died in the fire and smoke, together with a thousand defenseless women
and children, and Prince Yuri's entire family: his wife Agathia,
daughter Theodora, daughters-in-law Maria and Christina, and the
infant grandson Demetrius. His sons Vsevolod and Mstislav, together
with the previously captured Vladimir, were subjected to tortures and
then slaughtered "before the eyes of the Khan". (In several of the old
collections of Saints' Lives, all of them are listed as saints).
St Yuri had been with his forces near Yaroslavl. Learning of the
destruction of the capital and the death of those near and dear to
him, "he lamented in a loud voice with tears." He said it would be
better for him to die rather than continue to live in this world,
since he alone survived. St Basil, arriving with the Rostov company,
encouraged him to continue with the military effort.
On March 4, 1238 the decisive battle took place at the River Sita. The
Tatars unexpectedly managed to encircle the Russian army, and a
slaughter ensued. Few Russian warriors remained alive after this
terrible battle, but the enemy paid an expensive price for its
victory. St Yuri was cut down in distinguished combat, and the wounded
Basil was brought to Batu's headquarters.
The Tatars demanded that he "follow their vile customs, be subject to
their will and fight for them." The holy prince angrily refused to
betray his homeland or Holy Orthodoxy. "You cannot take the Christian
Faith from me" said the holy prince, like one of the ancient Christian
confessors. "They tortured him a great deal, and then killed him in
the Shernsk woods." Thus did holy Prince Basil commit his soul to God,
resembling in death the holy Passion-Bearer Boris (July 24), the first
of the Rostov princes, whom he had imitated in life. Like St Boris, St
Basil was not even thirty years of age.
Bishop Cyril of Rostov, going out on the field of carnage, buried the
fallen Orthodox warriors, and he sought the body of holy Prince Yuri
(they did not find his cut-off head in the mass of broken bodies). He
brought his holy relics to Rostov, to the Dormition cathedral. The
body of St Basil was found in the Shernsk woods by a priest's son and
was taken to Rostov. There the prince's wife, his children, Bishop
Cyril and all the inhabitants of Rostov met the body of their beloved
prince with bitter wailing, and they buried him beneath the arches of
the cathedral church.
Describing the burial of Prince Basil, the chronicler said: "The
multitude of Orthodox people wept bitterly, when they saw the departed
father and nourisher of orphans, the great comforter of the sorrowful,
and... the setting of a luminous star.... By his martyr's blood his
transgressions and those of his brethren were washed away."
The people regarded it as a sign of God's mercy that the two princely
comrades-in-arms were buried side by side in the Rostov cathedral
church: "Behold the wonder, in death God has placed their bodies
together." (Later on, the relics of holy Prince Yuri were transferred
to the restored Vladimir Dormition cathedral).
The Church venerates Sts Basil and Yuri as Passion-Bearers, and heroic
defenders of the Russian Land. Their holy example has inspired Russian
soldiers in the fight against hostile invaders. The most detailed
account of the life and deeds of holy Princes Basil and Yuri is
preserved in the Lavrentiev Chronicle, written by the monk Laurence
with the blessing of St Dionysius, Archbishop of Suzdal, in the year
1377, three years before the Battle of Kulikovo Pole.
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Right-believing Prince Daniel of Moscow
Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow was born at Vladimir in the year 1261. He
was the fourth son of St Alexander Nevsky (August 30 and November 23)
and his second wife Bassa. When he was two years old he lost his
father. The date of his mother's repose is not indicated in the
Chronicles; we know only that she was buried in the church of the
Nativity of Christ at the Vladimir Dormition monastery (the Princess
monastery), and the people in the surroundings venerated her as
"Righteous."
In 1272, Prince Daniel received as his allotted portion the city of
Moscow and its adjacent lands. The holy prince built a church (and a
monastery beside it) in honor of his patron saint, St Daniel the
Stylite (December 11) on the banks of the River Moskva.
During this period, the Moscow principality was small and unobtrusive.
While growing up, Prince Daniel strengthened and expanded it, not in
unjust or coercive ways, but peacefully and with benevolence. It was a
time of unrest. Fratricidal strife among the appanage princes was
rife. Often bloodshed was averted, thanks to Prince Daniel and his
incessant striving for unity and peace in the Russian Land.
In 1293 his brother, the Great Prince Alexander, with Tatars summoned
from the Horde and headed by Diuden ("the Diudenev Host"), laid waste
to Russian cities: Murom, Suzdal, Kolomna, Dmitrov, Mozhaisk, and
Tver. Prince Daniel decided to join them to Moscow to save their
people from perishing, for they were not strong enough to resist.
The prince braced himself for terrible destruction and pillaging.
Standing up for his rights, St Daniel was compelled to come out
against his brother near a place called Yurievo Tolchische ("Yurievo
Threshing-Mill"), but his desire for peace prevailed, and bloodshed
was averted.
In 1300, when the Ryazan prince Constantine was making secret
preparations for a sudden assault on the Moscow principality, Prince
Daniel went to Ryazan with an army. He defeated the enemy, took
Constantine captive,and destroyed a multitude of Tatars. This was a
first victory over the Tatars, though not a tremendous victory, but it
was noteworthy as a first push towards freedom.
When he had beaten the Ryazan prince and scattered his confederates
the Tatars, Prince Daniel did not take advantage of his victory to
seize foreign lands or take booty, as was the accepted custom during
these times. Instead, he displayed an example of true
non-covetousness, love and fraternity. The holy prince never resorted
to arms to seize the lands of others, nor did he ever take away the
property of other princes either by force or by treachery. And so the
Lord saw fit to expand the boundaries of his princely realm.
Prince John of Pereslavl-Zalessk, Daniel's nephew, was gentle and
pious and benevolent towards the poor, and he esteemed and loved his
uncle. Dying childless in 1302, he bequeathed his principality to St
Daniel. The Pereslavl lands together with Dmitrov, had the most
inhabitants after Rostov, with the corresponding fortification
befitting a major city. Pereslavl-Zalessk was well protected on all
sides. But the holy prince remained faithful to Moscow and did not
transfer the capital of his princedom to the stronger and more
significant seat of Pereslavl. This annexation allowed Moscow to be
considered as the most significant principality. Here the principle of
the unification of the Russian Land into a single powerful realm was
set in place.
Through the ages God's providence concerning Russia and its destiny
was clearly manifest!
Grateful for the constant blessings of the Hodigitria (She who leads
the Way) both in his personal life, and also in the life of the
Russian realm, St Daniel's father, St Alexander Nevsky said, "God is
not in might, but in right!"
In 1303 St Daniel fell seriously ill. He assumed the great schema and
commanded that he be buried at the Danilov monastery. In his deep
humility he wanted to be buried not within the church, but in the
common monastery cemetery. The holy prince died on March 4.
Less than thirty years after the repose of holy Prince Daniel, the
Danilov monastery he founded was transformed into the Moscow Kremlin,
the church was transformed into a parish church, and the cemetery
became non-monastic.
At the time of Great Prince Ivan III (1462-1505), St Daniel gave
reminders of himself to his forgetful descendents. He appeared as a
stranger to a youth who attended the Great Prince and said: "Don't be
afraid of me. I was a Christian and the master of this place, my name
is Daniel Prince of Moscow, and by the will of God I am here. Tell
Great Prince John about me saying: you are enjoying yourself while you
have forgotten me, but God has not forgotten me."
After this, the Great Prince ordered panikhidas for his ancestral
princes to be sung in the cathedral. During the time of Tsar Ivan the
Terrible, the dying son of a barge merchant was healed at the grave of
St Daniel. The Tsar, struck by the miracle, renovated the ancient
Danilov monastery and established a yearly church procession. The
Metropolitan led the way to the the holy prince's tomb, and served a
panikhida there.
In 1652 holy Prince Daniel was glorified by the uncovering of his
incorrupt relics, which were transferred on August 30 to the church
dedicated to the Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council.
The holy relics were placed in a reliquary "to the glory of the Holy
Trinity and for the healing of the infirm." Metropolitan Platon of
Moscow (+ 1812), in the Life of the holy prince which he compiled,
writes: "The founder laid the foundation of Moscow's grandeur,
modestly making only a small path to it. Just as any edifice, which is
not built with excessive haste, but rather with great artistry and
skill, receives a particular firmness and stands indestructible for a
long time; like a tall tree that grows for many centuries after
beginning as a small sapling, then slowly becomes sturdier, with its
branches spreading about far around, so this city was to grow from
small, but firm beginnings, so that its first sparkle would not
bedazzle the eyes of the envious, and so it would not be shaken or
felled early on, before it had attained its full height. Thus did this
founder prepare the great city given him, giving it a modest but
steady radiance, undisturbed by any gusts of the wind. He left the
great glory of its rise to his son Great Prince John, called Kalita."
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Martyr Paul and his sister
The Holy Martyr Paul and his sister Juliana were executed under the
emperor Aurelian (270-275) in the Phoenician city of Ptolemais. The
emperor happened to visit Ptolemais, and among those who met him was
Paul, who made the Sign of the Cross. They arrested him and threw him
in prison.
On the following day, when they brought him to trial, he openly and
boldly confessed his faith in Christ, for which he was subjected to
fierce tortures. Juliana, seeing the suffering of her brother, began
to denounce the emperor for his injustice and cruelty, for which she
was also subjected to torture.
They beat the martyrs, tore their bodies with iron hooks, burned them
over red-hot grates, but they were not able to break the wondrous
endurance of the Lord's confessors. Three soldiers torturing the
saints were struck by the courageous spirit of the martyrs, and they
in turn believed in Christ. These newly chosen of God were named
Quadratus, Acacius and Stratonicus, and they were immediately
executed.
The tormentor tried to seduce St Juliana with a promise to marry her,
if she were to renounce Christ, but the saint refused the offer and
remained steadfast. By order of the emperor they sent her to a brothel
to be defiled. The Lord also preserved her there, and anyone who tried
to touch the saint lost his sight. Then the enraged emperor commanded
that they again burn the bodies of the saints. Those who saw the
suffering of the saints began to murmur loudly, and Aurelian gave
orders to behead the martyrs. With gladdened face the brother and
sister went to execution singing, "For Thou hast saved us from those
who afflicted us and hast shamed those who hated us" (Ps. 43/44:7).
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Martyr Juliana and her brother
The Holy Martyr Juliana and her brother Paul were executed under the
emperor Aurelian (270-275) in the Phoenician city of Ptolemais. The
emperor happened to visit Ptolemais, and among those who met him was
Paul, who made the Sign of the Cross. They arrested him and threw him
in prison.
On the following day, when they brought him to trial, he openly and
boldly confessed his faith in Christ, for which he was subjected to
fierce tortures. Juliana, seeing the suffering of her brother, began
to denounce the emperor for his injustice and cruelty, for which she
was also subjected to torture.
They beat the martyrs, tore their bodies with iron hooks, burned them
over red-hot grates, but they were not able to break the wondrous
endurance of the Lord's confessors. Three soldiers torturing the
saints were struck by the courageous spirit of the martyrs, and they
in turn believed in Christ. These newly chosen of God were named
Quadratus, Acacius and Stratonicus, and they were immediately
executed.
The tormentor tried to seduce St Juliana with a promise to marry her,
if she were to renounce Christ, but the saint refused the offer and
remained steadfast. By order of the emperor they sent her to a brothel
to be defiled. The Lord also preserved her there, and anyone who tried
to touch the saint lost his sight. Then the enraged emperor commanded
that they again burn the bodies of the saints. Those who saw the
suffering of the saints began to murmur loudly, and Aurelian gave
orders to behead the martyrs. With gladdened face the brother and
sister went to execution singing, "For Thou hast saved us from those
who afflicted us and hast shamed those who hated us" (Ps. 43/44:7).
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St James the Faster of Phoenicia, Syria
Saint James the Faster lived a life of asceticism near the Phoenician
city of Porphyrion in the sixth century. For fifteen years, he lived
in a cave devoting himself to monastic deeds, and he received the gift
of wonderworking from the Lord. Under his influence many of the local
inhabitants were converted to the Christian Faith.
News of the ascetic spread everywhere, and so went to another place so
that he would not fall into temptation. He found a new cave, and lived
there for thirty years. The devil set terrible snares for the ascetic.
James healed a young girl from demonic possession, but then fell into
sin with her. In order to conceal his sin, he killed the girl and
threw her into a river.
Distraught over this sin, he repented for what he had done. For a long
time he hid himself away in the wilderness, bereft of shelter and
peace, tormented by the pricks of conscience, and he was on the point
of forsaking the monastic life and returning to the world. But the
immeasurable mercy of God, against which the sins of this world cannot
prevail, and which desires salvation for all mankind, would not permit
the ruin of this monk who had toiled so many years for the Lord.
The Lord thwarted the devil's intent to destroy the ascetic, and
returned him through repentance to the path of salvation. Wandering
about the wilderness, James saw a monastery, and entering it, he
confessed his sin before the igumen and the brethren. The igumen urged
him to remain with them, fearing that he would ultimately fall into
despair. But James went off and again he wandered the wilderness for a
long time.
Finally the All-Beneficent Providence of God brought him to a certain
desert-dweller filled with grace and wisdom. Lifting the burden from
him, the desert-dweller suggested that James remain with him. But
James would not remain with the Elder, though encouraged and given
hope by him, and he secluded himself in a cave and there for ten years
offered repentance to God, weeping and wailing, and asking forgiveness
for the sin he committed. The Lord heard the prayers of the penitent
monk and granted him His mercy. James reacquired his gift of
wonderworking. He remained in the cave until the time of his death. He
was also buried there.
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Martyred Priest Vyacheslav Leontiev
No information available at this time.
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St Gregory the Bishop of Constantius in Cyprus
No information on the life of this saint is available at this time.
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Right-believing Prince Wenceslaus of the Czech Lands
The Translation of the Relics of the Right-Believing Prince St
Wenceslaus (Vyacheslav) of the Czech Lands.
The mother, hearing of the murder of her son, found and placed his
body in a recently consecrated church at the princely court. They were
not able to wash off the blood splashed on the church doors, but after
three days it disappeared by itself.
After repenting of his sin, the murderer transferred the relics of St
Wenceslaus to Prague, where they were placed in the church of St
Vitus, which the martyr himself had constructed. The memory of Prince
Wenceslaus is honored from of old in the Russian Orthodox Church.
St Wenceslaus is also commemorated on September 28.
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