[Readingsandsaints] Readings and saints

[Daily Orthodox Readings and Saints]

Scripture Readings and Saints for Thu Mar 8 2007

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------ READINGS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
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Isaiah 11:10-12:2  (6th Hour)
10 And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as
a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His
resting place shall be glorious.
11 It shall come to pass in that day That the Lord shall set His hand
again the second time To recover the remnant of His people who are
left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and
Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea.
12 He will set up a banner for the nations, And will assemble the
outcasts of Israel, And gather together the dispersed of Judah From
the four corners of the earth.
13 Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart, And the adversaries of Judah
shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, And Judah shall not
harass Ephraim.
14 But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward
the west; Together they shall plunder the people of the East; They
shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab; And the people of Ammon shall
obey them.
15 The Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; With
His mighty wind He will shake His fist over the River, And strike it
in the seven streams, And make men cross over dry-shod.
16 There will be a highway for the remnant of His people Who will be
left from Assyria, As it was for Israel In the day that he came up
from the land of Egypt.
1 And in that day you will say: O Lord, I will praise You; Though You
were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.
2 Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For
Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my
salvation.
Scripture Reading 1 of 6


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Genesis 7:11-8:3  (Vespers, 1st Reading)
11 In the six hundredth year of Noahs life, in the second month, the
seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the
great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.
13 On the very same day Noah and Noahs sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth,
and Noahs wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the
ark
14 they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind,
every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and
every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort.
15 And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in
which is the breath of life.
16 So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God
had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.
17 Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and
lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth.
18 The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the
ark moved about on the surface of the waters.
19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high
hills under the whole heaven were covered.
20 The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were
covered.
21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and
beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every
man.
22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all
that was on the dry land, died.
23 So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the
ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They
were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him
in the ark remained alive.
24 And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days.
1 Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the
animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass
over the earth, and the waters subsided.
2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also
stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained.
3 And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of the
hundred and fifty days the waters decreased.
Scripture Reading 2 of 6


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Proverbs 10:1-22  (Vespers, 2nd Reading)
1 The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son makes a glad father, But a
foolish son is the grief of his mother.
2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, But righteousness delivers
from death.
3 The Lord will not allow the righteous soul to famish, But He casts
away the desire of the wicked.
4 He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent
makes rich.
5 He who gathers in summer is a wise son; He who sleeps in harvest is
a son who causes shame.
6 Blessings are on the head of the righteous, But violence covers the
mouth of the wicked.
7 The memory of the righteous is blessed, But the name of the wicked
will rot.
8 The wise in heart will receive commands, But a prating fool will
fall.
9 He who walks with integrity walks securely, But he who perverts his
ways will become known.
10 He who winks with the eye causes trouble, But a prating fool will
fall.
11 The mouth of the righteous is a well of life, But violence covers
the mouth of the wicked.
12 Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins.
13 Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has understanding, But a rod
is for the back of him who is devoid of understanding.
14 Wise people store up knowledge, But the mouth of the foolish is
near destruction.
15 The rich mans wealth is his strong city; The destruction of the
poor is their poverty.
16 The labor of the righteous leads to life, The wages of the wicked
to sin.
17 He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, But he who refuses
correction goes astray.
18 Whoever hides hatred has lying lips, And whoever spreads slander is
a fool.
19 In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains
his lips is wise.
20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; The heart of the
wicked is worth little.
21 The lips of the righteous feed many, But fools die for lack of
wisdom.
22 The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with
it.
Scripture Reading 3 of 6


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Isaiah 43:9-14  (40 Martyrs)
9 Let all the nations be gathered together, And let the people be
assembled. Who among them can declare this, And show us former things?
Let them bring out their witnesses, that they may be justified; Or let
them hear and say, It is truth.
10 You are My witnesses, says the Lord, And My servant whom I have
chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me.
11 I, even I, am the Lord, And besides Me there is no savior.
12 I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no
foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses, Says the Lord,
that I am God.
13 Indeed before the day was, I am He; And there is no one who can
deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?
14 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: For your
sake I will send to Babylon, And bring them all down as fugitives The
Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships.
Scripture Reading 4 of 6


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Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9  (40 Martyrs)
1 But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no
torment will ever touch them.
2 In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their
departure was thought to be affliction,
3 and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at
peace.
4 For though in the sight of men they were punished, their hope is
full of immortality.
5 Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,
because God tested them and found them worthy of himself;
6 like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial burnt
offering he accepted them.
7 In the time of their visitation they will shine forth, and will run
like sparks through the stubble.
8 They will govern nations and rule other peoples, and the Lord will
reign over them for ever.
9 Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will
abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are upon his elect,
and he watches over his holy ones.
Scripture Reading 5 of 6


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Wisdom of Solomon 5:15-6:3  (40 Martyrs)
15 But the righteous live for ever, and their reward is with the Lord;
the Most High takes care of them.
16 Therefore they will receive a glorious crown and a beautiful diadem
from the hand of the Lord, because with his right hand he will cover
them, and with his arm he will shield them.
17 The Lord will take his zeal as his whole armor, and will arm all
creation to repel his enemies;
18 he will put on righteousness as a breastplate, and wear impartial
justice as a helmet;
19 he will take holiness as a invincible shield,
20 and sharpen stern wrath for a sword, and creation will join with
him to fight against the madmen.
21 Shafts of lightening will fly with true aim, and will leap to the
target as a from a well-drawn bow of clouds,
22 and hailstones full of wrath will be hurled as from a catapult; the
water of the sea will rage against them, and rivers will relentlessly
overwhelm them;
23 a mighty wind will rise against them, and like a tempest it will
winnow them away. Lawlessness will lay waste the whole earth, and
evil-doing will overturn the thrones of rulers.
1 Listen therefore, O kings, and understand; learn, O judges of the
ends of the earth.
2 Give ear, you that rule over multitudes, and boast of many nations.
3 For your dominion was given you from the Lord, and your sovereignty
from the Most High, who will search out your works and inquire into
your plans.
Scripture Reading 6 of 6



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St Theophylactus the Bishop of Nicomedia
Saint Theophylactus lived at Constantinople in the eighth century
during the time of the Iconoclast heresy. After the death of the
iconoclast emperor Leo IV the Khazar (775-780), Emperor Constantine VI
(780-797) ascended the throne. At the same time, the holy Patriarch
Paul (August 30), not having the strength to continue guiding the
flock in the face of iconoclasm, voluntarily resigned his office
(784). St Tarasius (February 25) was chosen in his place. At that
time, he was an eminent imperial counselor. Under the supervision of
the new Patriarch the Seventh Ecumenical Council (787) was convened to
condemn the Iconoclast heresy. A relatively peaceful time began for
the Church, and monasteries again began to fill with monks.
St Theophylactus, a gifted disciple of St Tarasius, with the blessing
of the Patriarch, went to a monastery on the coast of the Black Sea
with St Michael (May 23). The zealous ascetics by their God-pleasing
labors and intense prayer were granted the gift of wonderworking by
God. During a drought, when the workers in the field were weakened by
thirst, the saints prayed and an empty vessel became filled with
enough water to last the entire day.
After several years in the monastery, they were both consecrated as
bishops by Patriarch Tarasius. St Michael was made Bishop of Synada,
and St Theophylactus was made Bishop of Nicomedia.
Heading the Church of Nicomedia, St Theophylactus cared for the flock
entrusted to him. He built churches, hospices, homes for wanderers, he
generously distributed alms, was the guardian of orphans, widows and
the sick, and personally attended those afflicted with leprosy, not
hesitating to wash their wounds.
When the iconoclast Leo the Armenian (813-820) came to the imperial
throne, the terrible heresy burst forth with renewed strength.
But the iconoclast emperor was not able to influence St Nicephorus
(June 2), the successor of Patriarch Tarasius, who with the other
bishops vainly urged Leo not to destroy the peace of the Church. St
Theophylactus was present at the negotiations of the emperor with the
Patriarch. Denouncing the heretics, St Theophylactus predicted a
speedy death for Leo the Armenian. For his bold prophecy the saint was
sent into exile to the fortress Strobil (in Asia Minor). He languished
for thirty years until his death, which took place around the year
845.
After the restoration of icon-veneration in the year 847 under the
empress St Theodora (February 11) and her son Michael, the holy relics
of St Theophylactus were returned to Nicomedia.
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Venerable Lazarus of Murom
St Lazarus of Murom was a Greek, born at Constantinople. In his native
city he became a monk at the High-Mount monastery under the Elder
Athanasius Diskotes, builder of many monasteries. Eight years later,
Lazarus was under the guidance of Bishop Basil of Caesarea. In the
year 1343 Bishop Basil, wanting to encourage the Russian Church, sent
St Lazarus as a noted iconographer together with monks and gifts to St
Basil, Archbishop of Novgorod (February 10, October 4, June 3).
St Lazarus made a copy of Novgorod's Icon of Sophia, the Wisdom of God
(August 15) for the Caesarea diocese, and compiled an account of
Novgorod churches and monasteries. Meeting the monk, the Novgorod
hierarch bowed to the ground to his guest and blessed him to remain in
a monastery he built. For ten years St Lazarus faithfully served St
Basil, and in 1352 upon the death of the holy archpastor, he "dressed
the holy body in the prepared clothing and shed many tears."
Grieved that he had been deprived of both his guides (Previously, the
saint had received letters informing him of the death of Bishop
Basil), St Lazarus considered returning to his native land. However,
in a dream the Novgorod hierarch appeared to him and directed him "to
go northward towards the sea, to Mucha Island in Lake Onega" (Murom
Island in Lake Onega). In a short time his first guide, Bishop Basil
of Caesarea, commanded him in a dream to go to that same place and
found a monastery. The Chronicles say that at this time the
Novgorodians were making their first attempts to convert the peoples
of the White Sea coastal region to Christianity.
But St Lazarus was not able to get to this island at once. For a long
time, he owner of the island, the Novgorod merchant Ivan, would not
permit him. The monk prayed fervently to the Most Holy Theotokos and
to St John the Forerunner, and he wept at the grave of St Basil. And
the owner's resistance was removed. St Basil once appeared to him in a
dream and ordered him to bestow the island "to our friend Lazarus", so
that the Mother of God might be honored there.
St Lazarus arrived alone at the blessed spot. He set up a cross, a
hut, and a chapel. Soon the Lopari and Chud natives living on the
island heard about him, and he endured much suffering from them. They
burned down his hut and did what damage they could. They beat him,
chased him from the island, and pursued him in order to kill him. But
God and the Queen of Heaven guarded the saint.
At the site of the burned hut the icon of the Dormition of the Most
Holy Theotokos again appeared to St Lazarus, miraculously undamaged by
the fire. It was with this icon that they had blessed him when he
became a monk, and from it was heard a commanding Voice: "The
faithless people shall become faithful, and there will be one Church
and one flock of Christ. Establish upon this place a church of the
Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos."
Another time the saint saw how this place was blessed by "a Woman of
majesty, radiant with golden hue, and resplendant men who made
reverence to Her." Soon the eldest of the Lopari came to the monk and
begged him to heal a child born blind: "... then we shall depart from
the island, as your servants have been commanded." St Lazarus
perceived that this was an angel, and he gave thanks unto the Lord. He
healed the blind child after praying and sprinkling him with holy
water. Then, the "bad people" quit the island, and the father of the
healed child later became a monk, and all his sons were baptized.
>From that time, people started coming to the saint from faraway
places. He baptized them, and tonsured them into monasticism. Even his
fellow countrymen came to him from Constantinople, the holy Monks
Eleazar, Eumenius and Nazarius (June 4), future founders of the
Monastery of the Forerunner in the Olonetsk region.
Visiting Novgorod, St Lazarus received from Bishop Moses (1352-1360)
his blessing for the construction of a monastery, together with an
antimension and some church vessels. A church was built in honor of
the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, the first in all the coastal
region; also a church of the Resurrection of Lazarus, and even a
wooden church of St John the Forerunner together with a trapeza.
The Murom Dormition monastery was built up and strengthened by its
zealous head St Lazarus until his old age.
The time of his death was revealed to him in a vision by his faithful
protector, St Basil of Novgorod. Having chosen a worthy successor, the
Athonite Elder Theodosius, and after receiving the Holy Life-Creating
Mysteries and blessing everyone, St Lazarus departed to the Lord on
March 8, 1391 at the age of 105 years. They buried him in a chapel
beside the church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos.
The Life of St Lazarusus was written by the Elder Theodosius from the
words of the monk himself.
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Venerable Athanasius of Murom
Saint Athanasius was igumen at the monastery of St Lazarus during the
mid-fifteenth century. After his death, the ascetic's body was buried
in a separate chapel, where the chains of the saint were preserved as
evidence of his exploits.
The veneration of this saint goes back a long time. In the second half
of the seventeenth century they called St Athanasius "a wonderworking
monk."
There is troparion and kontakion to the saint.
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Apostle Hermas of the Seventy
The Holy Apostle Hermas of the Seventy was bishop at Philippopolis,
and died a martyr in the first century. In the Epistle to the Romans,
the holy Apostle Paul summons the Romans to greet Hermas (Rom 16:14).
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Hieromartyr Theodoritus of Antioch
Saint Theodoritus was a presbyter and keeper of sacred vessels at the
cathedral church in Antioch. This church was built and richly adorned
by the emperor St Constantine the Great (May 21) and his son
Constantius, and the people called it "the Golden church." Having
occupied the throne after the death of the emperor Constantius
(337-361), Julian the Apostate (361-363) decided to restore paganism
throughout the Roman Empire.
The emperor appointed his uncle, also named Julian, as prefect of
Antioch. He ordered him to close the Christian churches, and to send
the valuables within them to the imperial treasury. Wanting to please
the emperor, the prefect, also an apostate from Christianity, set
about his impious task with zeal.
Arriving at Antioch with the dignitary Felix, he gave orders to lock
up the priest Theodoritus under guard, and he began his plundering,
defiling the altar and the holy altar table. One of those present,
Euzoios, tried to admonish him for his impiety, and for this he was
killed. Julian accused Theodoritus of hiding the church valuables, but
the venerable keeper of vessels denied the accusation and openly
denounced Julian for his apostasy.
Despite beastly tortures, the holy martyr maintained his faith in
Christ the Savior, and predicted a speedy death for Julian and the
emperor for their sacrilege.
The soldiers torturing the faithful presbyter were struck by his
firmness and endurance, and by the power of the Word of God. They were
converted to Christ, for which they were drowned in the sea.
The holy confessor was beheaded. The mockery and sacrilege of the
pagans did not go unpunished, and the predictions of St Theodoritus
were soon fulfilled. The prefect Julian died in agony from a grievous
illness, and the emperor Julian perished in a campaign against the
Persians.
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Venerable Dometius
It is possible that this St Dometius is the same as St Dometius the
Persian who is commemorated on August 7 with his two disciples.
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St Felix of Burgundy the Bishop of Dunwich and Enlightener of
East Anglia
Saint Felix, the Apostle of East Anglia, was born in the Burgundy
region of what is now France. He was a bishop who was sent to England
by St Honorius of Canterbury (September 30) to evangelize East Anglia.
St Felix established his See in Dunwich on the Suffolk coast in 631,
and labored there successfully for seventeen years. He founded a
school for boys with the help of King Siegbert, and brought in
teachers from Canterbury.
St Felix died in 648 and was buried at Dunwich, but his relics were
transferred to Ramsey abbey in Huntingdonshire in 971.
St Felix has given his name to Felixstowe in Suffolk, and to Felixkirk
in Yorkshire. He is mentioned by St Bede (HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH
CHURCH AND PEOPLE, Book 3, ch. 18 and 20).
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Icon of the Mother of God Kursk Root "of the Sign"
This is a copy of the famous "Kursk Root" Icon of the Most Holy
Theotokos commemorated on November 27.
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