[Readingsandsaints] Readings and saints

Wed Mar 14 04:00:16 CST 2007

Scripture Readings and Saints for Wed Mar 14 2007

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Isaiah 26:21-27:9  (6th Hour)
21 For behold, the Lord comes out of His place To punish the
inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; The earth will also
disclose her blood, And will no more cover her slain.
1 In that day the Lord with His severe sword, great and strong, Will
punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent;
And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea.
2 In that day sing to her, A vineyard of red wine!
3 I, the Lord, keep it, I water it every moment; Lest any hurt it, I
keep it night and day.
4 Fury is not in Me. Who would set briers and thorns Against Me in
battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.
5 Or let him take hold of My strength, That he may make peace with Me;
And he shall make peace with Me.
6 Those who come He shall cause to take root in Jacob; Israel shall
blossom and bud, And fill the face of the world with fruit.
7 Has He struck Israel as He struck those who struck him? Or has He
been slain according to the slaughter of those who were slain by Him?
8 In measure, by sending it away, You contended with it. He removes it
by His rough wind In the day of the east wind.
9 Therefore by this the iniquity of Jacob will be covered; And this is
all the fruit of taking away his sin: When he makes all the stones of
the altar Like chalkstones that are beaten to dust, Wooden images and
incense altars shall not stand.
Scripture Reading 1 of 3

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Genesis 9:18-10:1  (Vespers, 1st Reading)
18 Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and
Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan.
19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth
was populated.
20 And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard.
21 Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in
his tent.
22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and
told his two brothers outside.
23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their
shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their
father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their
fathers nakedness.
24 So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done
to him.
25 Then he said: Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be
to his brethren.
26 And he said: Blessed be the Lord, The God of Shem, And may Canaan
be his servant.
27 May God enlarge Japheth, And may he dwell in the tents of Shem; And
may Canaan be his servant.
28 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
29 So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he
died.
1 Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and
Japheth. And sons were born to them after the flood.
Scripture Reading 2 of 3

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Proverbs 12:23-13:9  (Vespers, 2nd Reading)
23 A prudent man conceals knowledge, But the heart of fools proclaims
foolishness.
24 The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy man will be put to
forced labor.
25 Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word
makes it glad.
26 The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of
the wicked leads them astray.
27 The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, But diligence
is mans precious possession.
28 In the way of righteousness is life, And in its pathway there is no
death.
1 A wise son heeds his fathers instruction, But a scoffer does not
listen to rebuke.
2 A man shall eat well by the fruit of his mouth, But the soul of the
unfaithful feeds on violence.
3 He who guards his mouth preserves his life, But he who opens wide
his lips shall have destruction.
4 The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the
diligent shall be made rich.
5 A righteous man hates lying, But a wicked man is loathsome and comes
to shame.
6 Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, But wickedness
overthrows the sinner.
7 There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; And one who
makes himself poor, yet has great riches.
8 The ransom of a mans life is his riches, But the poor does not hear
rebuke.
9 The light of the righteous rejoices, but the lamp of the wicked
shall be extinguished.
Scripture Reading 3 of 3

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Venerable Benedict of Nursia
Saint Benedict, founder of Western monasticism, was born in the
Italian city of Nursia in the year 480. When he was fourteen years of
age, the saint's parents sent him to Rome to study. Unsettled by the
immorality around him, he decided to devote himself to a different
sort of life.
At first St Benedict settled near the church of the holy Apostle Peter
in the village of Effedum, but news of his ascetic life compelled him
to go farther into the mountains. There he encountered the hermit
Romanus, who tonsured him into monasticism and directed him to live in
a remote cave at Subiaco. From time to time, the hermit would bring
him food.
For three years the saint waged a harsh struggle with temptations and
conquered them. People soon began to gather to him, thirsting to live
under his guidance. The number of disciples grew so much, that the
saint divided them into twelve communities. Each community was
comprised of twelve monks and was a separate skete. The saint gave
each skete an igumen from among his experienced disciples, and only
the novice monks remained with St Benedict for instruction.
The strict monastic Rule St Benedict established for the monks was not
accepted by everyone, and more than once he was criticized and abused
by dissenters.
Finally he settled in Campagna and on Mount Cassino he founded the
Monte Cassino monastery, which for a long time was a center of
theological education for the Western Church. The monastery possessed
a remarkable library. St Benedict wrote his Rule, based on the
experience of life of the Eastern desert-dwellers and the precepts of
St John Cassian the Roman (February 29).
The Rule of St Benedict dominated Western monasticism for centuries
(by the year 1595 it had appeared in more than 100 editions). The Rule
prescribed the renunciation of personal possessions, as well as
unconditional obedience, and constant work. It was considered the duty
of older monks to teach the younger and to copy ancient manuscripts.
This helped to preserve many memorable writings from the first
centuries of Christianity.
Every new monk was required to live as a novice for a year, to learn
the monastic Rule and to become acclimated to monastic life. Every
deed required a blessing. The head of this cenobitic monastery is the
igumen. He discerns, teaches, and explains. The igumen solicits the
advice of the older, experienced brethren, but he makes the final
decisions. Keeping the monastic Rule was strictly binding for everyone
and was regarded as an important step on the way to perfection.
St Benedict was granted by the Lord the gift of foresight and
wonderworking. He healed many by his prayers. The monk foretold the
day of his death in 547. The main source for his Life is the second
Dialogue of St Gregory.
St Benedict's sister, St Scholastica (February 10), also became famous
for her strict ascetic life and was numbered among the saints.
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St Theognostus the Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia
Saint Theognostus the Greek succeeded St Peter (August 25 and December
21) as Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia, holding this office from
1327 until 1353. It was through his influence that the Grand Prince
Simeon sent money to the Byzantine Emperor John Cantacuzene for
repairs to the Great Church of Hagia Sophia.
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Right-believing Great Prince Rostislav-Michael the Prince of
Kiev
Saint Rostislav-Michael, Great Prince of Kiev, was the son of the
Kievan Great Prince St Mstislav the Great (June 14), and the brother
of holy Prince Vsevolod-Gabriel (February 11, April 22, and November
27). He was one of the great civil and churchly figures of the
mid-twelfth century.
His name is connected with the fortification and rise of Smolensk, and
both the Smolensk principality and the Smolensk diocese.
Up until the twelfth century the Smolensk land was part of the Kievan
realm. The beginning of its political separation took place in the
year 1125, when holy Prince Mstislav the Great, gave Smolensk to his
son Rostislav (in Baptism Michael) as an inheritance from his father,
the Kievan Great Prince Vladimir Monomakh. Thanks to the work and
efforts of St Rostislav, the Smolensk principality, which he ruled for
more than forty years, expanded and was built up with cities and
villages, adorned with churches and monasteries, and became
influential in Russian affairs.
St Rostislav founded the cities of Rostislavl, Mstislavl, Krichev,
Propoisk, and Vasiliev among others. He was the forefather of the
Smolensk princely dynasty.
In 1136 St Rostislav succeeded in establishing a separate Smolensk
diocese. Its first bishop was Manuel, installed between March-May of
1136 by Metropolitan Michael of Kiev. Prince Rostislav issued an edict
in the city of Smolensk assuring Bishop Manuel that he would provide
him with whatever he needed. On September 30, 1150 St Rostislav also
ceded Cathedral Hill at Smolensk to the Smolensk diocese, where the
Dormition cathedral and other diocesan buildings stood.
Contemporaries thought highly of the church construction of Prince
Rostislav. Even the sources that are inclined to report nothing more
about it note that "this prince built the church of the Theotokos at
Smolensk." The Dormition cathedral, originally built by his
grandfather, Vladimir Monomakh, in the year 1101 was rebuilt and
expanded under Prince Rostislav. The rebuilt cathedral was consecrated
by Bishop Manuel on the Feast of the Dormition, August 15, 1150.
Prince Rostislav was a "builder of the Church" in a far wider sense:
he endowed the Smolensk Dormition church of the Mother of God, and
transformed it from a city cathedral into the ecclesiastical center of
the vast Smolensk diocese.
Holy Prince Rostislav was the builder of the Smolensk Kremlin, and of
the Savior cathedral at the Smyadynsk Boris and Gleb monastery,
founded on the place of the murder of holy Prince Gleb (September 5).
Later his son David, possibly fulfilling the wishes of his father,
transferred the old wooden coffins of Sts Boris and Gleb from Kievan
Vyshgorod to Smyadyn.
In the decade of the fifties of the twelfth century, St Rostislav was
drawn into a prolonged struggle for Kiev, which involved
representatives of the two strongest princely lines: the Olgovichi and
the Monomakhovichi.
On the Monomakhovichi side the major contender to be Great Prince was
Rostislav's uncle, Yurii Dolgoruky. Rostislav, as Prince of Smolensk,
was one of the most powerful rulers of the Russian land and had a
decisive voice in military and diplomatic negotiations.
For everyone involved in the dispute, Rostislav was both a dangerous
opponent and a desired ally, and he was at the center of events. This
had a providential significance, since St Rostislav distinguished
himself by his wisdom regarding the civil realm, by his strict sense
of justice and unconditional obedience to elders, and by his deep
respect for the Church and its hierarchy. For several generations he
was the bearer of the "Russkaya Pravda" ("Russian Truth") and of
Russian propriety.
After the death of his brother Izyaslav (November 13, 1154), St
Rostislav became Great Prince of Kiev, but he ruled Kiev at the same
time with his uncle Vyacheslav Vladimirovich. After the latter's
death, Rostislav returned to Smolensk, ceding the Kiev princedom to
his other uncle, Yurii Dolgoruky, and he removed himself from the
bloodshed of the princely disputes. He occupied Kiev a second time on
April 12, 1159 and he then remained Great Prince until his death (+
1167). More than once, he had to defend his paternal inheritance with
sword in hand.
The years of St Rostislav's rule occurred during one of the most
complicated periods in the history of the Russian Church. The elder
brother of Rostislav, Izyaslav Mstislavich, a proponent of the
autocephaly of the Russian Church, favored the erudite Russian monk
Clement Smolyatich for Metropolitan, and wanted him to be made
Metropolitan by a council of Russian bishops, without seeking the
usual approval from the Patriarch of Constantinople. This occurred in
the year 1147.
The Russian hierarchy basically supported Metropolitan Clement and
Prince Izyaslav in their struggle for ecclesiastical independence from
Constantinople, but several bishops headed by St Niphon of Novgorod
(April 8), did not recognize the autocephaly of the Russian
metropolitanate and shunned communion with it, having transformed
their dioceses into independent ecclesial districts, pending the
resolution of this question. Bishop Manuel of Smolensk also followed
this course. St Rostislav understood the danger which lay hidden
beneath the idea of Russian autocephaly for these times, which
threatened the break-up of Rus. The constant fighting over Kiev among
the princes might also lead to a similar fight over the Kievan See
among numerous contenders, put forth by one princely group or another.
The premonitions of St Rostislav were fully justified. Yurii
Dolgoruky, who remained loyal to Constantinople, occupied Kiev in the
year 1154. He immediately banished Metropolitan Clement and petitioned
Constantinople for a new Metropolitan. This was to be St Constantine
(June 5), but he arrived in Rus only in the year 1156, six months
before the death of Yurii Dolgoruky (+ May 15, 1157). Six months
later, when St Rostislav's nephew Mstislav Izyaslavich entered the
city on December 22, 1157, St Constanine was obliged to flee Kiev,
while the deposed Clement Smolyatich returned as Metropolitan. Then a
time of disorder began in Russia, for there were two Metropolitans.
All the hierarchy and the clergy came under interdict: the Greek
Metropolitan suspended the Russian supporters of Clement, and Clement
suspended all the supporters of Constantine. To halt the scandal, St
Rostislav and Mstislav decided to remove both Metropolitans and
petition the Patriarch of Constantinople to appoint a new archpastor
for the Russian metropolitan See.
But this compromise did not end the matter. Arriving in Kiev in the
autumn of 1161, Metropolitan Theodore died in spring of the following
year. Following the example of St Andrew Bogoliubsky (July 4), who
supported his own fellow ascetic Bishop Theodore to be Metropolitan,
St Rostislav put forth his own candidate, who turned out to be the
much-suffering Clement Smolyatich.
The fact that the Great Prince had changed his attitude toward
Metropolitan Clement, shows the influence of the Kiev Caves monastery,
and in particular of Archimandrite Polycarp. Archimandrite Polycarp,
who followed the traditions of the Caves (in 1165 he became head of
the monastery), was personally very close to St Rostislav.
St Rostislav had the pious custom of inviting the igumen and twelve
monks to his own table on the Saturdays and Sundays of Great Lent, and
he served them himself. The prince more than once expressed the wish
to be tonsured a monk at the monastery of Sts Anthony and Theodosius,
and he even gave orders to build a cell for him.
The monks of the Caves, a tremendous spiritual influence in ancient
Rus, encouraged the prince to think about the independence of the
Russian Church. Moreover, during those years in Rus, there was
suspicion regarding the Orthodoxy of the bishops which came from among
the Greeks, because of the notorious "Dispute about the Fasts" (the
"Leontian Heresy"). St Rostislav's pious intent to obtain the blessing
of the Patriarch of Constantinople for Metropolitan Clement came to
naught. The Greeks believed that appointing a Metropolitan to the Kiev
cathedra was one of their most important prerogatives. This served not
only the ecclesiastical, but also the political interests of the
Byzantine Empire.
In 1165 a new Greek Metropolitan arrived at Kiev, John IV, and St
Rostislav accepted him out of humility and churchly obedience. The new
Metropolitan, like his predecessor, governed the Russian Church for
less than a year (+ 1166). The See of Kiev was again left vacant, and
the Great Prince was deprived of the fatherly counsel and spiritual
wisdom of a Metropolitan. His sole spiritual solace was the igumen
Polycarp and the holy Elders of the Kiev Caves monastery and the
Theodorov monastery at Kiev, which had been founded under his father.
Returning from a campaign against Novgorod in the spring of 1167, St
Rostislav fell ill. When he reached Smolensk, where his son Roman was
prince, relatives urged him to remain at Smolensk. But the Great
Prince gave orders to take him to Kiev. "If I die along the way," he
declared, "put me in my father's monastery of St Theodore. If God
should heal me, through the prayers of His All-Pure Mother and St
Theodosius, I shall take vows at the monastery of the Caves."
God did not fulfill St Rostislav's last wish to end his life as a monk
of the holy monastery. The holy prince died on the way to Kiev on
March 14, 1167. (In other historical sources the year is given as
1168). His body, in accord with his last wishes, was brought to the
Kiev Theodosiev monastery.
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St Euschemon the Confessor and Bishop of Lampsacus
Saint Euschemon the Confessor, Bishop of Lampsakos, lived in Asia
Minor on the coastal region of the Dardanelles peninsula, and was
known for his virtuous and ascetic life. He suffered for the holy
icons under the iconoclast emperor Theophilus (829-842), and having
been imprisoned, he was sent into exile and died.
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Icon of the Mother of God of St Theodore
The Theodore - Kostroma Icon of the Mother of God was painted by the
Evangelist Luke and resembles the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God.
This icon received its name from Great Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich
(+ 1246), the father of St Alexander Nevsky, and who in holy Baptism
was named Theodore in honor of St Theodore Stratelates (February 8).
According to Tradition, the icon was found by his elder brother, St
George (February 4), in an old wooden chapel near the city of
Gorodets. Later, the Gorodetsk Theodorov monastery was built on this
spot. Prince Yaroslav-Theodore became the Great Prince of Vladimir
after his brother St George perished in battle with the Mongols at the
Sita River. In the year 1239, he solemnly transferred the relics of
his brother from Rostov to the Vladimir Dormition cathedral. He gave
the icon which he inherited from his brother to his own son, St
Alexander Nevsky.
Yaroslav-Theodore is renowned in Russian history. He continued with
the glorious traditions of his uncle St Andrew Bogoliubsky (July 4),
and of his father Vsevolod III Big-Nest, and he was connected to
almost all of the significant events in the history of Rus in the
first half of the thirteenth century.
Russia was burned and torn apart by the Mongols in 1237-1238. He
raised it up from the ashes, rebuilt and embellished the cities, the
holy monasteries and the churches. He restored cities along the Volga
devastated by the enemy: Kashin, Uglich, Yaroslavl', Kostroma,
Gorodets.
He founded he church of Theodore Stratelates at Kostroma and the
Theodorov monastery near Gorodets in honor of his patron saint. For
eight years he ruled as Great Prince, but he had to guide the land
through a singularly difficult path, maintaining a military-political
balance with the Golden Horde to the East, while mounting an active
opposition to Catholic Europe in the West. His closest companion was
his son, St Alexander Nevsky, who also continued his policies.
The wonderworking Theodore Icon of the Mother of God was constantly
with St Alexander, and he prayed before it. After St Alexander Nevsky
died on November 14, 1263 at the monastery founded by his father, the
icon was taken by his younger brother Basil.
Basil Yaroslavich was the youngest (eighth) son of Yaroslav
Vsevolodovich. In 1246 after the death of his father (Prince Yaroslav
was poisoned in the capital city of Mongolia, Karakorum when he was
only five years old) Basil became prince of the Kostroma
appanage-holding, the least important of his father's domains. In the
year 1272, he became Great Prince of Vladimir.
His four years as Great Prince (1272-1276) were filled with
fratricidal princely quarrels. For several years he waged war against
Novgorod with an unruly nephew Demetrius. In becoming Great Prince,
however, Basil did not journey to Vladimir, but remained under the
protection of the wonderworking icon at Kostroma, regarding this place
as safer in case of new outbreaks of strife.
He had occasion also to defend Rus against external enemies. In 1272,
during a Tatar incursion, a Russian army came forth from Kostroma to
engage them. Following the example of his grandfather, St Andrew
Bogoliubsky (who took the wonderworking Vladimir Icon of the Mother of
God with him on military campaigns), Prince Basil went into battle
with the wonderworking Theodore Icon. A blinding light came forth from
the holy image, and the Tatars dispersed and fled from the Russian
land.
The Chronicles say that the Great Prince Basil had a special love for
the Church and the clergy. After the martyric death of Bishop
Metrophanes of Vladimir during the storming of Vladimir by Tatars on
February 4, 1238, the Vladimir diocese had remained widowed for many
years. This grieved Great Prince Basil. With his help, a large
cathedral was constructed in Vladimir in 1274. This was apparently in
connection with the consecration of St Serapion (July 12) as Bishop of
Vladimir. He was an igumen from the Monastery of the Caves.
Metropolitan Cyril III (+ 1282) presided over a council of Russian
hierarchs. This was the first council in the Russian Church since the
time of the Mongol invasion. Many problems and disorders had arisen in
Church life, but the Russian Church was just barely beginning to
recover from the woe that had befallen it. One of its main tasks was
to recover a Russian churchly literacy, and the restoration of the
tradition of the ancient Russian "princely order."
Without books the Church's salvific activity would be almost
impossible. Books were needed for church services, and for preaching,
for the monastic cell rule, and for believers to read at home. Through
the efforts of Metropolitan Cyril and the Russian bishops and monastic
scholars, this important task was begun. The council approved new
editions of essential books which formed the canonical basis of
Orthodox church life.
In 1276, Prince Basil completed his life's journey. Most of the
important events in his life occured with the blessing of the Theodore
Icon of the Mother of God. He died at Kostroma, and there he also
found his final resting place. Since that time, the holy icon has been
in the Kostroma cathedral of St Theodore Stratelates.
Renewed interest in the Theodore Icon of the Mother of God and the
spread of its veneration throughout all Russia is connected with
events of the beginning of the seventeenth century, and the end of the
Time of Troubles. In the year 1613, the wonderworking Theodore Icon
from the Kostroma cathedral was used at the proclamation of Michael
Romanov as the new Tsar. In memory of this historic event, March 14
was designated for the commemoration of the Theodore Icon of the
Mother of God.
Numerous copies were made from the Kostroma Theodore Icon, and one of
the first was commissioned and brought to Moscow by Tsar Michael's
mother, the nun Martha. From the second half of the seventeenth
century, various copies of the Theodore Icon were enlarged with scenes
depicting events from the history of the wonderworking icon.
In the year 1670 the hierodeacon Longinus from the Kostroma Hypatiev
monastery wrote the "Narrative concerning the Manifestations and
Miracles of the Theodore Icon of the Mother of God in Kostroma." Not
all the things contained in it agree with things previously stated.
The Theodore Icon is two-sided. On the reverse side is the image of
the holy Great Martyr Paraskeva, depicted in the splendid attire of a
princess. It is believed that the image of Paraskeva on the reverse of
the icon is connected with the wife of St Alexander Nevsky.
The Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of St Theodore is also
commemorated on August 16.
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Martyr Chrysanthus of Rome
No information available at this time.
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