[Readingsandsaints] Readings and saints

Fri Mar 16 04:00:16 CST 2007

Scripture Readings and Saints for Fri Mar 16 2007

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Isaiah 29:13-23  (6th Hour)
13 Therefore the Lord said: Inasmuch as these people draw near with
their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their
hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the
commandment of men,
14 Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work Among this
people, A marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their wise
men shall perish, And the understanding of their prudent men shall be
hidden.
15 Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord,
And their works are in the dark; They say, Who sees us? and, Who knows
us?
16 Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed
as the clay; For shall the thing made say of him who made it, He did
not make me? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, He
has no understanding?
17 Is it not yet a very little while Till Lebanon shall be turned into
a fruitful field, And the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest?
18 In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, And the eyes
of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
19 The humble also shall increase their joy in the Lord, And the poor
among men shall rejoice In the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the terrible one is brought to nothing, The scornful one is
consumed, And all who watch for iniquity are cut off
21 Who make a man an offender by a word, And lay a snare for him who
reproves in the gate, And turn aside the just by empty words.
22 Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the
house of Jacob: Jacob shall not now be ashamed, Nor shall his face now
grow pale;
23 But when he sees his children, The work of My hands, in his midst,
They will hallow My name, And hallow the Holy One of Jacob, And fear
the God of Israel.
Scripture Reading 1 of 3

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Genesis 12:1-7  (Vespers, 1st Reading)
1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: Get out of your country, From your
family And from your fathers house, To a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name
great; And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses
you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
4 So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with
him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
5 Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brothers son, and all
their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had
acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So
they came to the land of Canaan.
6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the
terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.
7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, To your descendants I will
give this land. And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had
appeared to him.
Scripture Reading 2 of 3

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Proverbs 14:15-26  (Vespers, 2nd Reading)
15 The simple believes every word, But the prudent considers well his
steps.
16 A wise man fears and departs from evil, But a fool rages and is
self-confident.
17 A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, And a man of wicked intentions
is hated.
18 The simple inherit folly, But the prudent are crowned with
knowledge.
19 The evil will bow before the good, And the wicked at the gates of
the righteous.
20 The poor man is hated even by his own neighbor, But the rich has
many friends.
21 He who despises his neighbor sins;
22 Do they not go astray who devise evil? But mercy and truth belong
to those who devise good.
23 In all labor there is profit, But idle chatter leads only to
poverty.
24 The crown of the wise is their riches, But the foolishness of fools
is folly.
25 A true witness delivers souls, But a deceitful witness speaks lies.
26 In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, And His
children will have a place of refuge.
Scripture Reading 3 of 3

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Martyr Sabinus of Egypt
The Holy Martyr Sabinus was administrator of the Egyptian city of
Hermopolis. During a persecution of Christians under the emperor
Diocletian (284-305), St Sabinus and some like-minded companions hid
in a remote village.
His hiding place was revealed by a certain ungrateful beggar who had
brought him food. The saint used to feed him and help him with money,
but the man betrayed him for two pieces of gold. Sabinus was seized
with six other Christians, and after torture they were all drowned in
the Nile in 287.
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Martyr Papas of Lyconia
The Holy Martyr Papas lived in the city of Laranda (Asia Minor) during
the reign of Maximian (305-311). They arrested and tortured him for
his belief in Christ. His feet were put into boots with sharp nails
hammered into the soles, and made to walk. They took him to the city
of Diocaesarea and later to Seleucia, Isauria to stand trial.
St Papas died bound to a barren tree, which then became fruitful.
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St Serapion the Archbishop of Novgorod
No information available at this time.
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Apostle Aristobulus of the Seventy the Bishop of Britain
The Holy Apostle Aristobulus of the Seventy was born on Cyprus. He and
his brother, the holy Apostle Barnabas of the Seventy, accompanied the
holy Apostle Paul on his journeys. St Aristobulus is mentioned by the
Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Romans (Rom 16:10).
St Paul made Aristobulus a bishop and sent him to preach the Gospel in
Britain, where he converted many to Christ. He endured the torments
and malice of the pagans, and eventually baptized them.
St Aristobulus died in Britain among the people he had evangelized.
His memory is celebrated on October 31 and also on the Synaxis of the
Seventy Apostles January 4.
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Hieromartyr Alexander the Pope of Rome
The Hieromartyr Alexander, Bishop of Rome, served for ten years as the
archpastor of Rome. He was burned alive on May 3, 119 by order of the
emperor Hadrian (117-138).
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Martyr Julian of Anazarbus
The Hieromartyr Julian of Anazauria suffered for Christ in Antioch,
Syria under the emperor Maximian Galerius (305-311). His relics were
glorified by miracles in the time of St John Chrysostom. Chrysostom
mentions the martyr in his 47th homily.
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Hieromartyr Trophimus of Laodicea
The Holy Martyrs Trophimus and Thallus, brothers and presbyters of
Syria, served in Carian Laodicea. During a persecution under the
emperor Diocletian (284-305) and his co-emperor Maximian (284-305),
the brothers were taken under guard and brought before the governor
Asclepiodotus. He ordered the holy brothers to be stoned, but the
stones which they threw at the saints returned and struck those who
threw them.
After a second interrogation, the holy brothers were sentenced to be
crucified. Going to execution, they glorified God because they were
found worthy of dying on a cross, as the Savior did. The holy martyrs
of Christ continued to preach from the cross, and their brave mother
stood nearby.
A certain Jewess bowed to the saints and cried out, "Blessed is the
mother who gave birth to such sons." When the martyrs surrendered
their souls to God, the prison guard said that he saw the souls of the
holy brothers being carried upwards to heaven in the company of three
angels.
The people stayed with the bodies of the holy martyrs all night, and
in the morning the wife of the torturer Asclepiodotus came to the
place of execution with her bejeweled veil. She told the people that
in a dream she saw the holy martyrs and the angels sent to punish her
husband.
The mother of the martyrs and two Christians, Zosimus and Artemon,
buried the holy brothers in their native city of Stratonikea, Lydia.
The torturer Asclepiodotus soon fell ill and died a horrible death
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Hieromartyr Thallus of Laodicea
The Holy Martyrs Thallus and Trophimus, brothers and presbyters of
Syria, served in Carian Laodicea. During a persecution under the
emperor Diocletian (284-305) and his co-emperor Maximian (284-305),
the brothers were taken under guard and brought before the governor
Asclepiodotus. He ordered the holy brothers to be stoned, but the
stones which they threw at the saints returned and struck those who
threw them.
After a second interrogation, the holy brothers were sentenced to be
crucified. Going to execution, they glorified God because they were
found worthy of dying on a cross, as the Savior did. The holy martyrs
of Christ continued to preach from the cross, and their brave mother
stood nearby.
A certain Jewess bowed to the saints and cried out, "Blessed is the
mother who gave birth to such sons." When the martyrs surrendered
their souls to God, the prison guard said that he saw the souls of the
holy brothers being carried upwards to heaven in the company of three
angels.
The people stayed with the bodies of the holy martyrs all night, and
in the morning the wife of the torturer Asclepiodotus came to the
place of execution with her bejeweled veil. She told the people that
in a dream she saw the holy martyrs and the angels sent to punish her
husband.
The mother of the martyrs and two Christians, Zosimus and Artemon,
buried the holy brothers in their native city of Stratonikea, Lydia.
The torturer Asclepiodotus soon fell ill and died a horrible death
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St Pimen of Salosi the Enlightener of Dagestan and the North
Caucasus People
No information on the life of this saint is available at this time.
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St. Christodoulos of Patmos
No information available at this time.
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St. Vitus
No information available at this time.
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St. Ambrose the Confessor
No information available at this time.
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St. Anthony (Meskhi), the Censurer of Kings
No information available at this time.
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St. Demetrius the Devoted, King of Georgia
No information available at this time.
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