[Readingsandsaints] Readings and saints

Thu May 10 05:00:45 CDT 2007

Scripture Readings and Saints for Thu May 10 2007

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------ READINGS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
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1 John 3:21-4:6  (Vespers, 1st Reading, Apostle)
21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence
toward God.
22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His
commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of
His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.
24 Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And
by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given
us.
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether
they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the
world.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in
the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist,
which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He
who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the
world hears them.
6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does
not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of
error.
Scripture Reading 1 of 8

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1 John 4:11-16  (Vespers, 2nd Reading, Apostle)
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides
in us, and His love has been perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has
given us of His Spirit.
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as
Savior of the world.
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him,
and he in God.
16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is
love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
Scripture Reading 2 of 8

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1 John 4:20-5:5  (Vespers, 3rd Reading, Apostle)
20 If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar;
for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love
God whom he has not seen?
21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must
love his brother also.
1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and
everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of
Him.
2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God
and keep His commandments.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His
commandments are not burdensome.
4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the
victory that has overcome the world-our faith.
5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is
the Son of God?
Scripture Reading 3 of 8

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John 21:15-25  (Matins Gospel)
15 So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter,
"Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?" He said to Him,
"Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Feed My
lambs."
16 He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you
love Me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He
said to him, "Tend My sheep."
17 He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love
Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you
love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know
that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep.
18 Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded
yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will
stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where
you do not wish.
19 This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And
when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me."
20 Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved
following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said,
"Lord, who is the one who betrays You?"
21 Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, "But Lord, what about this man?"
22 Jesus said to him, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is
that to you? You follow Me."
23 Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple
would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die,
but, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?"
24 This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these
things; and we know that his testimony is true.
25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they
were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could
not contain the books that would be written. Amen.
Scripture Reading 4 of 8

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Acts 14:20-27
20 However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and
went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to
Derbe.
21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many
disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch,
22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to
continue in the faith, and saying, "We must through many tribulations
enter the kingdom of God."
23 So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with
fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
24 And after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia.
25 Now when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to
Attalia.
26 From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to
the grace of God for the work which they had completed.
27 Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they
reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the
door of faith to the Gentiles.
Scripture Reading 5 of 8

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1 Corinthians 4:9-16  (Apostle)
9 For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men
condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world,
both to angels and to men.
10 We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are
weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are
dishonored!
11 To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly
clothed, and beaten, and homeless.
12 And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless;
being persecuted, we endure;
13 being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the
world, the offscouring of all things until now.
14 I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved
children I warn you.
15 For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet
you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you
through the gospel.
16 Therefore I urge you, imitate me.
Scripture Reading 6 of 8

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John 9:39-10:9
39 And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that
those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made
blind."
40 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and
said to Him, "Are we blind also?"
41 Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but
now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains.
1 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by
the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a
robber.
2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he
calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the
sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him,
for they do not know the voice of strangers.
6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things
which He spoke to them.
7 Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am
the door of the sheep.
8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep
did not hear them.
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go
in and out and find pasture.
Scripture Reading 7 of 8

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Matthew 13:54-58  (Apostle)
54 When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their
synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, "Where did this Man
get this wisdom and these mighty works?
55 Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And
His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas?
56 And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man
get all these things?
57 So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is
not without honor except in his own country and in his own house."
58 Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their
unbelief.
Scripture Reading 8 of 8

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------ SAINTS/FEASTS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
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Apostle Simon Zealotes
Saint Simon was from Cana in Galilee, and was known to the Lord and
His Mother. Tradition says that he was the bridegroom at the wedding
where the Savior performed His first miracle. After witnessing the
miracle of the water which had been turned into wine, he became a
zealous follower of Christ. For this reason, he is known as St Simon
the Zealot.
St Simon was one of the twelve Apostles, and received the Holy Spirit
with the others on Pentecost. He traveled to many places from Britain
to the Black Sea, proclaiming the Gospel of Christ. After winning many
pagans to the Lord, St Simon suffered martyrdom by crucifixion.
St Demetrius of Rostov says that this St Simon is to be distinguished
from the Apostle Simon Peter, and from the Lord's relative Simon
(Mt.13:55), who was the second Bishop of Jerusalem.
St Simon is also commemorated on June 30 with the other Apostles.
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Martyr Philadelphus and 18 others in Sicily
The Holy Martyrs Philadelphus, Alphaeus, Cyprian, Onesimus, Erasmus
and 14 others with them, lived during the third century and came from
Italy. Alphaeus, Philadelphus and Cyprian were sons of a governor in
Italy, named Vitalius. They were enlightened by faith in Christ and
baptized by St Onesimus.
During this period the emperor Licinius issued orders to seek out and
hand over the Christians for torture. The brothers went to Rome
together with Onesimus, Erasmus and fourteen other Christians. At Rome
they crushed the chest of St Onesimus with a heavy stone, which killed
him. Erasmus and the fourteen Martyrs were beheaded.
The brothers Alphaeus, Philadelphus and Cyprian suffered in the city
of Mesopolis Leontii in Sicily, where they had been sent from Rome. St
Philadelphus was burned over an iron lattice in the year 251, in the
reign of the emperor Decius.
In the year 1517 their incorrupt relics were discovered at Leontini
[Lentini]. Sts Alphaeus, Philadelphus and Cyprian appeared to St
Euthalia (March 2) and told her that she would be healed of an
affliction after she was baptized.
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Martyr Cyprian and 18 others in Sicily
The Holy Martyrs Cyprian, Alphaeus, Philadelphus, Onesimus, Erasmus
and 14 others with them, lived during the third century and came from
Italy. Alphaeus, Philadelphus and Cyprian were sons of a governor in
Italy, named Vitalius. They were enlightened by faith in Christ and
baptized by St Onesimus.
The brothers Alphaeus, Philadelphus and Cyprian suffered in the city
of Mesopolis Leontii in Sicily, where they had been sent from Rome. St
Philadelphus was burned over an iron lattice in the year 251, in the
reign of the emperor Decius.
In the year 1517 their incorrupt relics were discovered at Leontini
[Lentini]. Sts Alphaeus, Philadelphus and Cyprian appeared to St
Euthalia (March 2) and told her that she would be healed of an
affliction after she was baptized.
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Martyr Alphaeus and 18 others in Sicily
The Holy Martyrs Alphaeus, Philadelphus, Cyprian, Onesimus, Erasmus
and 14 others with them, lived during the third century and came from
Italy. Alphaeus, Philadelphus and Cyprian were sons of a governor in
Italy, named Vitalius. They were enlightened by faith in Christ and
baptized by St Onesimus.
During this period the emperor Licinius gave orders to seek out
Christians and hand them over for torture. The brothers went to Rome
together with Onesimus, Erasmus and fourteen other Christians. At Rome
they crushed the chest of St Onesimus with a heavy stone, killing him.
Erasmus and the fourteen martyrs were beheaded.
The brothers Alphaeus, Philadelphus and Cyprian suffered in Sicily, in
the city of Mesopolis Leontii, where they had been sent from Rome.
This occurred in the year 251, under the emperor Decius. They cut out
the tongue of St Alphaeus and he bled to death, Philadelphus was
burned over an iron lattice, and Cyprian was burned on a hot pan.
In the year 1517 their incorrupt relics were discovered at Leontini
[Lentini]. Sts Alphaeus, Philadelphus and Cyprian appeared to St
Euthalia (March 2) and told her that she would be healed of an
affliction after she was baptized.
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Martyr Onesimus and 18 Others in Sicily
The Holy Martyrs Onesimus, Alphaeus, Philadelphus, Cyprian, Erasmus
and 14 others with them, lived during the third century and came from
Italy. Alphaeus, Philadelphus and Cyprian were sons of a governor in
Italy, named Vitalius. They were enlightened by faith in Christ and
baptized by St Onesimus.
During this period the emperor Licinius gave orders to seek out
Christians and hand them over for torture. The brothers went to Rome
together with Onesimus, Erasmus and fourteen other Christians. At Rome
they crushed the chest of St Onesimus with a heavy stone, which killed
him. Erasmus and the fourteen Martyrs were beheaded.
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Martyr Erasmus and 18 Others in Sicily
The Holy Martyrs Erasmus, Alphaeus, Philadelphus, Cyprian, Onesimus,
and 14 others with them, lived during the third century and came from
Italy. Alphaeus, Philadelphus and Cyprian were sons of a governor in
Italy, named Vitalis. They were enlightened by faith in Christ and
baptized by St Onesimus.
During this period the emperor Licinius gave orders to seek out
Christians and hand them over for torture. The brothers went to Rome
together with Onesimus, Erasmus and fourteen other Christians. St
Erasmus and the fourteen martyrs were beheaded.
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Martyr Hesychius of Antioch
The Holy Martyr Hesychius of Antioch lived in Antioch during the reign
of Maximian Galerius (305-311), and he occupied a high official
position. Maximian issued an edict by which all Christians were to be
deprived of military rank and expelled from military service. Those
who would not renounce Christianity were stripped of their soldier's
belt and military insignia, and degraded to the level of hired
servants. St Hesychius was one of these.
Maximian ordered Hesychius to remove his robes of office, put on
common attire, and to be placed among the women servants. After
several days he summoned Hesychius and asked, "Are you not ashamed to
remain in such dishonor?" St Hesychius answered, "The honors which I
had from you were only temporal."
Then Maximian gave orders to drown St Hesychius in a river, with a
millstone tied about his neck. The exact year of the martyr's death is
not known.
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Blessed Isidora the Fool of Tabenna in Egypt
Saint Isidora, Fool-for-Christ, struggled in the Tabenna monastery in
Egypt during the sixth century. Taking upon herself the feat of folly,
she acted like one insane, and did not eat food with the other sisters
of the monastery. Many of them regarded her with contempt, but Isidora
bore all this with great patience and meekness, blessing God for
everything.
She worked in the kitchen and fulfilled the dirtiest, most difficult
tasks at the monastery, cleaning the monastery of every impurity.
Isidora covered her head with a plain rag, and instead of cooked food
she drank the dirty wash water from the pots and dishes. She never
became angry, never insulted anyone with a word, never grumbled
against God or the sisters, and was given to silence.
Once, a desert monk, St Pitirim, had a vision. An angel of God
appeared to him and said, "Go to the Tabenna monastery. There you will
see a sister wearing a rag on her head. She serves them all with love,
and endures their contempt without complaint. Her heart and her
thoughts rest always with God. You, on the other hand, sit in
solitude, but your thoughts flit about all over the world."
The Elder set out for the Tabenna monastery, but he did not see the
one indicated to him in the vision among the sisters. Then they led
Isidora to him, considering her a demoniac. Isidora fell down at the
knees of the Elder, asking his blessing. St Pitirim bowed down to the
ground to her and said, "Bless me first, venerable Mother!"
To the astonished questions of the sisters the Elder replied, "Before
God, Isidora is higher than all of us!" Then the sisters began to
repent, confessing their mistreatment of Isidora, and they asked her
forgiveness. The saint, however, distressed over her fame, secretly
hid herself away from the monastery, and her ultimate fate remained
unknown. It is believed that she died around the year 365.
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Blessed Thais of Egypt
Saint Thais lived in Egypt in the fifth century. Left an orphan after
the death of her wealthy parents, she led a pious life, distributing
her wealth to the poor, and she gave shelter to pilgrims on her
estate. She decided that she would never marry, but would devote her
life to serving Christ.
After spending all her inheritance, Thais was tempted to acquire more
money by any means, and began to lead a sinful life. The Elders of
Sketis near Alexandria heard of her fall, and asked St John the Dwarf
(November 9) to go to Thais and persuade her to repent. "She was kind
to us," they said, "now perhaps we can help her. You, Father, are
wise. Go and try to save her soul, and we will pray that the Lord will
help you."
The Elder went to her home, but Thais's servant did not want to allow
him into the house. St John said, "Tell your mistress that I have
brought her something very precious." Thais, knowing that the monks
sometimes found pearls at the shore, told her servant to admit the
visitor. St John sat down and looked her in the face, and then began
to weep. Thais asked him why he was crying. "How can I not weep," he
asked, "when you have forsaken your Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ,
and are pleasing Satan by your deeds?"
The Elder's words pierced the soul of Thais like a fiery arrow, and at
once she realized how sinful her present life had become. In fear, she
asked him if God would accept the repentance of a sinner like her. St
John replied that the Savior awaited her repentance. That is why He
came, to seek and to save the perishing. "He will welcome you with
love," he said, "and the angels will rejoice over you. As the Savior
said Himself, one repentant sinner causes the powers of Heaven to
rejoice (Luke 15:7).
A feeling of repentance enveloped her, and regarding the Elder's words
as a call from the Lord Himself to return to Him, Thais trembled and
thought only of finding the path of salvation. She stood up and left
her house without speaking to her servants, and without making any
sort of disposition of her property, so that even St John was amazed.
Following St John into the wilderness, she hastened to return to God
through penitence and prayer. Night fell, and the Elder prepared a
place for Thais to lay down and sleep. He made a pillow for her from
the sand, and he went off somewhat farther, and went to sleep after
his evening prayers.
In the middle of the night, he was wakened by a light coming down from
the heavens to the place where Thais was at rest. In the radiant light
he saw holy angels bearing her soul to Paradise. When he went over to
Thais, he found her dead.
St John prayed and asked God to reveal to him whether Thais had been
saved. An angel of God appeared and told him, "Abba John, her one hour
of repentance was equal to many years, because she repented with all
her soul, and a compunctionate heart."
After burying the body of the saint, St John returned to Sketis and
told the monks what had happened. All offered thanks to God for His
mercy toward Thais who, like the wise thief, repented in a single
moment.
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Icon of the Mother of God "Kiev-Bratsk"
The Kiev-Bratsk Icon of the Mother of God is celebrated also on
September 6, June 2, and on Saturday of the Fifth Week of Great Lent.
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Venerable Comgall of Bangor
Saint Comgall (Comhghall), "the Father of Monks," was born in Ireland
at Dalaradia, Co. Ulster sometime between 510 and 520. Unlike many of
the early Irish saints, St Comgall was not of noble birth. He served
as a soldier, then studied with St Finnian of Moville (September 10).
He was ordained to the holy priesthood by Bishop Lugaid before the age
of forty.
St Comgall and several companions lived for a time on an island in
Lough Erne in the county of Ulster, where they lived a very strict
ascetical life. Although his desire was to be a missionary in
Scotland, Bishop Lugaid asked him to stay in Ireland and establish a
monastery at Bangor (Bennchor) on the southern shore of Belfast Loch
(in modern Co. Down). The monastery was founded sometime between
552-555.
It is believed that over four thousand monks were trained by St
Comgall at Bangor, including St Columbanus of Luxeuil (November 21, or
23) and St Moluag (June 25). St Comgall often prayed while standing in
the water for several hours. Sometimes at night his cell seemed to be
ablaze with a heavenly radiance.
Later St Comgall did visit Scotland, where he became very close to St
Columba of Iona (June 9), by whose prayers Comgall was once saved from
drowning.
St Comgall lived to an advanced age, then suffered from a prolonged
illness. He completed the course of his earthly life at Bangor on May
10, 602, after receiving Holy Communion from St Fiacre (August 30).
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St Simeon the Bishop of Vladimir and Suzdal of the Kiev Near
Caves
Saint Simon, Bishop of Vladimir and Suzdal was an author of the KIEV
CAVES PATERIKON, and he became a monk at the Monastery of the Caves,
sometime in the second half of the twelfth century.
In the year 1206 he was appointed igumen of the Vladimir Monastery of
the Nativity of the Theotokos, and in 1214, at the wish of Prince
George Vsevolodovich (+ 1238), he was made the first bishop of
Vladimir-on-the-Klyazma and Suzdal.
In 1218 he consecrated a church at the Nativity monastery, and in the
year 1225, a cathedral church at Suzdal. The Great Prince deeply
respected St Simon and was prepared to establish a new bishop's See at
Suzdal for his friend, the monk Polycarp of the Kiev Caves monastery,
who sought after spiritual glory. St Simon, seeing that Polycarp was
not yet ready to assume such an office, talked the Great Prince out of
his idea, and he wrote a deeply moving letter to Polycarp, in which he
offered his friend advice on overcoming his spiritual shortcomings. St
Simon's own inner life, character, and virtue are also revealed in the
epistle.
St Simon was known as a learned teacher, and his epistle to Polycarp
was placed at the beginning of the KIEV CAVES PATERIKON. On the eve of
his repose in 1226, the saint received the schema.
Initially his body was buried at Vladimir, but later, in accordance
with the saint's last wishes, his body was transferred to the Kiev
Caves Lavra, where it rests in the Antoniev Caves.
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