[Readingsandsaints] Readings and Saints

Sat Nov 3 05:00:12 CDT 2007

Scripture Readings and Saints for Sat Nov 3 2007

----------------------------------------------------
------ READINGS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
----------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------

2 Corinthians 8:1-5
1 Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed
on the churches of Macedonia:
2 that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and
their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality.
3 For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond
their ability, they were freely willing,
4 imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and
the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.
5 And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the
Lord, and then to us by the will of God.
Scripture Reading 1 of 2

-----------------------------

Luke 9:1-6
1 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and
authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.
2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
3 And He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs
nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.
4 Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.
5 And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city,
shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.
6 So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel
and healing everywhere.
Scripture Reading 2 of 2

----------------------------------------------------
------ SAINTS/FEASTS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
----------------------------------------------------

Martyr Akepsimas the Bishop of Persia
Martyrs Akepsimas the Bishop, Joseph the Presbyter and Aethalas the
Deacon of Persia were leaders of the Christian Church in the Persian
city of Naesson. His flock devotedly loved their hierarch for his
ascetic life and tireless pastoral work.
The emperor Sapor ordered his men to seek out and kill Christian
clergy. St Akepsimas also was arrested, even though he was already an
eighty-year-old man. They took him to the city of Arbela, where he
came before the judge Ardarkh, a pagan priest of the sun god. The holy
Elder refused to offer sacrifice to the Persian gods. For this he was
fiercely beaten and thrown into prison, where on the following day the
seventy-year-old priest Joseph and the deacon Aethalas were severely
beaten and thrown into jail with him. For three years the saints were
held in confinement, and suffered from hunger and thirst.
Emperor Sapor came to the temple of the god of fire, located not far
from Arbela, and wanted to take a look at the three holy martyrs.
Exhausted and covered with festering wounds, the saints were brought
before the emperor. When he asked them to worship the pagan gods they
firmly refused, confessing their faith in Christ instead.
The holy bishop was beheaded, but the presbyter and deacon were taken
into the city to be stoned.
The execution of the presbyter Joseph was prolonged for several hours.
A guard was placed near the place of execution, so that Christians
would not take the body of the holy martyr. On the fourth night a
strong windstorm raged near the city, lightning killed the guard, the
wind tossed stones about, and the body of St Joseph disappeared.
Deacon Aethalas was taken to the village of Patrias, where he was
stoned. Christians secretly buried his body. A tree grew on the
saint's grave, and its fruit brought healings.
_________________________________________________________________
Martyr Joseph the Presbyter of Persia
Martyrs Akepsimas the Bishop, Joseph the Presbyter and Aethalas the
Deacon of Persia were leaders of the Christian Church in the Persian
city of Naesson. His flock devotedly loved their hierarch for his
ascetic life and tireless pastoral work.
The emperor Sapor ordered his men to seek out and kill Christian
clergy. St Akepsimas also was arrested, even though he was already an
eighty-year-old man. They took him to the city of Arbela, where he
came before the judge Ardarkh, a pagan priest of the sun god. The holy
Elder refused to offer sacrifice to the Persian gods. For this he was
fiercely beaten and thrown into prison, where on the following day the
seventy-year-old priest Joseph and the deacon Aethalas were severely
beaten and thrown into jail with him. For three years the saints were
held in confinement, and suffered from hunger and thirst.
Emperor Sapor came to the temple of the god of fire, located not far
from Arbela, and wanted to take a look at the three holy martyrs.
Exhausted and covered with festering wounds, the saints were brought
before the emperor. When he asked them to worship the pagan gods they
firmly refused, confessing their faith in Christ instead.
The holy bishop was beheaded, but the presbyter and deacon were taken
into the city to be stoned.
The execution of the presbyter Joseph was prolonged for several hours.
A guard was placed near the place of execution, so that Christians
would not take the body of the holy martyr. On the fourth night a
strong windstorm raged near the city, lightning killed the guard, the
wind tossed stones about, and the body of St Joseph disappeared.
Deacon Aethalas was taken to the village of Patrias, where he was
stoned. Christians secretly buried his body. A tree grew on the
saint's grave, and its fruit brought healings.
_________________________________________________________________
Martyr Aethalas, the Deacon of Persia
Martyrs Akepsimas the Bishop, Joseph the Presbyter and Aethalas the
Deacon of Persia were leaders of the Christian Church in the Persian
city of Naesson. His flock devotedly loved their hierarch for his
ascetic life and tireless pastoral work.
The emperor Sapor ordered his men to seek out and kill Christian
clergy. St Akepsimas also was arrested, even though he was already an
eighty-year-old man. They took him to the city of Arbela, where he
came before the judge Ardarkh, a pagan priest of the sun god. The holy
Elder refused to offer sacrifice to the Persian gods. For this he was
fiercely beaten and thrown into prison, where on the following day the
seventy-year-old priest Joseph and the deacon Aethalas were severely
beaten and thrown into jail with him. For three years the saints were
held in confinement, and suffered from hunger and thirst.
Emperor Sapor came to the temple of the god of fire, located not far
from Arbela, and wanted to take a look at the three holy martyrs.
Exhausted and covered with festering wounds, the saints were brought
before the emperor. When he asked them to worship the pagan gods they
firmly refused, confessing their faith in Christ instead.
The holy bishop was beheaded, but the presbyter and deacon were taken
into the city to be stoned.
The execution of the presbyter Joseph was prolonged for several hours.
A guard was placed near the place of execution, so that Christians
would not take the body of the holy martyr. On the fourth night a
strong windstorm raged near the city, lightning killed the guard, the
wind tossed stones about, and the body of St Joseph disappeared.
Deacon Aethalas was taken to the village of Patrias, where he was
stoned. Christians secretly buried his body. A tree grew on the
saint's grave, and its fruit brought healings.
_________________________________________________________________
Dedication of the Church of the Greatmartyr George in Lydia
Pious Christians built a new church in honor of St George at Lydda
during the reign of St Constantine (305-337). When the church was
consecrated, the relics of the holy Great Martyr George (April 23)
were transferred there, and many miracles took place before them.
_________________________________________________________________
Martyr Atticus at Sebaste
No information available at this time.
_________________________________________________________________
Martyr Agapius at Sebaste
No information available at this time.
_________________________________________________________________
Martyr Eudoxius at Sebaste
No information available at this time.
_________________________________________________________________
Martyr Carterius at Sebaste
No information available at this time.
_________________________________________________________________
Martyr Istucarius (Styrax) at Sebaste
No information available at this time.
_________________________________________________________________
Martyr Pactobius (Tobias) at Sebaste
No information available at this time.
_________________________________________________________________
Martyr Nictopolion at Sebaste
No information available at this time.
_________________________________________________________________
Venerable Akepsimas the Hermit of Cyrrhus in Syria
Saint Akepsimas, Hermit of Cyrrhus in Syria lived for sixty years in
the desert, not far from Cairo. He devoted himself to fasting, silence
and prayer. At the command of the patriarch, he came out of solitude
and was consecrated a bishop. He died at a venerable old age.
_________________________________________________________________
St Snandulia of Persia
Saint Snandulia of Persia is mentioned in the account of the martyrdom
of Sts Joseph the priest and Aithalas the deacon. The historian
Sozomen also describes their sufferings in his CHURCH HISTORY (Book 2,
ch. 13).
Snandulia was a devout Christian of the city of Arbela who visited
those who suffered in prison for the sake of Christ. When she learned
that Sts Joseph and Aithalas were in the prison, she went with her
servants by night and bribed the guards with gold. They allowed her to
take the saints to her home until daybreak. They were barely alive and
unable to speak. She took them home and put them to bed, tending their
wounds, and kissing their shattered hands and feet.
St Joseph recovered consciousness and saw Snandulia weeping. He told
her that the compassion she had shown for him and for Aithalas was
pleasing to God, but he thought that her bitter lamentations were
contrary to Christian hope.
She replied, "When one is moved by compassion, it is natural to weep."
"Nevertheless," St Joseph said, "you should not weep for us, for
tortures born for the sake of Christ are followed by eternal joy."
The two saints were returned to prison the next morning, as promised.
After six months their wounds had healed to some extent. They could
stand and walk a little, but Aithalas's hands hung at his side limp
and useless.
Zerothus was appointed as a judge, and he entered the city offering
sacrifice to the gods in the various temples. Some of the priests told
him about Sts Joseph and Aithalas, who had been tortured on the orders
of Prince Ardasabor, the head of all the Magi of Persia. They
explained to Zerothus that their execution was being delayed until
they recovered from their wounds.
When he heard this, Zerothus ordered that the martyrs be brought
before him. He used flattery and then threats in an attempt to
persuade them to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. When this proved
unsuccessful, the judge had them beaten for a long time.
When they were brought before the judge again, Zerothus tried to get
the saints to eat food which had been offered to the idols, but they
refused. Then the judge had them beaten again, and ordered other
Christians to stone them. Soldiers went to the homes of the Christians
to force them to come to the judgment hall. They dug a hole and placed
St Joseph in it, then put stones in the hands of the Christians and
compelled them to stone him.
St Snandulia was among these Christians, but she refused to throw
stones at the aged priest. Then they gave her a lance and told her to
kill St Joseph. She said that she would rather drive the lance into
her own heart than to wound the saint with it.
St Joseph was eventually killed by all the stones that were thrown at
him, and the holy deacon Aithalas was also stoned in the same way.
St Snandulia stretched forth her arms to needful works and opened her
hands to the needy (Proverbs 31:19-20), but she refused to lift her
hands to do evil against St Joseph.
_________________________________________________________________
Venerable Pimen the Bulgarian of the Zographou Monastery on
Mt. Athos
No information available at this time.
_________________________________________________________________
Princess Anna Vsevolodna
The Holy Princess Anna Vsevolodna was daughter of the Kievan Great
Prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich (1078-1093) whose wife was daughter of the
Byzantine Emperor Constantine Monomachos. She did not wish to marry,
and as a virgin she took monastic tonsure in 1082 at the Andreiev
Yanchinov monastery built for her at Kiev, but later destroyed under
the Tatar invasion. The nun and princess Anna journeyed to
Constantinople, from which she returned in the company of the
newly-consecrated Metropolitan John the Eunuch. She died in the year
1112.
_________________________________________________________________
Venerable Nicholas, Radiant Star of the Georgians
Saint Nicholas was the author of many church services, but little else
about his life is known. He lived in the second half of the 13th
century, and the last years of his life coincided with the reign of
King Vakhtang III (1298, 13021308), the son of the holy king Demetre
the Devoted.
St. Nicholas was one of the greatest hymnographers and spiritual
figures of his time, but few of his works have been preserved.
Catholicos Anton I writes that Nicholas composed numerous canons and
services, including a Canon of Supplication for Rain. St. Nicholas
enriched the spiritual literature of Georgia with his translations as
well. Scholars and historians believe that, as the greatest liturgist
of his time, he was probably asked to translate many prayers and
services from Greek to Georgian.
Among them, they believe, was the Canon for the Blessing of Holy
Water.
The famous 19th-century historian Platon Ioseliani writes that other
church services belonging to the pen of St. Nicholas are included
among the manuscripts of the Iveron Monastery on Mt. Athos. St.
Nicholas reposed peacefully in the year 1308.
_________________________________________________________________