[Readingsandsaints] Readings and Saints

Tue Nov 6 05:00:12 CST 2007

Scripture Readings and Saints for Tue Nov 6 2007

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1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
9 For what thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy with
which we rejoice for your sake before our God,
10 night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and
perfect what is lacking in your faith?
11 Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ,
direct our way to you.
12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one
another and to all, just as we do to you,
13 so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before
our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His
saints.
Scripture Reading 1 of 2

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Luke 12:42-48
42 And the Lord said, "Who then is that faithful and wise steward,
whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their
portion of food in due season?
43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he
comes.
44 Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he
has.
45 But if that servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his
coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat
and drink and be drunk,
46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not
looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him
in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
47 And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare
himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many
stripes.
48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes,
shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him
much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him
they will ask the more.
Scripture Reading 2 of 2

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St Paul the Confessor the Archbishop of Constantinople
Saint Paul the Confessor, Archbishop of Constantinople, was chosen to
the patriarchal throne after the death of Patriarch Alexander (+ 340),
when the Arian heresy had again flared up. Many of the Arians were
present at the Council which selected the new Archbishop of
Constantinople. They revolted in opposition to the choice of St Paul,
but the Orthodox at the Council were in the majority.
The emperor Constantius, ruling over the Eastern half of the Roman
Empire, was an Arian. He was not in Constantinople for the election of
the Archbishop, and so it took place without his consent. Upon his
return, he convened a council which illegally deposed St Paul, and the
emperor banished him from the capital. In place of the saint they
elevated Eusebius of Nicomedia, an impious heretic. Archbishop Paul
withdrew to Rome, where other Orthodox bishops were also banished by
Eusebius.
Eusebius did not rule the Church of Constantinople for long. When he
died, St Paul returned to Constantinople, and was greeted by his flock
with love. But Constantius exiled the saint a second time, and so he
returned to Rome. The Western emperor Constans wrote a harsh letter to
his Eastern co-ruler, which he sent to Constantinople along with the
holy exiled archpastor. The threats worked, and St Paul was reinstated
upon the archepiscopal throne.
But soon the pious emperor Constans, a defender of the Orthodox, was
treacherously murdered during a palace coup. They again banished St
Paul from Constantinople and this time sent him off in exile to
Armenia, to the city of Cucusus, where he endured a martyr's death.
When the Archbishop was celebrating the Divine Liturgy, Arians rushed
upon him by force and strangled him with his own omophorion. This
occurred in the year 350. In 381, the holy Emperor Theodosius the
Great solemnly transferred the relics of St Paul the Confessor from
Cucusus to Constantinople. In 1326, the relics of St Paul were
transferred to Venice.
St Athanasius the Great, a contemporary of St Paul, writes briefly
about his exiles, "St Paul the first time was sent by Constantine to
Pontus, the second time he was fettered with chains by Constantius,
and then he was locked up in Mesopotamian Syngara and from there moved
to Emesus, and the fourth time to Cappadocian Cucusus in the Taurian
wilderness."
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Venerable Barlaam the Abbot of Khutyn, Novgorod
Saint Barlaam, Abbot of Khutyn lived in the twelfth century, the son
of an illustrious citizen of Novgorod, where he spent his childhood
years. Withdrawing at an early age to the Lisich monastery near the
city, St Barlaam was tonsured there. Later he settled on a solitary
hill below Volkhov, in a place called Khutyn, ten versts from
Novgorod.
St Barlaam led a strict solitary life, occupying himself with
unceasing prayer and keeping a very strict fast. He was a zealous
ascetic in his labors: he cut timber in the forest, chopped firewood
and tilled the soil, fulfilling the words of Holy Scripture, "If
anyone will not work, neither shall he eat" (2 Thess. 3: 10).
Certain inhabitants of Novgorod gathered around him, wanting to share
in monastic works and deeds. Instructing those who came, St Barlaam
said, "My children, beware of all unrighteousness, and do not give in
to envy or slander. Refrain from anger, and do not practice usury.
Beware of unjust judgment. Do not swear an oath falsely, but rather
fulfill it. Do not indulge the bodily appetites. Always be meek and
bear all things with love. This virtue is the beginning and root of
all good."
Soon a church was built in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord,
and a monastery founded. Because of his service to others, the Lord
granted St Barlaam the gifts of wonderworking and discernment.
When St Barlaam's life was drawing to a close, the hieromonk Anthony
came from Constantinople by divine Providence. He was of the same age
and a friend of St Barlaam. The saint turned to him and said, "My
beloved brother! God's blessings rest upon this monastery. Now I leave
this monastery in your hands. Watch over it and care for it. Although
in the flesh I am leaving you, I shall always be with you in spirit."
After instructing the brethren, commanding them to preserve the
Orthodox Faith and to dwell constantly in humility, St Barlaam fell
asleep in the Lord on November 6, 1192.
In Slavonic practice, St Barlaam is commemorated during the
Proskomedia along with the venerable and God-bearing Fathers who shone
forth in asceticism (sixth particle).
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Venerable Luke the Steward of the Kiev Near Caves
No information available at this time.
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St Herman the Archbishop of Kazan
Saint Herman, Archbishop of Kazan, lived during the sixteenth century.
He was born in the city of Staritsa, and was descended from the old
boyar nobility of the Polevi. In his youth Gregory (his baptismal
name) was tonsured at the Joseph-Volokolamsk monastery under Igumen
Gurias, who later became Archbishop of Kazan (December 5). (St Gurias
was head of the monastery from 1542 to 1551).
At the monastery St Herman occupied himself with copying books, and he
was a close friend of St Maximus the Greek (January 21), who was
living there in confinement. In 1551 the brethren of the Staritsa
Dormition monastery, seeing his piety, chose him as their
archimandrite.
Taking up the governance of this monastery with a pastoral zeal, St
Herman concerned himself with its internal and external order, for he
himself was a model of humility and meekness. He exhorted all to
observe their monastic commitment strictly, and he introduced into his
monastery the Rule of St Joseph of Volokolamsk (October 18).
But after two and a half years Archimandrite Herman left the Staritsa
monastery, leaving its direction to the hieromonk Job (June 19), who
afterwards was to become the first Patriarch of Moscow, and was an
ascetic and sufferer for the Russian Land.
St Herman's love for solitary struggles brought him to return to his
original Volokolamsk monastery, where he strove toward salvation as a
simple monk. However, when the new heretic Matthew Bashkin (who
refused to acknowledge the Holy Mysteries and denied faith in the Holy
Trinity) appeared at Moscow, St Herman and his own father (who had
received tonsure at the Volokolamsk monastery with the name
Philotheus) were summoned to the Moscow Council of 1553. The Council
censured the heretic Bashkin and resolved to send him for correction
to St Herman at the Volokolamsk monastery, since St Herman was known
for his holy life and zeal for the faith in Christ.
In 1555, after the taking of Kazan, an archepiscopal See was
established there. St Gurias, the former igumen of Volokolamsk
monastery, was chosen as archbishop. He was entrusted with building
the Dormition monastery in the city of Sviyazhsk for missionary
purposes. By decree of St Gurias, St Herman was appointed as head of
this new monastery in Sviyazhsk. A stone cathedral was built with a
belltower and monastic cells. The igumen of monastery he lived very
frugally in a cramped cell beneath the cathedral belltower. St Herman
particularly concerned himself with acquiring a library for the
monastery.
Soon his monastery became famous for its good works, and it became a
center of enlightenment for the Kazan region.
On March 12, 1564, after the repose of St Gurias, St Herman was
consecrated Bishop of Kazan. The short duration of his tenure there
was marked nonetheless by his efforts to build churches and to
enlighten the people of the region with the light of Christ.
In 1566, Ivan the Terrible summoned St Herman to Moscow and ordered
that he be elected to the Metropolitan cathedra. At first, St Herman
refused to have this burden imposed upon him. The Tsar would not
tolerate any objection, however, and the saint was obliged to settle
into the Metropolitan's quarters until his elevation to the position
of Metropolitan.
Seeing injustice among those of the Tsar's inner circle, St Herman,
true to his pastoral duty, attempted to admonish the Tsar. "You are
not yet elevated to Metropolitan, and already you place constraints
upon my freedom," the Tsar told him through his aides. He ordered St
Herman expelled from the Metropolitan's quarters and that he be kept
under surveillance.
The saint lived in disgrace for about two years, and died on November
6, 1567. They buried him in the church of St Nicholas the Hospitable.
In 1595, at the request of the inhabitants of Sviyazhsk, the relics of
the saint were transferred from Moscow to the Sviyazhsk Dormition
monastery. St Hermogenes, then Metropolitan of Kazan, visited his
grave.
St Herman is also commemorated on September 25 (first translation of
his relics in 1595) and June 23 (second translation of his relics in
1714).
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Venerable Barlaam of Keret Lake
No information available at this time.
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Martyr Tecusa of Ancyra
No information available at this time.
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Martyr Alexandra of Ancyra
No information available at this time.
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Martyr Claudia of Ancyra
No information available at this time.
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Martyr Matrona of Ancyra
No information available at this time.
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Martyr Polactia of Ancyra
No information available at this time.
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Martyr Euphrosyne of Ancyra
No information available at this time.
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Martyr Athanasia of Ancyra
No information available at this time.
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Venerable Luke of Sicily
Saint Luke of Sicily was a native of the Sicilian city of Tauromenium.
In his youth he left his parents and fiancée and went into the
wilderness, where he spent many years in fasting and prayer. He lived
the ascetic life at Mount Aetna.
Towards the end of his life St Luke, because of a revelation to him,
founded a monastery. In order to become familiar with the rule and
life of other monasteries, he visited many other cities. He died at
Corinth in 820.
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