[Readingsandsaints] Readings and Saints

Sat Nov 17 05:00:12 CST 2007

Scripture Readings and Saints for Sat Nov 17 2007

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

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

Galatians 1:3-10
3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus
Christ,
4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this
present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
5 to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you
in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,
7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to
pervert the gospel of Christ.
8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to
you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any
other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For
if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
Scripture Reading 1 of 2

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

Luke 9:57-62
57 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to
Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."
58 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have
nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."
59 Then He said to another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, let me
first go and bury my father."
60 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go
and preach the kingdom of God."
61 And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first
go and bid them farewell who are at my house."
62 But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow,
and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."
Scripture Reading 2 of 2

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

St Gregory the Wonderworker of Neocaesarea
Saint Gregory the Wonderworker, Bishop of Neocaesarea, was born in the
city of Neocaesarea (northern Asia Minor) into a pagan family. Having
received a fine education, from his youth he strived for Truth, but
the thinkers of antiquity were not able to quench his thirst for
knowledge. Truth was revealed to him only in the Holy Gospel, and the
youth became a Christian.
For the continuation of his studies St Gregory went to Alexandria,
known then as a center for pagan and Christian learning. The youth,
eager for knowledge, went to the Alexandrian Catechetical School,
where the presbyter Origen taught. Origen was a famous teacher,
possessing a great strength of mind and profound knowledge. St Gregory
became a student of Origen. Afterwards, the saint wrote about his
mentor: "This man received from God a sublime gift, to be an
interpreter of the Word of God for people, to apprehend the Word of
God, as God Himself did use it, and to explain it to people, insofar
as they were able to understand it." St Gregory studied for eight
years with Origen, and was baptized by him.
The ascetic life of St Gregory, his continence, purity and lack of
covetousness aroused envy among his conceited and sin-loving peers,
pagans that they were, and they decided to slander St Gregory. Once,
when he was conversing with philosophers and teachers in the city
square, a notorious harlot came up to him and demanded payment for the
sin he had supposedly committed with her. At first St Gregory gently
remonstrated with her, saying that she perhaps mistook him for someone
else. But the profligate woman would not be quieted. He then asked a
friend to give her the money. Just as the woman took the unjust
payment, she immediately fell to the ground in a demonic fit, and the
fraud became evident. St Gregory said a prayer over her, and the devil
left her. This was the beginning of St Gregory's miracles.
Having returned to Neocaesarea, the saint fled from the worldly
affairs into which influential townsmen persistently sought to push
him. He went into the desert, where by fasting and prayer he attained
to high spiritual accomplishment and the gifts of clairvoyance and
prophecy. St Gregory loved life in the wilderness and wanted to remain
in solitude until the end of his days, but the Lord willed otherwise.
The bishop of the Cappadocian city of Amasea, Thedimos, having learned
of St Gregory's ascetic life, decided to have him made Bishop of
Neocaesarea. But having foreseen in spirit the intent of Bishop
Thedimos, the saint hid himself from the messengers of the bishop who
were entrusted to find him. Then Bishop Thedimos ordained the absent
saint as Bishop of Neocaesarea, beseeching the Lord that He Himself
would sanctify the unusual ordination. St Gregory perceived the
extraordinary event as a manifestation of the will of God and he did
not dare to protest. This episode in the life of St Gregory was
recorded by St Gregory of Nyssa (January 10). He relates that St
Gregory of Neocaesarea received the episcopal dignity only after
Bishop Thedimos of Amasea performed all the canonical rites over him.
During this time, the heresy of Sabellius and Paul of Samosata began
to spread. They taught falsely concerning the Holy Trinity. St Gregory
prayed fervently and diligently imploring God and His most pure Mother
to reveal to him the true faith. The All-Holy Virgin Mary appeared to
him, radiant like the sun, and with Her was the Apostle John the
Theologian dressed in archepiscopal vestments.
By the command of the Mother of God, the Apostle John taught the saint
how to correctly and properly confess the Mystery of the Most Holy
Trinity. St Gregory wrote down everything that St John the Theologian
revealed to him. The Mystery of the Symbol of the Faith, written down
by St Gregory of Neocaesarea, is a great divine revelation in the
history of the Church. The teaching about the Holy Trinity in Orthodox
Theology is based on it. Subsequently it was used by the holy Fathers
of the Church: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and Gregory of
Nyssa. The Symbol of St Gregory of Neocaesarea was later examined and
affirmed in the year 325 by the First Ecumenical Council, showing his
enduring significance for Orthodoxy.
Having become a bishop, St Gregory set off to Neocaesarea. Along the
way from Amasea he expelled devils from a pagan temple, the priest of
which he converted to Christ. The convert was witness to still another
miracle of the saint, at his word a large stone shifted from its
place.
The preaching of the saint was direct, lively and fruitful. He taught
and worked miracles in the name of Christ: he healed the sick, he
helped the needy, he settled quarrels and complaints. Two brothers
sharing an inheritance were not able to agree over the property of
their dead father. There was a large lake over which they argued, for
each of the brothers wanted the lake for himself. They both gathered
their friends together, and were ready to come to blows. St Gregory
persuaded them to delay their fight until the following day, and he
himself prayed all night long at the shore of the lake which sparked
the quarrel. When dawn broke, everyone saw that the lake had dried up
or gone underground. Through the intense prayer of the saint, now
there was only a stream, and its course defined the boundary line.
Another time, during the construction of a church, he commanded a hill
to move and make room at the place of the foundation.
When a persecution against Christians began under the emperor Decius
(249-251), St Gregory led his flock to a faraway mountain. A certain
pagan, knowing about the hiding place of the Christians, informed the
persecutors. Soldiers surrounded the mountain. The saint went out into
an open place, raised up his hands to heaven and ordered to his deacon
to do the same. The soldiers searched the whole mountain, and they
went several times right past those praying, but not seeing them, they
gave up and went away. In the city they reported that there was
nowhere to hide on the mountain: no one was there, and only two trees
stood beside each other. The informer was struck with amazement, he
repented of his ways and became a fervent Christian.
St Gregory returned to Neocaesarea after the end of the persecution.
By his blessing church Feasts were established in honor of the martyrs
who had suffered for Christ.
By his saintly life, his effective preaching, working of miracles and
graced guiding of his flock, the saint steadily increased the number
of converts to Christ. When St Gregory first ascended his cathedra,
there were only seventeen Christians in Neocaesarea. At his death,
only seventeen pagans remained in the city.
_________________________________________________________________
Venerable Nikon the Abbot of Radonezh the Disciple of the
Venerable Sergius
Saint Nikon, Abbot of Radonezh, a disciple and successor of St Sergius
of Radonezh (September 25 and July 5), was born at Yuriev-Polsk.
Having heard of the angelic life of the Radonezh Wonderworker, the
young man came to St Sergius and requested to be tonsured into the
angelic schema.
St Sergius did not accept Nikon, whether because of his youth or for
some other reason. Instead, he sent him to his disciple St Athanasius
(September 12) at Serpukhov. But St Athanasius would not accept him
right away. Only after seeing the young man's persistence did he
tonsure him into the monastic schema.
St Nikon struggled in prayer, studied Holy Scripture and persevered in
virtue and purity. Because of his humility and the way he fulfilled
each task assigned him without argument, St Nikon was called a "zealot
of obedience." When he reached the age of thirty, he was ordained to
the priesthood. After a certain while, St Athanasius blessed him to go
see St Sergius. St Sergius, catching sight of him, said, "It is good
that you have come, my child Nikon," and happily received him.
At first, he gave orders for St Nikon to serve the brethren. The
disciple passed whole days in monastic matters, and his nights in
prayerful conversation with God. St Sergius was comforted by his
virtuous life. Having received a special insight concerning him, St
Sergius bade his disciple to dwell with him in his own cell, so that
he might share in spiritual attainment. He instructed him in every
monastic virtue, and explained much about the essence of spiritual
life. St Sergius assigned St Nikon to the duty of assisting him, but
six months before his repose, he appointed his disciple as his
successor. Then St Sergius withdrew into seclusion.
After the death of St Sergius (September 25, 1392), Nikon carried out
his duties exactly as he was instructed by the founder of the
monastery. He had the habit of attending all the monastic services,
and never did he forsake common tasks, working on a equal footing with
all the brethren. But the burden of being the igumen of the monastery
weighed upon St Nikon. Recalling his quiet life in the Serpukhov
Vysotsk monastery with St Athanasius, and later with St Sergius, he
gave up his position and retired to his own cell.
For six years the monastery was guided by St Sava of Storozhevsk
(December 3). In the year 1400 St Sava founded his own monastery near
Zvenigorod, and the brethren entreated St Nikon to again take over its
direction. He consented, but allotted himself a certain time each day
for silence, so as to stand alone before God.
When reports began to spread about an invasion of the Russian land by
Khan Edigei (1408), St Nikon zealously prayed to God to spare the
monastery. In a dream the Moscow hierarchs Peter (December 21) and
Alexis (February 12) together with St Sergius appeared to him and said
that he should not grieve over the destruction of the monastery, since
it would not become desolate, but would flourish all the more.
The monks left the monastery, taking with them relics, books, and
consecrated vessels. When they returned, they saw that their beloved
place had been reduced to ashes. But St Nikon did not despair, and the
brethren began to restore the monastery. First of all a wooden church
was built in honor of the Most Holy Trinity. It was consecrated on
September 25, 1411, the anniversary of the repose of St Sergius.
The monastery was restored, and St Nikon began construction of a stone
church over the grave of his spiritual Father, St Sergius. The work
crew digging the foundations uncovered the incorrupt relics of St
Sergius on July 5, 1422. Amidst universal rejoicing they placed the
relics in a new reliquary and at the new site a wooden church was
built (now the church in honor of the Descent of the Holy Spirit is at
this place). St Nikon later built a new stone church in the Name of
the Most Holy Trinity. In honor and memory of his spiritual Father, he
transferred the holy relics into this newly built church.
St Nikon brought in the finest iconographers, Sts Andrew Rublev (July
4) and Daniel Cherny (June 13) for the adornment of the temple. Then
St Andrew painted the Icon of the Most Holy Trinity (Hospitality of
Abraham), embodying what was revealed to St Sergius. St Nikon was
occupied with the construction of the Trinity church until the end of
his life.
St Nikon's final resting place was revealed to him in a vision before
his death. He summoned the brethren and gave them instructions. After
receiving the All-Pure Body of Christ and His Precious Blood, St Nikon
gave the brethren a last blessing and said, "Go forth, my soul, with
joy to the place where repose is prepared for you. Christ is calling
you."
Having made the Sign of the Cross, St Nikon died on November 27, 1426.
He was buried near the reliquary of St Sergius. Under the hierarch
Jonah (1448-1461), the hieromonk Pachomius the Logothete wrote the
Service and Life of St Nikon. In the year 1547 a generally observed
celebration to him was established. In the year 1548 a church named
for him was built over the grave of St Nikon. In 1623 a new one was
constructed in its place, in which the relics of St Nikon rest in a
crypt. The 500 year anniversary of the repose of St Nikon was solemnly
observed in 1976 at the Trinity-Sergeev Lavra.
_________________________________________________________________
Venerable Lazarus the Iconographer, of Constantinople
Saint Lazarus the Iconographer lived in Constantinople. He was a
priest, led a strict ascetic life and painted holy icons. He fought
against all heresy, enduring many afflictions from the Nestorians,
Eutychians, and iconoclasts. Under the iconoclast emperor Theophilus
(829-842), he was arrested and after cruel tortures, thrown into
prison. Theophilus ordered horseshoes to be placed in a fire until
they glowed red with the heat. Then they were put upon the
iconographer's hands, because he dared to paint icons of Christ and
the saints. He was saved from execution by the intervention of the
empress Theodora.
St Lazarus died in the year 857 while returning from Rome, where he
had been sent in a delegation on church matters to Pope Benedict III
(855-858). His remains were taken to Constantinople and buried in the
church of St Evandrus.
_________________________________________________________________
Martyr Michael (Gobron) of Georgia
In the year 914 a certain prince by the name of Michael-Gobron
distinguished himself in a battle against the Arab Muslim invaders.
After they had captured the fortress of Kvelistsikhe in southern
Georgia, the Muslims took captive those who remained alive, and Prince
Gobron was among them. Deeply impressed by the Georgian soldiers
valor, the emir Abu al-Qasim ordered his army to treat him with
respect.
King Adarnerse sent Abu al-Qasim a large sum of money as a ransom for
his people, and some were released. Gobron, however, was not among
them. The Georgian prince recognized clearly what the future would
bring, and he prepared to be martyred for Christs sake. The Saracens
escorted Gobron and 133 Georgian soldiers to their execution.
Abu al-Qasim tempted the faithful prince by offering him earthly glory
and honor in exchange for his renunciation of the Christian Faith. But
St. Gobron firmly declined all of his offers. Then the furious Abu
al-Qasim ordered that he be taken into the yard and shown his fallen
countrymen on one side and the promised wealth on the other.
When the emir cunningly asked which one he would choose, Gobron
answered, I told you from the very start that I will not retreat from
Christ my Lord!
Then the emir devised a new, more cruel trial: He knows not the grief
of death. Lead him outside and execute every living Christian before
his eyes! he commanded.
They led the saint out in the midst of his brothers and proceeded to
slaughter every one of them. The blood of the dead flew around Gobron
in every direction, and the martyrs limp bodies collapsed at his feet,
but none of these horrors could break his will.
Then they compelled him to bow his head and brandished their swords
above him two times. Prince Gobron traced a cross on his brow with
blood and said, I thank Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, that Thou hast
accounted me, the most contemptible and chief among sinners, worthy to
lay down my life for Thy sake!
Again they brought St. Gobron before the emir. For the last time Abu
al-Qasim tried to entice him to apostatize, but the saint, dripping
with blood, declared, Do as you wish. I am a Christian and will never
retreat from the name of my Christ!
Having lost all patience, Abu al-Qasim ordered that St. Gobrons head
be chopped off and thrown in with the other mutilated bodies. Then
they dug three large holes, tossed in the relics of the martyrs,
refilled the holes with earth, and forbade all Christians to approach
that place. At night the graves shone with a divine light visible to
believers and unbelievers alike.
For laying down their lives for Christ, the valorous prince
Michael-Gobron and the 133 martyrs were numbered among the saints by
the Georgian Apostolic Church. The day of their commemoration was
designated as November 17, the day of their martyrdom.
_________________________________________________________________
Martyred 133 Soldiers with the Great-martyr Michael (Gobron)
of Georgia
In the year 914 a certain prince by the name of Michael-Gobron
distinguished himself in a battle against the Arab Muslim invaders.
After they had captured the fortress of Kvelistsikhe in southern
Georgia, the Muslims took captive those who remained alive, and Prince
Gobron was among them. Deeply impressed by the Georgian soldiers
valor, the emir Abu al-Qasim ordered his army to treat him with
respect.
King Adarnerse sent Abu al-Qasim a large sum of money as a ransom for
his people, and some were released. Gobron, however, was not among
them. The Georgian prince recognized clearly what the future would
bring, and he prepared to be martyred for Christs sake. The Saracens
escorted Gobron and 133 Georgian soldiers to their execution.
Abu al-Qasim tempted the faithful prince by offering him earthly glory
and honor in exchange for his renunciation of the Christian Faith. But
St. Gobron firmly declined all of his offers. Then the furious Abu
al-Qasim ordered that he be taken into the yard and shown his fallen
countrymen on one side and the promised wealth on the other.
When the emir cunningly asked which one he would choose, Gobron
answered, I told you from the very start that I will not retreat from
Christ my Lord!
Then the emir devised a new, more cruel trial: He knows not the grief
of death. Lead him outside and execute every living Christian before
his eyes! he commanded.
They led the saint out in the midst of his brothers and proceeded to
slaughter every one of them. The blood of the dead flew around Gobron
in every direction, and the martyrs limp bodies collapsed at his feet,
but none of these horrors could break his will.
Then they compelled him to bow his head and brandished their swords
above him two times. Prince Gobron traced a cross on his brow with
blood and said, I thank Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, that Thou hast
accounted me, the most contemptible and chief among sinners, worthy to
lay down my life for Thy sake!
Again they brought St. Gobron before the emir. For the last time Abu
al-Qasim tried to entice him to apostatize, but the saint, dripping
with blood, declared, Do as you wish. I am a Christian and will never
retreat from the name of my Christ!
Having lost all patience, Abu al-Qasim ordered that St. Gobrons head
be chopped off and thrown in with the other mutilated bodies. Then
they dug three large holes, tossed in the relics of the martyrs,
refilled the holes with earth, and forbade all Christians to approach
that place. At night the graves shone with a divine light visible to
believers and unbelievers alike.
For laying down their lives for Christ, the valorous prince
Michael-Gobron and the 133 martyrs were numbered among the saints by
the Georgian Apostolic Church. The day of their commemoration was
designated as November 17, the day of their martyrdom.
_________________________________________________________________
Venerable Gennadius of Vatopedi, Mt Athos
Saint Gennadius was the steward of the Vatopedi monastery on Mt Athos
in the fourteenth century, and was in charge of supplies. When the
monastery's oil began to run low, he tried to be economical with what
remained by using oil just for the needs of the church. The cook began
to complain to the Igumen, saying that he had no oil for preparing
meals. The Igumen ordered St Gennadius to place his trust in the
Mother of God, and to supply the oil for all the monastery's needs.
One day, St Gennadius went to the storeroom and saw the tank
overflowing with oil covering the floor as far as the door. This
miracle was ascribed to the Most Holy Theotokos, and to Her
Elaiovrytissa icon which stood nearby. Since that time, the icon has
hung in the storeroom and has emitted an ineffable fragrance.
The Elaiovrytissa ("Flowing with oil") Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos
is commemorated on Bright Friday.
_________________________________________________________________