[Readingsandsaints] Readings and Saints

Tue Oct 16 05:00:13 CDT 2007

Scripture Readings and Saints for Tue Oct 16 2007

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Colossians 1:1-2, 7-11
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our
brother,
2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a
faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,
8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to
pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of
His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being
fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for
all patience and longsuffering with joy;
Scripture Reading 1 of 2

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Luke 9:23-27
23 Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let
him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever
loses his life for My sake will save it.
25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is
himself destroyed or lost?
26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man
will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's,
and of the holy angels.
27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not
taste death till they see the kingdom of God.
Scripture Reading 2 of 2

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Martyr Longinus the Centurion, who stood at the Cross of the
Lord
The Holy Martyr Longinus the Centurion, a Roman soldier, served in
Judea under the command of the Governor, Pontius Pilate. When our
Savior Jesus Christ was crucified, it was the detachment of soldiers
under the command of Longinus which stood watch on Golgotha, at the
very foot of the holy Cross. Longinus and his soldiers were
eyewitnesses of the final moments of the earthly life of the Lord, and
of the great and awesome portents that appeared at His death. These
events shook the centurion's soul. Longinus believed in Christ and
confessed before everyone, "Truly this was the Son of God" (Mt.
27:54).
According to Church Tradition, Longinus was the soldier who pierced
the side of the Crucified Savior with a spear, and received healing
from an eye affliction when blood and water poured forth from the
wound.
After the Crucifixion and Burial of the Savior, Longinus stood watch
with his company at the Sepulchre of the Lord. These soldiers were
present at the All-Radiant Resurrection of Christ. The Jews bribed
them to lie and say that His disciples had stolen away the Body of
Christ, but Longinus and two of his comrades refused to be seduced by
the Jewish gold. They also refused to remain silent about the miracle
of the Resurrection.
Having come to believe in the Savior, the soldiers received Baptism
from the apostles and decided to leave military service. St Longinus
left Judea to preach about Jesus Christ the Son of God in his native
land (Cappadocia), and his two comrades followed him.
The fiery words of those who had actually participated in the great
events in Judea swayed the hearts and minds of the Cappadocians;
Christianity began quickly to spread throughout the city and the
surrounding villages. When they learned of this, the Jewish elders
persuaded Pilate to send a company of soldiers to Cappadocia to kill
Longinus and his comrades. When the soldiers arrived at Longinus's
village, the former centurion himself came out to meet the soldiers
and took them to his home. After a meal, the soldiers revealed the
purpose of their visit, not knowing that the master of the house was
the very man whom they were seeking. Then Longinus and his friends
identified themselves and told the startled soldiers to carry out
their duty.
The soldiers wanted to let the saints go and advised them to flee, but
they refused to do this, showing their firm intention to suffer for
Christ. The holy martyrs were beheaded, and their bodies were buried
at the place where the saints were martyred. The head of St Longinus,
however, was sent to Pilate.
Pilate gave orders to cast the martyr's head on a trash-heap outside
the city walls. After a while a certain blind widow from Cappadocia
arrived in Jerusalem with her son to pray at the holy places, and to
ask that her sight be restored. After becoming blind, she had sought
the help of physicians to cure her, but all their efforts were in
vain.
The woman's son became ill shortly after reaching Jerusalem, and he
died a few days later. The widow grieved for the loss of her son, who
had served as her guide.
St Longinus appeared to her in a dream and comforted her. He told her
that she would see her son in heavenly glory, and also receive her
sight. He told her to go outside the city walls and there she would
find his head in a great pile of refuse. Guides led the blind woman to
the rubbish heap, and she began to dig with her hands. As soon as she
touched the martyr's head, the woman received her sight, and she
glorified God and St Longinus.
Taking up the head, she brought it to the place she was staying and
washed it. The next night, St Longinus appeared to her again, this
time with her son. They were surrounded by a bright light, and St
Longinus said, Woman, behold the son for whom you grieve. See what
glory and honor are his now, and be consoled. God has numbered him
with those in His heavenly Kingdom. Now take my head and your son's
body, and bury them in the same casket. Do not weep for your son, for
he will rejoice forever in great glory and happiness."
The woman carried out the saint's instructions and returned to her
home in Cappadocia. There she buried her son and the head of St
Longinus. Once, she had been overcome by grief for her son, but her
weeping was transformed into joy when she saw him with St Longinus.
She had sought healing for her eyes, and also received healing of her
soul.
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Venerable Longinus the Gatekeeper of the Kiev Caves
Saint Longinus, the Gate-Keeper of the Kiev Caves, Far Caves, made his
monastic obedience at the Kiev Caves monastery. His prayerful fervor
and humble love for work were rewarded by the Lord. The venerable
gatesman was granted the gift of discernment. He encouraged the people
who came to the Lavra with good intent, but he denounced those
inclined to wickedness and urged them to repentance. He was buried in
the Far Caves.
St Longinus is also commemorated on August 28 and on the second Sunday
of Great Lent.
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Venerable Longinus of Yarenga
St Longinus, the wonderworker of Yarenga, is also commemorated on July
3.
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Martyr Longinus of Asistavi
No information available at this time.
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St Eupraxia, Princess of Pskov
Saint Eupraxia, Princess of Pskov, in the world Euphrosyne, was the
daughter of the Polotsk prince Rogvolod Borisovich, and an aunt to the
holy Prince Dovmont-Timothy (May 20). She was the wife of the Pskov
prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich. Prince Yaroslav fled from Pskov to
Livonia and there married a German. Together with the Teutonic knights
he made incursions several times upon the Russian lands, and in 1231
he seized Izborsk. After the departure of her husband, Euphrosyne
turned to deeds of piety. In the year 1243, she built a monastery on
the banks of the River Velika named for St John the Forerunner, and
became its abbess.
Invited to Livonia for a meeting with her former husband in the city
of Odenpa (Bear's Head), she was murdered (May 8, 1243) by a stepson,
more accurately, the son of Yaroslav by his German wife. She was
buried at the cathedral of the monastery she founded. Ten days after
the death of St Eupraxia, a miracle occurred over her grave, when
myrrh issued from an icon of the Savior. The icon was called "The
myrrh-bearing Savior". The countenance of the righteous princess was
preserved on two icons. On the one she is depicted at prayer with St
John the Forerunner and the holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called. The
other icon with her likeness is beside the wonderworking icon of the
Savior.
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