[Readingsandsaints] Readings and Saints

Thu Oct 18 05:00:21 CDT 2007

Scripture Readings and Saints for Thu Oct 18 2007

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1 John 1:1-7  (Vespers, 1st Reading)
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we
have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have
handled, concerning the Word of life-
2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and
declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was
manifested to us-
3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also
may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the
Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.
5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you,
that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we
lie and do not practice the truth.
7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son
cleanses us from all sin.
Scripture Reading 1 of 6

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James 1:1-12  (Vespers, 2nd Reading)
1 James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the
twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.
2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and
complete, lacking nothing.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all
liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is
like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the
Lord;
8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
9 Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation,
10 but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field
he will pass away.
11 For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers
the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So
the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.
12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been
approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has
promised to those who love Him.
Scripture Reading 2 of 6

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Jude 1:1-7; 17-25  (Vespers, 3rd Reading)
1 Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those
who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus
Christ:
2 Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our
common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you
to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to
the saints.
4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked
out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God
into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.
5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord,
having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed
those who did not believe.
6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their
own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for
the judgment of the great day;
7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar
manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and
gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the
vengeance of eternal fire.
17 But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by
the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ:
18 how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who
would walk according to their own ungodly lusts.
19 These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the
Spirit.
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith,
praying in the Holy Spirit,
21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our
Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
22 And on some have compassion, making a distinction;
23 but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating
even the garment defiled by the flesh.
24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present
you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
25 To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.
Scripture Reading 3 of 6

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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 6

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Colossians 4:5-9,14,18  (Apostle)
5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you
may know how you ought to answer each one.
7 Tychicus, a beloved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant
in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me.
8 I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your
circumstances and comfort your hearts,
9 with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you.
They will make known to you all things which are happening here.
14 Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you.
18 This salutation by my own hand-Paul. Remember my chains. Grace be
with you. Amen.
Scripture Reading 5 of 6

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Luke 10:16-21  (Apostle)
16 He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he
who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.
17 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons
are subject to us in Your name."
18 And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and
scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by
any means hurt you.
20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject
to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.
21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You,
Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things
from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in Your sight.
Scripture Reading 6 of 6

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Apostle and Evangelist Luke
The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, was a native of Syrian Antioch,
a companion of the holy Apostle Paul (Phil.1:24, 2 Tim. 4:10-11), and
a physician enlightened in the Greek medical arts. Hearing about
Christ, Luke arrived in Palestine and fervently accepted the preaching
of salvation from the Lord Himself. As one of the Seventy Apostles, St
Luke was sent by the Lord with the others to preach the Kingdom of
Heaven during the Savior's earthly life (Luke 10:1-3). After the
Resurrection, the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to Sts Luke and Cleopas
on the road to Emmaus.
Luke accompanied St Paul on his second missionary journey, and from
that time they were inseparable. When Paul's coworkers had forsaken
him, only Luke remained to assist him in his ministry (2 Tim.
4:10-11). After the martyric death of the First-Ranked Apostles Peter
and Paul, St Luke left Rome to preach in Achaia, Libya, Egypt and the
Thebaid. He ended his life by suffering martyrdom in the city of
Thebes.
Tradition credits St Luke with painting the first icons of the Mother
of God. "Let the grace of Him Who was born of Me and My mercy be with
these Icons," said the All-Pure Virgin after seeing the icons. St Luke
also painted icons of the First-Ranked Apostles Peter and Paul. St
Luke's Gospel was written in the years 62-63 at Rome, under the
guidance of the Apostle Paul. In the preliminary verses (1:1-3), St
Luke precisely sets forth the purpose of his work. He proposes to
record, in chronological order, everything known by Christians about
Jesus Christ and His teachings. By doing this, he provided a firmer
historical basis for Christian teaching (1:4). He carefully
investigated the facts, and made generous use of the oral tradition of
the Church and of what the All-Pure Virgin Mary Herself had told him
(2:19, 51).
In St Luke's Gospel, the message of the salvation made possible by the
Lord Jesus Christ, and the preaching of the Gospel, are of primary
importance.
St Luke also wrote the Acts of the Holy Apostles at Rome around 62-63
A.D. The Book of Acts, which is a continuation of the four Gospels,
speaks about the works and the fruits of the holy Apostles after the
Ascension of the Savior. At the center of the narrative is the Council
of the holy Apostles at Jerusalem in the year 51, a Church event of
great significance, which resulted in the separation of Christianity
from Judaism and its independent dissemination into the world (Acts
15:6-29). The theological focus of the Book of Acts is the coming of
the Holy Spirit, Who will guide the Church "into all truth" John
16:13) until the Second Coming of Christ.
The holy relics of St Luke were taken from Constantinople and brought
to Padua, Italy at some point in history. Perhaps this was during the
infamous Crusade of 1204. In 1992, Metropolitan Hieronymus (Jerome) of
Thebes requested the Roman Catholic bishop in Thebes to obtain a
portion of St Luke's relics for the saint's empty sepulchre in the
Orthodox cathedral in Thebes.
The Roman Catholic bishop Antonio Mattiazzo of Padua, noting that
Orthodox pilgrims came to Padua to venerate the relics while many
Catholics did not even know that the relics were there, appointed a
committee to investigate the relics in Padua, and the skull of St Luke
in the Catholic Cathedral of St Vico in Prague.
The skeleton was determined to be that of an elderly man of strong
build. In 2001, a tooth found in the coffin was judged to be
consistent with the DNA of Syrians living near the area of Antioch
dating from 72-416 A.D. The skull in Prague perfectly fit the neck
bone of the skelton. The tooth found in the coffin in Padua was also
found to fit the jawbone of the skull.
Bishop Mattiazzo sent a rib from the relics to Metropolitan Hieronymus
to be venerated in St Luke's original tomb in the Orthodox cathedral
at Thebes.
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Martyr Marinus the Elder at Anazarbus
The Martyr Marinus the Elder at Anazarbus was from Cilicia (Asia
Minor). For his confession of faith in Christ the Elder was subjected
to fierce beatings, and then killed on the orders of Lysias, governor
of Tarsus, during the reign of the emperor Diocletian (284-305).
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Venerable Julian the Hermit of Mesopotamia
Saint Julian the Hermit of Mesopotamia lived an ascetic life of
fasting and prayer near the River Euphrates.
Once, as he was praying, he heard a voice saying that the emperor
Julian the Apostate would soon perish. Soon the prophecy was
fulfilled. Through the efforts of St Julian, a church was built on
Mount Sinai in memory of the obtaining of the tablets of the Law by
the holy Prophet Moses on the spot where Moses was standing when he
received the tablets.
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Venerable Joseph the Igumen and Wonderworker of Volokolamsk
Saint Joseph of Volokolamsk, in the world John Sanin, was born on
November 14, 1440 (1439 according to another source) in the village of
Yazvisch-Pokrov, not far from the city of Volokolamsk. He was born
into a pious family with his father named John (in monasticism
Joannicius) and his mother Marina (in schema Maria). The
seven-year-old boy John was sent to the pious and enlightened Elder
Arsenius of the Volokolamsk-Exaltation of the Cross monastery to be
educated.
Distinguished by rare qualities and extraordinary aptitude for church
service, for one year the talented youth studied the Psalter, and, the
following year, the entire Holy Scripture. He became a reader and
singer in the monastery church. Contemporaries were astonished at his
exceptional memory. Often, without having a single book in his cell,
he would do the monastic rule, reciting from memory from the Psalter,
the Gospel, the Epistles, and all that was required.
Even before becoming a monk, John lived a monastic lifestyle. Thanks
to his reading and studying of Holy Scripture and the works of the
holy Fathers, he dwelt constantly in contemplation of God. As his
biographer notes, he "disdained obscene and blasphemous talk and
endless mirth from his childhood years."
At twenty years of age John chose the path of monastic striving and,
leaving his parents' home, he went off into the wilderness nigh to the
Tver Savvin monastery, to the renowned Elder and strict ascetic,
Barsanuphius. But the monastic rule seemed insufficiently strict to
the young ascetic. With the blessing of Elder Barsanuphius, he set off
to Borov to St Paphnutius of Borov (May 1), who had been a novice of
Elder Nikita of the Vysotsk monastery, who in turn was a disciple of
St Sergius of Radonezh and Athanasius of Vysotsk.
The simple life of the holy Elder, the tasks which he shared with the
brethren, and the strict fulfilling of the monastic rule suited John's
spiritual state. St Paphnutius lovingly accepted the young ascetic who
had come to him, and on February 13, 1460 he tonsured him into
monasticism with the name Joseph, thus realizing John's greatest wish.
With love and with zeal the young monk shouldered the heavy obediences
imposed upon him, in the kitchen, the bakery, the infirmary. St Joseph
fulfilled this latter obedience with special care, "giving food and
drink to the sick, taking up and arranging the bedding, so very
anxious and concerned with everything, working, as though attending to
Christ Himself."
The great spiritual abilities of the young monk were evidenced in the
Church reading and singing. He was musically talented and possessed a
voice that "in church singing and reading was like that of a swallow
and wondrously harmonious, delighting the hearing of listeners, as
much as anyone anywhere." St Paphnutius made Joseph ecclesiarch in
church, so that he would observe the fulfilling of the Church rule.
Joseph spent about seventeen years in the monastery of St Paphnutius.
The strict efforts of monastic obedience under the direct guidance of
the experienced abbot was for him an excellent spiritual schooling,
having educated him into a future instructor and guide of monastic
life. Towards the end of the life of St Paphnutius, Joseph was
ordained hieromonk and, in accord with the final wishes of St
Paphnutius, he was appointed Igumen of the Borov monastery.
St Joseph decided to transform the monastic life along strictly
coenobitic principles, following the example of the Kiev Caves,
Trinity-St Sergius, and St Cyril of White Lake monasteries. But this
met with strong opposition from a majority of the brethren. Only seven
pious monks were of one mind with the igumen. St Joseph decided to
visit Russian coenobitic monasteries, to investigate the best
arrangement for monastic life. He arrived together with the Elder
Gerasimus at the St Cyril of White Lake monastery, which itself
presented a model of strict asceticism on the principles of a
coenobitic monastery rule.
His acquaintance with the life of these monasteries strengthened St
Joseph's views. But, after he returned to Borov monastery at the wish
of the prince, St Joseph encountered again the former staunch
resistance of the brethren to change from their customary rule.
Therefore, he resolved to found a new monastery with a strict
coenobitic rule, so he took seven like-minded monks to Volokolamsk,
his native region, to a forest known to him since childhood.
In Volokolamsk at the time, the prince was Boris Vasilievich, the
pious brother of Great Prince Ivan III. Hearing of the virtuous life
of the great ascetic Joseph, he gladly received him and allowed him to
settle on the outskirts of his principality, at the confluence of the
Rivers Struga and Sestra. The selection of this spot was accompanied
by a remarkable occurrence: a storm blew down the trees before the
eyes of the astonished travelers, as though clearing the place for the
future monastery. Here the ascetics set up a cross and built a wooden
church in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God in June 1479,
which was consecrated on August 15, 1479. This day and year stand in
history as the date of the founding of the monastery of the Dormition
of the Most Holy Mother of God as "volok' lamsk" ["broken-up
peninsula"], later named after its founder.
The monastery was built rather quickly. Much of the work in the
construction of the monastery was done by the founder himself. "He was
skilled in every human craft: he felled trees, carried logs, he
chopped and sawed wood." By day he toiled with everyone at the
construction of the monastery, but spent his nights in solitary cell
prayer, remembering always that "Desires kill the sluggard, for his
hands do not choose to do anything" (Prov 21:25).
Good reports about the new ascetic attracted disciples to him. The
number of monks soon increased to a hundred men, and the venerable
Joseph strove to be a good example for his monks in everything.
Preaching temperance and spiritual sobriety in all things, his
external appearance was no different than the others. His simple,
cold-weather rags were his constant clothing, and bast shoes (made
from bark) served as his footwear.
He was the first one to appear in church, he read and sang in the
choir beside the others, he gave instruction and was the last to leave
church. At nights the holy igumen walked around the monastery and the
cells, safeguarding the peace and prayerful sobriety of the brethren
entrusted him by God. If he chanced to hear a frivolous conversation,
he rapped on the door and quietly withdrew.
St Joseph devoted much attention to the inner ordering of the life of
the monks. He himself led a strict cenobitic life in accord with the
Rule he compiled, to which all the services and obediences of the
monks were subordinated, and it governed their whole life, "whether in
their comings or goings, their words or their deeds." At the core of
the rule was total non-covetousness, detachment from one's own will,
and constant work. The brethren possessed everything in common:
clothing, footwear, food and other things.
None of the brethren could take anything into their cell without the
blessing of the igumen, not even a book or an icon. Part of the
trapeza meal of the monks, by general consent, was given away to the
poor. Work, prayer, spiritual efforts filled the life of the brethren.
The Jesus Prayer never vanished from their lips. Festivity was viewed
by St Joseph as a chief weapon for demonic seduction. St Joseph
invariably imposed upon himself quite burdensome obediences. The
monastery was occupied with the copying and transcription of Service
Books and the writings of the holy Fathers, so that the Volokolamsk
book collection soon became one of the finest of Russian monastic
libraries.
With each passing year the monastery of St Joseph flourished all the
more. In the years 1484-1485 a stone church of the Dormition of the
Mother of God was built in place of the wooden one. In the Summer of
1485 "artistic masters of the Russian land" painted within it,
Dionysius the Iconographer with his sons Vladimir and Theodosius. St
Joseph's nephews, Dositheus and Bassian Toporkov, participated in the
adornment of the new Church. In 1504 a heated church in honor of the
Holy Theophany was set up, followed by the establishment of a
bell-tower and next to the bell tower, a church named in honor of the
Hodigitria (Directress)Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos.
St Joseph trained a whole school of renowned monks, some of whom
gained notoriety in the arena of church-historical activity since they
were "good pastors," while others gained fame with works of
enlightenment. Some were remembered as worthy examples of pious
monastic struggles. History has preserved for us the names of many
disciples and co-ascetics of the holy Volokolamsk igumen, who
continued to develop his ideas.
Among the disciples and followers of St Joseph were: the Metropolitans
of Moscow and All Rus: Daniel (+ 1539) and Macarius (+1563), the
Archbishop of Rostov Bassian (+1515), the Bishops of Suzdal: Simeon
(+1515), Dositheus of Krutitsa (+1544), Sava of Krutitsa, called the
Black, Acacius of Tver, Bassian of Kolomets, and many others.
Monastics of the Volokolamsk monastery occupied the most important
Archepiscopal sees of the Russian Church: the holy hierarchs of Kazan,
Gurias (December 5) and Germanus (November 6 ), and St Barsanuphius,
Bishop of Tver (April 11).
The activity and influence of St Joseph were not limited to the
monastery. Many laypeople went to him to receive advice. With a pure
spiritual insight he penetrated into the deep secrets of the souls of
questioners and clairvoyantly revealed to them the will of God.
Everyone living around the monastery considered him their spiritual
Father and protector. Eminent nobles and princes asked him to be
godfather for their children. They revealed their souls to him in
confession, they asked for letters of guidance to help them fulfill
his directives.
The common folk found at the monastery the means for sustaining their
existence on occasions of extreme need. The number of those fed
through monastery resources sometimes approached 700 people. "All of
the Volotsk land are inclined to good, enjoying peace and quiet. And
the name Joseph, as something sacred, is on everyone's lips."
The monastery was famed not only for its piety and help for the
suffering, but also for its manifestations of the grace of God. During
Matins of Holy Saturday, the righteous monk Bessarion once saw the
Holy Spirit in the form of a white dove, sitting upon the Shroud of
the Lord, which was being carried by St Joseph. The Abbot, bidding the
monk to keep silent about the vision, himself rejoiced in spirit,
hoping that God would not forsake the monastery. This monk had seen
the souls of dying brethren, white as snow, issuing forth from their
mouths. To St Joseph himself was revealed the day of his end, and he
fell asleep in the Lord with joy, having received the Holy Mysteries
and assuming the schema.
The saintly life of St Joseph was neither easy nor placid. In these
difficult times for the Church in Russia, the Lord raised him up as a
zealous defender of Orthodoxy in the struggle with heresies and
churchly disputes. St Joseph exerted quite a great effort in
denouncing the Judaizers, who tried to poison and distort the
foundations of Russian spiritual life. Just as the holy Fathers and
teachers of the Ecumenical Councils had elaborated on the teachings of
Orthodoxy in responding to the ancient heresies (which contended
against the Spirit, Christ, or icons), so also St Joseph was summoned
forth by God to oppose the false teachings of the Judaizers and to
compile the first manual of Russian Orthodox theology, his large book
The Enlightener.
Even earlier, preachers from the Khozars had come to St Vladimir (July
15), trying to convert him to Judaism. But the great Baptizer of Rus
repudiated the pretensions of the rabbis. After this, St Joseph
writes, "the Great Russian land dwelt for five centuries in the
Orthodox Faith, until the Enemy of salvation the devil, should bring
the cunning Jew to the city of Novgorod."
Along with the retinue of the Lithuanian prince Michael Olelkovich,
who came to Novgorod in 1470, the Jewish preacher Skhariya (Zachariah)
accompanied them. Playing upon the deficiencies of faith and of
learning on the part of certain clergy, Skhariya and his accomplices
sowed distrust among the petty-minded towards the church hierarchy,
inclining them towards a revolt against the spiritual authorities,
tempting them with the idea of "self-authority," i.e. a capricious
self-determination of each individual in matters of faith and
salvation. Those they tempted gradually pushed towards a full break
with the Church: they disdained the holy icons, and repudiated the
veneration of the saints, basic elements of Orthodox popular morality.
Ultimately, they led the religiously blind and deluded to a denial of
the saving Mysteries and the fundamental teachings of Orthodoxy,
outside of which there is no knowledge of God: the teaching of the
Most Holy Trinity and the teaching of the Incarnation of the God-man
our Lord Jesus Christ. If decisive measures were not taken, "all of
Orthodox Christianity would be doomed by heretical teachings." So the
question was posed for history. The Great Prince Ivan III, enticed by
the Judaizers, invited them to Moscow. He had two of the most
prominent of the heretics made archpriests, one at the Dormition, the
other at the Archangel Michael cathedrals of the Kremlin, and he
summoned to Moscow even the arch-heretic Skhariya himself.
All those close to the prince were led astray by the heresy, beginning
with the clerk heading the government, Theodore Kuritsyn, whose
brother became a ringleader of the heretics. Even the in-law of the
great prince, Elena Voloshanka, accepted the Judaizers. And finally,
the heretical Metropolitan Zosimas was installed upon the bishop's
Throne of the great Moscow Hierarchs Peter, Alexis and Jonah.
St Joseph and St Gennadius, Bishop of Novgorod (December 4), called
for a struggle against the spread of the heresy. St Joseph wrote his
first epistle "Concerning the Mystery of the Most Holy Trinity" while
still a monk at the Paphnutiev Borov monastery in the year 1477. From
the very beginning the Dormition Volokolamsk monastery became a
bulwark of Orthodoxy in the struggle against the heresy. Here St
Joseph wrote his chief works, The Enlightener, engendered with his
fiery anti-heretical epistles, or as the monk himself unassumingly
called them, "book exercises." The works of St Joseph and Archbishop
Gennadius were crowned with success. In 1494 the heretic Zosimas was
deposed from the bishop's Throne, and in the years 1502-04 the
malicious and unrepentant Judaizers, who blasphemed against the Holy
Trinity, Christ the Savior, the Most Holy Theotokos and the
Church,were condemned at a church council.
St Joseph had many other trials and tribulations, but each time the
Lord tried him according to the measure of his spiritual strength. The
saint angered the Great Prince Ivan III, who only towards the end of
his life reconciled with the saint and repented of his former weakness
for the Judaizers. The saint also angered the Volotsk appenage prince
Theodore, on whose lands Joseph's monastery was situated. In 1508 the
saint suffered wrongful interdiction from St Serapion, Archbishop of
Novgorod (March 16), with whom, however, he soon reconciled.
In 1503, a Council at Moscow, under the auspices of St Joseph and his
disciples, adopted a "Conciliar Reply" concerning the indissolubility
of church properties, "therefore all church-acquired property is
essentially the acquired property of God, pledged, entrusted, and
given to God." The legacy of the canonical works of Igumen Joseph is
notably in "The Nomocanon Codex," a vast codex of canonical rules of
the Orthodox Church, begun by St Joseph and completed by Metropolitan
Macarius.
There are opinions about the differences of outlook and discord
between the two great pedagogues of Russian monasticism at the end of
the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth centuries: St Joseph of
Volotsk and St Nilus of Sora (May 7). In the historical literature
these views usually present them as proclaiming two "contrary"
currents within Russian spiritual life: external action and inner
contemplation. This is profoundly incorrect. St Joseph in his Rule
synthesized these two aspects of the Russian monastic tradition,
proceeding without interruption from the Athonite blessing given to St
Anthony of the Kiev Caves, through St Sergius, and down to our own
day.
The Rule presupposes the need for a full inner regeneration of man,
submitting one's whole life to the task of salvation and deification
[Greek theosis] not only for each individual monk, but also for the
collective salvation of the whole human race. A great emphasis in the
Rule is put on the demand to monastics for constant work in connection
with inward and churchly prayer, "the monk should never be on
holiday." Work, as "a collective deed," comprised for Joseph the very
essence of church life: faith, embodied in good works, is the
realization of prayer.
On the other hand, St Nilus of Sora had lived the ascetic life for a
number of years on Mt. Athos, and he brought from there the teaching
about the contemplative life and "the Jesus Prayer" as a means of a
hesychastic service of monks to the world, as a constant spiritual
activity, in connection with the physical work necessary for
sustaining one's life.
But spiritual work and physical work are but two aspects of the same
Christian vocation: a vital continuation of the creative activity of
God in the world, encompassing as much the ideal as well as the
material spheres. In this regard Sts Joseph and Nilus are spiritual
brothers, varied in continuing the Church Tradition of the holy
Fathers, and are heirs to the precepts of St Sergius of Radonezh. St
Joseph highly regarded the spiritual experience of St Nilus and sent
his own disciples to him to study inner prayer.
St Joseph was also an active proponent of a strong centralized Moscow
realm. He was one of the originators of the teaching about the Russian
Church as the recipient and bearer of the piety of the Byzantine
Empire, "the Russian land has now surpassed all in piety." The ideas
of St Joseph, possessing tremendous historical significance, were
further developed later by his disciples and followers. From them came
the Pskov Spaso-Eleazarov monastery Elder Philotheus with his own
teaching about Moscow as the Third Rome. He declared, "Two Romes have
fallen, Moscow is the third, and a fourth there shall not be."
These views of the Josephites on the significance of monasteries
possessing properties for church building, and the participation of
the Church in social life, were set amidst the conditions of the
struggle for centralized power by the Moscow prince. His opponents
were separatists who tried to disparage these views for their own
political ends, surreptitiously using the teaching of St Nilus of Sora
about "non-acquisitiveness," the withdrawal of monastics from worldly
matters and possessions.
This supposed opposition engendered a false view on the hostility
between the trends of Sts Joseph and Nilus. In actuality, both trends
legitimately coexisted within the Russian monastic Tradition,
complementing each other. As is evidenced from the Rule of St Joseph,
its basis was complete non-acquisitiveness, and renunciation of the
very concepts of "yours-mine."
The years passed. The monastery flourished with the construction work
and efforts of St Joseph, and as he got old, he prepared himself for
life eternal. Before his end he received the Holy Mysteries, then
summoned all the brethren. He gave them his peace and blessing, and
peacefully fell asleep in the Lord on September 9, 1515.
The funeral oration to St Joseph was composed by his nephew and
disciple, the monk Dositheus Toporkov.
The first Life of the saint was written in the 1540s by a disciple of
St Joseph, Bishop Sava the Black of Krutitsa, with the blessing of
Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow and all Rus (+ 1564). It entered into
the Great Menaion Readings compiled by Macarius. A second redaction of
the Life was written by the Russified Bulgarian writer Lev the
Philolog with the assistance of St Zenobios of Otensk (October 30).
Local celebration of St Joseph was established at the Volokolamsk
monastery in December of 1578, on the hundred year anniversary of the
founding of the monastery. On June 1, 1591, the church-wide
celebration of his memory was established under Patriarch Job. St Job,
a disciple of the Volokolamsk saint, tonsured St Germanus of Kazan,
and was a great admirer of St Joseph and was author of the Service to
him, which was included in the MENAION. Another disciple of Sts
Germanus and Barsanuphius was also the companion and successor to
Patriarch Job, the Hieromartyr Patriarch Hermogenes (February 17), a
spiritual leader of the Russian people in the struggle for liberation
under the Polish incursion.
The theological works of St Joseph comprise an undeniable contribution
within the treasury of the Orthodox Tradition. As with all Church
writings inspired by the grace of the Holy Spirit, they continue to be
a source of spiritual life and knowledge, and they have their own
theological significance and pertinence.
St Joseph's chief book was written in sections. Its original form,
completed at the time of the 1503-1504 councils, included eleven
sections. In the final redaction, compiled after the death of the
saint and involving a tremendous quantity of scrolls, The Book against
the Heretics or The Enlightener includes sixteen sections, prefaced by
An Account of the Newly-Appeared Heresies. The first section expounds
the Church teaching about the teaching of the Most Holy Trinity; the
second, about Jesus Christ, the True Messiah; the third, about the
significance within the Church of the prophecies of the Old Testament;
the fourth, about the Incarnation of God; the fifth through seventh,
about the veneration of icons. In the eighth through tenth sections,
St Joseph expounds on the fundamentals of Christian eschatology. The
eleventh section is devoted to monasticism. In the twelfth the
ineffectiveness of the anathemas and sanctions imposed by heretics is
demonstrated. The final four sections consider methods of the Church's
struggle with the heretics, and the means for their correction and
repentance.
St Joseph is also commemorated on September 9 and February 13.
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St James the Deacon
Saint James lived in the seventh century, and assisted St Paulinus of
York (October 10) in evangelizing the north of England.
Following the death of St Edwin (October 12) in 633, the northern
kingdom experienced many trials, including military defeats, famine,
and plague. The year 633-634 was so fraught with misfortune that it
became known as "The Hateful Year." St Paulinus accompanied St
Ethelburga (April 5) back to her native Kent after the death of her
husband King Edwin, leaving St James behind to care for the new
converts in northern England.
St James has been described as "faithful and undismayed," even though
the secular power which supported the Church had been overthrown. Even
so, he would not abandon the people in his care, nor would he cease
his missionary labors.
This faithful servant of the Lord established himself near the village
of Catterick in Yorkshire, teaching, comforting, and encouraging his
flock. Even in such difficult times, St James was able to win many
converts to Christ. He had a talent for music, and was skilled in the
Roman chants composed by St Gregory Dialogus (March 12) which were
being used in Kent. James taught these chants to the Christians of the
north. When peace returned and the churches reopened, their services
were beautified with the chants which St James had given them.
We do not know exactly when St James died, but it is believed that he
survived for at least thirty years after "The Hateful Year," and
participated in the Synod of Whitby in 664.
St James does not appear to have been ordained to the holy priesthood,
but through his tireless labors he built up the Church in the north.
St Bede (May 27) calls him "a man of great energy and repute in
Christ's Church" HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH CHURCH AND PEOPLE, Book II,
chapter 16).
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St Peter of Cetinje
Saint Peter was born in Njegushi, Montenegro on April 1, 1797. He was
tonsured a monk and ordained to the diaconate when he was only
seventeen. He accompanied his uncle Bishop Basil to Russia the
following year in order to study there. His uncle died within a year
after arriving in Russia, and so Peter was obliged to return to
Montenegro.
The young deacon was ordained to the holy priesthood, and was later
elevated to the rank of archimandrite. St Peter assisted Metropolitan
Sava in the administration of the diocese until that hierarch died in
1781. St Peter seemed the logical choice to succeed him.
As Metropolitan of Montenegro, St Peter also became the secular leader
(governor) of the Montenegran Serbs. For the rest of his life he
devoted himself to promoting peace and unity among warring tribes and
clans, and to helping his flock rise above petty quarrels and
animosity at a difficult time in their history.
St Peter also defended his nation against the onslaught of enemies. He
successfully opposed Napoleon's army at Dalmatia, and took part in the
first Serbian uprising against the Turks.
Although he enjoyed a certain prominence as the archpastor and
governor of the Serbs, St Peter continued to live as a simple monk in
a small cell where he lived in asceticism. He fasted, prayed, and read
books in French, Italian and Russian in order to increase his
knowledge of Orthodox doctrine and secular culture. While he was
strict with himself, the holy bishop was merciful toward others.
St Peter contributed to the welfare of his country through his good
works. As a bishop he promoted love and peace. As governor he never
sentenced a criminal to death.
St Peter, the Metropolitan and governor of Cetinje and all Montenegro,
fell asleep in the Lord on October 18, 1830. He was succeeded by his
nephew Bishop Peter II (Njegos).
St Peter's holy and grace-filled relics were uncovered in 1834. They
were found incorrupt and streaming with myrrh, and still rest in the
monastery at Cetinje. He is honored as a powerful intercessor for his
people, and for the whole Church.
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St David of Serpukhov
Saint David of Serpukhov, a disciple of St Paphnutius of Borov (May
1), lived as a hermit at the River Lopasna, 23 versts from Serpukhov.
In 1515, on the right bank of the river, he built a church dedicated
to the Ascension, and laid the foundations of the Davidov wilderness
monastery.
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