[Readingsandsaints] Readings and Saints

Tue Oct 23 05:00:14 CDT 2007

Scripture Readings and Saints for Tue Oct 23 2007

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Colossians 2:20-3:3
20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the
world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves
to regulations-
21 Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,
22 which all concern things which perish with the using-according to
the commandments and doctrines of men?
23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed
religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value
against the indulgence of the flesh.
1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are
above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Scripture Reading 1 of 2

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Luke 11:1-10
1 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He
ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to
pray, as John also taught his disciples."
2 So He said to them, "When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth
as it is in heaven.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is
indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us
from the evil one."
5 And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to
him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves;
6 'for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have
nothing to set before him';
7 and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door
is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and
give to you'?
8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is
his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him
as many as he needs.
9 So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you
will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him
who knocks it will be opened.
Scripture Reading 2 of 2

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Apostle James, the Brother of the Lord
Holy Apostle James, the Brother of God (Adelphotheos) was the son of
Righteous Joseph the Betrothed of the Most Holy Theotokos (December
26). From his early years James was a Nazarene, a man especially
dedicated to God. The Nazarenes vowed to preserve their virginity, to
abstain from wine, to refrain from eating meat, and not to cut their
hair. The vow of the Nazarenes symbolized a life of holiness and
purity, commanded formerly by the Lord for all Israel. When the Savior
began to teach the nation about the Kingdom of God, St James believed
in Christ and became His apostle. He was chosen as the first Bishop of
Jerusalem.
St James presided over the Council of Jerusalem and his word was
decisive (Acts 15). In his thirty years as bishop, St James converted
many of the Jews to Christianity. Annoyed by this, the Pharisees and
the Scribes plotted together to kill St James. They led the saint up
on the pinnacle of the Jerusalem Temple and asked what he thought of
Jesus. The holy Apostle began to bear witness that Christ is the
Messiah, which was not the response the Pharisees were expecting.
Greatly angered, the Jewish teachers threw him off the roof. The saint
did not die immediately, but gathering his final strength, he prayed
to the Lord for his enemies while they were stoning him. St James'
martyrdom occurred about 63 A.D.
The holy Apostle James composed a Divine Liturgy, which formed the
basis of the Liturgies of Sts Basil the Great and John Chrysostom. The
Church has preserved an Epistle of St James, one of the books of the
New Testament.
In 1853, Patriarch Hierotheus of Alexandria sent to Moscow a portion
of the relics of St James. The Church distinguishes between the holy
Apostle James the Brother of God, and St James the son of Zebedee
(April 30) and St James the son of Alphaeus (October 9).
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Translation of the relics of Blessed James of Borovichi the
Wonderworker of Novgorod
Translation of the relics of Blessed James of Borovichi, Wonderworker
of Novgorod St James took upon himself the arduous task of foolishness
for Christ in his youth. Most of the details of his life are unknown,
but the Lord glorified him after death.
In the year 1540, on the third day of Pascha, a large block of ice
floated up against the current along the River Msta to the village of
Borovichi (in Novgorod district), and on this block of ice stood the
coffin (made from an oak log) without cover, in which the body of the
youth lay. Shunning the holy relics, peasants with poles pushed the
block of ice back into the river, but it returned to the shore. This
was repeated three times. That night the youth appeared in a dream to
the elders of the village, who had seen him upon the ice-flow, and
said, "I am also a Christian just like you. Don't push me away. My
name is James. I am the namesake of St James, the Brother of God."
The relics of the holy youth were first placed in a chapel, then in
1544 were transferred to the Descent of the Holy Spirit church. Then
the annual commemoration of the saint every year on October 23 was
established. The Lord, having glorified his God-pleasing one, granted
the relics of St James a curative power. A Feastday with Matins was
established in 1572. The Iconographic Manuals describe St James: "A
youth, bare, girded with a piece of cloth." In 1657 Patriarch Nikon
sent part of the relics to Valdai, to the Iveron monastery.
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St Ignatius the Patriarch of Constantinople
Saint Ignatius, Patriarch of Constantinople (847-857; 867-877), in the
world Nicetas, was of imperial lineage. When his father, the emperor
Michael I (811-813), was deposed from the imperial throne by Leo the
Armenian (813-820), the fifteen-year-old youth Ignatius was imprisoned
in a monastery. Life in the monastery strengthened St Ignatius in
faith and in piety. Soon he was made igumen of the monastery, and
later he was chosen Patriarch of Constantinople.
When Michael III (855-867) ascended the throne he was still a minor,
so the country was actually governed by his uncle, Bardas, an impious
and unchaste man. Patriarch Ignatius urged Bardas to forsake his
sinful life and when he refused, Ignatius boldly denounced him for his
iniquity.
Bardas attempted to force St Ignatius to tonsure the holy Empress
Theodora, mother of the emperor, in order to remove her from
governance of the realm. Patriarch Ignatius did not consent to this,
and also publicly excommunicated Bardas. Bardas had Ignatius tortured
for fifteen days to force him to resign, and then they sent him into
exile. When the new emperor came to power, St Ignatius was recalled
from prison and was Patriarch for another ten years. He died in the
year 877 in a monastery.
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Venerable Elisha of Lavreshev
Saint Elisha was the Igumen of Lareshev in Belorus in the thirteenth
century.
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