[Readingsandsaints] Readings and Saints

Tue Oct 30 05:00:14 CDT 2007

Scripture Readings and Saints for Tue Oct 30 2007

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1 Thessalonians 1:6-10
6 And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the
word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit,
7 so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who
believe.
8 For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in
Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God
has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything.
9 For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we
had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living
and true God,
10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead,
even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
Scripture Reading 1 of 2

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Luke 11:34-41
34 The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good,
your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your
body also is full of darkness.
35 Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness.
36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the
whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp
gives you light.
37 And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So
He went in and sat down to eat.
38 When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed
before dinner.
39 Then the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees make the outside of
the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and
wickedness.
40 Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?
41 But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all
things are clean to you.
Scripture Reading 2 of 2

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Martyr Zenobia of Aegae in Cilicia
The Hieromartyr Zenobius, Bishop of Aegea, and his sister Zenobia
suffered a martyr's death in the year 285 in Cilicia. From childhood
they were raised in the holy Christian Faith by their parents, and
they led pious and chaste lives. In their mature years, shunning the
love of money, they distributed away their inherited wealth giving it
to the poor. For his beneficence and holy life the Lord rewarded
Zenobius with the gift of healing various maladies. He was also chosen
bishop of a Christian community in Cilicia.
As bishop, St Zenobius zealously spread the Christian Faith among the
pagans. When the emperor Diocletian (284-305) began a persecution
against Christians, Bishop Zenobius was the first one arrested and
brought to trial to the governor Licius. "I shall only speak briefly
with you," said Licius to the saint, "for I propose to grant you life
if you worship our gods, or death, if you do not." The saint answered,
"This present life without Christ is death. It is better that I
prepare to endure the present torment for my Creator, and then with
Him live eternally, than to renounce Him for the sake of the present
life, and then be tormented eternally in Hades."
By order of Licius, they nailed him to a cross and began the torture.
The bishop's sister, seeing him suffering, wanted to stop it. She
bravely confessed her own faith in Christ before the governor,
therefore, she also was tortured.
By the power of the Lord they remained alive after being placed on a
red-hot iron bed, and then in a boiling kettle. The saints were then
beheaded. The priest Hermogenes secretly buried the bodies of the
martyrs in a single grave.
St Zenobius is invoked by those suffering from breast cancer.
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Hieromartyr Zenobius of Aegae in Cilicia
The Hieromartyr Zenobius, Bishop of Aegea, and his sister Zenobia
suffered a martyr's death in the year 285 in Cilicia. From childhood
they were raised in the holy Christian Faith by their parents, and
they led pious and chaste lives. In their mature years, shunning the
love of money, they distributed away their inherited wealth giving it
to the poor. For his beneficence and holy life the Lord rewarded
Zenobius with the gift of healing various maladies. He was also chosen
bishop of a Christian community in Cilicia.
As bishop, St Zenobius zealously spread the Christian Faith among the
pagans. When the emperor Diocletian (284-305) began a persecution
against Christians, Bishop Zenobius was the first one arrested and
brought to trial to the governor Licius. "I shall only speak briefly
with you," said Licius to the saint, "for I propose to grant you life
if you worship our gods, or death, if you do not." The saint answered,
"This present life without Christ is death. It is better that I
prepare to endure the present torment for my Creator, and then with
Him live eternally, than to renounce Him for the sake of the present
life, and then be tormented eternally in Hades."
By order of Licius, they nailed him to a cross and began the torture.
The bishop's sister, seeing him suffering, wanted to stop it. She
bravely confessed her own faith in Christ before the governor,
therefore, she also was tortured.
By the power of the Lord they remained alive after being placed on a
red-hot iron bed, and then in a boiling kettle. The saints were then
beheaded. The priest Hermogenes secretly buried the bodies of the
martyrs in a single grave.
St Zenobius is invoked by those suffering from breast cancer.
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Apostle Tertius of the Seventy
St Tertius was the second bishop (after St Sosipater) in Iconium,
where he converted many pagans to Christ, and ended his life as a
martyr. The Apostle Paul mentions him in the Epistle to the Romans
(Rom. 16:22).
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Apostle Mark of the Seventy
Saint Mark, also called John, (Acts 12:12), was a nephew of St
Barnabas, and was Bishop of Apollonia (Col. 4:10). It was in the house
of his mother Maria that the persecuted disciples found shelter after
the Ascension of the Lord.
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Apostle Justus of the Seventy
St Justus, called Barsaba, a son of St Joseph the Betrothed, was
chosen with Matthias to replace Judas. He was a bishop and died a
martyr's death at Eleutheropolis.
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Apostle Artemas of the Seventy
St Artemas was bishop of Lystra, Lycia. He died in peace.
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Hieromartyr Marcian the Bishop of Syracuse
The Holy Hieromartyr Marcian, Bishop of Syracuse, a disciple of the
Apostle Peter, was sent to Sicily. Here he settled in a cave near the
city of Syracuse and successfully spread the faith in Christ. He died
a martyr. His relics are in the Italian city of Gaeta. (The
Hieromartyr Marcian is the same person as St Marcellus, Bishop of
Sicily, commemorated on February 9).
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Martyr Eutropia of Alexandria
The Martyr Eutropia suffered for Christ in Alexandria in about the
year 250. Often visiting Christians locked up in prison, she
encouraged them to endure suffering with patience. For this, the saint
was arrested. At her trial she firmly confessed her faith in Christ.
As she was being burned with candles, a man appeared beside her and
soothed her sufferings. He bedewed her so that she did not feel the
heat of the flames. She died after these grievous tortures.
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Martyr Anastasia of Thessalonica
Saint Anastasia lived in the second half of the third century during
the persecutions of Decius, Gallus, Valerian, and Diocletian. She was
executed in Rome between 256-259 after enduring many tortures.
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St Stephen Miliutin of Serbia
Saint Stephen was the younger son of King Stephen Urosh I, and
grandson of First-Crowned King St Stephen (September 24). He ruled
Serbia from 1275 to 1320. Stephen Milutin received the throne from his
elder brother Dragutin, a true Christian, who after a short reign
transferred power over to his brother, and he himself in loving
solitude withdrew to Srem, where he secretly lived as an ascetic in a
grave, which he dug with his own hands. During his righteous life, St
Dragutin toiled much over converting the Bogomil heretics to the true
Faith. His death occurred on March 2, 1316.
St Stephen Milutin, after he became king, bravely defended, by both
word and by deed, the Orthodox Serbs and other Orthodox peoples from
their enemies. St Stephen did not forget to thank the Lord for His
beneficence. He built more than forty churches, and also many
monasteries and hostels for travelers. The saint particularly
concerned himself with the Athonite monasteries.
When the Serbian kingdom fell, the monasteries remained centers of
national culture and Orthodoxy for the Serbian nation. St Stephen died
on October 29, 1320 and was buried at the Bansk monastery. After two
years his incorrupt relics were uncovered.
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Venerable Dragutin (Theoctistus in Monasticism) of Serbia
Saint Dragutin was the brother of St Stephen Milutin, the son of King
Stephen Urosh I, and the grandson of First-Crowned King St Stephen
(September 24). Dragutin, a true Christian, after a short reign,
abdicated in favor of his brother Stephen. He withdrew to Srem,
secretly living as an ascetic in a grave which he dug with his own
hands. During his righteous life, St Dragutin toiled much over
converting the Bogomil heretics to the true Faith. He surrendered his
soul to God on March 2, 1316.
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St Helen of Serbia
Saint Helen, a pious mother to her sons Stephen Milutin and Dragutin,
devoted her whole life to pious deeds after the death of her husband.
She built a shelter for the poor, and a monastery for those who wished
to live in purity and virginity. Near the city of Spich, she built the
Rechesk monastery and endowed it with the necessities.
Before her death, St Helen received monastic tonsure and departed to
the Lord on February 8, 1306.
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Icon of the Mother of God of Ozerianka
The Ozeryanka Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos is from an area near
Kharkov, and is of the Hodigitria type.
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St Jotham Zedgenidze
In 1446 George VIII was crowned ruler of a united Georgian kingdom.
Filled with every virtue, the valiant warrior and God-fearing king
dedicated the twenty years of his reign to a ceaseless struggle for
the reunification of his country. He was constantly warding off
foreign invaders, surmounting internal strife, and suffering the
betrayal of his fellow countrymen.
One of the separatists was the ruler of Samtskhe, the atabeg Qvarqvare
Jakeli II (14511498). In 1465 King George led his troops toward
southern Georgia to attack the rebellious atabeg.
Near Lake Paravani the traitors dispatched assassins to the kings
camp.
Among those who served in the royal court was a certain Jotham
Zedgenidze, a man deeply devoted to his king. He heard about the
dreadful conspiracy and warned the king, but the noble and fearless
George did not believe that such a loathsome betrayal could ever take
place.
Desperate to convince the king of the very real and imminent danger,
the devoted Jotham told him, Allow me to spend this night in your bed
and prove the truth of my words!
Certain that his beloved courtier was mistaken and that his unmeasured
love and dedication were the reasons for his suspicions, King George
permitted him to spend the night in the royal bed.
The next morning King George entered his tent and found his beloved
Jotham lying in a pool of blood. Immediately he began weeping bitterly
over his error. He arrested and executed the conspirators and buried
his faithful servant with great honor.
The Georgian Church numbers Jotham Zedgenidze among the saints for his
devotion to Gods anointed king.
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