[Readingsandsaints] Readings and Saints

Sun Sep 9 05:00:22 CDT 2007

Scripture Readings and Saints for Sun Sep 9 2007

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Luke 24:1-12  (4th Matins Gospel)
1 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they,
and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the
spices which they had prepared.
2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.
3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that
behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.
5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they
said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?
6 He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He
was still in Galilee,
7 saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful
men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'
8 And they remembered His words.
9 Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the
eleven and to all the rest.
10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the
other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.
11 And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not
believe them.
12 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the
linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to
himself at what had happened.
Scripture Reading 1 of 5

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Galatians 6:11-18  (Epistle, Sunday Before)
11 See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand!
12 As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would
compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer
persecution for the cross of Christ.
13 For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they
desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.
14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the
world.
15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails
anything, but a new creation.
16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon
them, and upon the Israel of God.
17 From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks
of the Lord Jesus.
18 Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Amen.
Scripture Reading 2 of 5

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2 Corinthians 4:6-15  (Epistle)
6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who
has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of
the power may be of God and not of us.
8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are
perplexed, but not in despair;
9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed-
10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that
the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
11 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that
the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
12 So then death is working in us, but life in you.
13 And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is
written, "I believed and therefore I spoke," we also believe and
therefore speak,
14 knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up
with Jesus, and will present us with you.
15 For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread
through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of
God.
Scripture Reading 3 of 5

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John 3:13-17  (Gospel, Sunday Before)
13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven,
that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up,
15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal
life.
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world through Him might be saved.
Scripture Reading 4 of 5

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Matthew 22:35-46
35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and
saying,
36 Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.'
40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.
41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,
42 saying, "What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?" They
said to Him, "The Son of David."
43 He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him
'Lord,' saying:
44 The LORD said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your
enemies Your footstool"'?
45 If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?
46 And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did
anyone dare question Him anymore.
Scripture Reading 5 of 5

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Afterfeast of the Nativity of the Mother of God
No information available at this time.
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Holy, Righteous Ancestor of God, Joachim
Saint Joachim, the son of Barpathir, was of the tribe of Judah, and
was a descendant of King David, to whom God had revealed that the
Savior of the world would be born from his seed.
The couple lived at Nazareth in Galilee. They were childless into
their old age and all their life they grieved over this. They had to
endure derision and scorn, since at that time childlessness was
considered a disgrace. They never grumbled, but fervently prayed to
God, humbly trusting in Him.
Once, during a great feast, the gifts which Joachim took to Jerusalem
as an offering to God were not accepted by the priest Reuben, who
considered that a childless man was not worthy to offer sacrifice to
God. This pained the old man very much, and he, regarding himself the
most sinful of people, decided not to return home, but to settle in
solitude in a desolate place.
When St Anna learned what humiliation her husband had endured, she
sorrowfully entreated God with prayer and fasting to grant her a
child. In his desolate solitude the righteous Joachim also asked God
for this. The prayer of the saintly couple was heard. An angel told
them that a daughter would be born to them, Who would be blessed above
all other women. He also told them that She would remain a virgin,
would be dedicated to the Lord and live in the Temple, and would give
birth to the Savior. Obeying the instructions of the heavenly
messenger, Sts Joachim and Anna met at the Golden Gate in Jerusalem.
Then, as God promised, a daughter was born to them and they named her
Mary.
St Joachim died a few years later at the age of 80, after his daughter
went to live in the Temple. St Anna died at the age of 70, two years
after her husband.
Sts Joachim and Anna are often invoked by couples trying to have
children.
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Holy, Righteous Ancestor of God, Anna
Saint Anna was the daughter of Matthan the priest, who was of the
tribe of Levi. St Anna's family came from Bethlehem.
St Anna lived with her husband Joachim at Nazareth in Galilee. They
were childless into their old age and all their life they grieved over
this. They had to endure derision and scorn, since at that time
childlessness was considered a disgrace. They never grumbled, but
fervently prayed to God, humbly trusting in Him.
Once, during a great feast, the gifts which Joachim took to Jerusalem
as an offering to God were not accepted by the priest Reuben, who
considered that a childless man was not worthy to offer sacrifice to
God. This pained the old man very much, and he, regarding himself the
most sinful of people, decided not to return home, but to settle in
solitude in a desolate place.
When St Anna learned what humiliation her husband had endured, she
sorrowfully entreated God with prayer and fasting to grant her a
child. In his desolate solitude the righteous Joachim also asked God
for this. The prayer of the saintly couple was heard. An angel told
them that a daughter would be born to them, Who would be blessed above
all other women. He also told them that She would remain a virgin,
would be dedicated to the Lord and live in the Temple, and would give
birth to the Savior. Obeying the instructions of the heavenly
messenger, Sts Joachim and Anna met at the Golden Gate in Jerusalem.
Then, as God promised, a daughter was born to them and they named her
Mary.
St Joachim died a few years later at the age of 80, after his daughter
went to live in the Temple. St Anna died at the age of 70, two years
after her husband.
Sts Joachim and Anna are often invoked by couples trying to have
children.
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Martyr Severian of Sebaste
The Holy Martyr Severian (+ 320) suffered for Christ in Armenian
Sebaste during the governorship of Licius, when Christians were
persecuted under the emperor Licinius. Even before his martyr's deed,
St Severian had shown sincere compassion for 40 Christian soldiers,
suffering for confessing the Name of Christ. He visited the captives
in prison, raised their spirits, and appealed to their valor and stoic
strength. These martyrs met their death at Lake Sebaste (March 9).
Half a year later, Severian was also brought to trial for confessing
the Christian Faith, and he was subjected to cruel tortures. Deeply
devoted to the will of God, St Severian called out to the Lord during
his torment, imploring Him for the strength to endure the suffering
and to complete his deed of martyrdom.
After intense torture, and unbroken in his faith, the holy martyr was
suspended from the city wall with one stone chained around his neck,
and another chained to his feet, and so he died. His body was carried
by Christians of Sebaste to his home, where the local inhabitants
thronged to take their leave of him and to ask for his holy prayers.
Amidst all this a dead man who had not yet been buried arose, a
servant of St Severian, who got up from his deathbed to follow his
master's final path. He continued to live another fifteen years, never
leaving the burial place of the holy martyr.
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Venerable Joseph the Abbot of Volokolamsk, Volotsk
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, 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 Zenobius 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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Uncovering of the relics of St Theodosius the Archbishop of
Chernigov
Today we commemorate the glorification of St Theodosius on September
9, 1896, and the uncovering of his holy relics.
St Theodosius is also commemorated on February 5.
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Venerable Theophanes the Confessor and Faster of Mt. Diabenos
Saint Theophanes, Confessor and Faster, was born into a family of
pagans. In his youth Theophanes came to believe in Christ, was
baptized and secretly left his pagan parents to go to Mount Dabis to
an Elder, who had lived there in asceticism for seventy-five years.
The ascetic taught the young man to read the Scriptures, and
instructed him in the rules of monastic life. Five years later the
Elder died, and St Theophanes spent the next 58 years in his cave in
solitude. Then he came down from the mountain and began to preach
Christ among the pagans, and he converted many to Christianity.
By order of the Roman emperors Carlus (282-283) and his sons Numerian
and Carlinus (283-284), St Theophanes was seized and subjected to
torture. The holy confessor bravely endured his sufferings and was
released alive. Having returned to the mountain, St Theophanes lived
there for another seventeen years and died in peace.
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Martyr Chariton
Saint Chariton endured martyrdom with St Staton at an unknown time and
place.
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St Ciaran of Clonmacnois
Saint Ciaran (Kieran), who has been described as a lamp shining with
the light of knowledge, was born in 512 and raised in Connacht,
Ireland. His father was a builder of chariots. He was one of eight
children, at least two of whom also embraced the religious life.
St Ciaran had a special affinity for animals, and even had a fox for a
pet. The future saint left home as a boy, driving a cow before him to
pay for his keep. He went to study with St Finnian of Clonard
(December 12), and became one of the "twelve apostles to Ireland."
Some of the others were St Columba of Iona (June 9), Ninnidh (Nennius)
of Lough Erne (January 16), and St Brendan the Voyager (May 16).
There is a story that one day the students were studying the Gospel of
St Matthew when St Ninnidh came into class without a book. He asked
Ciaran to lend him his, which he did. So when Finnian tested the
class, Ciaran knew only the first half of the Gospel. The other
students laughed and called him "Ciaran half-Matthew." St Finnian
silenced them and said, "Not Ciaran half-Matthew, but Ciaran
half-Ireland, for he will have half the country and the rest of us
will have the other half."
After spending some time in Clonard, Ciaran visited other monasteries,
including that of St Enda (March 21) on Aran, where he was ordained to
the holy priesthood. He left there because of a vision which St Enda
interpreted for him. Then he went to Scattery Island to study under St
Senan (March 8). Later, he went to visit his brothers Luachaill and
Odhran, who had a foundation at a place called Isel. Ciaran's charity
was so great that his brothers asked him to leave. They said,
"Brother, leave us for we cannot live in the same place with you and
feed and keep our brethren for God, because of your unbounded
lavishness."
St Ciaran left them and set off with his books in a bag. On the way he
met a stag and placed the bag on its back. He followed the animal
until he came to Lough Ree opposite Hare Island, where he founded a
monastery. Leaving his brother Donnan (January 7) as abbot, he went to
dwell in the wilderness.
With nine other companions, St Ciaran founded another monastery at
Clonmacnoise on the banks of the River Shannon. Within seven months,
he became ill and asked to be taken outside and laid on the ground. He
looked up at the heavens and said something about the way being steep
and difficult. He departed to the Lord at the age of thirty-three.
Clonmacnoise was a thousand years old when it was suppressed by Henry
VIII. The monastery was destroyed by Reformation armies in 1552, but
the ruins are still very impressive. There is a cathedral, seven other
churches, three high crosses, and two stumps of round towers. Fifty
kings are said to be buried here with the abbots and monks of the
monastery.
St Ciaran's crozier survives to the present day.
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Blessed Nicetas the Hidden of Constantinople
Saint Nicetas the Hidden lived at Constantinople and occupied the
position of "chartolarium" ("letter-writer"). They call him "the
Hidden," because living in the world amid the bustle of the city, with
secret exploits of faith, he attained spiritual perfection and was a
great saint of God. His saintly life was revealed through unusual
circumstances.
Two friends, a certain priest and the deacon Sozon, had quarreled. The
priest died, and the deacon grieved that they had not been able to be
reconciled. He told an experienced Elder of the sin that tormented his
conscience. He gave Sozon a letter and ordered him to give it to the
first person whom he would meet at midnight at the temple of Hagia
Sophia, the Wisdom of God.
St Nicetas the Chartolarian appeared before him. Having read the
letter, he began weeping and said, that it made him responsible for
this, and that it was beyond his strength, but with the prayers of the
Elder who had sent Sozon, he would strive to accomplish this. Making a
prostration before the church doors, St Nicetas said: "Lord, open to
us the doors of Thy mercy,"and the doors of the temple flew open by
themselves. Leaving the deacon at the threshold, St Nicetas began to
pray, and Sozon saw that he shone with a strange light.
Afterwards they went from the church, and the doors again closed.
Approaching the church of the Blachernae Mother of God, St Nicetas
again began praying and again the doors opened in front of them. In
the church there shone a light, and from the altar came two rows of
priests, among whom Deacon Sozon recognized his dead friend. St
Nicetas quietly said: "Father, speak to your brother, and cease the
enmity between you."
Immediately the priest and Deacon Sozon greeted each other. They
embraced one another with love and were reconciled. The priest went
back, and the doors closed by themselves. St Nicetas said to the
deacon: "Brother Sozon, save your soul both for your sake, and for my
benefit. To the Father who sent you, say that the purity of his holy
prayers and his trust in God made possible the return of the dead."
After these words St Nicetas became invisible to Sozon. Having
returned to his spiritual Father and Elder, the deacon thanked him
with tears, that through his prayers, the great hidden saint of God
Nicetas the Chartolarian had removed the sin from both the living and
the dead.
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Commemoration of the Holy Fathers of the Third Ecumenical
Council
The Third Ecumenical Council was convened in the year 431 in the city
of Ephesus (Asia Minor) during the reign of the emperor Theodosius the
Younger (408-450). The Council was convened to investigate without
further delay, the false teachings of Patriarch Nestorius of
Constantinople (428-431).
Contrary to the dogmas of the Ecumenical Church, Nestorius dared to
assert that the Son of God Jesus Christ is not one Person
(Hypostasis), as Holy Church teaches, but is rather two distinct
persons, one Divine, and the other human.
Regarding the Most Holy Theotokos, he impiously asserted that She
should not be called the Mother of God, but rather only the mother of
the man Christ. The heresy of Nestorius is opposed to one of the basic
dogmas of the Christian Faith: our Lord Jesus Christ's divine and
human natures.
According to the false teaching of Nestorius, Jesus Christ was born as
an ordinary man, and afterwards because of His sanctity of life, He
was somehow joined to the Godhead. With this blasphemous teaching of
Nestorius the Enemy of the race of man, the devil, attempted to
undermine the Christian Faith on these points: that the Pre-eternal
God the Word, the Son of God, actually was incarnate in the flesh of
the All-Pure Theotokos. Having become Man, He thereby redeemed the
human race from slavery to sin and death by His own suffering and
death, and by His glorious Resurrection He trampled down Hades and
death and opened the path to the Kingdom of Heaven to those who
believered in Him, and to those striving to live according to His
commandments.
A long while before the convening of the Ecumenical Council, St Cyril,
Archbishop of Alexandria, repeatedly tried to reason with the heretic
Nestorius. St Cyril in his letters explained the mistakes of judgment
by Nestorius, but Nestorius stubbornly continued with his teachings.
St Cyril wrote about the danger of the rising heresy to Celestine, the
Pope of Rome, and to other Orthodox bishops, who also attempted to
reason with Nestorius. When it became clear that Nestorius would
continue with his teachings and that they were becoming widespread,
the Orthodox bishops appealed to the emperor Theodosius the Younger
for permission to convene an Ecumenical Council. The Council was
convened on the day of the Most Holy Trinity, June 7, 431.
Two hundred bishops attended the Council. Nestorius also arrived in
Ephesus, but he did not appear at the Council even though the Fathers
suggested three times that he attend the sessions. Then the Fathers
began to discuss the heresy in the absence of the heretic.
The sessions of the Council continued from June 22 to August 31. At
the Council of Ephesus were present such famous Fathers of the Church
as St Cyril of Alexandria, Juvenal of Jerusalem, Memnon of Ephesus (St
Celestine, Pope of Rome, was unable to attend because of illness, but
he sent papal legates).
The Third Ecumenical Council condemned the heresy of Nestorius and
confirmed the Orthodox teaching on these matters: that it is necessary
to confess the Lord Jesus Christ as One Person (Hypostasis) in two
natures, the Divine and the Human, and that the All-Pure Mother of the
Lord be acclaimed as Ever-Virgin and truly the Theotokos. In the
guidance of the Church the holy Fathers issued eight Canons, and the
"Twelve Anathemas against Nestorius" by St Cyril of Alexandria.
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