[Readingsandsaints] Readings and Saints

Sat Sep 22 05:00:17 CDT 2007

Scripture Readings and Saints for Sat Sep 22 2007

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------ READINGS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
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1 Corinthians 14:20-25
20 Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice
be babes, but in understanding be mature.
21 In the law it is written: "With men of other tongues and other lips
I will speak to this people; And yet, for all that, they will not hear
Me," says the Lord.
22 Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to
unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who
believe.
23 Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all
speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or
unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?
24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person
comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all.
25 And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling
down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly
among you.
Scripture Reading 1 of 4

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Ephesians 4:25-32  (Monday)
25 Therefore, putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak truth
with his neighbor," for we are members of one another.
26 Be angry, and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
27 nor give place to the devil.
28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor,
working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to
give him who has need.
29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for
necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed
for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put
away from you, with all malice.
32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,
even as God in Christ forgave you.
Scripture Reading 2 of 4

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Luke 4:31-36
31 Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching
them on the Sabbaths.
32 And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with
authority.
33 Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean
demon. And he cried out with a loud voice,
34 saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of
Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are-the Holy One
of God!"
35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" And
when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and
did not hurt him.
36 Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, "What
a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean
spirits, and they come out."
Scripture Reading 3 of 4

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Luke 4:37-44  (Monday)
37 And the report about Him went out into every place in the
surrounding region.
38 Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon's house. But
Simon's wife's mother was sick with a high fever, and they made
request of Him concerning her.
39 So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And
immediately she arose and served them.
40 When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with
various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every
one of them and healed them.
41 And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, "You are
the Christ, the Son of God!" And He, rebuking them, did not allow them
to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.
42 Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place.
And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from
leaving them;
43 but He said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other
cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent."
44 And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.
Scripture Reading 4 of 4

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Hieromartyr Phocas the Bishop of Sinope
Hieromartyr Phocas was born in the city of Sinope. From youth he led a
virtuous Christian life, and in his adult years he became Bishop of
Sinope. St Phocas converted many pagans to faith in Christ. At the
time of a persecution against Christians under the emperor Trajan
(98-117), the governor demanded that the saint renounce Christ. After
fierce torture they enclosed St Phocas in a hot bath, where he died a
martyr's death in the year 117.
In the year 404, the relics of the saint were transferred to
Constantinople (July 22).
The Hieromartyr Phocas is especially venerated as a defender against
fires, and also as a helper of the drowning.
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Prophet Jonah
The Holy Prophet Jonah lived in the eighth century before the birth of
Christ and was a successor of the Prophet Elisha. The Book of the
Prophet Jonah contains prophecies about the judgments on the Israelite
nation, the sufferings of the Savior, the downfall of Jerusalem, and
the end of the world. Besides the prophecies, the Book of Jonah
relates how he was sent to the Ninevites to preach repentance (Jon. 3:
3-10).
Our Lord Jesus Christ, addressing the Scribes and the Pharisees who
demanded a sign from Him, said that no sign would be given except for
the sign of the Prophet Jonah, "As Jonah was in the belly of the whale
three days and three nights, so also shall the Son of Man be in the
heart of the earth three days and three nights (Mt. 12: 40). From
these words the Lord shows clearly the symbolic meaning of the Book of
the Prophet Jonah in relation to Christ's death on the Cross, descent
into Hell, and the Resurrection.
Reproaching the lack of penitence and recalcitrance of the Jews, the
Lord said, "The Ninevites shall rise in the judgment with this
generation and will condemn it, because they repented at the preaching
of Jonah; and one greater than Jonah is here" (Mt. 12: 41).
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St Jonah the Presbyter, father of St Theophanes the
Hymnographer and Theodore Graptus
Saint Jonah the Presbyter, Father of Sts Theophanes the Hymnographer
(October 11) and Theodore the Branded (December 27), lived in
Palestine in the late eighth to early ninth centuries.
St Jonah lived a virtuous and holy life. He had two sons who were
glorified afterwards for their confession of Orthodoxy during the time
of the Iconoclast heresy. After the death of his wife, St Jonah
withdrew to the Lavra of St Sava the Sanctified (December 5), where
both his sons earlier had been tonsured as monks. St Jonah dwelt at
the Lavra until his death in the ninth century. The Lord bestowed upon
His saint the gift of healing.
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Venerable Jonah the Abbot of Yashezersk
Saint Jonah of Yash Lake was born in the village of Shoksha, sixteen
versts from the monastery later established by him. The foundation of
the monastery took place in 1580, when a wooden church was built in
honor of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, and eight monks
joined together with the monk to labor in asceticism.
St Jonah toiled with great concern over the building up of the
monastery. Thus, for example, in order to ease the catching of fish,
he himself dug a channel from Yash Lake to the nearby Lake Senno. He
often rode horseback along the solitary paths of the forest in search
of necessities for the monastery.
The ascetic made vessels from wood to be used for the divine services.
In time the monk became known for his holy life far beyond the bounds
of the monastery. Many pilgrims brought gifts, among which also were
Church service books. The boundaries of the monastery expanded, and
the number of churches increased. Profound love and reverence for the
ascetic were demonstrated by Metropolitan Isidore of Novgorod, by
Igumen James of the Solovki monastery, by St Irenarchus (July 17), and
also by many other contemporaries.
St Jonah died at the end of the sixteenth century and was buried in
the Annunciation monastery founded by him.
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Martyr Phocas the Gardener of Sinope
The Holy Martyr Phocas the Gardener came from the city of Sinope on
the southern shore of the Black Sea. Having a small garden, he lived
modestly. He sold what he grew, and supported himself on the proceeds.
He helped the needy and paid for the housing of vagrants. The
Christian piety of the saint had a great influence on other people.
Even pagans deferred to him with deep respect. Under his influence
they often abandoned their error and accepted the Christian Faith.
The governor of the district, aware that St Phocas was spreading
Christian teachings, gave orders to find and kill him. The saint
himself accidentally came upon those sent after him, and without
revealing his name, he courteously received them, fed them and
prepared a place for them to spend the night.
At night he went into the garden, then prepared a grave and a place
for his burial. He even made arrangements for all his possessions to
be distributed to the poor after his death. In the morning St Phocas
declared to the strangers that it was he for whom they were searching,
and told them to fulfill the duty entrusted to them. The visitors were
distressed, not wanting to kill the kindly saint. They felt honor
bound to spare St Phocas, but he would not hear of it, and humbly bent
his head beneath the sword.
They buried the holy Martyr Phocas in the grave that he himself had
prepared in the garden. The place of his burial was glorified by
miracles, and later a church was built there. An accurate account of
the martyr's death was collected by Asterius of Amasea (+ 410). The
holy Martyr Phocas is especially venerated by seafarers, and he is
called upon by those traveling by sea.
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St Peter the Tax-Collector
Saint Peter, Former Tax-Collector, was the chief collector of taxes in
Africa in the service of the emperor Justinian (527-565). He was a
cruel and merciless man.
One day he threw a morsel of bread to a beggar who annoyed him by
incessantly begging alms. In a vision Peter saw himself as dead and
how the holy Angels weighed his deeds on the scale of the righteous
judgment of God. On the side of good deeds nothing was placed except a
morsel of bread, thrown at the beggar, but this prevented the opposite
side from being pulled down by his vicious deeds.
Peter pondered the meaning of the dream, and thought that if one loaf
of bread, thrown involontarily, was of such help to him, then he might
receive much more help for good deeds performed with compassion and
from the heart. He repented and completely changed his life. He
liberally distributed alms to the needy, and fed and clothed many.
On day, in a dream, Peter saw Jesus Christ. The Lord was dressed in
clothes which the saint once gave to a beggar. Peter then distributed
his substance to the poor and ordered his slave to sell him into
slavery and to give the money to the poor. The slave reluctantly
carried out the orders of his master.
For many years St Peter worked diligently and humbly for his master.
One day he was recognized by tradesmen to whom he had been known
earlier. They told the master who his servant was. Having overheard
this conversation, the saint quickly fled from the city. In departing,
he worked a miracle: the gatekeeper, a deaf-mute slave, was ordered by
St Peter to open the gates in the name of Jesus Christ. He fulfilled
the command, and at once received his hearing and speech. He rushed
around everywhere to tell his master and added moreover, that when the
saint commanded him to open the gates, fire came forth from his mouth
touching his face, after which he began to hear and speak. Everyone
went to look for Peter, but the search proved in vain. The saint hid
and remained hidden until his death.
The Life of St Peter was passed along by St John the Merciful,
Patriarch of Alexandria (November 12), who in turn knew it from a man
personally acquainted with the saint.
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Venerable Macarius the Wonderworker of Zhabynka and Belev
No information available at this time.
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Synaxis of the Saints of Tula
No information available at this time.
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Venerable Cosmas of the Zographou Monastery on Mt. Athos
Saint Cosmas, Hermit of Zographou, was a Bulgarian. In his youth he
avoided entering into marriage, and secretly left his parents' home
for Mount Athos. Then as he was on his way to the Holy Mountain, the
devil tried to shake the yearning of the youth, vexing him with a
vision of the infinite abyss of the sea surrounding the Holy Mountain.
The fervent prayer of the youth dispelled the demonic temptation.
On Athos, St Cosmas was accepted in the Zographou monastery. There he
was a novice for a long time, and then he was tonsured, and was
appointed ecclesiarch. St Cosmas received a special mercy to see the
heavenly abbess of Mount Athos Herself, Who on the Feast of the
Annunciation at the Vatopedi monastery deigned to reveal to him a
glimpse of Her care for Her earthly appanage. He saw a Woman of royal
majesty and grandeur, Who attended to both in church for services, and
in the trapeza. All the monks served and obeyed Her.
Soon the saint was ordained as deacon, and then as presbyter, which
inspired him to new exploits. Zealous for salvation, the saint through
fervent prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos was granted a particular
sign of Her special favor. He heard the voice of the Mother of God
issuing from Her holy icon and asking Her Son, "How will Cosmas be
saved?" The Lord answered, "Let him withdraw from the monastery into
silence." After obtaining the blessing of the Superior, St Cosmas
withdrew into the wilderness, and there in a cave cut into a cliff,
and began his new deed of silent seclusion. God did not forsake the
faithful man of prayer, for the saint was granted the gift of
clairvoyance.
Just as at the start of his ascetic life, the Enemy of the race of
mankind again tried to dissuade the saint from his intended path, and
so the final days before the righteous one's death were also a
grievous trial for him.
Not long before the death of God's chosen one, he was granted a vision
of Christ Himself, Who informed the saint that before his soul would
depart to the heavenly Kingdom, Satan himself with his hosts would
beat and gnash at him. Prepared for the suffering by this divine
solace, the saint bravely underwent the terrible demonic assaults, and
on the third day after furious beatings, he received the All-Pure
Mysteries. With words of praise on his lips, he peacefully departed to
the Lord.
God, "Who glorifies those who glorify Him," also glorified St Cosmas
miraculously at his death. At the time of the saint's burial a
multitude of beasts and birds flocked to his cave, as though sensing
the common loss of the Holy Mountain. When they placed his body in the
grave and began to cover it with ground, each of the speechless
creatures let out a mournful cry, bestowing final respect to the saint
of God.
Forty days later, when the brethren opened the saint's tomb after the
all-night Vigil (as was customary), in order to transfer them to the
monastery with honor, they were not to be found. The Lord hid them in
a miraculous manner. This occurred in the year 1323.
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