[Readingsandsaints] Readings and Saints

Fri Apr 11 05:00:15 CDT 2008

Scripture Readings and Saints for Fri Apr 11 2008

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Isaiah 45:11-17  (6th Hour)
11 Thus says the Lord, The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: Ask Me
of things to come concerning My sons; And concerning the work of My
hands, you command Me.
12 I have made the earth, And created man on it. IMy handsstretched
out the heavens, And all their host I have commanded.
13 I have raised him up in righteousness, And I will direct all his
ways; He shall build My city And let My exiles go free, Not for price
nor reward, Says the Lord of hosts.
14 Thus says the Lord: The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush And
of the Sabeans, men of stature, Shall come over to you, and they shall
be yours; They shall walk behind you, They shall come over in chains;
And they shall bow down to you. They will make supplication to you,
saying, God is with you only, and there is no other; no god besides
him.'
15 Truly You are God, who hide Yourself, O God of Israel, the Savior!
16 They shall be ashamed And also disgraced, all of them; They shall
go in confusion together, Who are makers of idols.
17 But Israel shall be saved by the Lord With an everlasting
salvation; You shall not be ashamed or disgraced Forever and ever.
Scripture Reading 1 of 3

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Genesis 22:1-18  (Vespers, 1st Reading)
1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and
said to him, Abraham! And he said, Here I am.
2 Then He said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love,
and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering
on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and
took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split
the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of
which God had told him.
4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar
off.
5 And Abraham said to his young men, Stay here with the donkey; the
lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.
6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac
his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of
them went together.
7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, My father! And he
said, Here I am, my son. Then he said, Look, the fire and the wood,
but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for
a burnt offering. So the two of them went together.
9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham
built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac
his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.
10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his
son.
11 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said,
Abraham, Abraham! So he said, Here I am.
12 And He said, Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to
him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld
your son, your only son, from Me.
13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a
ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the
ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as
it is said to this day, In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.
15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of
heaven,
16 and said: By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have
done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son
17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your
descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the
seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their
enemies.
18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because
you have obeyed My voice.
Scripture Reading 2 of 3

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Proverbs 17:17-18:5  (Vespers, 2nd Reading)
17 A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.
18 A man devoid of understanding shakes hands in a pledge, And becomes
surety for his friend.
19 He who loves transgression loves strife, And he who exalts his gate
seeks destruction.
20 He who has a deceitful heart finds no good, And he who has a
perverse tongue falls into evil.
21 He who begets a scoffer does so to his sorrow, And the father of a
fool has no joy.
22 A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries
the bones.
23 A wicked man accepts a bribe behind the back To pervert the ways of
justice.
24 Wisdom is in the sight of him who has understanding, But the eyes
of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
25 A foolish son is a grief to his father, And bitterness to her who
bore him.
26 Also, to punish the righteous is not good, Nor to strike princes
for their uprightness.
27 He who has knowledge spares his words, And a man of understanding
is of a calm spirit.
28 Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts
his lips, he is considered perceptive.
1 A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; He rages against
all wise judgment.
2 A fool has no delight in understanding, But in expressing his own
heart.
3 When the wicked comes, contempt comes also; And with dishonor comes
reproach.
4 The words of a mans mouth are deep waters; The wellspring of wisdom
is a flowing brook.
5 It is not good to show partiality to the wicked, Or to overthrow the
righteous in judgment.
Scripture Reading 3 of 3

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Hieromartyr Antipas the Bishop of Pergamum and Disciple of St
John the Theologian
The Hieromartyr Antipas, a disciple of the holy Apostle John the
Theologian (September 26), was bishop of the Church of Pergamum during
the reign of the emperor Nero (54-68).
During these times, everyone who would not offer sacrifice to the
idols lived under threat of either exile or execution by order of the
emperor. On the island of Patmos (in the Aegean Sea) the holy Apostle
John the Theologian was imprisoned, he to whom the Lord revealed the
future judgment of the world and of Holy Church.
"And to the angel of the Church of Pergamum write: the words of him
who has the sharp two-edged sword. I know where you live, where the
throne of Satan is, and you cleave unto My Name, and have not
renounced My faith, even in those days when Antipas was My faithful
martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwells" (Rev 2:12-13).
By his personal example, firm faith and constant preaching about
Christ, St Antipas began to turn the people of Pergamum from offering
sacrifice to idols. The pagan priests reproached the bishop for
leading the people away from their ancestral gods, and they demanded
that he stop preaching about Christ and offer sacrifice to the idols
instead.
St Antipas calmly answered that he was not about to serve the demons
that fled from him, a mere mortal. He said he worshiped the Lord
Almighty, and he would continue to worship the Creator of all, with
His Only-Begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit. The pagan priests retorted
that their gods existed from of old, whereas Christ was not from of
old but was crucified under Pontius Pilate as a criminal. The saint
replied that the pagan gods were the work of human hands and that
everything said about them was filled with iniquities and vices. He
steadfastly confessed his faith in the Son of God, incarnate of the
Most Holy Virgin.
The enraged pagan priests dragged the Hieromartyr Antipas to the
temple of Artemis and threw him into a red-hot copper bull, where
usually they put the sacrifices to the idols. In the red-hot furnace
the martyr prayed loudly to God, imploring Him to receive his soul and
to strengthen the faith of the Christians. He went to the Lord
peacefully, as if he were going to sleep (+ ca. 68).
At night Christians took the body of the Hieromartyr Antipas, which
was untouched by the fire. They buried him at Pergamum. The tomb of
the hieromartyr became a font of miracles and of healings from various
sicknesses.
We pray to the Hieromartyr Antipas for relief from toothache, and
diseases of the teeth.
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Venerable James the Abbot of Zheleznoborov
Saint James of Zhelezny Bor, a son of the noble Anosov (or Amosov)
line, which had their lands at Kostroma Galich, was born in the second
half of the fourteenth century. As a youth he went to St Sergiua of
Radonezh, received monastic tonsure from him, and lived at the Trinity
monastery for several years.
In 1392 St James settled in a dense forest near iron mines, at a place
which was called the Iron Pines, at the banks of the rivulet Tebza.
His sanctity of life was already known in his own time. In 1415 the
wife of Great Prince Basil (1389-1425), Sophia (in monasticism
Syncletica, + 1453) fell seriously ill before childbirth. The Great
Prince sent a message to St James begging the monk to pray for his
wife, and asking whether she would live. The saint told him to pray to
the holy Martyr Longinus and foretold the happy birth of a son, Basil.
(In 1450, this son, Great Prince Basil (1425-1462), visited the
monastery of St James and prayed there with gratitude for his victory
over Prince Demetrius Shemyaka).
The grateful Prince Basil generously rewarded St James and gave him
money to build a monastery with a church in honor of the holy Prophet
John the Forerunner. In 1429, the Khazan Tatars laid waste the
surroundings of Galich. St James hid deep in the forest with his
disciples. When they returned, they found the monastery in ruins.
Everything had to be rebuilt.
The saint built a church dedicated to St Nicholas, and he dug out
ponds with the brethren. On the example of the Trinity-Sergiev
monastery a strict cenobitic rule was introduced. Many of the hungry
and destitute people, devastated by the Tatars, were fed at the
monastery.
After many years of common ascetical efforts, the monks entreated St
James to be their igumen. He humbly submitted to their request and
journeyed to Moscow, where he was ordained a priest.
St James died on April 11, 1442 and was buried at the John the
Forerunner church of the monastery he founded.
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St Barsanuphius the Bishop of Tver
Saint Barsanuphius of Tver was born in the year 1495, and was from
Serpukhov. He was named John in Baptism, and he was taught to read and
write. While still a youth, he was captured by the Crimean Tatars.
Accepting this as the Lord's will, he meekly submitted to his masters,
and dutifully accomplished the work they assigned him to do. After
three years, John's father ransomed him. He then went to Moscow and
became a monk in the Andronikov Monastery, where he received the
monastic name Barsanuphius.
Devoting himself to the ascetical life, he became proficient in virtue
and piety. In 1544, he was appointed as igumen of the Pesnosha
Monastery. Later, he went to Kazan and founded a monastery dedicated
to the Transfiguration of the Lord.
While in Kazan, Archimandrite Barsanuphius was able to help St Gurias
(December 5) in spreading Christianity among the Moslems and pagans.
His knowledge of the Tatar language proved to be very useful in this
work.
In 1567, St Barsanuphius was consecrated Bishop of Tver. He healed
many sick people with his knowledge of medicine, but he also healed
those suffering from infirmities of the soul.
When the God-pleaser reached old age, he returned to Kazan and to the
Transfiguration Monastery which he founded. There he received the
Great Schema, and he died at the monastery in 1576.
The holy relics of Sts Gurias and Barsanuphius were uncovered on
October 4, 1596. They were placed in shrines in a side chapel of the
church at the orders of Patriarch Job. On June 20, 1630 their
grace-filled relics were transferred from the Transfiguration
Monastery to the Cathedral of the Annunciation.
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Martyr Processus of Rome
The Holy Martyrs Processus and Martinian were pagans and they served
as guards at the Mamertine prison in Rome.
State criminals were held in this prison, among them some Christians.
Watching the Christian prisoners and listening to their preaching,
Processus and Martinian gradually came to the knowledge of the Savior.
When the holy Apostle Peter was locked up at the Mamertine prison,
Processus and Martinian came to believe in Christ. They accepted holy
Baptism from the apostle and released him from prison.
The jailer Paulinus learned about this, and he demanded that Sts
Processus and Martinian renounce Christ. But they fearlessly confessed
Christ, and they spat at the golden statue of Jupiter. Paulinus
ordered that they be slapped on the face, and then seeing the resolute
stance of the holy martyrs, he subjected them to torture. The martyrs
were beaten with iron rods, scorched with fire, and finally, thrown
into prison.
A certain illustrious and pious woman, by the name of Lucina, visited
them in prison and gave them help and encouragement. The torturer
Paulinus was soon punished by God. He fell blind and died three days
later. The son of Paulinus went to the city ruler demanding that the
martyrs be put to death. Sts Processus and Martinian were beheaded by
the sword (+ ca. 67).
Lucina buried the bodies of the martyrs. Today their tomb is in the
south transept of St Peter's Basilica in Rome.
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Martyr Martinian of Rome
The Holy Martyrs Processus and Martinian were pagans and they served
as guards at the Mamertine prison in Rome.
State criminals were held in this prison, among them some Christians.
Watching the Christian prisoners and listening to their preaching,
Processus and Martinian gradually came to the knowledge of the Savior.
When the holy Apostle Peter was locked up at the Mamertine prison,
Processus and Martinian came to believe in Christ. They accepted holy
Baptism from the apostle and released him from prison.
The jailer Paulinus learned about this, and he demanded that Sts
Processus and Martinian renounce Christ. But they fearlessly confessed
Christ, and they spat at the golden statue of Jupiter. Paulinus
ordered that they be slapped on the face, and then seeing the resolute
stance of the holy martyrs, he subjected them to torture. The martyrs
were beaten with iron rods, scorched with fire, and finally, thrown
into prison.
A certain illustrious and pious woman, by the name of Lucina, visited
them in prison and gave them help and encouragement. The torturer
Paulinus was soon punished by God. He fell blind and died three days
later. The son of Paulinus went to the city ruler demanding that the
martyrs be put to death. Sts Processus and Martinian were beheaded by
the sword (+ ca. 67).
Lucina buried the bodies of the martyrs. Today their tomb is in the
south transept of St Peter's Basilica in Rome.
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Venerable Pharmuthius the Anchorite of Egypt
Saint Pharmuphios lived during the fourth century at the same desert
monastery where St John (March 29) lived in asceticism within a well,
to whom St Pharmuphios gave food.
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Venerable John the Disciple of the Venerable Gregory of
Decapolis
Saint John was a disciple of St Gregory the Decapolite (November 20).
See April 18.
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St Callinicus of Cernica the Bishop of Rimnicului in Romania
No information available at this time.
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Appearance of the Icon of the Mother of God "the Footprint"
at Pochaev
No information available at this time.
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