[Readingsandsaints] Readings and Saints

Wed Apr 23 05:00:22 CDT 2008

Scripture Readings and Saints for Wed Apr 23 2008

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------ READINGS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
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John 12:17-50  (Matins Gospel)
17 Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out
of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.
18 For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He
had done this sign.
19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you
are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!"
20 Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at
the feast.
21 Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and
asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."
22 Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told
Jesus.
23 But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of
Man should be glorified.
24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into
the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces
much grain.
25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in
this world will keep it for eternal life.
26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My
servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
27 Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me
from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour.
28 Father, glorify Your name. Then a voice came from heaven, saying,
"I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."
29 Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had
thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him."
30 Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me,
but for your sake.
31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will
be cast out.
32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to
Myself.
33 This He said, signifying by what death He would die.
34 The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the
Christ remains forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be
lifted up'? Who is this Son of Man?"
35 Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with
you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who
walks in darkness does not know where he is going.
36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become
sons of light. These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden
from them.
37 But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not
believe in Him,
38 that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he
spoke: Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of
the LORD been revealed?"
39 Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:
40 He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they
should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their
hearts and turn, So that I should heal them."
41 These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.
42 Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but
because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be
put out of the synagogue;
43 for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
44 Then Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in Me, believes not
in Me but in Him who sent Me.
45 And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.
46 I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me
should not abide in darkness.
47 And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge
him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.
48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which
judges him-the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.
49 For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent
Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.
50 And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore,
whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.
Scripture Reading 1 of 5

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Ezekiel 2:3-3:3  (6th Hour)
3 And He said to me: Son of man, I am sending you to the children of
Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and
their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day.
4 For they are impudent and stubborn children. I am sending you to
them, and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord God.
5 As for them, whether they hear or whether they refusefor they are a
rebellious houseyet they will know that a prophet has been among them.
6 And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them nor be afraid of their
words, though briers and thorns are with you and you dwell among
scorpions; do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their looks,
though they are a rebellious house.
7 You shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or whether they
refuse, for they are rebellious.
8 But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious
like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.
9 Now when I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me; and behold,
a scroll of a book was in it.
10 Then He spread it before me; and there was writing on the inside
and on the outside, and written on it were lamentations and mourning
and woe.
1 Moreover He said to me, Son of man, eat what you find; eat this
scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.
2 So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll.
3 And He said to me, Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your
stomach with this scroll that I give you. So I ate, and it was in my
mouth like honey in sweetness.
Scripture Reading 2 of 5

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Exodus 2:11-22  (Vespers, 1st Reading)
11 Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he
went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an
Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren.
12 So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he
killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
13 And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were
fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, Why are you
striking your companion?
14 Then he said, Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you
intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian? So Moses feared and
said, Surely this thing is known!
15 When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But
Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian;
and he sat down by a well.
16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. And they came and
drew water, and they filled the troughs to water their fathers flock.
17 Then the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and
helped them, and watered their flock.
18 When they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that you
have come so soon today?
19 And they said, An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the
shepherds, and he also drew enough water for us and watered the flock.
20 So he said to his daughters, And where is he? Why is it that you
have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.
21 Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah
his daughter to Moses.
22 And she bore him a son. He called his name Gershom, for he said, I
have been a stranger in a foreign land.
Scripture Reading 3 of 5

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Job 2:1-10  (Vespers, 2nd Reading)
1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present
themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present
himself before the Lord.
2 And the Lord said to Satan, From where do you come? So Satan
answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro on the earth, and
from walking back and forth on it.
3 Then the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered My servant Job,
that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man,
one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his
integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without
cause."
4 So Satan answered the Lord and said, Skin for skin! Yes, all that a
man has he will give for his life.
5 But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and
he will surely curse You to Your face!
6 And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, he is in your hand, but spare
his life.
7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with
painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
8 And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself
while he sat in the midst of the ashes.
9 Then his wife said to him, Do you still hold fast to your integrity?
Curse God and die!
10 But he said to her, You speak as one of the foolish women speaks.
Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept
adversity? In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
Scripture Reading 4 of 5

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Matthew 26:6-16  (Gospel)
6 And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper,
7 a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly
fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table.
8 But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why
this waste?
9 For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the
poor.
10 But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, "Why do you
trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me.
11 For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have
always.
12 For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My
burial.
13 Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the
whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial
to her.
14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief
priests
15 and said, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to
you?" And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver.
16 So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.
Scripture Reading 5 of 5

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Great and Holy Wednesday
On Great and Holy Wednesday, the hymns of the Bridegroom Service
remind us of the sinful woman who poured precious ointment on Christ's
head at Simon the leper's house (Mt. 26:7).
The disciples complained about the wasteful extravagance, for the
myrrh could have been sold and the money given to the poor. On this
same day Judas agreed to betray the Lord for thirty pieces of silver.
Because the betrayal took place on Wednesday, Orthodox Christians fast
on most Wednesdays during the year.
On the other hand, the Savior declared that the woman's actions would
be remembered wherever the Gospel is preached (Mt. 26:13), for she had
anointed Him in preparation for His burial (Mt. 26:12).
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Greatmartyr, Victory-bearer and Wonderworker George
The Holy Great Martyr George the Victory-Bearer, was a native of
Cappadocia (a district in Asia Minor), and he grew up in a deeply
believing Christian family. His father was martyred for Christ when
George was still a child. His mother, owning lands in Palestine, moved
there with her son and raised him in strict piety.
When he became a man, St George entered into the service of the Roman
army. He was handsome, brave and valiant in battle, and he came to the
notice of the emperor Diocletian (284-305) and joined the imperial
guard with the rank of comites, or military commander.
The pagan emperor, who did much for the restoration of Roman might,
was clearly concerned with the danger presented to pagan civilization
by the triumph of the Crucified Savior, and intensified his
persecution against the Christians in the final years of his reign.
Following the advice of the Senate at Nicomedia, Diocletian gave all
his governors full freedom in their court proceedings against
Christians, and he promised them his full support.
St George, when he heard the decision of the emperor, distributed all
his wealth to the poor, freed his servants, and then appeared in the
Senate. The brave soldier of Christ spoke out openly against the
emperor's designs. He confessed himself a Christian, and appealed to
all to acknowledge Christ: "I am a servant of Christ, my God, and
trusting in Him, I have come among you voluntarily, to bear witness
concerning the Truth."
"What is Truth?" one of the dignitaries asked, echoing the question of
Pontius Pilate. The saint replied, "Christ Himself, Whom you
persecuted, is Truth."
Stunned by the bold speech of the valiant warrior, the emperor, who
had loved and promoted George, attempted to persuade him not to throw
away his youth and glory and honors, but rather to offer sacrifice to
the gods as was the Roman custom. The confessor replied, "Nothing in
this inconstant life can weaken my resolve to serve God."
Then by order of the enraged emperor the armed guards began to push St
George out of the assembly hall with their spears, and they then led
him off to prison. But the deadly steel became soft and it bent, just
as the spears touched the saint's body, and it caused him no harm. In
prison they put the martyr's feet in stocks and placed a heavy stone
on his chest.
The next day at the interrogation, powerless but firm of spirit, St
George again answered the emperor, "You will grow tired of tormenting
me sooner than I will tire of being tormented by you." Then Diocletian
gave orders to subject St George to some very intense tortures. They
tied the Great Martyr to a wheel, beneath which were boards pierced
with sharp pieces of iron. As the wheel turned, the sharp edges
slashed the saint's naked body.
At first the sufferer loudly cried out to the Lord, but soon he
quieted down, and did not utter even a single groan. Diocletian
decided that the tortured one was already dead, and he gave orders to
remove the battered body from the wheel, and then went to a pagan
temple to offer thanks.
At this very moment it got dark, thunder boomed, and a voice was
heard: "Fear not, George, for I am with you." Then a wondrous light
shone, and at the wheel an angel of the Lord appeared in the form of a
radiant youth. He placed his hand upon the martyr, saying to him,
"Rejoice!" St George stood up healed.
When the soldiers led him to the pagan temple where the emperor was,
the emperor could not believe his own eyes and he thought that he saw
before him some other man or even a ghost. In confusion and in terror
the pagans looked St George over carefully, and they became convinced
that a miracle had occurred. Many then came to believe in the
Life-Creating God of the Christians.
Two illustrious officials, Sts Anatolius and Protoleon, who were
secretly Christians, openly confessed Christ. Immediately, without a
trial, they were beheaded with the sword by order of the emperor. Also
present in the pagan temple was Empress Alexandra, the wife of
Diocletian, and she also knew the truth. She was on the point of
glorifying Christ, but one of the servants of the emperor took her and
led her off to the palace.
The emperor became even more furious. He had not lost all hope of
influencing St George, so he gave him over to new and fiercesome
torments. After throwing him into a deep pit, they covered it over
with lime. Three days later they dug him out, but found him cheerful
and unharmed. They shod the saint in iron sandals with red-hot nails,
and then drove him back to the prison with whips. In the morning, when
they led him back to the interrogation, cheerful and with healed feet,
the emperor asked if he liked his shoes. The saint said that the
sandals had been just his size. Then they beat him with ox thongs
until pieces of his flesh came off and his blood soaked the ground,
but the brave sufferer, strengthened by the power of God, remained
unyielding.
The emperor concluded that the saint was being helped by magic, so he
summoned the sorcerer Athanasius to deprive the saint of his
miraculous powers, or else poison him. The sorcerer gave St George two
goblets containing drugs. One of them would have quieted him, and the
other would kill him. The drugs had no effect, and the saint continued
to denounce the pagan superstitions and glorify God as before.
When the emperor asked what sort of power was helping him, St George
said, "Do not imagine that it is any human learning which keeps me
from being harmed by these torments. I am saved only by calling upon
Christ and His Power. Whoever believes in Him has no regard for
tortures and is able to do the things that Christ did" (John 14:12).
Diocletian asked what sort of things Christ had done. The Martyr
replied, "He gave sight to the blind, cleansed the lepers, healed the
lame, gave hearing to the deaf, cast out demons, and raised the dead."
Knowing that they had never been able to resurrect the dead through
sorcery, nor by any of the gods known to him, and wanting to test the
saint, the emperor commanded him to raise up a dead person before his
eyes. The saint retorted, "You wish to tempt me, but my God will work
this sign for the salvation of the people who shall see the power of
Christ."
When they led St George down to the graveyard, he cried out, "O Lord!
Show to those here present, that You are the only God in all the
world. Let them know You as the Almighty Lord." Then the earth quaked,
a grave opened, the dead one emerged from it alive. Having seen with
their own eyes the Power of Christ, the people wept and glorified the
true God.
The sorcerer Athanasius, falling down at the feet of St George,
confessed Christ as the All-Powerful God and asked forgiveness for his
sins, committed in ignorance. The obdurate emperor in his impiety
thought otherwise. In a rage he commanded both t Athanasius and the
man raised from the dead to be beheaded, and he had St George again
locked up in prison.
The people, weighed down with their infirmities, began to visit the
prison and they there received healing and help from the saint. A
certain farmer named Glycerius, whose ox had collapsed, also visited
him. The saint consoled him and assured him that God would restore his
ox to life. When he saw the ox alive, the farmer began to glorify the
God of the Christians throughout all the city. By order of the
emperor, St Glycerius was arrested and beheaded.
The exploits and the miracles of the Great Martyr George had increased
the number of the Christians, therefore Diocletian made a final
attempt to compel the saint to offer sacrifice to the idols. They set
up a court at the pagan temple of Apollo. On the final night the holy
martyr prayed fervently, and as he slept, he saw the Lord, Who raised
him up with His hand, and embraced him. The Savior placed a crown on
St George's head and said, "Fear not, but have courage, and you will
soon come to Me and receive what has been prepared for you."
In the morning, the emperor offered to make St George his
co-administrator, second only to himself. The holy martyr with a
feigned willingness answered, "Caesar, you should have shown me this
mercy from the very beginning, instead of torturing me. Let us go now
to the temple and see the gods you worship."
Diocletian believed that the martyr was accepting his offer, and he
followed him to the pagan temple with his retinue and all the people.
Everyone was certain that St George would offer sacrifice to the gods.
The saint went up to the idol, made the Sign of the Cross and
addressed it as if it were alive: "Are you the one who wants to
receive from me sacrifice befitting God?"
The demon inhabiting the idol cried out, "I am not a god and none of
those like me is a god, either. The only God is He Whom you preach. We
are fallen angels, and we deceive people because we are jealous."
St George cried out, "How dare you remain here, when I, the servant of
the true God, have entered?" Then noises and wailing were heard from
the idols, and they fell to the ground and were shattered.
There was general confusion. In a frenzy, pagan priests and many of
the crowd seized the holy martyr, tied him up, and began to beat him.
They also called for his immediate execution.
The holy empress Alexandra tried to reach him. Pushing her way through
the crowd, she cried out, "O God of George, help me, for You Alone are
All-Powerful." At the feet of the Great Martyr the holy empress
confessed Christ, Who had humiliated the idols and those who
worshipped them.
Diocletian immediately pronounced the death sentence on the Great
Martyr George and the holy Empress Alexandra, who followed St George
to execution without resisting. Along the way she felt faint and
slumped against a wall. There she surrendered her soul to God.
St George gave thanks to God and prayed that he would also end his
life in a worthy manner. At the place of execution the saint prayed
that the Lord would forgive the torturers who acted in ignorance, and
that He would lead them to the knowledge of Truth. Calmly and bravely,
the holy Great Martyr George bent his neck beneath the sword,
receiving the crown of martyrdom on April 23, 303.
The pagan era was coming to an end, and Christianity was about to
triumph. Within ten years, St Constantine (May 21) would issue the
Edict of Milan, granting religious freedom to Christians. Of the many
miracles worked by the holy Great Martyr George, the most famous are
depicted in iconography. In the saint's native city of Beirut were
many idol-worshippers. Outside the city, near Mount Lebanon, was a
large lake, inhabited by an enormous dragon-like serpent. Coming out
of the lake, it devoured people, and there was nothing anyone could
do, since the breath from its nostrils poisoned the very air.
On the advice of the demons inhabiting the idols, the local ruler came
to a decision. Each day the people would draw lots to feed their own
children to the serpent, and he promised to sacrifice his only
daughter when his turn came. That time did come, and the ruler dressed
her in her finest attire, then sent her off to the lake. The girl wept
bitterly, awaiting her death. Unexpectedly for her, St George rode up
on his horse with spear in hand. The girl implored him not to leave
her, lest she perish.
The saint signed himself with the Sign of the Cross. He rushed at the
serpent saying, "In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit." St George pierced the throat of the serpent with his
spear and trampled it with his horse. Then he told the girl to bind
the serpent with her sash, and lead it into the city like a dog on a
leash.
The people fled in terror, but the saint halted them with the words:
"Don't be afraid, but trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in
Him, since it is He Who sent me to save you." Then the saint killed
the serpent with a sword, and the people burned it outside the city.
Twenty-five thousand men, not counting women and children, were then
baptized. Later, a church was built and dedicated to the Most Holy
Theotokos and the Great Martyr George.
St George went on to become a talented officer and to amaze the world
by his military exploits. He died before he was thirty years old. He
is known as Victory Bearer, not only for his military achievements,
but for successfully enduring martyrdom. As we know, the martyrs are
commemorated in the dismissal at the end of Church services as "the
holy, right victorious martyr...."
St George was the patron saint and protector of several of the great
builders of the Russian state. St Vladimir's son, Yaroslav the Wise
(in holy Baptism George), advanced the veneration of the saint in the
Russian Church. He built the city of Yuriev [i.e., "of Yurii." "Yurii"
is the diminutive of "George", as "Ivan" is of "John"], he also
founded the Yuriev monastery at Novgorod, and he built a church of St
George the Victory Bearer at Kiev.
The day of the consecration of St George's Church in Kiev, November
26, 1051 by St Hilarion, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus, has entered
into the liturgical treasury of the Church as a special church
feastday. Yuriev Day is beloved by the Russian people as an "autumn
Feast of St George."
The name of St George was also borne by the founder of Moscow, Yurii
Dolgoruky (+ 1157), who was the builder of many churches dedicated to
St George, and the builder of the city of Yuriev-Polsk. In the year
1238 the heroic fight of the Russian nation against the Mongol Horde
was led by the Great Prince Yurii (George) Vsevolodovich of Vladimir
(February 4), who fell at the Battle at the Sita River. His memory,
like that of Igor the Brave, and defender of his land, was celebrated
in Russian spiritual poems and ballads.
The first Great Prince of Moscow, when Moscow had become the center of
the Russian Land, was Yurii Danilovich (+ 1325), the son of St Daniel
of Moscow, and grandson of St Alexander Nevsky. From that time St
George the Victory Bearer, depicted as a horseman slaying the serpent,
appeared on Moscow's coat of arms, and became an emblem of the Russian
state. This has strengthened Russia's connections with Christian
nations, and especially with Iberia (Georgia, the Land of St George).
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Martyr Alexandra the Empress, wife of Diocletian
The Holy Empress Alexandra was the wife of Diocletian (284-305). Her
supposed death was described in the Martyrdom of Saint George, which
was written immediately after his death. The empress, however,
received the crown of martyrdom several years later, in 314.
Many events occurred during these years. In 305 the emperor Diocletian
resigned the throne and power passed to his co-ruler Maximian Galerius
(305-311), a fanatic pagan, as well as a coarse and fierce soldier.
His wife was St Valeria, the daughter of the holy Empress Alexandra,
whom Diocletian had given in marriage against her will.
St Alexandra raised her daughter in Christian piety. When Galerius
died, the emperor Maximinus sought her hand in marriage. When he was
refused, he banished St Valeria to Syria, where she lived with her
mother.
After the death of Maximinus in 311 the mother and daughter arrived in
Nicomedia, trusting in the mercy of the emperor Licinius (311-324).
Together with St Constantine, he had subscribed to the Edict of Milan,
which gave Christians the freedom of religion, but secretly he
remained an enemy of Christianity. Licinius gave orders to execute the
holy Empress Alexandra and her daughter Valeria. They were beheaded,
and their bodies thrown into the sea.
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Martyr Anatolius the Soldier converted by witnessing the
martyrdom of St George
Two illustrious officials, Sts Anatolius and Protoleon, who were
secretly Christians, openly confessed Christ after seeing St George
tortured, then miraculously healed of his wounds. Immediately, and
without a trial, they were beheaded with the sword by order of the
emperor.
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Martyr Protoleon, the soldier converted by witnessing the
martyrdom of St George
Two illustrious officials, Sts Anatolius and Protoleon, who were
secretly Christians, openly confessed Christ after seeing St George
tortured, then miraculously healed of his wounds. Immediately, and
without a trial, they were beheaded with the sword by order of the
emperor.
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New Martyr Lazarus of Bulgaria
No information available at this time.
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