[Readingsandsaints] Readings and Saints

Wed Jan 9 05:00:13 CST 2008

Scripture Readings and Saints for Wed Jan 9 2008

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------ READINGS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
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2 Timothy 4:9-22  (Epistle)
9 Be diligent to come to me quickly;
10 for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has
departed for ThessalonIca-Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia.
11 Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is
useful to me for ministry.
12 And Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.
13 Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come-and
the books, especially the parchments.
14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him
according to his works.
15 You also must beware of him, for he has greatly resisted our words.
16 At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May
it not be charged against them.
17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message
might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might
hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
18 And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me
for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!
19 Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.
20 Erastus stayed in Corinth, but Trophimus I have left in Miletus
sick.
21 Do your utmost to come before winter. Eubulus greets you, as well
as Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brethren.
22 The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.
Scripture Reading 1 of 2

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Luke 20:1-8  (Gospel)
1 Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the
temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the
scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him
2 and spoke to Him, saying, "Tell us, by what authority are You doing
these things? Or who is he who gave You this authority?"
3 But He answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing,
and answer Me:
4 The baptism of John-was it from heaven or from men?
5 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From
heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'
6 But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, for they
are persuaded that John was a prophet.
7 So they answered that they did not know where it was from.
8 And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I
do these things."
Scripture Reading 2 of 2

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------ SAINTS/FEASTS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
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Afterfeast of the Theophany of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ
The third day of the Afterfeast of Theophany falls on January 9. The
hymns of this period invite us to purify our minds in order to see
Christ.
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Martyr Polyeuctus of Melitene, in Armenia
Saint Polyeuctus was the first martyr in the Armenian city of
Meletine. He was a soldier under the emperor Decius (249-251) and he
later suffered for Christ under the emperor Valerian (253-259). The
saint was friend also of Nearchos, a fellow-soldier and firm
Christian, but Polyeuctus, though he led a virtuous life, remained a
pagan.
When the persecution against Christians began, Nearchos said to
Polyeuctus, "Friend, we shall soon be separated, for they will take me
to torture, and you alas, will renounce your friendship with me."
Polyeuctus told him that he had seen Christ in a dream, Who took his
soiled military cloak from him and dressed him in a radiant garment.
"Now," he said, "I am prepared to serve the Lord Jesus Christ."
Enflamed with zeal, St Polyeuctus went to the city square, and tore up
the edict of Decius which required everyone to worship idols. A few
moments later, he met a procession carrying twelve idols through the
streets of the city. He dashed the idols to the ground and trampled
them underfoot.
His father-in-law, the magistrate Felix, who was responsible for
enforcing the imperial edict, was horrified at what St Polyeuctus had
done and declared that he had to die for this. "Go, bid farewell to
your wife and children," said Felix. Paulina came and tearfully
entreated her husband to renounce Christ. His father-in-law Felix also
wept, but St Polyeuctus remained steadfast in his resolve to suffer
for Christ.
With joy he bent his head beneath the sword of the executioner and was
baptized in his own blood. Soon, when the Church of Christ in the
reign of St Constantine had triumphed throughout all the Roman Empire,
a church was built at Meletine in honor of the holy Martyr Polyeuctus.
Many miracles were worked through the intercession of St Polyeuctus.
In this very church the parents of St Euthymius the Great (January 20)
prayed fervently for a son. The birth of this great luminary of
Orthodoxy in the year 376 occurred through the help of the holy Martyr
Polyeuctus.
St Polyeuctus was also venerated by St Acacius, Bishop of Meletine
(March 31), a participant in the Third Ecumenical Council, and a great
proponent of Orthodoxy. In the East, and also in the West, the holy
Martyr Polyeuctus is venerated as a patron saint of vows and treaty
agreements.
The Polyeucte Overture of French composer Paul Dukas is only one of
many pieces of classical music inspired by the saints. It premiered in
January of 1892. French dramatist Pierre Corneille has also written a
play, Polyeucte (1642), based on the martyr's life.
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Hieromartyr Philip the Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia
Saint Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow, in the world Theodore, was
descended from the illustrious noble lineage of the Kolichevi,
occupying a prominent place in the Boyar duma at the court of the
Moscow sovereigns. He was born in the year 1507. His father, Stephen
Ivanovich, "a man enlightened and filled with military spirit,"
attentively prepared his son for government service. Theodore's pious
mother Barbara, who ended her days as a nun with the name
Barsanouphia, implanted in the soul of her son a sincere faith and
deep piety. Young Theodore Kolichev applied himself diligently to the
Holy Scripture and to the writings of the holy Fathers. The Moscow
Great Prince Basil III, the father of Ivan the Terrible, brought young
Theodore into the court, but he was not attracted to court life.
Conscious of its vanity and sinfulness, Theodore all the more deeply
immersed himself in the reading of books and visiting the churches of
God. Life in Moscow repelled the young ascetic. The young Prince
Ivan's sincere devotion to him, promising him a great future in
government service, could not deter him from seeking the Heavenly
City.
On Sunday, June 5, 1537, in church for Divine Liturgy, Theodore felt
intensely in his soul the words of the Savior: "No man can serve two
masters" (Mt.6:24), which determined his ultimate destiny. Praying
fervently to the Moscow wonderworkers, and without bidding farewell to
his relatives, he secretly left Moscow in the attire of a peasant, and
for a while he hid himself away from the world in the village of
Khizna, near Lake Onega, earning his livelihood as a shepherd.
His thirst for ascetic deeds led him to the renowned Solovki monastery
on the White Sea. There he fulfilled very difficult obediences: he
chopped firewood, dug the ground, and worked in the mill. After a year
and a half of testing, the igumen Alexis tonsured him, giving him the
monastic name Philip and entrusting him in obedience to the Elder
Jonah Shamina, a converser with St Alexander of Svir (August 30).
Under the guidance of experienced elders Philip grew spiritually, and
progressed in fasting and prayer. Igumen Alexis sent him to work at
the monastery forge, where St Philip combined the activity of
unceasing prayer with his work with a heavy hammer.
He was always the first one in church for the services, and was the
last to leave. He toiled also in the bakery, where the humble ascetic
was comforted with a heavenly sign. In the monastery afterwards they
displayed the "Bakery" image of the Mother of God, through which the
heavenly Mediatrix bestowed Her blessing upon the humble baker Philip.
With the blessing of the igumen, St Philip spent a certain while in
wilderness solitude, attending to himself and to God.
In 1546 at Novgorod the Great, Archbishop Theodosius made Philip
igumen of the Solovki monastery. The new igumen strove with all his
might to exalt the spiritual significance of the monastery and its
founders, Sts Sabbatius and Zosimus of Solovki (September 27, April
17). He searched for the Hodigitria icon of the Mother of God brought
to the island by the first head of Solovki, St Sabbatius. He located
the stone cross which once stood before the saint's cell. The Psalter
belonging to St Zosimus (+1478), the first igumen of Solovki, was also
found. His robe, in which igumens would vest during the service on the
days when St Zosimus was commemorated, was also discovered.
The monastery experienced a spiritual revival. A new monastic Rule was
adopted to regulate life at the monastery. St Philip built majestic
temples: a church of the Dormition of the Mother of God, consecrated
in the year 1557, and a church of the Transfiguration of the Lord. The
igumen himself worked as a simple laborer, helping to build the walls
of the Transfiguration church. Beneath the north portico he dug
himself a grave beside that of his guide, the Elder Jonah. Spiritual
life in these years flourished at the monastery: struggling with the
brethren with the disciples of Igumen Philip were Sts John and
Longinus of Yarenga (July 3) and Bassian and Jonah of Pertominsk (July
12).
St Philip often withdrew to a desolate wilderness spot for quiet
prayer, two versts from the monastery, which was later known as the
Philippov wilderness.
But the Lord was preparing the saint for other work. In Moscow, Tsar
Ivan the Terrible fondly remembered the Solovki hermit from his
childhood. The Tsar hoped to find in St Philip a true companion,
confessor and counsellor, who in his exalted monastic life had nothing
in common with the sedition of the nobles. The Metropolitan of Moscow,
in Ivan's opinion, ought to have a certain spiritual meekness to quell
the treachery and malice within the Boyar soul. The choice of St
Philip as archpastor of the Russian Church seemed to him the best
possible.
For a long time the saint refused to assume the great burden of the
primacy of the Russian Church. He did not sense any spiritual affinity
with Ivan. He attempted to get the Tsar to abolish the Oprichniki
[secret police]. Ivan the Terrible attempted to argue its civil
necessity. Finally, the dread Tsar and the holy Metropolitan came to
an agreement: St Philip would not meddle in the affairs of the
Oprichniki and the running of the government, he would not resign as
Metropolitan in case the Tsar could not fulfill his wishes, and that
he would be a support and counsellor of the Tsar, just as former
Metropolitans supported the Moscow sovereigns. On July 25, 1566 St
Philip was consecrated for the cathedra of Moscow's hierarch saints,
whose number he was soon to join.
Ivan the Terrible, one of the greatest and most contradictory figures
in Russian history, lived an intensely busy life. He was a talented
writer and bibliophile , he was involved in compiling the Chronicles
(and himself suddenly cut the thread of the Moscow chronicle writing),
he examined the intricacies of the monastic Rule, and more than once
he thought about abdicating the throne for the monastic life.
Every aspect of governmental service, all the measures undertaken to
restructure civil and social life, Ivan the Terrible tried to
rationalize as a manifestation of Divine Providence, as God acting in
history. His beloved spiritual heroes were St Michael of Chernigov
(September 20) and St Theodore the Black (September 19), military men
active with complex contradictory destinies, moving toward their ends
through whatever the obstacles before them, and fulfilling their
duties to the nation and to the Church.
The more the darkness thickened around Ivan, the more resolutely he
demanded cleansing and redemption of his soul. Journeying on
pilgrimage to the St Cyril of White Lake monastery, he declared his
wish to become a monk to the igumen and the brethren. The haughty
autocrat fell on his knees before the igumen, who blessed his intent.
Ivan wrote, "it seems to me, an accursed sinner, that I am already
robed in black."
Ivan imagined the Oprichnina in the form of a monastic brotherhood,
serving God with weapons and military deeds. The Oprichniki were
required to dress in monastic garb and attend long and tiring church
services, lasting from 4 to 10 o'clock in the morning. "Brethren" not
in church at 4 o'clock in the morning, were given a penance by the
Tsar. Ivan and his sons fervently wished to pray and sing in the
church choir. From church they went to the trapeza, and while the
Oprichniki ate, the Tsar stood beside them. The Oprichniki gathered
leftover food from the table and distributed it to the poor at the
doorway of the trapeza.
Ivan, with tears of repentance and wanting to be an esteemer of the
holy ascetics, the teachers of repentance, he wanted to wash and burn
away his own sins and those of his companions, cherishing the
assurance that even his terribly cruel actions would prove to be for
the welfare of Russia and the triumph of Orthodoxy. The most clearly
spiritual action and monastic sobriety of Ivan the Terrible is
revealed in his "Synodikon." Shortly before his death, he ordered full
lists compiled of the people murdered by him and his Oprichniki. These
were then distributed to all the Russian monasteries. Ivan
acknowledged all his sins against the nation, and besought the holy
monks to pray to God for the forgiveness of his tormented soul.
The pseudo-monasticism of Ivan the Terrible, a dark most grievous
oppression over Russia, tormented St Philip, who considered it
impossible to mix the earthly and the heavenly, serving the Cross and
serving the sword. St Philip saw how much unrepentant malice and envy
was concealed beneath the black cowls of the Oprichniki. There were
outright murderers among them, hardened in lawless bloodletting, and
profiteers seeking gain, rooted in sin and transgressions. By the
sufferance of God, history is often made by the hands of the impious,
and Ivan the Terrible wanted to whiten his black brotherhood before
God. The blood spilled by its thugs and fanatics cried out to Heaven.
St Philip decided to oppose Ivan. This was prompted by a new wave of
executions in the years 1567-1568. In the autumn of 1567, just as the
Tsar was setting out on a campaign against Livonia, he learned about a
boyar conspiracy. The plotters intended to seize the Tsar and deliver
him to the Polish king, who already was on the move with an army
towards Russian territory.
Ivan dealt severely with the conspirators, and again he shed much
blood. It was bitter for St Philip, and the conscience of the saint
compelled him boldly to enter into defense of the executed. The final
rift occurred in the spring of 1568. On the Sunday of the Veneration
of the Cross, March 2, 1568, when the Tsar with his Oprichniki entered
the Dormition cathedral in monastic garb, as was their custom, St
Philip refused to bless him, and began openly to denounce the lawless
acts committed by the Oprichniki. The accusations of the hierarch
shattered the harmony of the church service. In a rage Ivan retorted,
"Would you oppose us? We shall see your firmness! I have been too soft
on you."
The Tsar began to show ever greater cruelty in persecuting all those
who opposed him. Executions followed one after the other. The fate of
the saintly confessor was sealed. But Ivan wanted to preserve a
semblance of canonical propriety. The Boyar Duma obediently carried
out his decision to place the Primate of the Russian Church on trial.
A cathedral court was set up to try Metropolitan Philip in the
presence of a diminished Boyar Duma, and false witnesses were found.
To the deep sorrow of the saint, these were monks of the Solovki
monastery, his former disciples and novices whom he loved. They
accused St Philip of a multitude of transgressions, including sorcery.
"Like all my ancestors," the saint declared, "I came into this world
prepared to suffer for truth." Having refuted all the accusations, the
holy sufferer attempted to halt the trial by volunteering to resign
his office. His resignation was not accepted, however, and new abuse
awaited the martyr.
Even after a sentence of life imprisonment had been handed down, they
compelled St Philip to serve Liturgy in the Dormition cathedral. This
was on November 8, 1568. In the middle of the service, the Oprichniki
burst into the temple, they publicly read the council's sentence of
condemnation, and then abused the saint. Tearing his vestments off,
they dressed him in rags, dragged him out of the church and drove him
off to the Theophany monastery on a simple peasant's sledge.
For a long while they held the martyr in the cellars of the Moscow
monasteries. They placed his feet into stocks, they held him in
chains, and put a heavy chain around his neck. Finally, they drove him
off to the Tver Otroch monastery. And there a year later, on December
23,1569, the saint was put to death at the hands of Maliuta Skuratov.
Only three days before this the saint foresaw the end of his earthly
life and received the Holy Mysteries. At first, his relics were
committed to earth there at the monastery, beyond the church altar.
Later, they were transferred to the Solovki monastery (August 11,
1591) and from there to Moscow (July 3, 1652).
Initially, the memory of St Philip was celebrated by the Russian
Church on December 23, the day of his martyric death. In 1660, the
celebration was transferred to January 9.
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Prophet Shemaiah (Samaia or Semeias)
The Prophet Shemaiah (Samaia) lived under King Solomon and his son
Rehoboam. At that time, the kingdom of Israel in the north was divided
from the southern kingdom of Juda. Israel was comprised of ten loosely
united tribes, and Juda of two tribes. The prophet ordered Rehoboam
not to make war against the ten tribes of Israel, who had separated
themselves from the offspring of David (3/1 Kings 12:22, 2 Chron.
11:2). His name means "God hears."
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St Peter the Bishop of Sebaste, in Armenia
Saint Peter, Bishop of Sebaste, was a brother of St Basil the Great
and St Gregory of Nyssa (January 1 and January 10). His older sister,
St Macrina (July 19) played a large role in his upbringing.
St Basil the Great ordained St Peter as presbyter, and later he was
made Bishop of Sebaste (in Armenia). St Peter was present at the
Second Ecumenical Council in the year 381, convened at Constantinople
against the heresy of Macedonius.
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St Eustratius the Wonderworker
Saint Eustratius came from the city of Tarsus. At twenty years of age
he secretly left his parents' home and settled in the Abgar monastery
(on Olympos in Asia Minor). There he lived a strict ascetic life,
eating only bread and water, and spending his nights at prayer. After
a certain while he was chosen as igumen of the monastery.
During the reign of the Iconoclast Leo the Armenian (813-820), St
Eustratius hid from pursuit by roaming the hills and the wilds. After
the death of the emperor he returned to the monastery. Prayer was
always on his lips, and he constantly repeated the words: "Lord, have
mercy!"
Before his death he gave instructions to the monks not to be attracted
towards earthly blessings, and constantly to think about the future
life. Signing himself with the Sign of the Cross, he said, "Into Thy
hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit" and he died in peace at age 95.
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