[Readingsandsaints] Readings and Saints

Sun Mar 16 05:00:16 CDT 2008

Scripture Readings and Saints for Sun Mar 16 2008

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John 20:19-31  (9th Matins Gospel)
19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week,
when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear
of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them,
"Peace be with you."
20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then
the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
21 So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent
Me, I also send you."
22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them,
"Receive the Holy Spirit.
23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you
retain the sins of any, they are retained.
24 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them
when Jesus came.
25 The other disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord."
So he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails,
and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into
His side, I will not believe."
26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas
with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst,
and said, "Peace to you!"
27 Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My
hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be
unbelieving, but believing."
28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"
29 Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have
believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His
disciples, which are not written in this book;
31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His
name.
Scripture Reading 1 of 3

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Hebrews 11:24-26,32-12:2  (Epistle)
24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son
of Pharaoh's daughter,
25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to
enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,
26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures
in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.
32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of
Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and
the prophets:
33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained
promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out
of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to
flight the armies of the aliens.
35 Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were
tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better
resurrection.
36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of
chains and imprisonment.
37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain
with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being
destitute, afflicted, tormented-
38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and
mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.
39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did
not receive the promise,
40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not
be made perfect apart from us.
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily
ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before
us,
2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for
the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the
shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Scripture Reading 2 of 3

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John 1:43-51  (Gospel)
43 The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found
Philip and said to him, "Follow Me."
44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom
Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote-Jesus of Nazareth, the
son of Joseph."
46 And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of
Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, "Behold, an
Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!"
48 Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and
said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig
tree, I saw you."
49 Nathanael answered and said to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God!
You are the King of Israel!"
50 Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you
under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than
these."
51 And He said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you
shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending
upon the Son of Man."
Scripture Reading 3 of 3

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1st Sunday of Great Lent Sunday of Orthodoxy
Originally, the Prophets Moses, Aaron, and Samuel were commemorated on
this Sunday. The Alleluia verses appointed for today's Liturgy reflect
this older usage.
Today we commemorate the "Triumph of Orthodoxy," the restoration of
the holy icons in the reign of the holy Empress Theodora (February
11).
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Martyr Sabinus of Egypt
The Holy Martyr Sabinus was administrator of the Egyptian city of
Hermopolis. During a persecution of Christians under the emperor
Diocletian (284-305), St Sabinus and some like-minded companions hid
in a remote village.
His hiding place was revealed by a certain ungrateful beggar who had
brought him food. The saint used to feed him and help him with money,
but the man betrayed him for two pieces of gold. Sabinus was seized
with six other Christians, and after torture they were all drowned in
the Nile in 287.
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Martyr Papas of Lyconia
The Holy Martyr Papas lived in the city of Laranda (Asia Minor) during
the reign of Maximian (305-311). They arrested and tortured him for
his belief in Christ. His feet were put into boots with sharp nails
hammered into the soles, and made to walk. They took him to the city
of Diocaesarea and later to Seleucia, Isauria to stand trial.
St Papas died bound to a barren tree, which then became fruitful.
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St Serapion the Archbishop of Novgorod
No information available at this time.
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Apostle Aristobulus of the Seventy the Bishop of Britain
The Holy Apostle Aristobulus of the Seventy was born on Cyprus. He and
his brother, the holy Apostle Barnabas of the Seventy, accompanied the
holy Apostle Paul on his journeys. St Aristobulus is mentioned by the
Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Romans (Rom 16:10).
St Paul made Aristobulus a bishop and sent him to preach the Gospel in
Britain, where he converted many to Christ. He endured the torments
and malice of the pagans, and eventually baptized them.
St Aristobulus died in Britain among the people he had evangelized.
His memory is celebrated on October 31 and also on the Synaxis of the
Seventy Apostles January 4.
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Hieromartyr Alexander the Pope of Rome
The Hieromartyr Alexander, Bishop of Rome, served for ten years as the
archpastor of Rome. He was burned alive on May 3, 119 by order of the
emperor Hadrian (117-138).
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Martyr Julian of Anazarbus
The Hieromartyr Julian of Anazauria suffered for Christ in Antioch,
Syria under the emperor Maximian Galerius (305-311). His relics were
glorified by miracles in the time of St John Chrysostom. Chrysostom
mentions the martyr in his 47th homily.
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Hieromartyr Trophimus of Laodicea
The Holy Martyrs Trophimus and Thallus, brothers and presbyters of
Syria, served in Carian Laodicea. During a persecution under the
emperor Diocletian (284-305) and his co-emperor Maximian (284-305),
the brothers were taken under guard and brought before the governor
Asclepiodotus. He ordered the holy brothers to be stoned, but the
stones which they threw at the saints returned and struck those who
threw them.
After a second interrogation, the holy brothers were sentenced to be
crucified. Going to execution, they glorified God because they were
found worthy of dying on a cross, as the Savior did. The holy martyrs
of Christ continued to preach from the cross, and their brave mother
stood nearby.
A certain Jewess bowed to the saints and cried out, "Blessed is the
mother who gave birth to such sons." When the martyrs surrendered
their souls to God, the prison guard said that he saw the souls of the
holy brothers being carried upwards to heaven in the company of three
angels.
The people stayed with the bodies of the holy martyrs all night, and
in the morning the wife of the torturer Asclepiodotus came to the
place of execution with her bejeweled veil. She told the people that
in a dream she saw the holy martyrs and the angels sent to punish her
husband.
The mother of the martyrs and two Christians, Zosimus and Artemon,
buried the holy brothers in their native city of Stratonikea, Lydia.
The torturer Asclepiodotus soon fell ill and died a horrible death
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Hieromartyr Thallus of Laodicea
The Holy Martyrs Thallus and Trophimus, brothers and presbyters of
Syria, served in Carian Laodicea. During a persecution under the
emperor Diocletian (284-305) and his co-emperor Maximian (284-305),
the brothers were taken under guard and brought before the governor
Asclepiodotus. He ordered the holy brothers to be stoned, but the
stones which they threw at the saints returned and struck those who
threw them.
After a second interrogation, the holy brothers were sentenced to be
crucified. Going to execution, they glorified God because they were
found worthy of dying on a cross, as the Savior did. The holy martyrs
of Christ continued to preach from the cross, and their brave mother
stood nearby.
A certain Jewess bowed to the saints and cried out, "Blessed is the
mother who gave birth to such sons." When the martyrs surrendered
their souls to God, the prison guard said that he saw the souls of the
holy brothers being carried upwards to heaven in the company of three
angels.
The people stayed with the bodies of the holy martyrs all night, and
in the morning the wife of the torturer Asclepiodotus came to the
place of execution with her bejeweled veil. She told the people that
in a dream she saw the holy martyrs and the angels sent to punish her
husband.
The mother of the martyrs and two Christians, Zosimus and Artemon,
buried the holy brothers in their native city of Stratonikea, Lydia.
The torturer Asclepiodotus soon fell ill and died a horrible death
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St Pimen of Salosi the Enlightener of Dagestan and the North
Caucasus People
Saint Pimen the Fool-for-Christ and Anton Meskhi (of Meskheti, in
southern Georgia) lived in the 13th century, when the Mongols were
regularly invading Georgia. The entire country, and the Church in
particular, languished under the yoke of Mongol oppression. The
Georgian people were once again faced with a terrible choice: to
preserve their temporal flesh or attain spiritual salvation. Most
would not yield to the temptation of the enemy and chose instead to
die as martyrs for Christ.
At that time a monk named Pimen, a fool-for-Christ, labored in the
Davit-Gareji Wilderness. His ancestral roots were in the Kakheti
region of eastern Georgia. Pimen rebuked kings and condemned the
unjust and immoral acts of the nobility. The pious monk Anton Meskhi
labored with him.
Enlightened by divine grace, the fathers recognized that the Georgian
people were following their kings poor example. Thus, the monks began
a struggle for the spiritual salvation of the nations people that
demanded the censure of the king. In addition to their labors of
foolishness and censuring of kings, the saints preached Christianity
among the Dagestani. (located to the northeast of Georgia and borders
the Caspian Sea.)
For their great spiritual achievements and struggles on behalf of
godly purity, the Christian Faith, and the spread of the Gospel among
the Dagestanis, the Georgian Church has counted Pimen the
Fool-for-Christ and Anton Meskhi worthy to be numbered among the
saints.
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St Christodoulos of Patmos
No information available at this time.
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St Vitus
No information available at this time.
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St Ambrose the Confessor
Saint Ambrose the Confessor (in the world Besarion Khelaia) was born
in 1861. He received his primary education at the theological school
in Samegrelo and graduated from Tbilisi Seminary in 1885. He graduated
and was ordained to the priesthood in the same year. Fr. Ambrose
served as a priest in Sokhumi (in northwestern Georgia) for eight
years, at the same time teaching the Georgian language in schools and
directing the activity of various philanthropic societies. In 1896 he
was widowed, and in 1897 he enrolled at the Kazan Theological Academy.
While in Kazan, Fr. Ambrose followed both the literary-cultural life
of the city and the Georgian national independence movement with great
interest. He researched the history of Georgia from primary sources
and composed several essays based on his findings. His essay, entitled
The Struggle Between Christianity and Islam in Georgia, was so
compelling to one professor that he recommended that Fr. Ambrose
continue exploring this theme and present his research for a masters
degree.
In 1901 Fr. Ambrose completed his studies at the Kazan Theological
Academy, and in the same year he was tonsured a monk and returned to
Georgia. Together with the greatest sons of his nation, he fought
tirelessly for the autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church. As a
punishment for his uncompromising commitment to this goal, Fr. Ambrose
was exiled to Russia in 1905.
Upon his return to Georgia, he was elevated to the rank of
archimandrite and appointed abbot of Chelishi Monastery. Chelishi
Monastery had at one time been a center for theological education in
Georgia, but many years had passed since then and the monasterys
student body was rapidly shrinking. Before long it would be completely
deserted. But with the blessing of Bishop Leonid of Imereti (later
Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia), St. Ambrose gathered a number of
gifted young people to study at the seminary and began to instruct
them in chanting and the reading of the Holy Gospel.
St. Ambrose devoted much of his time and energy to finding and
restoring the old manuscripts of Chelishi Monastery. Once, while
passing through the monastery yard, he heard a muted sound coming from
beneath the earth. He began to dig at that place and discovered an
ancient copy of the Holy Gospels. It was the Chelishi Gospel, a famous
Georgian relic from the 9th or 10th century.
Soon St. Ambrose joined the Tbilisi Synodal Council and was enthroned
as abbot of Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Tbilisi. But in 1908 he
was accused of conspiring in the murder of the exarch Nikon and
deprived of the right to serve in the Church. The prosecutors exiled
him to the Holy Trinity Monastery in Ryazan, where he spent over a
year under strict guard. In 1910 St. Ambrose was acquitted and again
permitted to serve in the Church.
In 1917 Archimandrite Ambrose returned to Georgia and rejoined the
struggle for an autocephalous Georgian Church. Within a few months the
Church's autocephaly was proclaimed. He was consecrated Metropolitan
of Chqondidi, later to be transferred to the Tskum-Abkhazeti region.
In 1921 St. Ambrose was enthroned Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia.
The Soviet government began to persecute the Church not long after St.
Ambroses enthronement. Some 1,200 churches were plundered, converted
for other purposes, or destroyed. A great number of clergy were
arrested, exiled, and later shot to death.
On February 7, 1922, Catholicos-Patriarch Ambrose, the spiritual
father and chief shepherd of his nation, sent a memorandum to
participants in the Conference of Genoa (In 1922 representatives of
thirty-four nations met in Genoa, Italy to discuss the economic
reconstruction of Central and Eastern Europe and to improve relations
between the Soviet Union and Western Europe.) in which he defended the
rights of the Georgian Church and nation. Every word of his appeal was
penetrated with distress for the fate not only of his motherland but
of the entire human race. St. Ambrose assured his audience that a
nation and government deprived of Christian virtue would have no
future and pleaded for help in this time of misfortune.
The receipt of such a memorandum was unprecedented for the Bolshevik
regime, and in response the officials had St. Ambrose arrested.
Nevertheless, he fearlessly criticized the governments complaisance
with acts of crime, injustice, and sacrilege.
In response to one of the Bolshevik interrogations, the patriarch
asserted, Confession of Faith is a spiritual necessity for every
nation persecution increases its necessity. Faith deepens, being
contracted and accumulated, and it bursts out with new energy. So it
was in the past, and so it will be in our country. Georgia is no
exception to this universal law.
St. Ambrose spoke these remarkable last words to his persecutors: My
soul belongs to God, my heart to my motherland, and with my flesh you
may do whatever you wish. The court sentenced the Catholicos-Patriarch
of All Georgia to seven years, nine months and twenty-eight days in
prison.
At the end of 1924 St. Ambrose and the other members of the Synodal
Council were granted amnesty, but their grave experience had already
taken its toll. The Georgian flock lost its faithful shepherd in 1927.
In 1995 the life of Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ambrose
(Khelaia) was discussed at an expanded council of the Holy Synod of
the Georgian Church. In recognition of his great achievements on
behalf of the Church and nation, Ambrose was canonized as St. Ambrose
the Confessor.
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St Anthony (Meskhi), the Censurer of Kings
No information available at this time.
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St Demetrius the Devoted, King of Georgia
Saint Demetre the King, also called the Devoted, was a great-grandson
of Holy Queen Tamar. God sent St. Demetre many tribulations during his
childhood, thus encouraging him in the Faith from an early age.
Demetre was still an infant when the Mongols killed his mother, the
pious Queen Gvantsa. His father, King Davit V (12581269), died when
Demetre was just ten years old.
When he reached the age of twelve, the royal court sent him to the
Mongol _ordu_ (the military camp and headquarters of the Mongols. This
particular camp of the Ilkhanid Mongols lay in Mughan of Azerbaijan.),
to the ruler Abaqa Khan (12651282) (ruler of the Ilkhanid Mongols
(descendents of Qubilay Khans brother Hulegu).
As the Georgians were under Mongol dominion, they asked Abaqa Khan to
proclaim Demetre king, and their request was honored.
Filled with virtue, King Demetre ruled the nation in wisdom and
kindness. At night he would go out in search of the poor, the infirm,
and the orphaned to distribute his wealth to them. The king took
advantage of comparatively peaceful periods to build and restore
churches and monasteries and to strengthen fortifications.
Many of King Demetres lofty goals, however, were never realized,
because the khan was constantly calling the Georgian soldiers to arms.
A vast number of Georgias finest soldiers fought and perished in the
khans battles. Soon Georgia was exhausted from battle and the
sacrifice of her sons blood in the wars of foreign nations.
Internal strife began to tear at the Georgian people, and in
desperation they began to pillage the lands and villages that belonged
to their own Church.
During this difficult time, Demetre yielded to a temptation. Although
already joined in a marriage of political convenience, he abducted
Natela, the daughter of southern Georgias ruler, Beka Jakeli. She bore
Demetre a son, whom they named Giorgi. He would later be honored with
the title Giorgi V the Brilliant (13141346).
After the death of Abaqa Khan, his brother, Ahmad Tegüder (12821284),
was proclaimed khan. In the second year of his reign, Ahmads brother,
Qongurdam, plotted to overthrow him but failed. A short time later,
Abaqa Khans son, Arghun (12841291), rose up against his uncle and
seized the throne. Finally, Bugha Chingsang, the khans prime minister,
organized a plot against Arghun. On January 17, 1289, Bugha Chingsang
was executed along with his fellow conspirators.
Demetre, who had been on friendly terms with the khan, was now
summoned to the khans ordu as a suspected member of the plot.
King Demetre immediately surmised the reason for this summons: The
khan is very angry and has called me to him, he told his court. I am
certain he intends to do me evil, but my kingdom will lie defenseless
before him if I do not go. How many Christians will die or become his
slaves? How many churches will be laid to waste? Truly my life cannot
be so valuable that I could live and bear this sin while many
Christian souls are left to perish. It is my wish to go to the khan.
Gods will be done: if I am killed, I will be certain that my country
is saved!
The royal court tried with all its might to convince Demetre that it
was foolish to go, meet certain death, and leave the country without a
ruler. Catholicos Abraam alone supported King Demetres decision and
advised him, If you sacrifice your own life for your nation, we, the
bishops of this land, will bear your sins, and will pray to God that
you be numbered among the holy martyrs. For the Lord Himself said,
_Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for
his friends_ (John 15:13). And if it is good for a man to lay down his
life for just one neighbor, how profitable is it for a man to die for
the sake of many?
Upon hearing these words, the king rejoiced exceedingly and began to
prepare for his journey to the Mongol ordu. He took with him
Catholicos Abraam, a certain priest Mose, his son Davit, and several
members of his court. At the ordu the Mongols could find no fault in
the young Georgian king, but they imprisoned him nevertheless. Then a
group of Georgian faithful forced their way into the prison to see him
and offered to help him escape. The king was deeply moved by their
compassion, but nevertheless he told them, I knew from the beginning
the death I would suffer, and I offered my life for this nation. If I
escape now, the nation will be destroyed. _For what shall it profit a
man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?_ (Mark
8:36).
The khan ordered his execution. Fully prepared to meet death, King
Demetre prayed fervently, received the Holy Gifts, and gave up his
soul to the Lord. Those present witnessed a divine miracle: the sun
grew dark and an ominous gloom enshrouded the whole city.
The holy relics of the Royal Martyr Demetre were guarded until the
catholicos and the priest Mose secretly retrieved the body and, with
the help of a group of Tbilisi fishermen, returned the king to his
homeland. He was buried in Mtskheta, in the burial vault of his
forefathers at Svetitskhoveli Cathedral.
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