Today's Saint: Honor to Whom Honor Is Due

[MariaRegina]

On this day, Friday, August 15, 2003, we honor the Dormition of the Theotokos

http://www.stspeterandpaulonline.or...rch_calendar/saint_of_the_day/08aug/aug15.php

Note: The massive power outage has crippled the website of the Greek Archdiocese, since August 14, 2003.

http://www.goarch.org/en/Chapel/search.asp

Dormition of Our Most Lady Holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary

Apolytikion: First Tone (see url above for Narthex Press Troparion)

Kontakion: Second Tone (see url above for Narthex Press Kontakion)

Reading:

Concerning the Dormition of the Theotokos, this is what the Church has received from ancient times from the tradition of the Fathers. When the time drew nigh that our Savior was well-pleased to take His Mother to Himself, He declared unto her through an Angel that three days hence, He would translate her from this temporal life to eternity and bliss. On hearing this, she went up with haste to the Mount of Olives, where she prayed continuously. Giving thanks to God, she returned to her house and prepared whatever was necessary for her burial. While these things were taking place, clouds caught up the Apostles from the ends of the earth, where each one happened to be preaching, and brought them at once to the house of the Mother of God, who informed them of the cause of their sudden gathering. As a mother, she consoled them in their affliction as was meet, and then raised her hands to Heaven and prayed for the peace of the world. She blessed the Apostles, and, reclining upon her bed with seemliness, gave up her all-holy spirit into the hands of her Son and God.

With reverence and many lights, and chanting burial hymns, the Apostles took up that God-receiving body and brought it to the sepulchre, while the Angels from Heaven chanted with them, and sent forth her who is higher than the Cherubim. But one Jew, moved by malice, audaciously stretched forth his hand upon the bed and immediately received from divine judgment the wages of his audacity. Those daring hands were severed by an invisible blow. But when he repented and asked forgiveness, his hands were restored. When they had reached the place called Gethsemane, they buried there with honor the all-immaculate body of the Theotokos, which was the source of Life. But on the third day after the burial, when they were eating together, and raised up the artos (bread) in Jesus' Name, as was their custom, the Theotokos appeared in the air, saying "Rejoice" to them. From this they learned concerning the bodily translation of the Theotokos into the Heavens.

These things has the Church received from the traditions of the Fathers, who have composed many hymns out of reverence, to the glory of the Mother of our God (see Oct. 3 and 4).

READING COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY, BROOKLINE, MA

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce these copyrighted texts here, but with the condition that all texts used are reproduced by permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, and that the selections are taken from their Great Horologion. You may visit them at http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/

 

[MariaRegina]

http://www.goarch.org/en/chapel/index.asp?D=8/16/2003&T=10

On Saturday, August 16, 2003 we celebrate:

Holy Martryr Diomedes

Holy Monk Penteles

Our Righteous Father Timothy, Bishop of Euripos, Builder of the Holy Monastery Pentele

Through the intercessions of our Holy Martryr Diomedes, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.


Holy Martryr Diomedes

Reading:

The holy Martyr Diomedes was from Tarsus in Cilicia, a physician who treated bodies with his healing art and souls with his piety. In the days of the Emperor Diocletian, about the year 288, Diomedes left Tarsus and came to Nicaea, where he benefited many both as a physician and as a preacher of the Faith. He was accused to Diocletian, who sent men to fetch him. When they arrived, although finding that he had already given up his soul to the Lord, they cut of his head to take it to the Emperor, and because of their inhumanity were stricken with blindness. When Diocletian saw the Saint's head, he commanded them to take it back and put it on the body in its place; when they had done so, they received their sight again. Saint Diomedes is one of the Holy Unmercenaries.

READING COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY, BROOKLINE, MA

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce these copyrighted texts here, but with the condition that all texts used are reproduced by permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, and that the selections are taken from their Great Horologion. You may visit them at http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/

 

[MariaRegina]

http://www.goarch.org/en/Chapel/search.asp

On Sunday, August 17, 2003 we celebrate:

9th Sunday of Matthew

St. Myron the Martyr

Through the intercessions of our Holy Martryr Myron, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

St. Myron the Martyr

Kontakion: Second Tone

Since thou didst love Christ from childhood, O all-lauded one, and strictly didst keep His precepts and divine commands, thou didst run whole-heartedly unto Him, O Myron, and foundest rest and with Angels glorifiest Him, while asking divine forgiveness for us all.

Reading:

Saint Myron was a priest during the reign of Decius, when Antipater was ruler of Achaia. On the day of our Lord's Nativity, Antipater entered the church to seize the Christians and punish them. Saint Myron, kindled with holy zeal, roundly insulted Antipater, for which he was hung up and scraped, then cast into a raging furnace, but was preserved unharmed. When Myron refused to worship the idols, Antipater commanded that strips be cut in the Saint's flesh from his shoulders to his feet; the Saint took one of the strips of his flesh and flung it in the tyrant's face. He was beaten, and scraped again upon his beaten flesh; then he was thrown to wild beasts, but when Antipater saw them leaving off their fierce nature and protecting the Saint from harm, he was overcome with unbearable shame and slew himself The Saint was then sent to Cyzicus, where the proconsul had him beheaded, about the year 250.

READING COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY, BROOKLINE, MA
KONTAKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce these copyrighted texts here, but with the condition that all texts used are reproduced by permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, and that the selections are taken from their Great Horologion. You may visit them at http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/

 

[MariaRegina]

http://www.goarch.org/en/chapel/index.asp?D=8/16/2003&T=10

On Monday, August 18, 2003 we celebrate:

10th Monday after Pentecost

Florus, Laurus, Leonty and Ermos the Martyrs

Our Holy Fathers John and George, Archbishops of Constantinople

Translation of the holy relics of our Holy Father Arsenius, who struggled in Parus

Through the intercessions of our Holy Martryrs Florus, Laurus, Leonty and Ermos, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Florus, Laurus, Leonty and Ermos the Martyrs

Reading:

These Martyrs were twin brothers, and stonemasons. After the martyrdom of their teachers Proclus and Maximus, they left Byzantium and came to the city of Ulpiana in Illyricum, where a certain Licinius hired them to build a temple for the idols. The wages he gave them, they distributed to the poor, and when the temple was built, Florus and Laurus gathered the paupers, and with their help put ropes about the necks of the idols, pulled them to the ground, and furnished the temple as a church. When Licinius learned of this, he had the paupers burned alive in a furnace. Florus and Laurus were tormented, then cast into a deep well, where they gave up their souls to the Lord. When their holy relics were recovered years later, they poured forth myrrh and worked many miracles; they were enshrined in Constantinople.

READING COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY, BROOKLINE, MA

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce these copyrighted texts here, but with the condition that all texts used are reproduced by permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, and that the selections are taken from their Great Horologion. You may visit them at http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/

 

[MariaRegina]

http://www.goarch.org/en/chapel/index.asp?D=8/19/2003&T=10

On Tuesday, August 19, 2003 we celebrate:

10th Tuesday after Pentecost

Holy Great Martyr Andrew Stratelates and his 2,593 Companions

Holy Martyrs Timothy, Agapius and Thecla

Our Righteous Father Theophanes the New, Struggler of Naousa

Through the intercessions of our Holy Great Martyr Andrew Stratelates and his 2,593 Companions, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Holy Great Martyr Andrew Stratelates and his 2,593 Companions

Reading:

During the reign of Maximian, about the year 289, Antiochus the Commander-in-Chief of the Roman forces sent Andrew with many other soldiers against the Persians, who had overrun the borders of the Roman dominion. Saint Andrew persuaded his men to call upon the Name of Christ, and when they had defeated the Persians with unexpected triumph, his soldiers believed in Christ with him. Antiochus, learning of this, had them brought before him. When they confessed Christ to be God, he had Andrew spread out upon a bed of iron heated fiery hot, and had the hands of his fellow soldiers nailed to blocks of wood. Antiochus then commanded some thousand soldiers to chase the Saints beyond the borders of the empire. Through the instructions of Saint Andrew, these soldiers also believed in Christ. At the command of Antiochus, they were all beheaded in the mountain passes of the Taurus mountains of Cilicia.

READING COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY, BROOKLINE, MA

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce these copyrighted texts here, but with the condition that all texts used are reproduced by permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, and that the selections are taken from their Great Horologion. You may visit them at http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/

 

[MariaRegina]

http://www.goarch.org/en/Chapel/search.asp

On Wednesday, August 20, 2003 we celebrate:

10th Wednesday after Pentecost

Holy Martyr Luke of Bouleutos

Holy Samuel the Prophet

Through the intercessions of the Holy Prophet Samuel. O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Holy Samuel the Prophet

Apolytikion: Third Tone

As we celebrate the memory of Thy Prophet Samuel, O Lord, through him we beseech Thee to save our souls.

Kontakion: Plagal of the Fourth Tone

Thy hallowed mother dedicated thee unto the Lord even before she had conceived thee; and when thou wast born thou didst serve Him from thine infancy like an Angel. And, O Prophet of the Most High, for thy fervent faith, thou wast granted to foretell things that should come to pass. Hence, we cry to thee: Rejoice, O ven'rable Samuel.

Reading:

This most holy man, a Prophet of God from childhood, was the last judge of the Israelite people, and anointed the first two Kings of Israel. He was born in the twelfth century before Christ, in the city of Armathaim Sipha, from the tribe of Levi, the son of Elkanah and Hannah (Anna). He was the fruit of prayer, for his mother, being barren, conceived him only after she had supplicated the Lord with many tears; wherefore she called him Samuel, that is, "heard by God." As soon as Hannah had weaned him, she brought him to the city of Silom (Shiloh), where the Ark was kept, and she consecrated him, though yet a babe, to the service of God, giving thanks to Him with the hymn found in the Third Ode of the Psalter: "My heart hath been established in the Lord . . ." Samuel remained in Silom under the protection of Eli the priest. He served in the Tabernacle of God, and through his most venerable way of life became well-pleasing to God and man (I Kings 2: 26). While yet a child, sleeping in the tabernacle near the Ark of God, he heard the voice of God calling his name, and foretelling the downfall of Eli; for although Eli's two sons, Ophni and Phineas, were most lawless, and despisers of God, Eli did not correct them. Even after Samuel had told Eli of the divine warning, Eli did not properly chastise his sons, and afterwards, through various misfortunes, his whole house was blotted out in one day.

After these things came to pass, Samuel was chosen to be the protector of the people, and he judged them with holiness and righteousness. He became for them an example of all goodness, and their compassionate intercessor before God: "Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you; yea, I will serve the Lord, and show you the good and the right way" (ibid. 12:23). When he asked them -- having God as witness -- if he ever wronged anyone, or took anyone's possessions, or any gift, even so much as a sandal, they answered with one voice: "Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, nor afflicted us, neither hast thou taken anything from anyone's hand" (ibid. 12:4). When Samuel was old, the people asked him for a king, but he was displeased with this, knowing that God Himself was their King. But when they persisted, the Lord commanded him to anoint them a king, saying, "They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me from reigning over them" (ibid. 8:7); so Samuel anointed Saul. But Saul transgressed the command of God repeatedly, so Samuel anointed David. Yet, since Samuel was a man of God, full of tender mercy, when the Lord told him that He had rejected Saul, Samuel wept for him the whole night long (ibid. 15:11); and later, since he continued to grieve, the Lord said to him, "How long wilt thou mourn for Saul?" (ibid. 16:1). Having lived blamelessly some ninety-eight years, and become an example to all of a God-pleasing life, he reposed in the eleventh century before Christ. Many ascribe to him the authorship of the Books of judges, and of Ruth, and of the first twenty-four chapters of the First Book of Kings (I Samuel)

READING COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY, BROOKLINE, MA
APOLYTIKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY
KONTAKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce these copyrighted texts here, but with the condition that all texts used are reproduced by permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, and that the selections are taken from their Great Horologion. You may visit them at http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/

 

[MariaRegina]

http://www.goarch.org/en/Chapel/search.asp

On Thursday, August 21, 2003 we celebrate:

Holy Apostle Thaddeus of the Seventy

Holy Martyr Bassa and her Children

Through the intercessions of the Holy Apostle Thaddeus. O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Holy Apostle Thaddeus of the Seventy

Apolytikion: Third Tone (go to the online website)

Kontakion: Third Tone

The Apostle's joyous feast is come with radiant splendour; let us keep it on this day with jubilation and gladness. For to them who ever honour him in sincere faith, it doth grant their sins' forgiveness and true divine health; for he hath great boldness as a divine initiate of Christ's omnipotent grace.

Reading:

The Apostle Thaddaeus was from Edessa, a Jew by race. When he came to Jerusalem, he became a disciple of Christ, and after His Ascension he returned to Edessa. There he catechized and baptized Abgar (see Aug. 16). Having preached in Mesopotamia, he ended his life in martyrdom. Though some call him one of the Twelve, whom Matthew calls "Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus" (Matt. 10:3), Eusebius says that he is one of the Seventy: "After [Christ's] Resurrection from the dead, and His ascent into Heaven, Thomas, one of the twelve Apostles, inspired by God, sent Thaddaeus, one of the seventy disciples of Christ, to Edessa as a preacher and evangelist of Christ's teaching" (Eccl. Hist. 1: 13).

READING COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY, BROOKLINE, MA
APOLYTIKION (click url, then date) NARTHEX PRESS
KONTAKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY

Holy Martyr Bassa and her Children

Apolytikion: Fourth Tone

Thy Martyrs, O Lord in their courageous contest for Thee received the prize the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God. For since they possessed Thy strength, they cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons' strengthless presumption. O Christ God, by their prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.

Kontakion: Plagal of the Fourth Tone

Valiantly following the footsteps of Solomone, thou gavest courage to thy sons to suffer martyrdom, O divinely-blessed Bassa, thou rock of courage. And when thou hadst thrice endured thy three sons' sufferings, thou through many grievous torments wast joined unto them. Hence, we cry to you: Rejoice, O victors in martyrdom.

Reading:

The Martyrs were from Edessa of Macedonia. Bassa was the wife of a certain Valerian, a priest of the idols, to whom she bore three sons and raised them in piety. She was betrayed with her sons to the proconsul by her own husband; each of her sons was tormented before her and beheaded. For refusing to worship the idols, she was imprisoned, cast into water and then fire, was stoned, and remaining unharmed, was brought to the temple to worship the idols. Laying hold upon the idol of Zeus, she overturned it and broke it to pieces. After being preserved through further torments, she was beheaded, about the year 290, in the reign of Maximian.

READING COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY, BROOKLINE, MA
APOLYTIKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY
KONTAKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce these copyrighted texts here, but with the condition that all texts used are reproduced by permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, and that the selections are taken from their Great Horologion. You may visit them at http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/

 

[MariaRegina]

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On Friday, August 22, 2003 we celebrate:

10th Friday after Pentecost

Holy Martyr Anthuse

Holy Martyr. Agathonicus and his companions

Through the intercessions of the Holy Martyr Agathonicus and his companions, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Holy Martyr. Agathonicus and his companions

Apolytikion: Fourth Tone

Thy Martyrs, O Lord in their courageous contest for Thee received the prize the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God. For since they possessed Thy strength, they cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons' strengthless presumption. O Christ God, by their prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.

Kontakion: First Tone

O man of godly mind, as the namesake of goodness, thou utterly didst hate that which wicked me worshipped; and no pains could frighten thee, O divine Agathonicus. Wherefore, thou becamest a good heir of all good things, worthily receiving with thy brave fellow athletes the crown incorruptible.

Reading:

The Martyr Agathonicus, because he converted pagans to Christ, was seized in Nicomedia, violently beaten, haled about in bonds, and beheaded in Selyvria, during the reign of Maximian, in the year 298.

READING COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY, BROOKLINE, MA
APOLYTIKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY
KONTAKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce these copyrighted texts here, but with the condition that all texts used are reproduced by permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, and that the selections are taken from their Great Horologion. You may visit them at http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/

 

[MariaRegina]

http://www.goarch.org/en/Chapel/search.asp

On Saturday, August 23, 2003 we celebrate:

Holy Martyr Lupus

Leavetaking of the Dormition of the Theotokos

Our Holy Father Ireneaus, Bishop of London

Through the intercessions of the Most Holy Theotokos, our Holy Father Ireneaus and our Holy Martyr Lupus, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Leavetaking of the Dormition of the Theotokos

Reading:

Concerning the Dormition of the Theotokos, this is what the Church has received from ancient times from the tradition of the Fathers. When the time drew nigh that our Savior was well-pleased to take His Mother to Himself, He declared unto her through an Angel that three days hence, He would translate her from this temporal life to eternity and bliss. On hearing this, she went up with haste to the Mount of Olives, where she prayed continuously. Giving thanks to God, she returned to her house and prepared whatever was necessary for her burial. While these things were taking place, clouds caught up the Apostles from the ends of the earth, where each one happened to be preaching, and brought them at once to the house of the Mother of God, who informed them of the cause of their sudden gathering. As a mother, she consoled them in their affliction as was meet, and then raised her hands to Heaven and prayed for the peace of the world. She blessed the Apostles, and, reclining upon her bed with seemliness, gave up her all-holy spirit into the hands of her Son and God.

With reverence and many lights, and chanting burial hymns, the Apostles took up that God-receiving body and brought it to the sepulchre, while the Angels from Heaven chanted with them, and sent forth her who is higher than the Cherubim. But one Jew, moved by malice, audaciously stretched forth his hand upon the bed and immediately received from divine judgment the wages of his audacity. Those daring hands were severed by an invisible blow. But when he repented and asked forgiveness, his hands were restored. When they had reached the place called Gethsemane, they buried there with honor the all-immaculate body of the Theotokos, which was the source of Life. But on the third day after the burial, when they were eating together, and raised up the artos (bread) in Jesus' Name, as was their custom, the Theotokos appeared in the air, saying "Rejoice" to them. From this they learned concerning the bodily translation of the Theotokos into the Heavens.

These things has the Church received from the traditions of the Fathers, who have composed many hymns out of reverence, to the glory of the Mother of our God (see Oct. 3 and 4).

READING COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY, BROOKLINE, MA

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce these copyrighted texts here, but with the condition that all texts used are reproduced by permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, and that the selections are taken from their Great Horologion. You may visit them at http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/

 

[MariaRegina]

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On Sunday, August 24, 2003 we celebrate:

10th Sunday of Matthew

Holy Hieromartyr Eutyches, disciple of St. John the Theologian

St. Cosmas of Aitola

Translation of the Relics of Our Holy Father Dionysius the Wonderworker, Bishop of Egypt

Through the intercessions of our Holy Hieromartyr Eutyches, our Holy Martyr Cosmas of Aitola, and our Holy Father Dionysius the Wonderworker, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Holy Hieromartyr Eutyches, disciple of St. John the Theologian

Apolytikion: Fourth Tone

As a sharer of the ways and a successor to the throne of the Apostles, O inspired of God, thou foundest discipline to be a means of ascent to divine vision. Wherefore, having rightly divided the word of truth, thou didst also contest for the Faith even unto blood, O Hieromartyr Eutyches. Intercede with Christ our God that our souls be saved.

Kontakion: Third Tone

O God-bearing Eutyches, as the Apostles' successor, and a most becoming rule and good example to bishops, thou wast also glorified with martyric glory; and thou shonest like the sun, enlightening all men, driving off the night of error. Hence, we revere thee, O godly servant of Christ.

Reading:

Saint Eutyches was a disciple of Saint John the Theologian and a fellow laborer of the holy Apostle Paul. He preached the Gospel in many places, pulled down the idols' temples, and suffered imprisonments and many torments at the hands of the idolaters. He finally reposed in peace in deep old age in his native city of Sebastia, near Tarsus.

READING COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY, BROOKLINE, MA
APOLYTIKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY
KONTAKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY

St. Cosmas of Aitola

Kontakion: Fourth Tone

Come from Aitolia, O God-bearing Father, thou didst become a righteous monk on Mount Athos; and as a true initiate of the glory of God, thou didst preach the word of truth to all men, O most blest one, and didst bring them all to Christ as a true emulator of the Apostles' choir, and thou didst prove a hieromartyr in shedding thy sacred blood.

Reading:

Our holy Father Cosmas was from the town of Mega Dendron (Great Tree) of Aitolia. At the age of twenty, he went to study at the school of the Monastery of Vatopedi on the Holy Mountain. Later, he came to the Athonite Monastery of Philotheou where he was tonsured. With the blessing of his abbot, he departed for Constantinople where he learned the art of rhetoric, and thereafter, he began to preach throughout all the regions of northern Greece, the Ionian Islands, but especially in Albania, for the Christian people there were in great ignorance because of the oppression and cruelty of the Moslems. Finally, in 1776, after having greatly strengthened and enlightened the faithful, working many signs and wonders all the while, he was falsely accused by the leaders of the Jewish people and was executed by strangulation by the Moslem Turks in Albania.

READING COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY, BROOKLINE, MA
KONTAKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY



Note: Permission has been received to reproduce these copyrighted texts here, but with the condition that all texts used are reproduced by permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, and that the selections are taken from their Great Horologion. You may visit them at http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/

 

[MariaRegina]

http://www.goarch.org/en/Chapel/search.asp

On Monday, August 25, 2003, we celebrate:

Bishop Gortyne of Crete, Disciple of the Holy Apostle Paul

Holy Apostle Titus

Holy Father John of Carpathia

Our Holy Fathers Minas, Epiphanius, Gennadius and John, Archbishops of Constantinople

Return of the Body of Bartholomew the Glorious Apostle

Through the intercessions of our Holy Apostle Titus, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Holy Apostle Titus

Apolytikion: Third Tone (see url).

Kontakion: Second Tone

O yoke-mate of Paul, together with him, thou didst preach the tidings to us of saving grace bestowed of God, O Apostle Titus, blest and elect revealer of mysteries; for which cause we cry out to thee: Cease not to entreat Christ God for all of us.

Reading:

Saint Titus was a Greek by race, and an idolater. But having believed in Christ through the Apostle Paul, he became Paul's disciple and follower and labored with him greatly in the preaching of the Gospel. When Paul ordained him Bishop of Crete, he later wrote to him the Epistle which bears his name. Having shepherded in an apostolic manner the flock that had been entrusted to him, and being full of days, he reposed in peace, some ninety-four years of age.

READING COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY, BROOKLINE, MA
APOLYTIKION from NARTHEX PRESS (see url)
KONTAKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY

Return of the Body of Bartholomew the Glorious Apostle

Kontakion: First Tone

The marvellous return of thine all-holy relics is now for us the cause of a feast bright and joyous, O all-famed Bartholomew, thou Apostle of God the Lord. Paying homage to thy feast, we piously honour thee, the lamp whose light doth never dim; and we worship and magnify Christ our God.

Reading:

Concerning the Apostle Bartholomew, see June 11

READING COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY, BROOKLINE, MA
KONTAKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTER

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce these copyrighted texts here, but with the condition that all texts used are reproduced by permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, and that the selections are taken from their Great Horologion. You may visit them at http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/

 

[MariaRegina]

http://www.goarch.org/en/Chapel/search.asp

On Tuesday, August 26, 2003 we celebrate:

11th Tuesday after Pentecost

Holy Martyrs Adrian and Natalia

Our Righteous Father Josep

Through the intercessions of our Holy Martyrs Adrian and Natalia, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Holy Martyrs Adrian and Natalia

Kontakion: Fourth Tone

Having wisely laid to heart all the divine words of thy godly-minded wife, Adrian, Martyr of Christ God, in torments thou strovest ardently; and with thy yoke-mate thou now hast received thy crown.

Reading:

The holy Martyrs Adrian and Natalia confessed the Christian Faith during the reign of Maximian, in Nicomedia, in the year 298. Adrian was a pagan; witnessing the valor of the Martyrs, and the fervent faith with which they suffered their torments, he also declared himself a Christian and was imprisoned. When this was told to his wife Natalia, who was secretly a believer, she visited him in prison and encouraged him in his sufferings. Saint Adrian's hands and feet were placed on an anvil and broken off with a hammer; he died in his torments. His blessed wife recovered part of his holy relics and took it to Argyropolis near Byzantium, and reposed in peace soon after.

READING COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY, BROOKLINE, MA
KONTAKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce these copyrighted texts here, but with the condition that all texts used are reproduced by permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, and that the selections are taken from their Great Horologion. You may visit them at http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/

 

[MariaRegina]

http://www.goarch.org/en/Chapel/search.asp

On Wednesday, August 27, 2003, we celebrate

Martyr Anthouses

Our Righteous Father Poimen

St. Phanourius the Newly Found

Through the intercessions of our Holy Martyrs Anthouses and Phanourius, and Our Righteous Father Poimen, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Our Righteous Father Poimen

Apolytikion: Fourth Tone (see url above)

Kontakion: Fourth Tone

The holy memory, O righteous Father, of the many valiant deeds is come today and maketh glad the souls of pious and godly folk, our righteous Father, great Poimen of godly mind.

Reading:

Saint Poimen was from Egypt and shone forth in the ascetical life in Scete in the fourth century; he was renowned for his discretion. Many of his sayings and deeds are preserved in the Paradise of the Fathers and the Sayings of the Fathers.

READING COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY, BROOKLINE, MA
APOLYTIKION - NARTHEX PRESS (see url above)
KONTAKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY

St. Phanourius the Newly Found

Kontakion: Third Tone

From a vile captivity, thou didst deliver the Lord's priests, and, O godly-minded one, didst break their bonds by divine might; thou didst bravely shame the tyrants' audacious madness, giving joy unto the Angels, O thou Great Martyr. O Phanourius most glorious, we all revere thee as a true warrior of God.

Reading:

Little is known of the holy Martyr Phanourius, except that which is depicted concerning his martyrdom on his holy icon, which was discovered in the year 1500 among the ruins of an ancient church on Rhodes, when the Moslems ruled there. Thus he is called "the Newly Revealed." The faithful pray to Saint Phanourius especially to help them recover things that have been lost, and because he has answered their prayers so often, the custom has arisen of baking a Phaneropita ("Phanourius-Cake") as a thanks-offering.

READING COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY, BROOKLINE, MA
KONTAKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce these copyrighted texts here, but with the condition that all texts used are reproduced by permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, and that the selections are taken from their Great Horologion. You may visit them at http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/

 

[MariaRegina]

http://www.goarch.org/en/Chapel/search.asp

On Thursday, August 28, 2003 we celebrate:

11th Thursday after Pentecost

Holy Fathers Diomedes and Laurence

Our Righteous Father Moses the Ethiopian

Through the intercessions of our Holy Fathers Diomedes, Laurence, and Moses the Ethiopian, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Our Righteous Father Moses the Ethiopian

Apolytikion: First Tone

Thou didst prove to be a citizen of the desert, an angel in the flesh, and a wonderworker, O Moses, our God-bearing Father. By fasting, vigil, and prayer thou didst obtain heavenly gifts, and thou healest the sick and the souls of them that have recourse to thee with faith. Glory to Him that hath given thee strength. Glory to Him that hath crowned thee. Glory to Him that worketh healings for all through thee.

Kontakion: Third Tone

O all-blest and righteous Father Moses, thou didst drive away the passions' darkness, being richly illumined with light divine; and with thy vigilant prayers, thou didst wither up the wanton pride of the flesh, and didst mount on high to the citadel above, where do thou continually entreat Christ God to grant great mercy unto us.

Reading:

Saint Moses, who is also called Moses the Black, was a slave, but because of his evil life, his master cast him out, and he became a ruthless thief, dissolute in all his ways. Later, however, coming to repentance, he converted, and took up the monastic life under Saint Isidore of Scete. He gave himself over to prayer and the mortification of the carnal mind with such diligence that he later became a priest of exemplary virtue. He was revered by all for his lofty ascetical life and for his great humility. Once the Fathers in Scete asked Moses to come to an assembly to judge the fault of a certain brother, but he refused. When they insisted, he took a basket which had a hole in it, filled it with sand, and carried it on his shoulders. When the Fathers saw him coming they asked him what the basket might mean. He answered, "My sins run out behind me, and I do not see them, and I am come this day to judge failings which are not mine." When a barbarian tribe was coming to Scete, Moses, conscious that he himself had slain other men when he was a thief, awaited them and was willingly slain by them with six other monks, at the end of the fourth century. He was a contemporary of Saint Arsenius the Great (see May 8).

READING COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY, BROOKLINE, MA
APOLYTIKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY
KONTAKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY

Holy Fathers Diomedes and Laurence

Apolytikion: Plagal of the 4th Tone (see url above)

APOLYTIKION -NARTHEX PRESS

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce these copyrighted texts here, but with the condition that all texts used are reproduced by permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, and that the selections are taken from their Great Horologion. You may visit them at http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/

 

[MariaRegina]

http://www.goarch.org/en/Chapel/search.asp

On Friday, August 29, 2003 we celebrate:

Beheading of the Venerable Head of the Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John

Through the intercessions of our Glorious Propher and Forerunner John, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Beheading of the Venerable Head of the Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John

Apolytikion: Second Tone (see url above)

Kontakion: Plagal of the First Tone (see url above)

Reading:

The divine Baptist, the Prophet born of a Prophet, the seal of all the Prophets and beginning of the Apostles, the mediator between the Old and New Covenants, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, the God-sent Messenger of the incarnate Messiah, the forerunner of Christ's coming into the world (Esaias 40: 3; Mal. 3: 1); who by many miracles was both conceived and born; who was filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb; who came forth like another Elias the Zealot, whose life in the wilderness and divine zeal for God's Law he imitated: this divine Prophet, after he had preached the baptism of repentance according to God's command; had taught men of low rank and high how they must order their lives; had admonished those whom he baptized and had filled them with the fear of God, teaching them that no one is able to escape the wrath to come if he do not works worthy of repentance; had, through such preaching, prepared their hearts to receive the evangelical teachings of the Savior; and finally, after he had pointed out to the people the very Savior, and said, "Behold the Lamb of God, Which taketh away the sin of the world" (Luke 3:2-18; John 1: 29-36), after all this, John sealed with his own blood the truth of his words and was made a sacred victim for the divine Law at the hands of a transgressor.

This was Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch of Galilee, the son of Herod the Great. This man had a lawful wife, the daughter of Arethas (or Aretas), the King of Arabia (that is, Arabia Petraea, which had the famous Nabatean stone city of Petra as its capital. This is the Aretas mentioned by Saint Paul in II Cor. 11:32). Without any cause, and against every commandment of the Law, he put her away and took to himself Herodias, the wife of his deceased brother Philip, to whom Herodias had borne a daughter, Salome. He would not desist from this unlawful union even when John, the preacher of repentance, the bold and austere accuser of the lawless, censured him and told him, "It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife" (Mark 6: 18). Thus Herod, besides his other unholy acts, added yet this, that he apprehended John and shut him in prison; and perhaps he would have killed him straightway, had he not feared the people, who had extreme reverence for John. Certainly, in the beginning, he himself had great reverence for this just and holy man. But finally, being pierced with the sting of a mad lust for the woman Herodias, he laid his defiled hands on the teacher of purity on the very day he was celebrating his birthday. When Salome, Herodias' daughter, had danced in order to please him and those who were supping with him, he promised her -- with an oath more foolish than any foolishness -- that he would give her anything she asked, even unto the half of his kingdom. And she, consulting with her mother, straightway asked for the head of John the Baptist in a charger. Hence this transgressor of the Law, preferring his lawless oath above the precepts of the Law, fulfilled this godless promise and filled his loathsome banquet with the blood of the Prophet. So it was that that all-venerable head, revered by the Angels, was given as a prize for an abominable dance, and became the plaything of the dissolute daughter of a debauched mother. As for the body of the divine Baptist, it was taken up by his disciples and placed in a tomb (Mark 6: 21 - 29). Concerning the finding of his holy head, see February 24 and May 25.

READING COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY, BROOKLINE, MA
APOLYTIKION: NARTHEX PRESS
KONTAKION: NARTHEX PRESS



Note: Permission has been received to reproduce these copyrighted texts here, but with the condition that all texts used are reproduced by permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, and that the selections are taken from their Great Horologion. You may visit them at http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/

 

[MariaRegina]

http://www.goarch.org/en/Chapel/search.asp

On Saturday, August 30, 2003 we celebrate:

11th Saturday after Pentecost

Apodosis of the Feast of the Forerunner

Our Righteous Fathers Alexander, John and Paul the New; Patriarchs of Constantinople

Through the intercessions of our Righteous Fathers Alexander, John and Paul the New, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Our Righteous Fathers Alexander, John and Paul the New; Patriarchs of Constantinople

Apolytikion: Fourth Tone

O God of our Fathers, ever dealing with us according to Thy gentleness: take not Thy mercy from us, but by their entreaties guide our life in peace.

Kontakion: Plagal of the Fourth Tone

Aflame with love for Christ, ye took His yoke upon yourselves; and since ye emulated well His life upon the earth, ye were also made partakers of His great glory. Now, O Fathers Alexander the divinely-wise, wondrous John, and glorious Paul, ye stand before His throne; wherefore, fervently intercede with Him to save our souls.

Reading:

Saint Alexander was sent to the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea as the delegate of Saint Metrophanes, Bishop of Constantinople (see June 4), to whose throne he succeeded in the year 325. When Arius had deceitfully professed allegiance to the Council of Nicaea, Saint Alexander, knowing his guile, refused to receive him into communion; Arius' powerful partisans threatened that they would use force to bring Arius into the communion of the Church the following day. Saint Alexander prayed fervently that God might spare the Church; and as Arius was in a privy place relieving nature, his bowels gushed forth with an effusion of blood, and the arch-heresiarch died the death of Judas. Saint Alexander was Bishop from 325 until 337, when he was succeeded by Saint Paul the Confessor, who died a martyr's death at the hands of the Arians (see Nov. 6). The Saint John commemorated here appears to be the one who was Patriarch during the years 562-577, surnamed Scholasticus, who is also commemorated on February 21. He was from Antioch, where he had been a lawyer (scholasticus); he was made presbyter, then was sent to Constantinople as representative (apocrisiarius) of the Patriarch of Antioch, and was appointed Patriarch of Constantinople by the Emperor Justinian. Saint Paul was Bishop of Constantinople during the years 687 - 693, in the reign of Emperor Justinian II, and presided over the Quinisext Council in 692.

READING COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY, BROOKLINE, MA
APOLYTIKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY
KONTAKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce these copyrighted texts here, but with the condition that all texts used are reproduced by permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, and that the selections are taken from their Great Horologion. You may visit them at http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/

 

[MariaRegina]

http://www.goarch.org/en/Chapel/search.asp

On Sunday, August 31, 2003, we celebrate

The Placing of the Venerable Sash of the Most Holy Theotokos in Constantinople

Kontakion: Second Tone

Thy precious sash, O Theotokos, which encompassed thy God-receiving womb, is an invincible force for thy flock, and an unfailing treasury of every good, O only Ever-virgin Mother.

Reading:

Although the historical accounts differ somewhat, the Deposition that is celebrated today took place most likely during the reign of Emperor Arcadius (395-408), when the precious Cincture of the Mother of God was brought from Zela of Cappadocia to Constantinople, and placed in the Church of the Theotokos in the section of Chalcopratia.

READING COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY, BROOKLINE, MA
KONTAKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce these copyrighted texts here, but with the condition that all texts used are reproduced by permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, and that the selections are taken from their Great Horologion. You may visit them at http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/

 

[MariaRegina]

http://www.goarch.org/en/Chapel/search.asp

On Monday, September 1, 2003 we celebrate:

Beginning of the Indiction, The Ecclesiastical New Year

Holy 40 Virgin Martyrs with Deacon Ammon

Holy Martyrs Calliste and Siblings: Euodus and Hermogenes

Through the intercessions of the Holy 40 Virgin Martyrs with Deacon Ammon and the Holy Martyrs Calliste and Siblings: Euodus and Hermogenes, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

[See the above url for the Troparion and Kontakion (Narthex Press)
for the feast of the Ecclesiastical New Year.]

 

[MariaRegina]

http://www.goarch.org/en/Chapel/search.asp

On Tuesday, September 2, 2003, we celebrate the feast days of

Holy Martyr Mamas

Our Righteous Father John the Faster, Patriarch of Constantinople


Through the intercessions of our holy Martyr Mamas and Our Righteous Father John the Faster, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Holy Martyr Mamas

Apolytikion: Fourth Tone

Thy Martyr, O Lord in his courageous contest for Thee received the prize the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God. For since he possessed Thy strength, he cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons' strengthless presumption. O Christ God, by his prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.

Kontakion: Third Tone

With the staff bestowed on thee by God, O holy Great Martyr, shepherd us thy people now in green and life-giving pastures; swiftly crush with godly power unseen and wild beasts underneath the feet of them that praise thee with longing; for in dangers we all have thee, O Mamas, as our fervent protector and help.

APOLYTIKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY
KONTAKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY

Our Righteous Father John the Faster, Patriarch of Constantinople

Apolytikion: Fourth Tone [see url above for Narthex Press Troparion]

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce these copyrighted texts here, but with the condition that all texts used are reproduced by permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, and that the selections are taken from their Great Horologion. You may visit them at http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/

 

[MariaRegina]

http://www.goarch.org/en/Chapel/search.asp

On Wednesday, September 3, 2003 we celebrate:

12th Wednesday after Pentecost

Holy Father Theoctistus and his fellow struggler Euthymius the Great

Holy Hieromartyr Anthimus, Bishop of Nicomedia

St. Polydorus the Martyr of New Ephesus

Through the intercessions of our Holy Fathers Theoctistus and Euthymius the Great, of our Holy Hieromartyr Anthimus, and of St. Polydorus the Martyr, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Holy Father Theoctistus and his fellow struggler Euthymius the Great

Kontakion: First Tone

Thou didst preserve the dignity of thy soul free of every stain, which as God's creature, thou wholly didst dedicate unto the Lord, O righteous one; and divinely enlightened, thou didst rise to the pinnacle of true godliness, O godly Theoctistus, confirming thy name in very deed.

Holy Hieromartyr Anthimus, Bishop of Nicomedia

Apolytikion: Fourth Tone

As a sharer of the ways and a successor to the throne of the Apostles, O inspired of God, thou foundest discipline to be a means of ascent to divine vision. Wherefore, having rightly divided the word of truth, thou didst also contest for the Faith even unto blood, O Hieromartyr Anthimus. Intercede with Christ our God that our souls be saved.

Kontakion: Fourth Tone

Among God's priests wast thou distinguished for fervour; and in completing well thy course as a Martyr, thou didst quench all the power of idolatry; for thou wast the champion of thy flock; hence, it crieth unto thee now mystically, as it showeth thee honour: Deliver us from perils by thy prayers, O godly-minded and glorious Anthimus.
APOLYTIKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY
KONTAKION COURTESY OF HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce these copyrighted texts here, but with the condition that all texts used are reproduced by permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, and that the selections are taken from their Great Horologion. You may visit them at http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/