Today's Saint: Honor to Whom Honor Is Due

[MariaRegina]

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

On Monday, February 16, 2004 we celebrate:

Cheesefare Monday

Romanos the Younger
Holy Martyr Pamphilus the Priest and his companions
Righteous Father Flavian, Patriarch of Constantinople

Through the intercessions of our Holy Martyr Pamphilus, and the Righteous Fathers Romanos and Flavian, O Christ our God have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Holy Martyr Pamphilus the Priest and his companions

Apolytikion: Fourth Tone

Thy Martyrs, O Lord, in their courageous contest for Thee received as 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: Fourth Tone

When fearful instruments of torture were brought forth, the noble athletes of the Lord went with gladness and an undaunted spirit to endure them all; for they set the flesh at nought and did not spare their bodies; now they have inherited glory lasting for ever. And without ceasing, they all intercede for us, who laud the great conflicts they underwent.

Reading:

This Martyr contested during the reign of Maximian, in the year 290, in Caesarea of Palestine, and was put to death by command of Firmilian, the Governor of Palestine. His fellow contestants' names are Valens, Paul, Seleucus, Porphyrius, Julian, Theodulus, and five others from Egypt: Elias, Jeremias, Esaias, Samuel, and Daniel. Their martyrdom is recorded in Book VIII, ch. 11 of Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History, called The Martyrs of Palestine.

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Apolytikion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce this copyrighted material here. All texts used are reproduced with permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA. 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, February 17, 2004, we celebrate the feast days of

Great-martyr Theodore the Tyron
Mariam, equal to the Apostles
Righteous Auxentius, Pious Kings Marclanus and Pulcherias
Theodore, New Martyr of Byzantium (1795)

Through the intercessions of our Holy Great-Martyr Theodore and New Martyr Theodore, the Righteous Fathers Auxentius, and Mariam, O Christ our God have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Great-martyr Theodore the Tyron

Apolytikion: Second Tone

Great are the achievements of faith! In the fountain of flame, as by the water of rest, the holy Martyr Theodore rejoiced; for having been made a whole-burnt offering in the fire, he was offered as sweet bread unto the Trinity. By his prayers, O Christ God, save our souls.

Kontakion: Plagal of the Fourth Tone

Having received the Faith of Christ in thy heart as a breastplate, thou didst trample upon the enemy hosts, O much-suffering champion; and thou hast been crowned eternally with a heavenly crown, since thou art invincible.

Reading:

Saint Theodore who was from Amasia of Pontus, contested during the reign of Maximian (286-305). He was called Tyro, from the Latin Tiro, because he was a newly enlisted recruit. When it was reported that he was a Christian, he boldly confessed Christ; the ruler, hoping that he would repent, gave him time to consider the matter more completely and then give answer. Theodore gave answer by setting fire to the temple of Cybele, the "mother of the gods," and for this he suffered a martyr's death by fire. See also the First Saturday of the Fast.

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Apolytikion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce this copyrighted material here. All texts used are reproduced with permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA. 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, February 18, 2004 we celebrate:

Cheesefare Wednesday

Flavian the Confessor
Holy Father Leo the Great, Pope of Rome
Agapetus the Confessor, Bishop of Sinai

Through the intercessions of our Holy Father Pope Leo, and our Righteous Confessors Flavian and Agapetus, O Christ our God have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Holy Father Leo the Great, Pope of Rome

Apolytikion: Fourth Tone

A model of faith and the image of gentleness, the example of your life has shown you forth to your sheep-fold to be a master of temperance. You obtained thus through being lowly, gifts from on high, and riches through poverty. Leo, our father and priest of priests, intercede with Christ our God that He may save our souls.

Kontakion: Third Tone

Seated on the priestly throne, O great and glorious Leo, with the Holy Trinity's inspired and God-given doctrines thou didst stop the gaping mouths of spiritual lions and didst shine upon thy flock the light of God-knowledge, and art glorified now as a divine initiate of the sublime grace of God.

Reading:

According to some, this Saint was born in Rome, but according to others in Tyrrenia (Tuscany), and was consecrated to the archiepiscopal throne of Rome in 440. In 448, when Saint Flavian, Archbishop of Constantinople, summoned Eutyches, an archimandrite in Constantinople, to give account for his teaching that there was only one nature in Christ after the Incarnation, Eutyches appealed to Saint Leo in Rome. After Saint Leo had carefully examined Eutyches's teachings, he wrote an epistle to Saint Flavian, setting forth the Orthodox teaching of the person of Christ, and His two natures, and also counseling Flavian that, should Eutyches sincerely repent of his error, he should be received back with all good will. At the Council held in Ephesus in 449, which was presided over by Dioscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria (and which Saint Leo, in a letter to the holy Empress Pulcheria in 451, was the first to call "The Robber Council"), Dioscorus, having military might behind him, did not allow Saint Leo's epistle to Flavian to be read, although repeatedly asked to do so; even before the Robber Council was held, Dioscorus had uncanonically received the unrepentant Eutyches back into communion. Because Saint Leo had many cares in Rome owing to the wars of Attila the Hun and other barbarians, in 451 he sent four delegates to the Fourth Ecumenical Council, where 630 Fathers gathered in Chalcedon during the reign of Marcian, to condemn the teachings of Eutyches and those who supported him. Saint Leo's epistle to Flavian was read at the Fourth Council, and was confirmed by the Holy Fathers as the Orthodox teaching on the incarnate person of our Lord; it is also called the "Tome of Leo." The Saint wrote many works in Latin; he reposed in 461. See also Saint Anatolius, July 3.

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Apolytikion courtesy of Holy Cross Press, Brookline, MA
Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce this copyrighted material here. All texts used are reproduced with permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA. 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, February 19, 2004, we celebrate the feast days of

Niketas the Younger
Holy Apostles Archippus, Philemon and Apphia
Righteous Philothea of Athens

Through the intercessions of our Holy Apostles and Martyrs Archippus, Philemon and Apphia, our Righteous Father Niketas, and the Righteous Martyr Philothea, O Christ our God have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Holy Apostles Archippus, Philemon and Apphia

Apolytikion: Third Tone

O Holy Apostle Archippus, intercede to our merciful God, that He may grant our souls forgiveness of sins.

Kontakion: Fourth Tone

Having thee, O Archippus, as her own great star, and enlightened with the rays of thy most wondrous miracles, the Church now crieth aloud to thee: Save them that faithfully honour thy memory.

Reading:

Philemon, who was from Colossae, a city of Phrygia, was a man both wealthy and noble; Apphia was his wife. Archippus became Bishop of the Church in Colossae. All three were disciples of the Apostle Paul. Onesimus, who was formerly an unbeliever and slave of Philemon, stole certain of his vessels and fled to Rome. However, on finding him there, the Apostle Paul guided him onto the path of virtue and the knowledge of the truth, and sent him back to his master Philemon, to whom he wrote an epistle (this is one of the fourteen epistles of Saint Paul). In this epistle, Paul commended Onesimus to his master and reconciled the two. Onesimus was later made a bishop; in Greece he is honoured as the patron Saint of the imprisoned. All these Saints received their end by martyrdom, when they were stoned to death by the idolaters. Saint Onesimus is also commemorated on February 15.

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Apolytikion courtesy of Holy Cross Press, Brookline, MA
Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

Righteous Philothea of Athens

Apolytikion: Plagal of the First Tone (tone 5)

The famed city of Athens doth honour Philothea, the righteous Martyr, whose relics it now revereth with joy; for while living in sobriety and holiness, she hath exchanged all earthly things for the everlasting life through great contests as a Martyr; and she entreateth the Saviour to grant His mercy unto all of us.

Kontakion: Third Tone

We all honour Philothea with jubilation of spirit, as this day we rev'rently worship her ven'rable relics. For she lived her whole life working kindness and mercy; and the righteous one, receiving a martyr's ending, is deemed worthy to entreat God that all be granted eternal life with the Saints.

Reading:

Saint Philothei was born in Athens in 1522 to an illustiruous family. Against her will, she was married to a man who proved to be most curel. When he died three years later, the Saint took up the monastic life and established a convent, in which she became a true mother to her disciples. Many women enslaved and abused by the Moslem Turks also ran to her for refuge. Because of this, the Turkish rulers became enraged and came to her convent, dragged her by force out of the church, and beat her cruelly. After a few days, she reposed, giving thanks to God for all things. This came to pass in the year 1589. She was renowned for her almsgiving, and with Saints Hierotheus and Dionysius the Areopagite is considered a patron of the city of Athens.

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Apolytikion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce this copyrighted material here. All texts used are reproduced with permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA. 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, February 20, 2004 we celebrate:

Bessarion the Great

Holy Father Leo, Bishop of Catania in Sicily and Wonderworker

Through the intercessions of our Holy Fathers Bessarion and Leo, O Christ our God have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Holy Father Leo, Bishop of Catania in Sicily and Wonderworker

Apolytikion: Fourth Tone

A model of faith and the image of gentleness, the example of your life has shown you forth to your sheep-fold to be a master of temperance. You obtained thus through being lowly, gifts from on high, and riches through poverty. Leo, our father and priest of priests, intercede with Christ our God that He may save our souls.

Kontakion: Second Tone

With songs let us all crown him who was dedicated to the Lord from infancy, and who from his swaddling bands received grace from God, even Leo, the luminary and defender of the Church; for he is her support.

Reading:

This Saint, who was from Ravenna in Italy, lived during the reign of Leo the Wise and his son Constantine Porphyrogenitus (end of the ninth and beginning of the tenth centuries). He struggled especially against the paganism and sorcery still prevalent in those regions.

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Apolytikion courtesy of Holy Cross Press, Brookline, MA
Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce this copyrighted material here. All texts used are reproduced with permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA. 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, February 21, 2004 we celebrate:

Cheesefare Saturday

Our Righteous Father Timothy of Symbola

Our Holy Father John of Scholasticus, Patriarch of Constantinople

St. Eustathius, archbishop of Antioch

Through the intercessions of our Holy Fathers John and Eustathius, and our Righteous Father Timothy, O Christ our God have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Our Righteous Father Timothy of Symbola

Kontakion: Fourth Tone

Thou didst rise up from the East like a most bright star, shining with the splendour of the virtues of thy miracles within the hearts of all faithful men, O wonder worker of godly mind, Timothy.

Reading:

Saint Timothy took up the monastic life from his youth, became a vessel of the Holy Spirit, and reposed in deep old age.

St. Eustathius, archbishop of Antioch

Kontakion: Plagal of the Fourth Tone (tone 8)

Since thou hadst wholly purified thyself with godly deeds, thou wast a notable example of a true high priest, while excelling in divine vision and a pure life. As a pillar and foundation of the Church of Christ, thou withstoodest all temptations with great steadfastness. Hence we cry to thee: Rejoice, O Father Eustathius.

Reading:

Saint Eustathius, the great defender of piety and illustrious opponent of Arianism, was from Side in Pamphylia. He became Bishop of Beroea (the present-day Aleppo), and in 325 was present at the First Ecumenical Council. From thence he was transferred to the throne of Antioch. But Saint Constantine the Great, led astray by the slanders directed against the Saint by the Arians, banished him to Trajanopolis in Thrace, where he reposed in 337, according to some. Others say he lived until 360.

Readings courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Kontakia courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce this copyrighted material here. All texts used are reproduced with permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA. 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, February 22, 2004 we celebrate:

Forgiveness Sunday

Forgiveness Sunday
Tone Three
Third Orthros Gospel
Resurrectional Apolytikion:

Third Tone

Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad, for the Lord by His Might, has created a Dominion. He has conquered death by death, and become the first-born of the dead. He has delivered us from the depths of Hades, and has granted the world great mercy.
Resurrectional Kontakion:

Third Tone

Today you rose from the grave, Merciful One, and led us out from the gates of Death. Adam rejoices and Eve exults, and with the Prophets and Patriarchs they offer unceasing praise to the might of Your divine power.

Seasonal Kontakion: Plagal of the Second Tone (Tone 6)

O Master, Prudence, Guide of Wisdom, Instruction to the foolish and Defender of the poor, strengthen my heart and grant it discernment. Give me words, Word of the Father, for behold, I shall not keep my lips from crying out to You, "O Merciful One, have mercy on me who has fallen."

Reading:

The Holy Fathers have appointed the commemoration of Adam's exile from the Paradise of delight here, on the eve of the holy Forty-day Fast, demonstrating to us not by simple words, but by actual deeds, how beneficial fasting is for man, and how harmful and destructive are insatiety and the transgressing of the divine commandments. For the first commandment that God gave to man was that of fasting, which the first-fashioned received but did not keep; and not only did they not become gods, as they had imagined, but they lost even that blessed life which they had, and they fell into corruption and death, and transmitted these and innumerable other evils to all of mankind. The God-bearing Fathers set these things before us today, that by bringing to mind what we have fallen from, and what we have suffered because of the insatiety and disobedience of the first-fashioned, we might be diligent to return again to that ancient bliss and glory by means of fasting and obedience to all the divine commands. Taking occasion from today's Gospel (Matt. 6:14-21) to begin the Fast unencumbered by enmity, we also ask forgiveness this day, first from God, then from one another and all creation.

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Kontakion courtesy of Holy Cross Press, Brookline, MA

We also celebrate the feast days of the following saints

The Uncovering of the relics of the Holy Martyrs at the gate of Eugenius at Constantinople

Our Righteous Fathers Thalassius and Baradatus

Anthousa the Martyr & her 12 Servants

Through the intercessions of our Holy Martyrs Anthousa, her twelve Servants, and those found at the gate of Eugenius in Constantinople, and our Righteous Fathers Thalassius and Baradatus, O Christ our God have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Uncovering of the relics of the Holy Martyrs at the gate of Eugenius at Constantinople

Apolytikion: Fourth Tone

Thy Martyrs, O Lord, in their courageous contest for Thee received as 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: Fourth Tone

When ye shone forth from the earth like luminaries, ye dispersed the gloomy mist of all impiety, O Saints, and ye enlightened believing souls, O godly Martyrs who championed the Trinity.

Reading:

The holy relics of these Saints were found in the quarter of Constantinople called Eugenius when Thomas was Patriarch of that city (607-610).

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Apolytikion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce this copyrighted material here. All texts used are reproduced with permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA. 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, February 23, 2004 we celebrate:

First Monday in Lent - Clean Monday

Holy Hieromartyr Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna
Proterius, Archbishop of Alexandra
Gorgonia the Righteous

Through the intercessions of our Holy Hieromartyr Polycarp, the Holy Father Proterius and Gorgonia the Righteous, O Christ our God have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Holy Hieromartyr Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna

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 Polycarp. Intercede with Christ our God that our souls be saved.

Kontakion: First Tone

Through godly virtues, thou broughtest forth for the Lord God much spiritual fruit, O thou most blessed Hierarch, and so didst prove worthy of God thy Lord, O wise Polycarp. Wherefore, on this day we who have all been enlightened through thy holy words extol thy praiseworthy mem'ry and glorify Christ the Lord.

Reading:

This apostolic and prophetic man, and model of faith and truth, was a disciple of John the Evangelist, successor of Bucolus (Feb. 6), and teacher of Irenaeus (Aug. 23). He was an old man and full of days when the fifth persecution was raised against the Christians under Marcus Aurelius. When his pursuers, sent by the ruler, found Polycarp, he commanded that they be given something to eat and drink, then asked them to give him an hour to pray; he stood and prayed, full of grace, for two hours, so that his captors repented that they had come against so venerable a man. He was brought by the Proconsul of Smyrna into the stadium and was commanded, "Swear by the fortune of Caesar; repent, and say, 'Away with the atheists.'" By atheists, the Proconsul meant the Christians. But Polycarp, gazing at the heathen in the stadium, waved his hand towards them and said, "Away with the atheists." When the Proconsul urged him to blaspheme against Christ, he said: "I have been serving Christ for eighty-six years, and He has wronged me in nothing; how can I blaspheme my King Who has saved me?" But the tyrant became enraged at these words and commanded that he be cast into the fire, and thus he gloriously expired about the year 163. As Eusebius says, "Polycarp everywhere taught what he had also learned from the Apostles, which also the Church has handed down; and this alone is true" (Eccl. Hist., Book IV, ch. 14,15).

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Apolytikion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce this copyrighted material here. All texts used are reproduced with permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA. The selections are taken from their Great Horologion. You may visit them at http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/

 

[MariaRegina]

http://www.goarch.org/en/chapel/saints.asp?contentid=440&lang=EN

On Tuesday, February 24, 2004, we celebrate:

First Tuesday in Lent

Remembrance of the Finding of the Precious Head of the Holy Prophet and Forerunner and Baptist John.

Romanos, Prince of Uglich

Through the intercessions of our Holy Prophet and Forerunner John the Baptist, and the Righteous Romanos, O Christ our God have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Remembrance of the Finding of the Precious Head of the Holy Prophet and Forerunner and Baptist John.

Apolytikion: Fourth Tone

The Forerunner's sacred head, having dawned forth from the earth, doth send incorruption's rays unto the faithful, whereby they find healings of their ills. From on high he gathereth the choirs of the Angels and on earth he summoneth the whole race of mankind, that they with one voice might send up glory to Christ our God.

Kontakion: Second Tone

Since we have obtained thy head as a most sacred rose from out of the earth, O Forerunner of grace divine, we receive sure healing in every hour, O Prophet of God the Lord; for again, now as formerly, thou preachest repentance unto all the world.

Reading:

The first finding came to pass during the middle years of the fourth century, through a revelation of the holy Forerunner to two monks, who came to Jerusalem to worship our Saviour's Tomb. One of them took the venerable head in a clay jar to Emesa in Syria. After his death it went from the hands of one person to another, until it came into the possession of a certain priest-monk named Eustathius, an Arian. Because he ascribed to his own false belief the miracles wrought through the relic of the holy Baptist, he was driven from the cave in which he dwelt, and by dispensation forsook the holy head, which was again made known through a revelation of Saint John, and was found in a water jar, about the year 430, in the days of the Emperor Theodosius the Younger, when Uranius was Bishop of Emesa.

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Apolytikion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce this copyrighted material here. All texts used are reproduced with permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA. 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, February 25, 2004, we celebrate:

First Wednesday in Lent

Our Holy Father Tarasius, Archbishop of Constantinople
Holy Martyrs Reginus and Lebadeus, Bishop of Scopelus
Holy Martyr Alexander of Thrace

Through the intercessions of our Holy Martyrs Reginus, Lebadeus and Alexander, and our Holy Father Tarasius, O Christ our God have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Our Holy Father Tarasius, Archbishop of Constantinople

Apolytikion: Fourth Tone

A model of faith and the image of gentleness, the example of your life has shown you forth to your sheep-fold to be a master of temperance. You obtained thus through being lowly, gifts from on high, and riches through poverty. Tarasius, our father and priest of priests, intercede with Christ our God that He may save our souls.

Kontakion: Third Tone

Thou didst make the Church to shine with thy most Orthodox doctrines, teaching all to venerate and worship Christ's sacred image; so didst thou convict the godless and hateful doctrine of all them that fought against Christ's ven'rable icon; O Tarasius our Father most wise and blessed, to thee we all cry: Rejoice.

Reading:

This Saint was the son of one of the foremost princes in Constantinople, and was originally a consul and first among the Emperor's private counselors. Then, in 784, he was elected Patriarch of Constantinople by the Sovereigns Irene and her son Constantine Porphyrogenitus. He convoked the Seventh Ecumenical Council that upheld the holy icons, and became the boast of the Church and a light to the clergy. He reposed in 806.

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Apolytikion courtesy of Narthex Press, Northridge, CA
Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce this copyrighted material here. All texts used are reproduced with permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA. 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, February 26, 2004 we celebrate:

First Thursday in Lent

Our Holy Father Porphyrius, Bishop of Gaza
Holy Martyr Photine the Samaritan
Holy Martyr Theocletus

Through the intercessions of our Holy Martyrs Theocletus and Photine the Samaritan, Our Holy Father Porphyrius, O Christ our God have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Our Holy Father Porphyrius, bishop of Gaza

Apolytikion: Fourth Tone

A model of faith and the image of gentleness, the example of your life has shown you forth to your sheep-fold to be a master of temperance. You obtained thus through being lowly, gifts from on high, and riches through poverty. Porphyrius, our father and priest of priests, intercede with Christ our God that He may save our souls.

Reading:

Saint Porphyrius had Thessalonica as his homeland. He became a monk in Scete of Egypt, where he lived for five years. He went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, after which he spent five years in much affliction in a cave near the Jordan. Stricken with a disease of the liver, he departed to Jerusalem, where he was ordained presbyter and appointed Keeper of the Cross at the age of 45. Three years later he was made Bishop of Gaza. He suffered much from the rulers and pagans of Gaza; but with the friendship of Saint John Chrysostom, and the patronage of the Empress Eudoxia, he razed the temple of the idol Marnas in Gaza and built a great church to the glory of God. He reposed in 450.

Holy Martyr Photine the Samaritan

Apolytikion: Third Tone

All illumined by the Holy Spirit, thou didst drink with great and ardent longing of the waters Christ Saviour gave unto thee; and with the streams of salvation wast thou refreshed, which thou abundantly gavest to those athirst. O Great Martyr and true peer of Apostles, Photine, entreat Christ God to grant great mercy unto us.

Kontakion: Third Tone

Photine the glorious, the crown and glory of the Martyrs, hath this day ascended to the shining mansions of Heaven, and she calleth all together to sing her praises, that they might be recompensed with her hallowed graces. Let us all with faith and longing extol her gladly in hymns of triumph and joy.

Reading:

Saint Photine was the Samaritan Woman who encountered Christ our Saviour at Jacob's Well (John 4:1-42). Afterwards she laboured in the spread of the Gospel in various places, and finally received the crown of martyrdom in Rome with her two sons and five sisters, during the persecutions under the Emperor Nero.

Readings courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Apolytikia courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Icon courtesy of St. Isaac's Skete

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce this copyrighted material here. All texts used are reproduced with permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA. The selections are taken from their Great Horologion. You may visit them at http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/

 

[nicodemus]

St. Raphael of Brooklyn

 

[MariaRegina]

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

On Friday, February 27, 2004 we celebrate:

First Friday in Lent

Prokopios the Confessor of Decapolis
Raphael of Brooklyn (please see previous post for his icon)
Stephen the Monk

Through the intercessions of our Holy Father Raphael of Brooklyn and our Righteous Fathers Stephen and Prokopios, O Christ our God have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Prokopios the Confessor of Decapolis

Apolytikion: Plagal of the Fourth Tone (tone 8)

With the rivers of your tears, you have made the barren desert fertile. Through sighs of sorrow from deep within you, your labors have borne fruit a hundred-fold. By your miracles you have become a light, shining upon the world. O Procopius, our Holy Father, pray to Christ our God, to save our souls.

Kontakion: Fourth Tone

O renowned Procopius, having obtained thee as a morning star this day, the Church dispelleth all the gloom of evil doctrine, while hon'ring thee, O thou initiate of Heaven and man of God.

Reading:

Saints Prokopios and Basil, fellow ascetics, lived about the middle of the eighth century, during the reign of Leo the Isaurian (717-741), from whom they suffered many things for the sake of the veneration of the holy icons. They ended their lives in the ascetical discipline.

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Apolytikion courtesy of Narthex Press, Northridge, CA
Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

 

[nicodemus]

Raphael of Brooklyn (please see previous post for his icon)

Orange text is also a hyperlink to OCA's page about St. Raphael.

 

[MariaRegina]

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

On Saturday, February 28, 2004 we celebrate:

First Saturday in Lent

Basil the Confessor
Kyranna the New Martyr of Thessaloniki

Through the intercessions of our Holy Martyr Kyranna and our Righteous Father Basil, O Christ our God have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Basil the Confessor

Apolytikion: First Tone

With the streams of thy tears, thou didst cultivate the barrenness of the desert; and by thy sighings from the depths, thou didst bear fruit a hundredfold in labours; and thou becamest a luminary, shining with miracles upon the world, O Basil our righteous Father. Intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.

Kontakion: Second Tone

Thou tookest thyself away from worldly turbulence, since thou hadst received God's revelation from on high; and for living righteously as a monk, thou didst receive might from grace to heal ills and work miracles, O all-blessed Basil, wise in sacred things.

Reading:

Saints Prokopios and Basil, fellow ascetics, lived about the middle of the eighth century, during the reign of Leo the Isaurian (717-741), from whom they suffered many things for the sake of the veneration of the holy icons. They ended their lives in the ascetical discipline.

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Apolytikion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce this copyrighted material here. All texts used are reproduced with permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA. 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

February 29, 2004

Reading for the Sunday of Orthodoxy

For more than one hundred years the Church of Christ was troubled by the persecution of the Iconoclasts of evil belief, beginning in the reign of Leo the Isaurian (717-741) and ending in the reign of Theophilus (829-842). After Theophilus's death, his widow the Empress Theodora (celebrated Feb. 11), together with the Patriarch Methodius (June 14), established Orthodoxy anew. This ever-memorable Queen venerated the icon of the Mother of God in the presence of the Patriarch Methodius and the other confessors and righteous men, and openly cried out these holy words: "If anyone does not offer relative worship to the holy icons, not adoring them as though they were gods, but venerating them out of love as images of the archetype, let him be anathema." Then with common prayer and fasting during the whole first week of the Forty-day Fast, she asked God's forgiveness for her husband. After this, on the first Sunday of the Fast, she and her son, Michael the Emperor, made a procession with all the clergy and people and restored the holy icons, and again adorned the Church of Christ with them. This is the holy deed that all we the Orthodox commemorate today, and we call this radiant and venerable day the Sunday of Orthodoxy, that is, the triumph of true doctrine over heresy.

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

Today, Sunday, February 29, we celebrate the feast day of:

St. John Cassian the Roman, abbot

Through the intercessions of our Holy Father John Cassian, O Christ our God have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

St. John Cassian the Roman, abbot

Kontakion: First Tone

Thy words breathe forth the sweetness of heavenly cassia, dispelling the foul odour of passion and pleasures; but with the sweet fragrance of thy discretion and temperance, they make known the spiritual ascents in the Spirit, leading men on high, O righteous Father John Cassian, divinely-sent guide of monks.

Reading:

Note: If it is not a leap year the hymns of Saint John are transferred to the 28th.

This Saint was born about the year 350, and was, according to some, from Rome, according to others, from Dacia Pontica (Dobrogea in present-day Romania). He was a learned man who had first served in the military. Later, he forsook this life and became a monk in Bethlehem with his friend and fellow-ascetic, Germanus of Dacia Pontica, whose memory is also celebrated today. Hearing the fame of the great Fathers of Scete, they went to Egypt about the year 390; their meetings with the famous monks of Scete are recorded in Saint John's Conferences. In the year 403 they went to Constantinople, where Cassian was ordained deacon by Saint John Chrysostom; after the exile of Saint Chrysostom, Saints Cassian and Germanus went to Rome with letters to Pope Innocent I in defence of the exiled Archbishop of Constantinople. There Saint Cassian was ordained priest, after which he went to Marseilles, where he established the famous monastery of Saint Victor. He reposed in peace about the year 433.

The last of his writings was On the Incarnation of the Lord, Against Nestorius, written in 430 at the request of Leo, the Archdeacon of Pope Celestine. In this work he was the first to show the spiritual kinship between Pelagianism, which taught that Christ was a mere man who without the help of God had avoided sin, and that it was possible for man to overcome sin by his own efforts; and Nestorianism, which taught that Christ was a mere man used as an instrument by the Son of God, but was not God become man; and indeed, when Nestorius first became Patriarch of Constantinople in 428, he made much show of persecuting the heretics, with the exception only of the Pelagians, whom he received into communion and interceded for them to the Emperor and to Pope Celestine.

The error opposed to Pelagianism but equally ruinous was Augustine's teaching that after the fall, man was so corrupt that he could do nothing for his own salvation, and that God simply predestined some men to salvation and others to damnation. Saint John Cassian refuted this blasphemy in the thirteenth of his Conferences, with Abbot Chairemon, which eloquently sets forth, at length and with many citations from the Holy Scriptures, the Orthodox teaching of the balance between the grace of God on one hand, and man's efforts on the other, necessary for our salvation.

Saint Benedict of Nursia, in Chapter 73 of his Rule, ranks Saint Cassian's Institutes and Conferences first among the writings of the monastic fathers, and commands that they be read in his monasteries; indeed, the Rule of Saint Benedict is greatly indebted to the Institutes of Saint John Cassian. Saint John Climacus also praises him highly in section 105 of Step 4 of the Ladder of Divine Ascent, on Obedience.

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce this copyrighted material here. All texts used are reproduced with permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA. The selections are taken from their Great Horologion. You may visit them at http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/

 

[nicodemus]

This Saint was born about the year 350, and was, according to some, from Rome, according to others, from Dacia Pontica (Dobrogea in present-day Romania).

We have many Romanians at our parish, and they can assure you he's Romanian

 

[MariaRegina]

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

On March 1, 2004, we celebrate the feastdays of

Eudokia the Martyr of Heliopolis
Andonina the New Martyr

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

Eudokia the Martyr of Heliopolis

Kontakion: Fourth Tone

When thou wast brought up from the mire of transgression, like a most precious stone whose brightness is darkened, repentance made thee shine again with godliness; and when thou hadst reached the height of ascetical striving. Christ made thee illustrious with the glory of contest, and hath bestowed on thee His grace to heal, O wise Eudocia, thou rival of angel-kind.

Reading:

This saint came from Helioupolis, which lies in the district of Libanesia in Phoenicia, and lived during the reign of king Trajan in 160.

She was an unbeliever and a pagan. At the beginning she led a life of promiscuity and vice and, because she attracted many lovers with her beauty, she laid aside a lot of money. Then she believed in Christ through a monk, Germanus by name, whom she had heard reading edifying homilies about piety and repentance. Having believed in the divine revelations, which she had been made worthy to see, she was baptised by bishop Theodotos. Indeed, having been guided by a divine angel, she fell into a tranceand she thought that she rose to heaven and that she saw the holy angels, who were rejoicing for her return. But she also saw a black and most ugly one who was gnashing his teeth and crying that he would be wronged, if anybody took her from his hands. So, having come to her senses, she distributed to the poor all her sinfully gathered wealth and went to a monastery, where she became a nun. Having walked the way of asceticism well, she was brought to king Aurelianus, who succeeded Trajan, in 270. She had been accused by her former lovers for being a Christian but, because she performed a miracle and raised the king's son, she attracted the king to Christ's faith. Then she was brought to Diogenes, the governor of Helioupolis. But again she worked a miracle and was set free. Later on, when Vicentius became governor, the blessed woman was beheaded by him and, thus, she received the unfading crown of martyrdom from the Lord.

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Icon courtesy of St. Isaac's Skete

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce this copyrighted material here. All texts used are reproduced with permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA. 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, March 2, 2004 we celebrate:

2nd Tuesday of Lent

Hesychios the Martyr
Our Holy Father Nicholas of Plana
Andronikos & Athanasia the Martyrs

Through the intercessions of our Holy Martyrs Hesychios, Andronikos, and Athanasia and our Holy Father Nicholas, O Christ our God have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Hesychios the Martyr

Apolytikion: Fourth Tone

Thy Martyr, O Lord, in his courageous contest for Thee received the prize of 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: Fourth Tone

When thou didst follow in the steps of the Martyrs, thou didst ascend unto the height of divine love, which made thee Godlike, O most wise Hesychius; when thou didst forsake the court of a king that was earthly, thou wast honoured in the courts of the King of the Angels; and cast into the river, thou didst find the living water of true and eternal life.

Reading:

Holy martyr Hesychios lived during the reign of king Maximian in 302. He was the first and the leader in the royal palace and the Senate, because he was magistrianus by office. When Maximian ordered that all Christians who were royal soldiers ought to be deprived of their belts (which were a sign of their royal merit) and live as civilians and without honour, many Christians preferred to live without any outward honour due to this illegal order than to be honoured and lose their soul. St. Hesychios was numbered with these Christians as well. When the king heard this, he ordered that the saint ought to be stripped of the expensive clothes, which he used to wear, and be dressed with a shabby mantle without sleeves woven from hair and to be as disgraced and disdained as to consort with women.

When this had been carried out, the king invited him and asked him: "Aren't you ashamed, Hesychios, that you lost the honour and office of magistrianus and that you have been debased to this kind of life? Or maybe you don't know that the Christians, whose way of life you preferred, have no power to restore you to your previous great honour and office?" The saint replied: "Your honour, o king, is temporary but the honour and glory which Christ gives is eternal and without end." Because of these words the king got angry and ordered his men to tie a great millstone around the saint's neck and then to throw him in the middle of river Orontus, which lies in Coele Syria and which is commonly called Oronge. Thus, the blessed man received the crown of martyrdom from the Lord.

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Apolytikion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA


Our Holy Father Nicholas of Plana

Icon courtesy of St. Isaac's Skete

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce this copyrighted material here. All texts used are reproduced with permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA. 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, March 3, 2004 we celebrate:

2nd Wednesday of Lent

Eutropios, Kleonikos, Vasiliskos, Zenos, & Zoilis the Martyrs
Theodoretos the Holy Martyr of Antioch

Through the intercessions of our Holy Martyrs Eutropios, Kleonikos, Vasiliskos, Zenos, Zoilis, and Theodoretos O Christ our God have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Eutropios, Kleonikos, Vasiliskos, Zenos, & Zoilis the Martyrs

Kontakion: Fourth Tone

Since divine Eutropius and Basilicus and the famed Cleonicus were bound in unity of faith, they cut asunder the foe's arrays when they contended courageously for the Lord.

Reading:

These saints lived during the reign of king Diocletian in 296. They came from Amasia, the famous city in Cappadocia at the Black Sea. They were relatives and fellow-soldiers with St. Theodore of Tyre. Having been accused to governor Asclepiodotes, they were strongly beaten. St. Eutropios received wounds on his mouth, because he insulted the governor. However, although the soldiers who were hitting them were paralysed and tired, the saints were cured, because the Lord and holy martyr Theodore of Tyre had appeared to them. When they saw this miracle, many unbelievers believed in Christ and were beheaded. When the governor saw these things, he changed behaviour and tried to move St. Kleonikos from Christ's faith with flatteries. He gave him presents and promised to give him more but not only wasn't the saint's mind changed but he even got angry and ridiculed both the governor's lack of understanding as well as the idols' weakness. So, while the governor and the rest of the Greeks were offering sacrifices to their gods, St. Kleonikos prayed and toppled Diana's idol down.

When the idolaters saw this, they burnt with anger, boiled tar and asphalt in three boilers and poured them on the three Christian martyrs' backs. However, the martyrs were preserved unharmed but the servants who were pouring the mix were completely burnt. After this Sts. Eutropios and Kleonikos were crucified, received the crown of martyrdom and went to eternal life. St. Basiliscus on the other hand was thrown to prison, where he died after he had spent quite some time there.

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce this copyrighted material here. All texts used are reproduced with permission from Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA. The selections are taken from their Great Horologion. You may visit them at http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/