Today's Saint: Honor to Whom Honor Is Due

[MariaRegina]

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

On Wednesday, May 19, 2004 we celebrate:

6th Wednesday after Pascha

Patrick the Hieromartyr & Bishop of Proussa and his Companions
Our Righteous Father Memnonus the Wonderworker
Theotima & Kyriake the Martyrs

Through the intercessions of our Holy Hieromartyrs Patrick and his companions and our Holy Martyrs Theotima and Kyriake, and our Righteous Father Memnonus, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Patrick the Hieromartyr & Bishop of Proussa 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: Plagal of the Fourth Tone

Since the Church hath thy body as a sacred gem of Jesus Christ, she now rejoiceth thereat, O blest Patrick, and with joy she crieth unto thee: Through thy prayers, O wise Father, all the world is preserved in peace and tranquillity, and it is kept unharmed and unconquered by any heresy.

Reading:

Saint Patrick was Bishop of Prusa, a city in Bithynia (the present-day Brusa or Bursa). Because of his Christian Faith, he was brought before Julius (or Julian) the Consul, who in his attempts to persuade Patrick to worship as he himself did, declared that thanks was owed to the gods for providing the hot springs welling up from the earth for the benefit of men. Saint Patrick answered that thanks for this was owed to our Lord Jesus Christ, and explained that when He, Who is God, created the earth, He made it with both fire and water, and the fire under the earth heats the water which wells up, producing hot springs; he then explained that there is another fire, which awaits the ungodly. Because of this, he was cast into the hot springs, but it was the soldiers who cast him in, and not he, who were harmed by the hot water. After this Saint Patrick was beheaded with the presbyters Acacius, Menander, and Polyaenus. Most likely, this was during the reign of Diocletian (284-305).

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 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, May 20, 2004 we celebrate:

6th Thursday after Pascha/Ascension

Thalalaios the Martyr & his Martyr Companions
Mark the Hermit
Father Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow

Through the intercessions of our Holy Martyrs Thalalaios and his companions, our Holy Father Alexis, and our Righteous Father Mark the Hermit, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Thalalaios the Martyr & his Martyr Companions

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: Third Tone

With the Martyrs of the Lord thou didst contest and wast shown forth as a valiant soldier of the King of Glory, Who crowned thee for the harsh and bitter tortures that thou didst suffer, trampling down the pride of them that worshipped the idols. O Thalleleus, we therefore praise thine august and blessed remembrance today.

Reading:

Saint Thalleleus was from the region of Lebanon in Phoenicia, the son of Berucius, a Christian bishop; his mother's name was Romula. Raised in piety, he was trained as a physician. Because of the persecution of Numerian, the Saint departed to Cilicia, and in Anazarbus he hid himself in an olive grove; but he was seized and taken to Aegae of Cilicia to Theodore, the ruler. After many torments he was beheaded in 284. Saint Thalleleus is one of the Holy Unmercenaries.

Father Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow

Apolytikion: Second Tone

Like most precious treasure hidden many years in the earth, thy venerable and miracle-flowing relics were found, O most blessed Father and Hierarch Alexis; and receiving healing from them, we are enriched and we glorify Christ, saying: Glory to Him Who glorifieth His Saints.

Kontakion: Plagal of the Fourth Tone

Thy venerable and incorrupt relics, hidden for many years, O holy Hierarch Alexis, shine forth unto us from thy sepulchre like an unwaning sun, and through thee we receive grace. Thou dost enrich the whole land and all of us with miracles and blessings by the working of grace. Wherefore, we chant unto thee: Rejoice, O Father, light of Russia.

Reading:

Our holy and wonderworking Father Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow, was born in Moscow in 1292, and consecrated bishop in 1350. Chosen as Metropolitan in 1354, he was ordained by Ecumenical Patriarch Philotheus. He founded several monasteries, including the first women's convent in the city of Moscow. From the Greek he translated and wrote out the Holy Gospel. For the good of the Church and his country he twice journeyed to the Horde and did much to propitiate the Khan and ease the burden of the Tartar yoke; he also healed Taidula, the Khan's wife. His relics are laid to rest in the Chudov Monastery in Moscow, which he founded on land granted him by the Khan and his wife in thanksgiving. Today is the feast of the translation of his holy relics, which took place in 1485, and again in 1686.

Readings courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Apolytikia 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 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, May 21, 2004 we celebrate:

Constantine & Helen, Equal-to-the Apostles
Pachomios the Righteous New Martyr

Constantine & Helen, Equal-to-the Apostles

Reading:

This great and renowned sovereign of the Christians was the son of Constantius Chlorus (the ruler of the westernmost parts of the Roman empire), and of the blessed Helen. He was born in 272, in (according to some authorities) Naissus of Dardania, a city on the Hellespont. In 306, when his father died, he was proclaimed successor to his throne. In 312, on learning that Maxentius and Maximinus had joined forces against him, he marched into Italy, where, while at the head of his troops, he saw in the sky after midday, beneath the sun, a radiant pillar in the form of a cross with the words: "By this shalt thou conquer." The following night, our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him in a dream and declared to him the power of the Cross and its significance. When he arose in the morning, he immediately ordered that a labarum be made (which is a banner or standard of victory over the enemy) in the form of a cross, and he inscribed on it the Name of Jesus Christ. On the 28th Of October, he attacked and mightily conquered Maxentius, who drowned in the Tiber River while fleeing. The following day, Constantine entered Rome in triumph and was proclaimed Emperor of the West by the Senate, while Licinius, his brother-in-law, ruled in the East. But out of malice, Licinius later persecuted the Christians. Constantine fought him once and again, and utterly destroyed him in 324, and in this manner he became monarch over the West and the East. Under him and because of him all the persecutions against the Church ceased. Christianity triumphed and idolatry was overthrown. In 325 he gathered the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea, which he himself personally addressed. In 324, in the ancient city of Byzantium, he laid the foundations of the new capital of his realm, and solemnly inaugurated it on May 11, 330, naming it after himself, Constantinople. Since the throne of the imperial rule was transferred thither from Rome, it was named New Rome, the inhabitants of its domain were called Romans, and it was considered the continuation of the Roman Empire. Falling ill near Nicomedia, he requested to receive divine Baptism, according to Eusebius (The Life of Constantine. Book IV, 61-62), and also according to Socrates and Sozomen; and when he had been deemed worthy of the Holy Mysteries, he reposed in 337, on May 21 or 22, the day of Pentecost, having lived sixty-five years, of which he ruled for thirty-one years. His remains were transferred to Constantinople and were deposed in the Church of the Holy Apostles, which had been built by him (see Homily XXVI on Second Corinthians by Saint John Chrysostom).

As for his holy mother Helen, after her son had made the Faith of Christ triumphant throughout the Roman Empire, she undertook a journey to Jerusalem and found the Holy Cross on which our Lord was crucified (see Sept. 13 and 14). After this, Saint Helen, in her zeal to glorify Christ, erected churches in Jerusalem at the sites of the Crucifixion and Resurrection, in Bethlehem at the cave where our Saviour was born, another on the Mount of Olives whence He ascended into Heaven, and many others throughout the Holy Land, Cyprus, and elsewhere. She was proclaimed Augusta, her image was stamped upon golden coins, and two cities were named Helenopolis after her in Bithynia and in Palestine. Having been thus glorified for her piety, she departed to the Lord being about eighty years of age, according to some in the year 330, according to others, in 336.

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce this copyrighted material here. All texts 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, May 22, 2004 we celebrate:

6th Saturday after Pascha

Vasilikos the Martyr, Bishop of Comana
Holy New Martyrs Demetrius and Paul of Tripoli
John-Vladimir, Ruler of Serbia

Through the intercessions of our Holy Martyrs Vakilikos the Bishop, Demetrius and Paul, and our Righteous John-Vladimir, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Vasilikos the Martyr, Bishop of Comana

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.

Reading:

This Martyr was from the city of Amasia on the Black Sea, and a nephew of Saint Theodore the Tyro (Feb. 17). When his fellow Martyrs Eutropius and Cleonicus had been crucified (see Mar.8), Basiliscus was shut up in prison. As he was praying the Lord to count him also worthy to finish his course as a martyr, the Lord appeared to him, telling him first to go to his kinsmen and bid them farewell, which he did. When it was learned that he had left the prison, soldiers came after him, and brought him to Comana of Cappadocia, compelling him to walk in iron shoes set with nails. He was beheaded at Comana, and his body was cast into the river, during the reign of Diocletian (284-305).

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

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce this copyrighted material here. All texts 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, May 23, 2004, we celebrate the feastdays of

Michael the Confessor, Bishop of Synadon
Mary the Myrrhbearer & wife of Cleopas

Through the intercessions of our Holy Father Michael and our Holy Myrrhbearer Mary, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Michael the Confessor, Bishop of Synadon

Kontakion: Fourth Tone

Having dawned upon the world like a great daystar, thou dost shine upon all men with thy great virtues as with light and with the rays of thy miracles, namesake of Angels and worker of miracles.

Reading:

This Saint was from Synnada in Phrygia of Asia Minor. In Constantinople he met Saint Theophylact (see Mar. 8); the holy Patriarch Tarasius, learning that Michael and Theophylact desired to become monks, sent them to a monastery on the Black Sea. Because of their great virtue, Saint Tarasius afterwards compelled them to accept consecration, Theophylact as Bishop of Nicomedia, and Michael as Bishop of his native Synnada. Because Saint Michael fearlessly confessed the veneration of the holy icons, he was banished by the Iconoclast Emperor Leo V the Armenian, who reigned from 813 to 820. After being driven from one place to another, in many hardships and bitter pains, Saint Michael died in exile.

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 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, May 24, 2004 we celebrate:

7th Monday after Pascha

Symeon the Stylite of the Mountain
Saint Vincent of Lerins
Meletios the Commander & his Companion Martyrs

Through the intercessions of our Holy Martyrs Meletios and his companions, our Holy Father Vincent and our Righteous Father Symeon, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Symeon the Stylite of the Mountain

Apolytikion: First Tone

Thou becamest a pillar of patience and didst emulate the Forefathers, O righteous one: Job in his sufferings, Joseph in temptations, and the life of the bodiless while in the body, O Symeon, our righteous Father, intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.

Kontakion: Second Tone

Desiring the heights, thou wast translated from the earth; thy pillar was made a second Heaven by thy toils; by it, thou didst shine with the splendour of great wonders, O righteous one. And thou ever prayest to Christ the God of all in behalf of all of us.

Reading:

Saint Symeon, the "New Stylite," was born in Antioch; John his father was from Edessa, and Martha his mother was from Antioch. From his childhood he was under the special guidance of Saint John the Baptist and adopted an extremely ascetical way of life. He became a monk as a young man, and after living in the monastery for a while he ascended upon a pillar, and abode upon it for eighteen years. Then he came to Wondrous Mountain, and lived in a dry and rocky place, where after ten years he mounted another pillar, upon which he lived in great hardship for forty-five years, working many miracles and being counted worthy of divine revelations. He reposed in 595, at the age of eighty-five years, seventy-nine of which he had passed in asceticism.

Saint Vincent of Lerins

Apolytikion: Fourth Tone

With wisdom hast thou made plain to all the Orthodox Faith as that which alone hath been believed and honoured by all men, always and everywhere, also showing heresy to be innovation, groundless and unstable as a gust in a tempest. O Vincent, thine invincible prayers shelter the Church of God.

Reading:
Saint Vincent was born in Toul in Gaul; he was the brother of Saint Lupus, Bishop of Troyes, who was a companion of Saint Germanus of Auxerre. Saint Vincent was first a soldier, then left the world to become a monk of the renowned monastery of Lerins, where he was also ordained priest. He is known for his Commonitorium, which he wrote as an aid to distinguish the true teachings of the Church from the confusions of heretics; his most memorable saying is that Christians must follow that Faith which has been believed "everywhere, always, and by all." He wrote the Commonitorium about the year 434, three years after the Third Ecumenical Council in Ephesus, which he mentions in the Commonitorium, and defends calling the holy Virgin Theotokos, "She who gave birth to God," in opposition to the teachings of Nestorius which were condemned at the Third Council.

Without identifying by name Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Saint Vincent condemns his doctrine of Grace and predestination, calling it heresy to teach of "a certain great and special and altogether personal grace of God [which is given to the predestined elect] without any labour, without any effort, without any industry, even though they neither ask, nor seek, nor knock" (Commonitorium, ch. XXVI). See also Saint John Cassian, February 29; Saint John Cassian wrote his refutations before, and Saint Vincent after, the condemnation of Nestorius at the Third Council in 431, and the death of Augustine in 430. Saint Vincent reposd in peace about the year 445.

Readings courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Apolytikia 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 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/

 

[Reader Nilus]

Today, on May 26, the Church honors the holy memory of Saint Augustine of
Canterbury (?-605), a monk, missionary and bishop who is a bright light of
the West's orthodox Christian heritage.

Not much is known about Augustine's birth or background; his birthdate is
unknown, but he is thought to have come from a Roman family among the upper
classes. He was a monk of the Saint Andrew Monastery in Rome when Saint
Gregory the Dialogist, pope of Rome, chose him to lead a mission to England.
(At that time, the Church had put down firm roots in the Celtic lands of
Ireland, Wales and parts of Scotland, but the population of the Anglo-Saxon
lands in southern Britain was still largely pagan.) He and a party of some
forty monks landed in England in 597. They were welcomed by King Ethelbert,
who was baptized by Augustine and thus became the first Christian king of
the Anglo-Saxon people. Augustine and his fellow monks labored diligently
to spread the Gospel, build up the Church and nurture their many converts in
England. In 601, he became the first archbishop of Britain, establishing
his cathedral and a monastery at Canterbury, which became the primatial see
of the English Church. During his episcopacy, he tried to integrate his
church with the older local Celtic churches, whose bishops and monastics
followed different liturgical practices, held to a different dating of
Pascha and disapproved of the less severe Roman monastic regimen that he had
brought with him from Rome, but his attempts to forge uniformity among them
did not work out. His life of service to God and man ended peacefully, with
him falling asleep in the Lord in the year 605.

God is wondrous in His saints! Saint Augustine of Canterbury, pray to God
for us!
The Service on the feast of St Augustine of Canterbury

 

[MariaRegina]

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

On Wednesday, May 26, 2004, we celebrate the feast days of

Carpos & Alphaeus, Apostles of the 70
Alexandros the New Martyr of Thessaloniki
George the New of Sofia

Through the intercessions of our Holy Martyrs Alexandros and George, and our Holy Apostles and Martyrs Carpos and Alphaeus, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Carpos & Alphaeus, Apostles of the 70

Apolytikion: Third Tone

O Holy Apostle Carpos, intercede with the merciful God that He grant unto our souls forgiveness of offences.

Kontakion: Fourth Tone

Having thee, O ven'rable Apostle Carpus, as a bright and shining star, the Church is ever made to shine with thine innum'rable miracles. Save them that faithfully honour thy memory.

Reading:

This holy Apostle was numbered with the Seventy, and ministered unto the holy Apostle Paul, journeying with him and conveying his epistles unto those to whom they were written. He became Bishop of Beroea in Thrace, where he endured great tribulations while bringing many of the heathen to holy Baptism, and also suffered martyrdom there. Saint Paul mentions him in 11 Timothy 4: 13.

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 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, May 27, 2004 we celebrate:

7th Thursday after Pascha

Holy Glorious Hieromartyr Alladius
John the Russian of Evia
Theodora the Virgin-martyr & Didymos the Martyr

Through the intercessions of our Holy Hieromarty Alladius, our Virgin-Martyr Theodora and Holy Martyr Didymos, and our Righteous Father John, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Holy Glorious Hieromartyr Alladius

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

Kontakion: Plagal of the Fourth Tone (tone 8)

Since thou didst flourish like a fair and fruitful olive tree, thou as an athlete that contended well and won the crown showest kindness unto all that seek grace and mercy. Do thou guide us unto knowledge of the Most High God as a Martyr and bright luminary of the Faith; for we cry to thee: Rejoice, O Father Helladius.

Reading:

Concerning Saint Helladius, little is known except that he was a bishop who refused to sacrifice to idols, and that during his martyrdom our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him and healed him of his wounds, after which he was cast into fire and was preserved unharmed, suffered further torments, and finally was beaten to death with the blows of fists.

John the Russian of Evia

Apolytikion: Fourth Tone

He that hath called thee from earth unto the heavenly abodes, doth even after thy death keep thy body unharmed, O righteous one; for thou wast carried off as a prisoner to Asia, wherein also, O John, thou didst win Christ as thy friend. Wherefore, do thou beseech Him that our souls be saved.

Kontakion: Fourth Tone

The all-holy mem'ry of thy splendid contests on this day is come to us, and it doth gladden and rejoice the souls of all them that honour thee with faith and rev'rence, O most righteous Father John.

Reading:

The Holy New, Confessor John, a native of Russia, was captured during the Russian campaign against the Turks in 1711 and was thereafter sold into slavery in Asia Minor. In this condition he struggled to serve God in piety even while he served his earthly master in all that was needful. He remained steadfast in the Christian Faith in the face of the many enticements the Moslems provided to lure him to their error, and was granted the grace to work miracles by his prayers. He reposed in peace in 1730. His relics remained incorrupt and are found at New Procopion of Euboia in Greece.

Readings courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Apolytikia courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Kontakia 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 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, May 28, 2004 we celebrate:

7th Friday after Pascha

St. Eutyches the Martyr, Bishop of Melitene
Nikitas, Bishop of Chalcedon
Eutechios, Bishop of Mytilene

Through the intercessions of our Holy Hieromartyr Eutyches, and our Holy Fathers Nikitas and Eutechios, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

St. Eutyches the Martyr, Bishop of Melitene

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.

Reading:

All information concerning this Martyr has been lost, except that he presented himself before the tyrants, mocked the idols, suffered many unspeakable torments, and was finally drowned in the sea.

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

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce this copyrighted material here. All texts 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, May 29, 2004, we celebrate the feast days of

Theodosia the Virgin-martyr of Tyre
St. Theodosia, Virgin-Martyr of Constantinople
Andrew the New Martyr of Argentes
John of Smyrna the New Martyr

Through the intercessions of our Holy Virgin-Martyrs Saints Theodosia of Tyre and Theodosia of Constantinople, and our Holy New Martyrs Andrew and John, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Theodosia the Virgin-martyr of Tyre

Kontakion: Second Tone

Through labours hast thou inherited life free of pain; with streams of thy blood, O all-praised maiden, thou didst drown the vile lion, who is the most abhorrent enemy of Christ's Church. As thou now rejoicest with Christ, unceasingly pray thou in our soul's
behalf.

Reading:

The holy Virgin Martyr Theodosia was born in Tyre of Phoenicia. At the age of eighteen she was seized in Caesarea of Palestine during a persecution and was brought before Urban the ruler. Because she refused to offer sacrifice to the idols, her sides and breasts were mercilessly scraped even to the inward parts and bones. She endured this in silence with astonishing courage. When Urban again asked her to sacrifice, she mocked him, and after being tormented even more horribly than before, she was cast into the sea in the year 308.

St. Theodosia, Virgin-Martyr of Constantinople

Apolytikion: Plagal of the Fourth Tone

O Lord Jesus, unto Thee Thy lamb doth cry with a great voice: O my Bridegroom, Thee I love; and seeking Thee, I now contest, and with Thy baptism am crucified and buried. I suffer for Thy sake, that I may reign with Thee; for Thy sake I die, that I may live in Thee: accept me offered out of longing to Thee as a spotless sacrifice. Lord, save our souls through her intercessions, since Thou art great in mercy.

Reading:

The Righteous Martyr Theodosia, having Constantinople as her homeland, struggled in asceticism in her own convent, which was located in that same imperial city. Filled with zeal for the veneration of the holy icons, she withstood Emperor Leo the Isaurian's impious command that the icons be destroyed. She received the martyr's crown when a soldier of the imperial guard plunged a ram's horn through her throat, about the year 717.

Readings courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Apolytikion 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 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, May 30, 2004 we celebrate:

Pentecost - Trinity Sunday

Isaakios, Founder of the Monastery of Dalmatos
Macrina, grandmother of St. Basil the Great
Barlaam the Monk of Caesarea

Through the intercessions of our Holy Righteous Fathers Isaakios and Barlaam and our holy Macrina, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Isaakios, Founder of the Monastery of Dalmatos

Reading:

The righteous Isaacius was from Syria and came to Constantinople in 374, excelled in the monastic life, and departed to the Lord in 396. According to tradition, his monastery was built by Dalmatus the Patrician, a nephew of Saint Constantine the Great. But many say that the monastery was founded by Saint Isaacius, and afterwards took the name of the Abbot Dalmatus who succeeded Saint Isaacius (see Aug. 3 for an account of the life of Saints Isaacius and Dalmatus). Yet others maintain that it received its name from both of these, and that is why its name in Greek is in the plural. According to Zonaras, the Iconoclast Emperor Constantine Copronymus later turned this monastery into a barracks: "And as for the Monastery called Palmatus, which is ancient and the oldest of all those in Constantinople, after he had expelled the monks, [the Emperor] made it a barracks for soldiers" (Chronicle, XV, 8). The Third Ecumenical Council raised its abbot to the rank of archimandrite and exarch of the prominent monasteries of the imperial city. The famous Cathedral of Saint Isaac in Saint Petersburg is dedicated to this Saint.

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce this copyrighted material here. All texts 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, May 31, 2004 we celebrate:

1st Monday after Pentecost - the Feast of the Holy Spirit

Reading:
As it is the custom of the Church, on the day after every great Feast, to honour those through whom it came to pass our Lady on the day after the Lord's Nativity, Joachim and Anna after our Lady's Nativity, the holy Baptist the day after Theophany, and so forth, on this day we honour our God the All-holy Spirit, the Comforter promised by our Saviour to His disciples (John 14:16), Who descended upon them at holy Pentecost and guided them "into all truth" (ibid. 16:13), and through them, us.

Rest from labour.

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

On this day we also celebrate the feast days of:

Hermias the Martyr at Comana
Eusebius and Haralambos the Monk-martyrs

Through the intercessions of our Holy Martyrs Hermias, Eusebius and Haralambos, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Hermias the Martyr at Comana

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.

Reading:

According to some, this Martyr strove in contest during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, also called Antoninus (161-180); according to others, it was in the reign of Antoninus Pius (138-161). Already an old man, the Saint was brought before Sebastian, Proconsul in Comana of Cappadocia, and because he would not renounce his confession of Christ, his tormentors showing no reverence to his grey hairs, broke his jaw, tore the flesh from his face, pierced his eyes with a sharp instrument, subjected him to many other torments, and finally, after three days of such torture, beheaded him.

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


Note: Permission has been received to reproduce this copyrighted material here. All texts 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, June 1, 2004 we celebrate:

1st Tuesday after Pentecost

Justin the Philosopher & Martyr and his Companions
Pyrros the Hieromartyr

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

Justin the Philosopher & Martyr and his Companions

Apolytikion: Plagal of the First Tone (tone 5)

Thou didst empty the cup of the wisdom of the Greeks, and thou didst thirst yet again, till thou camest unto the well where thou foundest water springing to eternal life. And having drunk deeply thereof, thou didst also drink the cup that Christ gave to His disciples. Wherefore, O Justin, we praise thee as a philosopher and Martyr of Christ.

Kontakion: Third Tone

As the breath of Paradise, the dew descending from Aermon, Christ the Power and the Peace and Wisdom of God the Father, came upon thy thirsting spirit, O Martyr Justin, making thee a spring of knowledge for all the faithful, when thou barest with true valour death as a martyr, to live for ever in Christ.

Reading:

This Saint, who was from Neapolis of Palestine, was a follower of Plato the philosopher. Born in 103, he came to the Faith of Christ when he was already a mature man, seeking to find God through philosophy and human reasoning. A venerable elder appeared to him and spoke to him about the Prophets who had taught of God not through their own wisdom, but by revelation; and he led him to knowledge of Christ, Who is the fulfillment of what the Prophets taught. Saint Justin soon became a fervent follower of Christ, and an illustrious apologist of the Evangelical teachings. To the end of his life, while preaching Christ in all parts, he never put off his philosopher's garb. In Rome, he gave the Emperor Antoninus Pius (reigned 138-161) an apology wherein he proved the innocence and holiness of the Christian Faith, persuading him to relieve the persecution of Christians. Through the machinations of Crescens, a Cynic philosopher who envied him, Saint Justin was beheaded in Rome in 167 under Antoninus' successor, Marcus Aurelius (reigned 161-180). Besides his defense of Christianity (First and Second Apologies), Saint Justin wrote against paganism (Discourse to the Greeks, Hortatory Address to the Greeks), and refuted Jewish objections against Christ (Dialogue with Trypho).

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Apolytikion 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 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, June 2, 2004 we celebrate:

1st Wednesday after Pentecost

Nikephoros the Confessor, Patriarch of Constantinople
Erasmos of Ochrid & his Companion Martyrs
Demetrios the New Martyr of Philadelphia

Through the intercessions of our Holy Martyrs Demetrios the New and Erasmos and his Companions companions, and our Holy Father Nikephoros, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.


Nikephoros the Confessor, Patriarch of Constantinople

Apolytikion: Fourth Tone

The truth of things hath revealed thee to thy flock as a rule of faith, an icon of meekness, and a teacher of temperance; for this cause, thou hast achieved the heights by humility, riches by poverty. O Father and Hierarch Nikephoros, intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.

Kontakion: Fourth Tone

Since thou hast received today the crown of vict'ry from the Heavens at God's hand, save all them that faithfully now honour thee as a teacher and a faithful hierarch, O Father Nicephorus.

Reading:

Saint Nicephorus was born in Constantinople about the year 758, of pious parents; his father Theodore endured exile and tribulation for the holy icons during the reign of Constantine Copronymus (741-775). Nicephorus served in the imperial palace as a secretary. Later, he took up the monastic life, and struggled in asceticism not far from the imperial city; he also founded monasteries on the eastern shore of the Bosphorus, among them one dedicated to the Great Martyr Theodore.

After the repose of the holy Patriarch Tarasius, he was ordained Patriarch, on April 12, 806, and in this high office led the Orthodox resistance to the Iconoclasts' war on piety, which was stirred up by Leo the Armenian. Because Nicephorus championed the veneration of the icons, Leo drove Nicephorus from his throne on March 13, 815, exiling him from one place to another, and lastly to the Monastery of Saint Theodore which Nicephorus himself had founded. It was here that, after glorifying God for nine years as Patriarch, and then for thirteen years as an exile, tormented and afflicted, he gave up his blameless soul in 828 at about the age of seventy. See also March 8.

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 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/

 

[Reader Nilus]

Today, on June 2, the Church honors the holy memory of Saint Constantine the
New Martyr, a convert from Islam.

Saint Constantine the New Martyr (?-1819) was born into a Muslim family in
Mytilene, a town Lesbos, an island off the northwestern coast of Turkey.
During his childhood, he came down with smallpox, which left him blind, and
awaited death. Orthodox Christian neighbors took the afflicted child to the
local church and washed him with holy water. He came out of the church with
his eyesight and health completely restored! Never forgetting God's favor,
he eventually made his way to Mount Athos, where he converted to orthodox
Christianity, was baptized into the Church and made known his desire to bear
witness to the Lord Jesus Christ before the Turks. The monks advised him to
spend 40 days in seclusion, prayer and fasting, letting God's will take its
course afterwards. Having prepared himself thusly, he received a blessing
to go to Constantinople, where he made public his conversion before the
Muslim authorities. They arrested him, tortured him and put him to death by
hanging. His ordeal for the Lord lasted from April 23 to June 2. "Precious
in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints" (Psalm 115:15,
Septuagint numbering).

Given the doleful impact militant Islam is having on the world we live in
today, let us pray to the Lord and seek Saint Constantine's intercession for
our safety, salvation and protection in these troubled times:

Holy New Martyr Constantine! Divine healing of your blindness opened your
eyes to the truth and led you to true submission to Christ our true God, for
whom you gave up your life in gratitude for all He had done for you. Now,
as those who persecuted you raise their hands in threats and violence once
again, we beg you: intercede with Him, the Ruler of all, to stay their hands
from evil and harmful deeds, convert their hearts and minds as He did yours,
and have mercy on us sinful people, protecting us from their ill will -- for
we know that God is wondrous in His saints!

God is wondrous in His saints! Saint Constantine the New Martyr pray for
us!

 

[MariaRegina]

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

On Thursday, June 3, 2004 we celebrate:

1st Thursday after Pentecost

Lucillian of Byzantium, 4 martyred Youths & Paula the Virgin
Athanasios the Wonderworker

Through the intercessions of our Holy Martyrs Lucillian of Byzantium, the Four Youths and Paula the Virgin, and our Holy Father Athanasios the wonderworker, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Lucillian of Byzantium, 4 martyred Youths & Paula the Virgin

Apolytikion: First Tone

Let all of us entreat Christ the Lord's holy Martyrs, for they make suplication for our souls' salvation; with faith and with longing, therefore, let us draw nigh unto them, for they overflow with the divine grace of healings, and they drive away the ranks of demons in terror, as guardians of the Faith.

Reading:

Formerly a priest of the idols near Nicomedia, the Saint came to the Christian Faith in his old age; this was during the reign of Aurelian (270-275). Lucillian was brought before Silvan the Count; when he refused to return to the service of the idols, his jaw was broken, he was beaten with rods, and hanged upside down, then imprisoned with four Christian children, Claudius, Hypatius, Paul, and Dionysius. All of them were brought out again before Silvan, and remaining constant in their faith, were cast into a raging furnace. Preserved unharmed, they were sent to Byzantium, where the children were beheaded, and Lucillian was crucified. The virgin Paula, a Christian, buried their holy relics. For this, she was taken before the Count, and refusing to sacrifice to the idols, was stripped naked and mercilessly thrashed; after other torments, she was beheaded, in 270. There was a church in their honor in Constantinople.

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

Note: Permission has been received to reproduce this copyrighted material here. All texts 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, June 4, 2004 we celebrate:

Metrophanes, 1st Patriarch of Constantinople
Mary & Martha, the sisters of Lazarus

Through the intercessions of our Holy Father Metrophanes, and the Holy sisters of Lazarus Mary and Martha, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Metrophanes, 1st Patriarch of Constantinople

Apolytikion: First Tone

Proclaiming the great myst'ry, the Godhead in Three Persons, thou didst make most clear unto all men Christ's saving dispensation. A shepherd to sheep endowed with speech, thou dravest off the spiritual wolves, and didst save from their destruction and savagery the lambs of Christ God, who cried out: Glory to Him that hath given thee strength. Glory to Him that hath crowned thee. Glory to Him that confirmed the pure Orthodox Faith through thee.

Kontakion: Second Tone

Thou clearly didst teach the dogmas of the Faith of Christ; and keeping it well, thou didst increase thy faithful flock to a mighty multitude indeed. Wherefore now, O Metrophanes, with the Angels dost thou rejoice, while ceaselessly praying Christ God for us all.

Reading:

Saint Metrophanes was born of pagan parents, but believed in Christ at a young age, and came to Byzantium. He lived at the end of the persecution of the Roman Emperors, and became the Bishop of Byzantium from about 315 to 325, during which time Saint Constantine the Great made it the capital of the Roman Empire, calling it New Rome. Saint Metrophanes sent his delegate, the priest Alexander, to the First Ecumenical Council in 325, since he could not attend because of old age. He reposed the same year and was buried by Saint James of Nisibis (celebrated Jan. 13), one of the Fathers present at the First Ecumenical Council. The Canons to the Trinity of the Octoechos are not the work of this Metrophanes but another, who was Bishop of Smyrna about the middle of the ninth century, during the life of Saint Photius the Great.

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

Mary & Martha, the sisters of Lazarus

St. Martha

Apolytikion: Third Tone

Since ye believed in Christ with strong and ardent faith, and ever worshipped His divine and mighty deeds, ye both adorned yourselves with all the splendour of sacred virtues. With your holy brother now, ye are also vouchsafed to dwell with the ranks of Saints on high, O ye sisters of Lazarus; and with him, O wise Mary and Martha, ye pray for us all unto the Master.

Kontakion: Third Tone

In the town of Bethany, ye dwelt of old; now in Heaven ye abide in Paradise, where our Lord's countenance shineth. For ye gave your hearts and souls up with fervent longing unto Him that is the Life and the Resurrection; as ye stand on high, O Mary and Martha, pray Him to grant salvation to us.

Reading:

The Holy Myrrh-bearers Mary and Martha, together with their brother Lazarus, were especially devoted to our Savior, as we see from the accounts given in the tenth chapter of Saint Luke, and in the eleventh and twelfth chapters of Saint John. They reposed in Cyprus, where their brother became the first Bishop of Kition after his resurrection from the dead. See also the accounts on Lazarus Saturday and the Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women.

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Apolytikion 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 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

n Saturday, June 5, 2004 we celebrate:

1st Saturday after Pentecost

Dorotheos the Holy Martyr, Bishop of Tyre
Holy Martyrs Nicandrus, Gorgus and Apollonus and those with them
Christophoros & Konon the Martyrs of Rome

Through the intercessions of our Holy Hieromartyrs Dorotheos, our Holy Martyrs of Rome Christophoros and Konon, and our Holy Martyrs Nicandrus, Gorgus and their Companions, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Dorotheos the Holy Martyr, Bishop of Tyre

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

Kontakion: Third Tone

Having preached the Orthodox doctrines, O most sacred Martyr, thou didst bring thyself as a divine gift to thy Creator; at the first, thou hadst excelled in asceticism; at the last, thou didst contest firmly as a Martyr, and didst lawfully receive the prize of thy vict'ry from Christ our Saviour and God.

Reading:

Saint Dorotheus became Bishop of Tyre in Phoenicia about the end of the third century. During the persecution of Diocletian and Maximian, about the year 303, he fled to Odyssopolis in Thrace to preserve his life, and after the death of the tyrants he returned to Tyre. He lived until the reign of Julian the Apostate (361-363), from whose persecution he again fled to Odyssopolis (or, according to Theophylact of Bulgaria, Edessa), but was found by Julian's men and slain in great torments, at the age of 107, in 361. He was very learned, and has left behind writings in both Latin and Greek relating the lives of the holy Prophets, Apostles, and other Saints.

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 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, June 6, 2004 we celebrate

The Feast of All Saints, the First Sunday after Pentecost

Hilarion the New of Dalmation Monastery
Bessarion the Wonderworker of Egypt
5 Virgins of Caesarea: Martha, Mary, Cyris, Valeria & Marcia

Through the intercessions of our Five Holy Martyrs of Caesarea: Martha, Mary, Cyris, Valeria and Marcia, and our Righteous Fathers Hilarion and Bessarion, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Hilarion the New of Dalmation Monastery

Kontakion: First Tone

Though cast into the fire, thou wast not burnt, O righteous Hilarion, wise Father most godly of spirit; for thou hadst the dew of Christ God refreshing thee mightily. Since thou hast accomplished struggles far above nature, thou, O valiant athlete, dost rejoice with the righteous; with them now remember us.

Reading:

Saint Hilarion, the fervent zealot for the veneration of the holy icons, was born in 775 and had Cappadocia as his homeland. About 806-811 he became Abbot of the Monastery of Dalmatus (see May 30), but was exiled by the Emperor Leo the Armenian, and later again by Theophilus; he was set free by the pious Empress Theodora, and again became Abbot of the Monastery of Dalmatus from 843 to 845, until the time of his repose.

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 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/