Today's Saint: Honor to Whom Honor Is Due

[MariaRegina]

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

On Saturday, June 26, 2004 we celebrate:

4th Saturday after Pentecost

David the Righteous of Thessalonika, the New Martyr of the Turkish Yoke
Appearance of the Icon of Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos of Tikhvin

Through the intercessions of our Holy Theotokos of Tikhvin and our Holy Martyr Davie of Thessalonika, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

David the Righteous of Thessalonika, the New Martyr of the Turkish Yoke

Kontakion: Second Tone

An Angel on earth, and stranger to all earthly things, thou madest a tree thy dwelling like an eagle's nest, whence, O David, thou didst soar up to Heaven, where thou didst find that Tree which in Eden we lost of old. Remember us all, who keep thy memory.

Reading:

Saint David, who was from Thessalonica, lived a most holy and ascetical life. For some years, he took up his dwelling in the branches of an almond tree, exposed to all the elements and extremes of the weather. He reposed in peace during the reign of Saint Justinian the Great, in the sixth century.

Appearance of the Icon of Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos of Tikhvin

Apolytikion: Fourth Tone

Today thy most venerable icon, O Lady, hath shone in Heaven upon us like a most brilliant sun, enlightening the world with rays of mercy, which great Russia and America received from on high most reverently as a divine gift, and they glorify thee, O Mother of God, as the Queen of all, and joyfully magnify Christ our God Who was born of thee. Pray to Christ, O our Lady and Queen, O Theotokos, that He keep all Christians unharmed by all assaults of the enemy, and that He save them that venerate His divine image and thy pure icon with faith, O Virgin who knewest not wedlock.

Kontakion: Plagal of the Fourth Tone (8th tone)

Let us run, O ye peoples, to the Virgin Queen, the Theotokos, thanking Christ our God; and gazing tenderly at her miraculous icon, let us fall down and cry to her: O Lady Mary, having visited this land by the wonderous appearance of thy venerable icon, keep all Christians in peace and properity, and make them heirs of the heavenly life; for to thee we cry with faith: Rejoice, O Virgin, salvation of the world.

Reading:

According to one tradition, this icon was painted by Saint Luke the Evangelist. It was formerly situated in the famous Church of Blachernae in Constantinople. In 1383, it appeared upon the waters of Lake Ladoga, whence it travelled miraculously through the air to the city of Tikhvin; there, it remained by the River Tikhvinka, and a monastery was built to shelter the icon. In 1613-14 this monastery miraculously withstood the many attacks of the Swedish invaders. In the twentieth century it was brought to America, where it remains to the present day. The holy icon is renowned for a great many miracles wrought through it by the all-holy Mother of God, especially for the healing of children. [It was just returned to Russia this year.]

Readings courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Apolytikion 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 Sunday, June 27, 2004, we celebrate the 4th Sunday of Matthew

Tone Three
Fourth 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

O Protection of Christians that cannot be put to shame, mediation unto the creator most constant: O despise not the voices of those who have sinned; but be quick, O good one, to come unto our aid, who in faith cry unto thee: Hasten to intercession and speed thou to make supplication, O thou who dost ever protect, O Theotokos, them that honor thee.

On Sunday, June 27, 2004 we celebrate the feast days of:

Sampson the Innkeeper of Constantinople
Joanna the Myrrhbearer
Anektos the Martyr

Sampson the Innkeeper of Constantinople

Apolytikion: Plagal of the Fourth Tone

In thy patience thou hast won thy reward, O righteous Father. Thou didst persevere unceasingly in prayer; thou didst love the poor, and didst provide for them in all things. Wherefore, intercede with Christ our God, O blessed and godly-minded Samson, that our souls be saved.

Kontakion: Plagal of the Fourth Tone

We come together, praising thee with hymns and psalms, O righteous one, as an unrivalled physician and as an intercessor pleasing unto God; O divinely-wise Samson, ever having recourse to thy godly shrine for help, we glorify Christ Jesus, Who gave thee the grace to work thy cures.

Reading:

Saint Samson was from Rome and flourished during the reign of Saint Justinian the Great. Being a physician, he came to Constantinople, where he so distinguished himself for his virtue and his love for the sick and the poor that Patriarch Menas ordained him priest. The Emperor Justinian was healed by him, and out of gratitude built him a large hospital, which was afterwards known as "The Hospice of Samson." Saint Samson is one of the Holy Unmercenaries.

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.christianforums.com/t713086

On Monday, June 28, 2004 we celebrate:

5th Monday after Pentecost

Finding of the Relics of Cyrus and John the Unmercenaries
Pappias the Martyr
Righteous Fathers Sergius and Herman, Founders of Valaam Monastery

Finding of the Relics of Cyrus and John the Unmercenaries

Apolytikion: Plagal of the Fourth Tone

Since Thou hast given us the miracles of Thy holy Martyrs as an invincible battlement, by their entreaties scatter the counsels of the heathen, O Christ our God, and strenghten the faith of Orthodox Christians, since Thou alone art good and the Friend of man.

Kontakion: Plagal of the Second Tone (tone 6)

With a great voice, O ye faithful, let us hymn the great physicians of the world, the pair beloved of Christ, the luminaries who are radiant with the beams of healing; and as we stand in their temple, we cry out: Cyrus and John, the bestowers of miracles and healers of the ailing, shine forth to the ends of the world.

Reading:
These Saints lived during the years of Diocletian. Saint Cyrus was from Alexandria, and Saint John was from Edessa of Mesopotamia. Because of the persecution of that time, Cyrus fled to the Gulf of Arabia, where there was a small community of monks. John, who was a soldier, heard of Cyrus' fame and came to join him. Henceforth, they passed their life working every virtue, and healing every illness and disease freely by the grace of Christ; hence their title of "Unmercenaries." They heard that a certain woman, named Athanasia, had been apprehended together with her three daughters, Theodora, Theoctiste, and Eudoxia, and taken to the tribunal for their confession of the Faith. Fearing lest the tender young maidens be terrified by the torments and renounce Christ, they went to strengthen them in their contest in martryrdom; therefore they too were seized. After Cyrus and John and those sacred women had been greatly tormented, all were beheaded in the year 292. Their tomb became a renowned shrine in Egypt, and a place of universal pilgrimage. It was found in the area of the modern day resort near Alexandria named Abu Kyr.

Righteous Fathers Sergius and Herman, Founders of Valaam Monastery

Apolytikion: Fourth Tone

Ye appeared as true fulfillers of the Gospel of Christ, living for the sake of Christ as though the world and all therein did not exist. Ye settled on an island in the sea, whereon ye struggled assiduously against the invisible foe; by fasts, vigils, and all-night standing ye wisely subjected your bodies to the spirit; for this cause did ye receive worthy crowns from the right hand of the Almighty One. And now as ye stand before the All-holy Trinity, O all-blessed Fathers Sergius and Herman, pray that we be preserved in peace and that our souls be saved.

Kontakion: Fourth Tone

Having left the worldly life, ye did follow in the steps of Christ, and having reached great Lake Neva, ye settled there on the island of Valaam, and there ye lived angelic lives; from thence ye were translated rejoicing unto the heavenly bridal chamber. And now as ye stand with the Angels before the throne of the Master, remember the children which ye gathered so wisely, that we may joyfully cry unto you with all our soul: Rejoice, most blessed Fathers Sergius and Herman.

Reading:
By their life and teachings, our righteous Fathers Sergius and Herman did much to spread and confirm Orthodoxy among the Karelian Finns, who had suffered much oppression at the hands of Swedes of the Latin creed. They founded on Lake Ladoga the renowned Monastery of Valaam, which later became one of the chief centers of the monastic life. Both Saints reposed about 1353.

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 Wednesday, July 14, 2004 we celebrate:

7th Wednesday after Pentecost

Aquila the Apostle among the 70
Our Holy Father Joseph the Confessor, Archbishop of Thessalonica
Nicodemus the Righteous of Mount Athos

Aquila the Apostle among the 70

Apolytikion: Third Tone

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

Kontakion: Fourth Tone

Ranked with the Apostles' choir as their companion, O Apostle wise in Christ, thou madest all the world to shine with thy bright doctrines and miracles, O famed Aquila, while gaining a glorious crown.

Reading:

Saint Aquila, who was from Pontus of Asia Minor, was a Jew by race and a tent-maker by trade. In the year 52 he and his wife Priscilla were in Corinth when Saint Paul first came there. They gave him hospitality, and the Apostle remained with them for many days, himself working at the same trade as they (Acts 18:2-3). And having believed in Christ through Paul, they followed him from that time on, working together with him and suffering perils with him for the sake of the preaching of the Gospel, as he himself testifies concerning them in his Epistle to the Romans, saying: "Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus: who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the nations" (Rom. 16:3-4). When and where they reposed is unknown.

Our Holy Father Joseph the Confessor, Archbishop of Thessalonica

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

Kontakion: Second Tone

The divinely-sounded harp of thy teachings hath glorified the Saviour's majesty, and proclaimed to all the clarity of true doctrine and the honour that is due unto the august icons, O wise Joseph, thou glory of the Fathers.

Reading:

Saint Joseph was the brother of Saint Theodore the Studite (see Nov. 11). He also is called Studite, especially when he is mentioned together with his brother. According to Codinus, both of them composed the canons of the Triodion during the reign of Leo the Armenian, while in the Church of Saint Romanus (see Nov. 18); he is not to be confused with Saint Joseph the Hymnographer (Apr. 3). When Saint Joseph became Archbishop of Thessalonica, he was exiled thrice because of his godly zeal for the holy icons, suffering many hardships, imprisonments in dark dungeons, hunger, thirst, and every tribulation, in the midst of which he departed unto eternal life in 833.

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]

Gregory from NormalOrthodoxy posted this wonder item. I thought you might enjoy it also.

July 23

On July 23, the Church remembers the miraculous appearance of our all-
holy Lady Mary, the ever-virgin Birthgiver of God, at Pochayiv,
Ukraine (then part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) in 1675,
when the local Dormition Monastery was under attack by Muslim Turks.

Ringed around by hostile forces and left with nothing but weak
defenses, the people of Pochayiv resorted to fervent prayer, begging
the Birthgiver of God (patron saint of the monastery) and Saint Job
of Pochayiv (a much-venerated local holy man) to intercede with the
Lord for their protection and deliverance. They kept vigil before
the Birthgiver of God's wonderworking icon and the relics of Saint
Job, the monastery's most precious and grace-bearing spiritual
heirlooms.

On the morning of July 23, as the Turks were preparing to launch a
final and devastating assault, the besieged refugees in the monastery
began to sing the akathist hymn to the Birthgiver of God. With the
first words of the hymn, "Oh Champion General...," the Birthgiver of
God appeared over the church, stretching out a shining, unfurled veil
over the monastery, and escorted by Saint Job and angels with
unsheathed swords.

The sight of this otherworldly phenomenon caused panic to break out
among the Turks, who shot arrows at the apparition; but the arrows
turned backward and hit those who shot them. Terror seized the
hostile Muslim forces, many of whom trampled and killed each other as
they attempted to flee, in utter confusion. The defenders of the
monastery set out in pursuit and took many prisoners, some of whom
converted to orthodox Christianity and spent the rest of their lives
following the Lord Jesus Christ at the monastery.

In our own day and age, Muslim hands are raised in violence and
murderous intent once again, just as they were at Pochayiv in 1675.
Let us beg our all-holy Lady, defender of Pochayiv and mother of all
the Church's children, to intercede with her divine-human Son, our
Lord Jesus Christ, to defend us again those who commit terrorism,
wage war and take innocent lives in the name of Islam. Let us
earnestly seek the intercession of His saints and pray for the peace
of the whole world, the safety of all people and the conversion of
hearts and minds bent on ill will, evil, destruction and death.

"All-holy Lady Mary, ever-virgin Birthgiver of God, living gateway of
our salvation! Be merciful to us sinners and hear our prayer in our
danger and distress, as enemies of your divine-human Son's Gospel
breathe threats and mayhem against us. Protect us from them with
your holy and powerful maternal prayers, as you did so long ago in
Pochayiv. Beg the Lord, to whom you gave birth, to keep His world in
peace and safety, protect the innocent, stay the hands of the
violent, forgive us our sins and convert the hearts and minds of all
from evil to good. Please for us as our advocate, for your
intercessions are a wall of defense for us in our defenselessness --
and you, mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, are the woman whom all
generations call blessed. Amen."

With prayers and good will,

Gregory Orloff

 

[MariaRegina]

Online Chapel — Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

St. Isaacius, the prophet, pray to God for us.