The holy martyr Boniface was a servant to a wealthy and wicked woman in Rome, and was her paramour. His mistress decided that she wanted to have some relics of a Christian martyr in her house to use as an amulet to ward off evil, and dispatched Boniface to buy what she desired. In the city of Tarsus, Boniface witnessed the death of many for the sake of Christ, and was converted. He denounced himself to the authorities and said, “I too am a Christian.” He was then tortured and beheaded. Slaves took his body back to Rome, and an angel appeared to his former mistress, saying, “Take him who was once your servant, but who is now our brother—he is the guardian of your soul.” She repented and built a church where Boniface’s relics were buried. (290)
Your martyr Boniface, O Lord our God, in his struggle received an incorruptible crown from You. With Your strength, he brought down the tyrants and broke the cowardly valor of demons. Through his prayers, O Christ our God, save our souls.
O crown-bearer and most wise Boniface, you offered yourself as a willing, immaculate sacrifice to the One Who was born of a Virgin for our sake.
Titus 1:15 – 2:10
Titus, my son: To the clean all things are clean, but to those defiled unbelievers nothing is clean. Their very minds and consciences are tainted. They claim to “know God,” but by their actions they deny that he exists. They are disgusting – intractable and thoroughly incapable of any decent action.
As for yourself, let your speech be consistent with sound doctrine. Tell the older men that they must be temperate, serious-minded, and self-controlled; likewise sound in the faith, loving and steadfast. Similarly, the older women must behave in ways that befit those who belong to God. They must not be slanderous gossips or slaves to drink. By their good example they must teach the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be sensible, chaste, busy at home, kindly, submissive to their husbands. Thus the word of God will not fall into disrepute. Tell the young men to keep themselves completely under control – nor may you yourself fail to set them good example. Your teaching must have the integrity of serious, sound words to which no one can take exception. If it does, no opponent will be able to find anything bad to say about us, and hostility will yield to shame.
Slaves are to be submissive to their masters. They should try to please them in every way, not contradicting them nor stealing from them, but expressing a constant fidelity by their conduct, so as to adorn in every way possible the doctrine of God our Savior.
Mark 9: 33-41
At that time Jesus and his disciples returned to Capernaum and Jesus, once inside the house, began to ask them, “What were you discussing on the way home?” At this they fell silent, for on the way they had been arguing about who was most important. So he sat down and called the Twelve around him and said, “If anyone wishes to rank first, he must remain the last one of all and the servant of all.” Then he took a little child, stood him in their midst, and putting his arms around the child, said to them, “Whoever welcomes a child such as this for my sake welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me welcomes, not me, but him who sent me.”
John said to him, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we tried to stop him because he was not of our company.” Jesus said in reply: “Do not try to stop him. No man who performs a miracle using my name can at the same time speak ill of me. Anyone who is not against us is with us. Any man who gives you a drink of water because you belong to Christ will not, I assure you, go without his reward.”
Icon courtesy of Jack Figel, Eastern Christian Publications – ecpubs.com
Thursday, December 18 –
