Our venerable father Theodosius the Great founded the first cenobitic monastery in Palestine during the fifth century. He left his monastery to champion Orthodoxy when a heresy arose under the Emperor Anastasius. He traveled to Jerusalem and in the church, he stood at the high place and cried out for all to hear: “Whoever does not honor the four Ecumenical Councils, let him be anathema!” For this bold deed the monk was sent to prison, but soon returned after the death of the emperor. Saint Theodosius accomplished many healings and other miracles during his life, coming to the aid of the needy. Also by his intercession, soldiers were saved from death, and he saved those perishing in shipwrecks and those lost in the desert. Before his death, Saint Theodosius summoned to him three beloved bishops and revealed to them that he would soon depart to the Lord. After three days, he died at the age of 105. The saint’s body was buried with reverence in the cave in which he lived at the beginning of his ascetic deeds.
Loving the monastic life from your youth, you climbed the summit of virtue. Achieving your goal, you took up life in a cave. Perfecting your life by fasting, you became like an angel. You have enlightened all the Slav lands like a star. O father Theodosius, intercede with Christ our God to save our souls.
We venerate the star of all the Slav lands today, rising in the East and traveling West. The blessed Theodosius radiated miracles and holiness by his goodness and monastic piety.
Hebrews 13: 7-16
Brothers and sisters: Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you; consider how their lives ended, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good to have our hearts strengthened by the grace of God and not by foods which are useless to those who take them as a standard for living. We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. The bodies of the animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest as a sin offering are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus died outside the gate, to sanctify the people by his own blood. Let us go to him outside the camp, bearing the insult which he bore. For here we have no lasting city; we are seeking one which is to come. Through him let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips which acknowledge his name. Do not neglect good deeds and generosity; God is pleased by sacrifices of that kind.
Matthew 11: 27-30
The Lord said to his disciples: “everything has been given over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son but the Father, and no one knows the Father but the Son– and anyone whom the Son wished to reveal him.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Your souls will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden light.”
Acts 11: 19-30
In those days, those in the community who had been dispersed by the persecution that arose because of Stephen went as far as Pheonicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, making the message known to none but the Jews. However, some men of Cyprus and Cyrene among them who had come to Antioch began to talk even to the Greeks, announcing the good news of the Lord Jesus to them. The hand of the Lord was with them and a great number of them believed and were converted to the Lord. News of this eventually reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, resulting in the sending of Barnabas to Antioch. On his arrival he rejoiced to see the evidence of the Lord, since he himself was a good man filled with the Holy Spirit and faith. Thereby large numbers were added to the Lord. Then Barnabas went off to Tarsus to look for Saul; once he had found him, he brought him back to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and instructed great numbers. It was in Antioch that the disciples were called Christians for the first.
At about that time, certain prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them named Agabus was inspired to stand up and proclaim that there was going to be a severe famine all over the world. (It did in fact occur while Claudius was emperor.) This made the disciples determined to set something aside, each according to his means, and send it to the relief of the brothers who lived in Judea. They did this, dispatching it to the presbyters in the care of Barnabas and Saul.
John 4: 5-42
At that time, Jesus had to pass through Samaria, and his journey brought him to a Samaritan town named Shechem near the plot of land which Jacob had given to his son Joseph. This was the site of Jacob’s well. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down at the well.
The hour was about noon. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” His disciples had gone off to the town to buy provisions. The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew. How can you ask me, a Samaritan and a woman, for a drink?” Recall that Jews have nothing to do with Samaritans. Jesus replied: “If only you recognized God’s gift, and who it is that is asking you for a drink, you would have asked him instead, and he would have given you living water.”
“Sir,” she challenged him, “you do not have a bucket and this well is deep. Where do you expect to get this flowing water? Surely you do not pretend to be greater than our ancestor Jacob who gave us this well and drank from it with his sons and his flocks?” Jesus replied: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water I give him will never be thirsty; no, the water I give shall become a fountain within him, leaping up to provide eternal life.”
The woman said to him, “Give me this water, sir, so that I shall not grow thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
He said to her, “Go, call your husband, and then come back here.” “ I have no husband,” replied the woman. “You are right in saying you have no husband!” Jesus exclaimed. “The fact is, that you have had five, and the man you’re living with now is not your husband. What you said is true.“
“Sir,” answered the woman, “I see you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you people claim that Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship God.” Jesus told her: “Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not understand, well we understand what we worship; after all, salvation is from the Jews. Yet an hour is coming, and is already here, when authentic worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth. Indeed, it is just such worshipers the Father seeks. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.”
The woman said to him: “I know there is a Messiah coming. (This term means Anointed.) “When he comes, he will tell us everything.” Jesus replied, “I who speak to you am he.”
His disciples, returning at this point, were surprised that Jesus was speaking with a woman. No one put a question, however, such as “What do you want of him?” Or “Why are you talking to her?” The woman then left her water jar and went off into the town. She said to the people: “Come and see someone who told me everything I ever did! Could this not be the Messiah?” And this they set out from the town to meet him.
Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he told them: “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” At this the disciple said to one another, “Do you suppose that someone has brought him something to eat?” Jesus explained to them: “Doing the will of him who sent me and bringing his work to completion is my food. Do you not have a saying: ‘Four months more and it will be harvest!’? Listen to what I say: Open your eyes and see! The fields are shining for harvest! The reaper already collects his wages and gathers a yield for eternal life, that sower and reaper may rejoice together. Here we have the saying verified: ‘One man sows; another reaps.’ I sent you to reap what you had not worked for. Others have done the labor, and you have come into their gain.”
Many Samaritans from that town believed him on the strength of the woman’s testimony: “He told me everything I ever did.” The result was that when the Samaritans came to him, they begged him to stay with them a while. So he stayed there two days, and through his own spoken word many more came to faith. As they told the woman: “No longer does our faith depend on your story. We have heard for ourselves, and we know that this really is the Savior of the world.”
Icon courtesy of Jack Figel, Eastern Christian Publications – ecpubs.com
Saturday, May 2 –
