At the age of 18, our venerable father Martinian retreated to a mountain in Cappadocia called the Place of the Ark, where he lived for 25 years in fasting, vigil and prayer, struggling with many temptations. When a woman came to tempt him, Martinian, perceiving that he would succumb to sin with her, jumped into the fire barefoot and remained in the fire until the pain brought tears to his eyes and subdued all lust within himself. When another temptation erupted, Martinian fled to an isolated rock in the sea and lived there. Following a shipwreck, a young woman swam to this rock. Martinian jumped into the sea to avoid any further temptation, but a dolphin rescued him in its back and by God’s providence brought him back to shore. Martinian then decided to never make any place his permanent home but to continually travel. In two years, he passed through 164 towns, correcting and counseling the people. He finally reached Athens, where he reposed in the year 422.
O blessed Martinian, you appeased the flames of passion with streams of tears; you calmed the waves of the sea and stopped the assault of the wild beasts. You cried out: Glorified are You, O almighty God. You saved me from fire and storm.
Let us praise with hymns the ever-blessed Martinian who trod on the serpent, the pious and experienced ascetic, the earnest defender of truth, and the courageous dweller in the desert.
Genesis 1: 14-23
The God said: Let there be lights in the dome of the sky, to separate the day from night. Let them mark the seasons, the days, and the years, and serve as lights in the dome of the sky, to illuminate the earth. And so it happened: God made two great lights, the greater to govern the day, the lesser one to govern the night, and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky, to illuminate the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from darkness. God saw that it was good. Evening came, and morning followed– the fourth day.
Then God said: Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures, and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky. God created the great sea monsters and all kinds of crawling living creatures with which the water teems, and all kinds of winged birds. God saw that it was good, and God blessed them, saying: Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas; and let the birds multiply on the earth. Evening came, and morning followed– the fifth day.
Proverbs 1: 20-33
Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the open squares she raises her voice;
Down the crowded ways she calls out, at the city gates she utters her words:
“How long, you naïve ones, will you love naivete,
How long will you turn away at my reproof? [The arrogant delight in their arrogance, and fools hate knowledge.] Lo! I will pour out to you my spirit, I will acquaint you with my words:
‘Because I called and you refused, extended my hand and no one took notice;
Because you disdained all my counsel, and my reproof you ignored–
I, in my turn, will laugh at your doom; will mock when terror overtakes you;
When terror comes upon you like a storm, and you doom approaches like a whirlwind; when distress and anguish befall you.’
Then they will call me, but I will not answer; they will seek me, but will not find me,
Because they hated knowledge, and the fear of the Lord they did not choose.
They ignored my counsel, they spurned all my reproof;
Well, then, they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and with their own devices be glutted.
For the straying of the naïve kills them, the smugness of fools destroys them.
But whoever obeys me dwells in security, in peace, without fear of harm.”
Icon courtesy of Jack Figel, Eastern Christian Publications – ecpubs.com
Monday, February 12 –
