The holy martyr Aquilina was twelve years old when she was brutally martyred under the emperor Trajan in the late third century. After converting one of her pagan friends to Christianity, she was arrested and tortured. Believing Aquilina dead after her tortures, her captors left her body outside the city to be eaten by wild beasts. However the saint was still alive, and during the night an angel came to her and healed her. She returned to denounce the pagan governor. She was taken into prison again, denounced as a sorceress, and ordered to be executed by beheading. St. Aquilina was taken by the Lord before her execution, but the executioner, fearing for his own safety, beheaded the body of the saint even though she was dead. Her relics were later taken to Constantinople and placed in a church named for her.
Our holy father Triphyllus, Bishop of Leucosia in Cyprus, ardently defended the orthodox Nicene faith. He was the most eloquent speaker of his time, and a marvelous commentator in the Song of Songs, as St. Jerome relates.
O Jesus, your lamb Aquilina cries out to You with great love: O my Bridegroom, I long for You in great pain. I am crucified with You, and in baptism I am buried with You. I suffer for your sake in order to reign with You. I die for You in order to live with You. Accept me as an immaculate victim since I am immolated for your love. Through her intercession, O merciful One, save our souls.
The sincerity of your deeds has revealed you to your people as a teacher of moderation, a model of faith, and as an example of virtue. Therefore, you attained greatness through humility, and wealth through poverty. O father and archbishop Triphyllus, ask Christ our God to save our souls.
Purifying your soul by the balm of virginity, you soared to heaven in a flight of martyrdom. You languished with love of Christ, O precious saint, and now you can stand before Him, O Aquilina. Join the angels in unceasing prayer for us on earth.
You perfected virginal chastity in a wonderful life, and you proved yourself a bishop of Leucosia. You became a prophet and a guide for those seeking God, O Triphyllus. For this reason we bless you in song, O glory of pastors.
Romans 11: 13-24
Brothers and sisters: I say this now to you Gentiles: Inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I glory in my ministry, trying to rouse my fellow Jews to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection has meant reconciliation for the world, what will their acceptance mean? Nothing less than life from the dead! If the first fruits are consecrated, so too is the whole mass of dough, and if the root is consecrated, so too are the branches. If some of the branches were cut off and you, a branch of the wild olive tree, have been grafted in among the others and have come to share in the rich root of the olive, do not boast against the branches. If you do boast, remember that you do not support the root; the root supports you. You will say, “Branches were cut off that I might be grafted in.” Well and good. They were cut off because of unbelief and you are there because of faith. Do not be haughty on that account, but fearful. If God did not spare the natural branches, he will certainly not spare you.
Consider the kindness and the severity of God – severity toward those who fell, kindness toward you, provided you remain in his kindness; if you do not, you too will be cut off. And if the Jews do not remain in their unbelief they will be grafted back on, for God is able to do this. If you were cut off from the natural wild olive and, contrary to nature, were grafted into the cultivated olive, so much the more will they who belong to it by nature be grafted into their own olive tree.
Matthew 11: 27-30
The Lord said to his disciples: “Everything has been given over to me by my Father. No one knows the Father but the Son–and anyone to whom the Son wishes 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.”
Icon courtesy of Jack Figel, Eastern Christian Publications – ecpubs.com
Wednesday, June 12 –
