Our venerable father Parthenius was the son of a deacon from the town of Melitopolis. As a child he remembered well the words of the Gospel and endeavored to fulfill them. He settled near a lake, where he fished. Then he sold the fish and distributed the money to the poor. By God’s providence he was chosen as bishop of Lampsacus. He cleansed the town of paganism, closed the idolatrous temples, built many churches and strengthened believers in the faith. Through prayer he healed every manner of illness and was particularly powerful over evil spirits. On one occasion when he wanted to cast out an evil spirit from an insane man, the evil spirit begged him not to do so. Parthenius said to him: “I will give you another man whom you can enter, and then him you can dwell.” The evil spirit asked him: “Who is this man?” “I am that man,” replied the saint. “Enter and dwell in me.” Upon hearing this, the evil spirit fled as though burned by fire, crying out: “How can I enter into the house of God?” St. Parthenius lived a long time and through his work manifested an abundant love for God and man. Pathenius entered into eternal rest of Christ in the fourth century.
God of our fathers, You always deal with us in Your kindness. Take not Your mercy away from us; but through your prayers guide our life in peace.
O God-wise Parthenius, you have received the grace of miracles. O God-bearing father, you have dispelled all the passions of the faithful, and you have cast out the evil spirits. Therefore, we praise you, the perfect contemplator of divine truths.
2 Peter 1: 1-10
Simeon Peter, servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have been given a faith like ours in the justifying power of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: may grace be yours and peace in abundance through your knowledge of God and of Jesus, our Lord.
That divine power of his has freely bestowed on us everything necessary for a life of genuine piety, through knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and power. By virtue of them he has bestowed on us the great and precious things he promised, so that through these you who fled a world corrupted by lust might become sharers of the divine nature. This is reason enough for you to make every effort to undergird your virtue with faith, your discernment with virtue, and your self-control with discernment; this self-control, in turn, should lead to perseverance, and perseverance to piety, and piety to care for your brother, and care for your brother, to love.
Qualities like these, made increasingly your own, are by no means ineffectual; they bear fruit in true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Any man who lacks these qualities is short-sighted to the point of blindness. He forgets the cleansing of his long-past sins. Be solicitous to make your call and election permanent, brothers and sisters; surely those who do so will never be lost.
Mark 13: 1-8
At that time as Jesus was making his way out of the temple area, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look at the huge blocks of stone and the enormous building!” Jesus said to him, “You see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another– all will be torn down.” While he was seated on the Mount of Olives facing the temple, Peter, James, and Andrew began to question him privately. “Tell us, when will this occur? What will be the sign that all this is coming to an end?”
Jesus began his discourse: “Be on your guard. Let no one mislead you. Any number will come attempting to impersonate me. ‘I am he,’ they will claim, and will lead many astray. When you hear about wars and threats of war, do not yield to panic. Such things are bound to happen, but this is not yet the end. Nation will rise against nation, one kingdom against another. There will be earthquakes in various places and there will be famine. This is but the onset of the pains of labor.”
Thursday, February 6 –
