Genesis 5:32-6:8
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
32 After Noah was five hundred years old, Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
The Wickedness of Mankind
6 When men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God[a] saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took to wife such of them as they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for he is flesh, but his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.
5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
Proverbs 6:20-7:1
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
20 My son, keep your father’s commandment,
and forsake not your mother’s teaching.
21 Bind them upon your heart always;
tie them about your neck.
22 When you walk, they[a] will lead you;
when you lie down, they[b] will watch over you;
and when you awake, they[c] will talk with you.
23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
24 to preserve you from the evil woman,
from the smooth tongue of the adventuress.
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes;
26 for a harlot may be hired for a loaf of bread,[d]
but an adulteress[e] stalks a man’s very life.
27 Can a man carry fire in his bosom
and his clothes not be burned?
28 Or can one walk upon hot coals
and his feet not be scorched?
29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
none who touches her will go unpunished.
30 Do not men despise[f] a thief if he steals
to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry?
31 And if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold;
he will give all the goods of his house.
32 He who commits adultery has no sense;
he who does it destroys himself.
33 Wounds and dishonor will he get,
and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
34 For jealousy makes a man furious,
and he will not spare when he takes revenge.
35 He will accept no compensation,
nor be appeased though you multiply gifts.
The False Attractions of Adultery
7 My son, keep my words
and treasure up my commandments with you;
26 Our holy father Porphyry, Bishop of Gaza in Palestine. Born in Thessalonica, he spent five years as a hermit in Skete and as many across the Jordan, where he was notable for his kindness toward the poor. Afterwards ordained a bishop, he overturned many temples of idols and was afflicted with troubles by their attendants for a long time, until, worthy of respect, he rested in peace with the saints. (421)
The holy great martyr, Photina the Samaritan. (cf. John 4).
Friday, February 26 –
