Mar. 10 The Holy Martyrs Codratus and Companions

During the time of the persecutions of Christians, many of the faithful fled to the mountains and into the caves. So did the mother of Quadratus(or Codratus). She gave birth to him in the forest, but died shortly thereafter. By the Providence of God the infant Quadratus remained alive and was nourished in a miraculous manner: a cloud appeared over him, dropping sweet dew into his mouth. The childhood and youth of the saint was spent in the wilderness. When he was a young man, he chanced upon some Christians who enlightened him with the light of the true faith. Quadratus studied medicine and healed the sick with natural cures and more often, with the spiritual power of prayer, which had been with him since childhood. When a new persecution arose under Decius, Quadratis was brought to trial and cast into prison. Five companions joined him and confessed in the name of Christ. They were Cyprian, Dionysius, Anectus, Paul, and Cresens. They were tortured, but all stood firmly for the Faith. The martyrs were ordered to be thrown to the wild beasts to be torn apart. But the beasts would not touch them. Then the saints were tied behind chariots and dragged through the streets of the city. Finally, they were beheaded by sword. A spring of water gushed out of the ground at that spot, which is called “Quadratus” even today and is a reminder of the heroic deaths of these six holy innocents of Christ. They honorably suffered for the truth in the year 250, in Corinth.

 

Troparion

O Lord our God, your holy martyrs have deserved the crown of immortality on account of their good fight. Armed with your strength, they have vanquished their persecutors and crushed Satan’s dreadful might. Through their supplications, O Christ our God, save our souls.

 

Kontakion

By enduring violence you slew the proud enemy as you and your companions felt the pains of the sword. We celebrate your memory, holy Codratus, and we sing: All you unconquerable martyrs, remember us to the Lord. 

 

Genesis 8: 4-21

In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. The waters continued to diminish until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains appeared.

At the end of forty days, Noah opened the hatch of the ark that he had made, and he released a raven. It flew back and forth until the waters dried off from the earth. Then he released a dove, to see if the waters had lessened on the earth. But the dove could find no place to perch, and it returned to him in the ark, for there was water over all the earth. Putting out his hand, he caught the dove and drew it back to him inside the ark. He waited yet seven days more and again released the dove from the ark. In the evening the dove came back to him, and there in its bill was a plucked-off olive leaf! So Noah knew that the waters had diminished on the earth. He waited yet another seven days and then released the dove; but this time it did not come back.

In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water began to dry up on the earth. Noah then removed the covering of the ark and saw that the surface of the ground had dried. In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. 

Then God said to Noah: Go out of the ark, together with your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives. Bring out with you every living thing that is with you– all creatures, be they birds or animals or crawling things on the earth– and let them abound on the earth, and be fertile and multiply on it. So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives; and all the animals, all the birds, and all the crawling creatures that crawl on the earth went out of the ark by families.

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and choosing every clean animal and every clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar. When the Lord smelled the sweet odor, the Lord said to himself: Never again will I curse the ground because of the human beings, since the desires of the human heart are evil from youth; nor will I ever again strike down every living being, as I have done. 

 

Proverbs 10:31 – 11:12

The mouth of the just yields wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off. 

The lips of the just know favor, but the mouth of the wicked, perversion.

False scales are an abomination to the Lord, but an honest weight, his delight. 

When pride comes, disgrace comes; but with the humble is wisdom. 

The honesty of the upright guides them; the faithless are ruined by their duplicity.

Wealth is useless on a day of wrath, but justice saves from death. 

The justice of the honest makes their way straight, but by their wickedness the wicked will fall.

The justice of the upright saves them, but the faithless are caught in their own intrigue. 

When a person dies, hope is destroyed; expectation pinned on wealth is destroyed.

The just are rescued from a tight spot, but the wicked fall into it instead.

By a word the impious ruin their neighbors, but through their knowledge the just are rescued. 

When the just prosper, the city rejoices; when the wicked perish, there is jubilation. 

Through the blessings of the upright the city is exalted, but through the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown. 

Whoever reviles a neighbor lacks sense, but the intelligent keep silent. 

 

Icon courtesy of Jack Figel, Eastern Christian Publications – ecpubs.com

 

March 9 The Forty Holy Martyrs of Sebaste

The forty holy martyrs, martyred at Sebaste in Armenia on a frozen lake. They were comrades , not in blood, but in faith and obedience to the will of their heavenly Father. At the time of the emperor Licinius, after binding and savage tortures, the martyrs were ordered to pass the night naked at the coldest time of winter in a swamp in the open air. They consummated their martyrdom by the breaking of their legs at crucifixion. The forty martyrs are: Cyrion(or Quirio), Candidus, Domnus, Hesychius, Heraclius, Smaragdus, Eunocius(or Eunicus), Valens, Vivianus, Claudius, Priscus, Theodulus, Eutychius, John, Xanthius, Helianus, Sisinius, Aggais, Aetius, Flavius, Acacius, Ecdicius, Lysimachus, Alexander, Elias, Gorgonius, Theophilus, Dometian, Gaius, Leontuis, Athanasius, Cyril, Sacerdon, Nicholas, Valerius, Philoctimon, Severian, Chudion, Aglaius, and Meliton. 

 

Troparion

O forty soldiers of Christ and honorable martyrs, you went through fire and water, O mighty warriors, and have come to live with the angels. Join them in praying to Christ for those who praise you. Glory to Him who strengthened you! Glory to Him who crowned you! Glory to Him who heals us through you!

 

Kontakion

You left the crowds of this world and joined the Master in heaven, O forty martyrs. Passing through fire and water, you reaped glory and honor in heaven, O blessed saints. 

 

Readings for the Saints

Epistle 

Hebrews 12: 1-10

Brothers and sisters: Since we for our part are surrounded by this cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every encumbrance of sin which clings to us and persevere in running the race which lies ahead; let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who inspires and perfects our faith. For the sake of the joy which lay before him he endured the cross, heedless of its shame. He has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God. Remember how he endures the opposition of sinners; hence do not grow despondent or abandon the struggle. In your fight against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood. Moreover, you have forgotten the encouraging words addressed to you as sons: “My sons, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord nor lose heart when he reproves you; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he receives.” Endure your trials as the disciples of God, who deals with you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you do not know the discipline of sons, you are not sons but bastards. If we respected our earthly fathers who corrected us, should we not all the more submit to the Father of spirits, and live? They disciplined us as seemed right to them, to prepare us for the short span of mortal life; but God does so for our true profit, that we may share his holiness.

 

Gospel

Matthew 20: 1-16

The Lord told this parable: “The reign of God is like the case of the owner of an estate who went out at dawn to hire the workman for his vineyard. After reaching an agreement with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them out to his vineyard. He came out about midmorning and saw other men standing around the marketplace without work, so he said to them, ‘You too go along to my vineyard and I will pay you whatever is fair.’ At that they went away. He came out again around noon and did the same. Finally, going out in late afternoon he found others standing around. To these he said, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’ ‘No one has hired us,’ they told him. He said, ‘You go to the vineyard too.’

When evening came the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workmen and give them their pay, but  begin with the last group and end with the first.’ When those hired late in the afternoon came up they received a full day’s pay, and when the first group appeared they supposed they would get more; yet they received that same daily wage. Thereupon they complained to the owner, ‘This last group did only an hour’s work, but you have put them on the same basis as us who have worked a full day in the scorching heat.’ ‘My friend,’ he said to one in reply, ‘I do you no injustice. You agreed on the usual wage, did you not? Take your pay and go home. I intend to give this man who was hired last the same pay as you. I am free to do as I please with my money, am I not? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ Thus the last shall be first and the first shall be last. 

 

Readings for the day

Genesis 7:11 – 8:4

In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month: on that day

All the fountains of the great abyss burst forth

And the floodgates of the sky were opened.

For forty days and forty nights heavy rain poured down on the earth. 

On the very same day, Noah and his sons Shem, Ham, and Japeth, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of Noah’s sons had entered the ark, together with every kind of wild animal, every kind of tame animal, every kind of crawling thing that crawls on the earth, and every kind of bird. Pairs of all creatures in which there was the breath of life came to Noah into the ark. Those that entered were male and female; of all creatures they came, as God commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in. 

The flood continued upon the earth for forty days. As the waters increased, they lifted the ark, so that it rose above the earth. The waters swelled and increased greatly on the earth, but the ark floated on the surface of the waters. Higher and higher on the earth the waters swelled, until all the highest mountains under heaven were submerged. The waters swelled fifteen cubits higher than the submerged mountains. All creatures that moved on earth perished: birds, tame animals, wild animals, and all that teemed on the earth, as well as all humankind/ Everything on dry land with the breath of life in its nostrils died. The Lord wiped out every being on earth: human beings and animals, the crawling things and the birds of the air; all were wiped out from the earth. Only Noah and those with him in the ark were left. 

And when the water had swelled on the earth for one hundred and fifty days, God remembered Noah and all the animals, wild and tame, that were with him in the ark. So god made a wind sweep over the earth, and the waters began to subside. The fountains of the abyss and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the downpour from the sky was held back. Gradually the waters receded from the earth. At the end of one hundred and fifty days, the waters had so diminished that, in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 

 

Proverbs 10: 1-22

The Proverbs of Solomon: A wise son gives his father joy, but a foolish son is a grief to his mother. 

Ill-gotten treasures profit nothing, but justice saves from death.

The Lord does not let the just go hungry, but the craving of the wicked he thwarts. 

The slack hand impoverishes, but the busy hand brings riches.

A son who gathers in summer is a credit; a son who slumbers during harvest, a disgrace.

Blessings are for the head of the just; but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

The memory of the just serves as blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot. 

A wise heart accepts commands, but a babbling fool will be overthrown.

Whoever walks honestly walks securely, but one whose ways are crooked will fare badly. 

One who winks at a fault causes trouble, but one who frankly reproves promotes peace.

The mouth of the just is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. 

Hatred stirs up disputes, but love covers all offenses. 

On the lips of the intelligent is found wisdom, but a rod for the back of one without sense. 

The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool is imminent ruin.

The wealth of the rich is their strong city; the ruin of the poor is their poverty. 

The labor of the just leads to life, the gains of the wicked, to futility.

Whoever follows instruction is in the path to life, but whoever disregards reproof goes astray. Whoever conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool. 

Where words are many, sin is not wanting; but those who restrain their lips do well. 

Choice silver is the tongue of the just; the heart of the wicked is of little worth. 

The lips of the just nourish many, but the fools die for want of sense. 

It is the Lord’s blessing that brings wealth, and no effort can substitute for it.  

 

Icon courtesy of Jack Figel, Eastern Christian Publications – ecpubs.com

 

March 8 Our Venerable Father and Confessor Theophylactus, Bishop of Nicomedia

Our venerable father Theophylactus, along with St. Michael (Bishop of Synada) lived an ascetic life at a monastery on the coast of the Black Sea. The zealous ascetics were granted the gift of wonderworking by their God-pleasing labors and intense prayers. During a drought, when the field workers were weakened by thirst, the saints prayed and an empty vessel became filled with enough water to last the entire day. After several years at the monastery, they were both consecrated as bishops by the Patriarch Tarasius. St. Michael was made Bishop of Synada, and St. Theophylactus was made Bishop of Nicomedia. Heading the Church of Nicomedia, St. Theophylactus cared for the flock entrusted to him. He built churches, hospices, homes for wanderers, he generously distributed alms, was the guardian of orphans, and personally attended to those afflicted with leprosy. When the iconoclast Leo the Armenian came to the imperial throne, he reinstated iconoclast heresy despite the Seventh Ecumenical Council’s decision. St. Theophylactus opposed the emperor to his face and predicted a speedy death for the emperor. For his bold prophecy, the saint was removed from his see and sent into exile in Strobil. He languished there for thirty years until his death, which took place around the year 845.

 

Troparion

You tried to live a hidden life, O praiseworthy father, but Christ made you a lamp upon the light of thought. He handed you the tablets of spiritual knowledge. Enlighten us by them, O holy Theophylact.

Kontakion

You became a lamp for the whole world, O father, and by preaching that the Word had the nature common to the Father and the Spirit, you enlightened the Council of heavenly fathers. You became a defender of the Trinity. As you stand before them, pray unceasingly for all of us.

 

Genesis 7: 6-9

Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came upon the earth. Together with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, Noah went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. Of the clean animals and the unclean, of the birds, and of everything that crawls on on the ground, two by two, male and female came to Noah into the ark, just as God has commanded him.

 

Proverbs 9: 12-18

If you are wise, wisdom is to your advantage; if you are arrogant, you alone shall bear it.

Woman Folly is raucous, utterly foolish; she knows nothing.

She sits at the door of her house upon a seat on the city heights, 

Calling passersby as they go on their way straight ahead: 

“Let those who are naive turn in here, to those who lack sense I say. 

Stolen water is sweet, and bread taken secretly is pleasing!”

Little do they know that the shades are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol!

Icon courtesy of Jack Figel, Eastern Christian Publications – ecpubs.com

March 7 The Holy Martyrs and Bishops of Cherson

The Heiromartyrs Basil, Ephraim, Elpidius, Agathodorus, Aetherius, and Caption carried the Gospel of Christ into the North Black Sea region from the Danube to the Dniper, including Crimea. They were bishops of Cherson at different times during the fourth century, and they sealed their apostolic activity with martyrdom. Only Aetherius died in peace. Long before the Baptism of Rus under St. Vladimir, the Christian Faith spread into the Crimea, which in antiquity was called Tauridia, and was ruled by the Roman Emperor. The beginning of the enlightenment of Tauridia is attributed to the holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called. At the beginning of the fourth century a bishop’s See was established at Cherson. This was a critical period when Cherson served as a base for the Roman armies which constantly passed through the area. 

 

Troparion

O God of our ancestors, You always deal with us according to your everlasting compassion, take not your mercy away from us; but through the prayers of our ancestors, guide our lives along the ways of peace.

 

Kontakion

The day of splendor of those brilliant bishops of Cherson has come today. We are singing for the feast of those shepherds who died for the sheep of Christ. O princes of shepherds and martyred priests, beg Christ to put us with the sheep at his right hand so that we may sing out to you: Rejoice, O priestly fathers who poured out your blood for Christ.

 

Genesis 7: 1-5

Then the Lord said to Noah: Go in the ark, you and all your household, for you alone in this generation have I found to be righteous before me. Of every clean animal, take with you seven pairs, a male and its mate; and of unclean animals, one pair, a male and its mate; likewise, every bird of the air, seven pairs, a male and a female, to keep their progeny alive over all the earth. For seven days from now I will bring rain down on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and so I will wipe out from the face of the earth every being that I have made. Noah complied, just as the Lord had commanded. 

 

Proverbs 8:32 – 9:11

“Now, children, listen to me; happy are they who keep my ways.

Listen to instruction and grow wise, do not reject it!

Happy the one who listens to me, attending daily at my gates, keeping watch at my doorposts;

For whoever finds me finds life, and wins favor from the Lord;

But those who pass me by do violence to themselves; all who hate me love death.”

Wisdom has built her house, she has set up her seven columns;

She has prepared her meat, mixed her wine, yes, she has spread her table. 

She has sent out her maidservants; she calls from from the heights out over the city:

“Let whoever is naïve turn in here; to any who lack sense I say,

Come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed!

Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding.”

Whoever corrects the arrogant earns insults; and whoever reproves the wicked incurs opprobrium.

Do not reprove the arrogant, lest they hate you; reprove the wise, and they will love you.

Instruct the wise, and they become still wiser; teach the just, and they advance in learning.

The beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

For by me your days will be multiplied and the years of your life increased.

 

Icon courtesy of Jack Figel, Eastern Christian Publications – ecpubs.com

 

March 6 The Forty-Two Martyrs of Ammorium

During a ninth-century war between the Byzantine Emperor Theophilus and the Saracens, the Saracens managed to besiege the city of Ammoria. As a result of treason by the military commander Baditses, Ammoria fell and forty-two of its generals were taken captive and sent off to Syria. During the seven years of their imprisonment, their captors tried in vain to persuade them to renounce Christianity and accept Islam. The captives stubbornly resisted all their seductive offers and bravely held out against terrible threats. After many torments failed to break the spirit of the Christian soldiers, they condemned them to death, hoping to shake the determination of the saints before executing them. The martyrs remained steadfast. The executioners took each one separately and led him off to be beheaded, then threw the bodies into the River Euphrates. In the service of them, these holy passion-bearers are glorified as : the “All-Blessed” Theodore, the “Unconquered” Callistus, the “Valiant” Constantine, the “Wondrous” Theophilus, and “the Most Blessed” Basoes. Saint Aetius and Melissenus were also among the martyrs. 

 

Troparion

O Lord our God, your holy martyrs have deserved the crown of immortality on account of their good fight. Armed with your strength, they vanquished their persecutors and crushed Satan’s dreadful might. Through their supplications, O Christ our God, save our souls.

 

Kontakion

We bring crowns of glory to these newly appearing stars who manifested their faith by suffering for Christ. As real pillars and helpers of Christ’s reign, they pray to Him on behalf of all of us. 

 

Genesis 6: 9-22

These are the descendants of Noah. Noah was a righteous man and blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God. Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japeth.

But the earth was corrupt in the view of God and full of lawlessness. When God saw how corrupt the earth had become, since all mortals had corrupted their ways on earth, God said to Noah: I see that the end of all mortals has come, for the earth is full of lawlessness because of them. So I am going to destroy them with the earth.

Make yourself an ark of gopherwood, equip the ark with various compartments, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you shall build it: the length of the ark will be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. Make an opening for daylight and finish the ark a cubit above it. Put the ark’s entrance on its side; you will make it with bottom, second and third decks. I, on my part, am about to bring the flood waters on the earth, to destroy all creatures under the sky in which there is the breadth of life; everything on earth shall perish. I will establish my covenant with you. You shall go into the ark, you and your sons, your wife and your sons’ wives with you. Of all living creatures you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, one male, one female, to keep them alive along with you. Of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal, and of every kind of thing that crawls on the ground, two of each will come to you, that you may keep them alive. Moreover, you are to provide yourself with all the food that is to be eaten, and store it away, that it may serve as provisions for you and for them. Noah complied; he did just as God commanded him.

 

Proverbs 8: 1-21

Does not Wisdom call, and Understanding raise her voice?

On the top of the heights along the road, at the crossroads she takes her stand;

By the gates at the approached of the city, in the entryways she cries aloud:

“To you, O people, I call; my appeal is to you mortals.

You naive ones, gain prudence, you fools, gain sense.

Listen! For noble things I speak; my lips proclaim honest words. 

Indeed, my mouth utters truth, and my lips abhor wickedness.

All of them are straightforward to the intelligent, and right to those who attain knowledge.

Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold.

[For Wisdom is better than corals, and no treasure can compare with her.] 

I, Wisdom, dwell with prudence, and useful knowledge I have.

[The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil;] Pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse mouth I hate. 

Mine are counsel and advice; mine is strength; I am understanding. 

By me kings reign, and rulers enact justice;

By me princes govern, and nobles, all the judges of the earth. 

Those who love me I also love, and those who seek me find me. 

With me are riches and honor, wealth that endures, and righteousness. 

My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold, and my yield than choice silver.

On the way of righteousness I walk, along the paths of justice, 

Granting wealth to those who love me, and filling their treasuries.” 

 

Icon courtesy of Jack Figel, Eastern Christian Publications – ecpubs.com

 

March 5 The Holy Martyr Conon

The holy martyr Conon was brought up in the Christian Faith and baptized in the name of the All-holy and Life-giving Trinity by the Archangel Michael himself. Until his death, the archangel of God invisibly watched over him. Conon was illumined and empowered by the grace of the Holy Spirit, so that his heart was driven not by anything worldly but only by the spiritual and heavenly. When his parents forced him into marriage, the first evening he took a candle and placed it under a vessel and asked his bride: “Which is better, light or darkness?” She replied: “Light.” He began to talk to her about the Faith of Christ, and about the spiritual life as being far superior and more desirable than the physical. Afterward Conon converted his wife and her parents to the Christian Faith. Conon and his wife lived as brother and sister. Shortly thereafter, his wife and parents died, and he withdrew completely from this worldly life and devoted himself totally to prayer, fasting, and divine contemplation. He performed great miracles, through which he converted many to Christianity. He even compelled evil spirits to serve him. During a time of persecution, Conon was captured, tortured, and pierced throughout with knives. The sick anointed themselves with his blood, and they were healed. Afterward he lived for two more years in his town of Isauria. Conon lived and was martyred in the second century.

 

Troparion

With our hymn, let us praise Conon as a hard worker and a great martyr. He is a blessed sufferer who received authority over devils, so let us cry out to him: Beg Christ to save our souls.

 

Kontakion

Having lived an angelic life on earth in your purity, you were admitted to their company in heaven. You brought your parents to a knowledge of Christ and shed your blood to profess the one God in the Trinity. Pray unceasingly for all of us, O martyr Conon. 

 

Epistle

Hebrews 1:10 – 2:3

Brothers and sisters: (Scripture says:) “Lord, of old you established the earth and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; all of them will grow old like a garment. You will roll them up like a cloak, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same and your years will have no end.”

To which of the angels has God ever said, “ Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool”? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to serve those who are to inherit salvation?

In view of this, we must attend all the more to what we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels stood unchanged, and all transgressions and disobedience received its due punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore a salvation as great as ours? Announced first by the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who had heard him. 

 

Gospel

Mark 2: 1-12

At that time Jesus came back to Cappernaum after a lapse of several days and word got around that he was at home. At that the people began to gather in great numbers. There was no longer any room for them, even around the door. While Jesus was delivering God’s word to them, some people arrived bringing a paralyzed man to him. The four who carried him were unable to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they began to open up the roof over the spot where Jesus was. When they had made a hole, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “My Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves”: “Why does the man talk that way? He commits blasphemy! Who can forgive sins except God alone?’ Jesus was immediately aware of their reasoning, though they kept it to themselves, and he said to them: “Why do you harbor these thoughts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk again’? That you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (he said to the paralyzed man), “I command you: Stand up! Pick-up your mat and go home.” The man stood and picked up his mat and went outside in the sight of everyone. They were awestruck; all gave praise to God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

 

Icon courtesy of Jack Figel, Eastern Christian Publications – ecpubs.com

 

Sunday Bulletin 3/5/23

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

Saturday, March 4  –  2nd All Souls Saturday        

5:00 PM          Santa Paula Outreach Divine Liturgy

6:30 PM          Reader Vespers

Sunday, March 5  –  2nd Sunday of the Great Fast    

8:30 AM     Matins

9:30 AM          Divine Liturgy

Monday, March 6  –  42 Martyrs of Ammorium          

8:30 AM          Morning Prayer

4:00 PM          Evening Prayer

5:30 PM          Akathist* for those suffering Addictions & Mental Illness

Wednesday, March 8  –  Theophylact, Bishop-Confessor     

8:30 AM          Morning Prayer

9:30 AM          Photina Prayer & Trash Pick-up

6:30 PM          Presanctified Divine Liturgy

7:45 PM          Firepit Social

Friday, March 10  –  Codratus and Others, Martyrs       

6:15 PM          Santa Paula Outreach Presanctified Liturgy

Saturday, March 11 – 3rd All Souls Saturday       

8:30 AM          Divine Liturgy & Panachida 

5:00 PM          Santa Paula Outreach Divine Liturgy

Sunday, March 12  –  3rd Sunday of the Great Fast        

8:30 AM          Matins

9:30 AM          Divine Liturgy 

*Add first names to this prayer service by emailing niemirick@gmail.com

MYSTERY OF REPENTANCE (Confession)

St. Mary’s: Sundays 8:45 AM or by appointment

Santa Paula: Saturdays 4:15 PM or by appointment

PRAYER REQUESTS

(Please resubmit or submit names to admin@ByzantineLA.com)

The Carlin Family, Michael Hefferon, Shirley Kunze, Michael Mina, Peter Mina, Fr, John Mina, Mila Mina, Lana Zimmerman, Patrick Zimmerman, Shannon O’Neill, Fern Bonowicz, All the sick and suffering of St. Mary’s

WEEKLY DEPOSIT:

Collection: $1,309.00; Online: $500.00; Santa Paula: $560.00; Candles: $73.50; Property Rental: $800.00

Total: $3,242.50 / Attendance – PSM: 62  

 

Happy 90th Birthday Pat O’Neill!!! May God grant you many happy and blessed years!

 

The Search for Sacred Quietude

Today our Byzantine Churches commemorate Gregory Palamas, the 14th century monk and theologian that championed the Jesus Prayer and many other aspects of our Byzantine spirituality. You can read all about him and his spirituality at https://melkite.org/faith/the-search-for-sacred-quietude.  Here is a quick explanation of his teaching on God’s Essence and Energies:  

  1. The light which shone at Tabor, during the Transfiguration of the Savior, is declared to be neither a creature nor the essence of God, but His energy: the uncreated and natural grace springing eternally from the divine essence itself;
  2. There are in God two inseparable things: His essence and the natural and substantial energies flowing from His essence in line with the relationship of cause and effect. We cannot enter into His essence but we can participate in His energies. Both the one and the other are uncreated and eternal;
  3. This real distinction between essence and energies or operations does not destroy the simplicity of God…;
  4. The word θεότης (godly) does not apply solely to the divine essence, but is said also of its operation…;
  5. The light of Tabor is the ineffable and eternal glory of the Son of God, the kingdom of heaven promised to the saints, the splendor in which He shall appear on the last day to judge all mankind.

“Arise, take up your mat and go to your house.” Our Lord healed the paralysis of the suffering man brought through the roof. His words of healing centered on spiritual healing by forgiving his sins. In response to God’s love and forgiveness, are you being called to a life of prayer and intercession as a religious, monastic, or a priestly life? Contact the Vocations Office at 206-329-9219 or email: vocations@ephx.org

 

The February 2023 edition of GCU magazine is available in the back of the church

March 4 Our Venerable Father Gerasimus of the Jordan

Our venerable father Gerasimus first learned about the ascetic life while he was in the Egyptian Thebaid. He went to the Jordan and founded a community in which there were seventy monks. He instituted a special rule in his monastery: each monk spent five days a week in their cell weaving baskets and rush mats. They were never allowed to light a fire in their cells. Five days a week they ate only a little dry bread and a few dates. The monks were required to keep their cells open so that, when they went out, anyone could enter and take whatever they needed. On Saturdays and Sundays they gathered in the monastery church. They had a common meal with a few vegetables and a little wine. Each monk would then bring in and place at the feet of the abbot that which he made during the past five days. St. Gerasimus set the example to all. During Great Lent he did not eat anything except what he received in Holy Communion. Gerasimus attended the Fourth Ecumenical Council in 451. Although at the beginning he leaned toward the Monophysite heresy of Eutyches and Dioscorus, he was a great defender and champion of Orthodoxy at the Council.

 

Troparion

Living a life angelic in fasting and powerful in prayer, a life unwavering in trials, unceasing in vigil, and temperate in all things, you astonished the angels and vanquished the legions of devils, O father Gerasimus. You gladden the hearts of the faithful, O blessed saint. The beasts were obedient to you for all of this. Since you have achieved a place of honor before the Lord, pray for the salvation of our souls.

 

Kontakion

Inflamed with an exalted ideal, you preferred Jordan severity to worldly delights. Until the day you died, the wild animals listened to you; and they died of sorrow upon your grave, O father. Truly they praised you before God. Pray to Him, O father Gerasimus, and keep us in your holy memory. 

 

Epistle

Hebrews 3: 12-16

Brothers and sisters, take care lest any of you have an evil and unfaithful spirit and fall away from the living God. Encourage one another daily while it is still “today,” so that no one grows hardened by the deceit of sin. We have become partners of Christ only if we maintain to the end that confidence with which we began. When Scripture says, “Today, if you should hear his voice, harden not your hearts as at the revolt,” who were those who revolted when they heard that voice? Was it not all whom Moses had led out of Egypt?

 

Gospel

Mark 1: 35-44

At that time Jesus went off to a lonely place in the desert; there he was absorbed in prayer. Simon and his companions managed to track him down, and when they found him, they told him, “Everybody is looking for you!” Jesus said to them: “Let us move on to the neighboring villages so that I may proclaim the good news there also. That is what I have come to do.” So he went into their synagogues preaching the good news and expelling demons throughout the whole of Galilee.

A leper approached Jesus with a request, kneeling down as he addressed him, “If you will do so, you can cure me.” Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said: “I do will it. Be cured.” The leprosy left him then and there, and he was cured. Jesus gave him a stern warning and sent him on his way. “Not a word to anyone, now,” he said. “Go off and present yourself to the priest and offer for your cure what Moses prescribed. That should be a proof for them.” The man went off and began to proclaim the whole matter freely, making the story public. As a result of this, it was no longer possible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He stayed in desert places; yet people kept coming to him from all sides.

 

Icon courtesy of Jack Figel, Eastern Christian Publications – ecpubs.com

 

March 3 The Holy Martyr Eutropius and his Companions

The Holy martyrs Eutropius, Cleonicus and Basiliscus suffered in the city of Pontine Amasea (Asia Minor) in about the year 308. The brothers Eutropius and Cleonicus, and Basiliscus the nephew of the Great Martyr Theodore the Recruit, were comrades. After the martyric death of St. Theodore, they wound up in prison and by their preaching brought many of the pagans in prison with them to the Christian Faith. Saints Eutropius, Cleonicus, and Basiliscus were brought before the governor Asclepiodotus, they firmly confessed their faith in Christ before him. They were mercilessly beaten, so that their bodies were entirely bruised. On the morning of March 3, Saints Eutropius and Cleonicus were crucified, but Basiliscus was left in prison. St. Basiliscus was executed on May 22 in the city of Komana. They beheaded  him and threw his body into a river, but Christian followers found his relics and buried them in a plowed field. Later at Komana a church was built and dedicated to St. Basiliscus. 

 

Troparion

O Lord our God, your holy martyrs have deserved the crown of immortality on account of their good fight. Armed with your strength, they have vanquished their persecutors and crushed Satan’s dreadful might. Through their supplications, O Christ our God, save our souls. 

 

Kontakion

This trinity of martyrs confessed the Holy Trinity before many nations. Undergoing their suffering of martyrdom, they have been presented to the angels. Today we are honoring them, celebrating their sacred and life-saving memory.

 

Genesis 5:32 – 6:8

When Noah was five hundred years old, he begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

When human beings began to grow numerous on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw how beautiful the daughters of human beings were, and so they took for their wives whomever they pleased. Then the Lord said: My spirit shall not remain in human beings forever, because they are only flesh. Their days shall comprise one hundred and twenty years. 

The Nephilim appeared on earth in those days, as well as later, after the sons of God had intercourse with the daughters of human beings, who bore them sons. They were the heroes of old, the men renown. 

When the Lord saw how great the wickedness of human beings was on earth, and how every desire that their heart conceived was always nothing but evil, the Lord regretted making human beings on the earth, and his heart was grieved.

So the Lord said: I will wipe out from the earth the human beings I have created, and not only the human beings, but also the animals and the crawling things and the birds of the air, for I regret that I made them. But Noah found favor with the Lord. 

 

Proverbs 6:20 – 7:1

Observe, my son, your father’s command, and do not reject your mother’s teaching;

Keep them fastened over your heart always, tie them around your neck.

When you lie down they will watch over you, when you wake, they will share your concerns; wherever you turn, they will guide you.

For the command is a lamp, and the teaching a light, and a way to life are the reproofs that discipline, 

Keeping you from another’s wife, from the smooth tongue of a foreign woman. 

Do not lust in your heart after her beauty, do not let her captivate you with her glance!

For the price of a harlot may be scarcely a loaf of bread, but a married woman is a trap for your precious life.

Can a man take embers into his bosom, and his garments not be burned?

Or can a man walk in live coals, and his feet not be scorched?

So with him who sleeps with another’s wife– none who touches her shall go unpunished.

Thieves are not despised if out of hunger they steak to satisfy their appetite. 

Yet if caught they must pay back sevenfold, yield up all the wealth of their house.

But those who commit adultery have no sense; those who do it destroy themselves.

They will be beaten and disgraced, and their shame will not be wiped away;

For passion enraged the husband, he will have no pity on the day of vengeance;

He will not consider any restitution, nor be satisfied by your many bribes.

My son, keep my words, and treasure my commands.

 

Icon courtesy of Jack Figel, Eastern Christian Publications – ecpubs.com

 

March 2 The Holy Priest Martyr Theodotus, Bishop of Cyrene

The Hieromartyr Theodotus, a native of Galatia in Asia Minor, was bishop of Cyrenia in Cyprus. During a time of persecution against Christians under the impious emperor Licinius, St. Theodotus openly preached Christ, calling the pagans to abandon idolatry and turn to the true God. Sabinus, the governor of Cyprus, ordered Bishop Theodotus be arrested and brought to trial. The governor ordered that the saint be beaten without mercy, suspended from a tree, raked with sharp implements, and then be taken to prison. Five days later, St. Theodotus was brought to the governor, who presumed that after his tortures the bishop would prefer to renounce Christ, rather than endure new sufferings. Many witnessed the sufferings of the martyr. Astonished at the saint’s endurance and his divinely-inspired speech, they came to believe in Christ. Learning this, Sabinus gave orders to stop the torture and throw the saint in prison. During the reign of St. Constantine the Great, freedom to confess their faith was given to all Christians, and among those set free from prison was St. Theodotus. The saint returned to Cyrenia and after two years serving as bishop he peacefully fell asleep in the Lord in about the year 326. 

 

Troparion

O holy priest-martyr Theodotus, you lent yourself to the apostles’ way of life and succeeded them on their throne. Inspired by God, you found the way to contemplation through the practice of virtue. Therefore, you became a perfect teacher of truth, fighting for the faith unto the shedding of your blood. Intercede with Christ our God that He may save our souls.

 

Kontakion

You dried up the sea of false belief and smashed the guile of the vicious idolatry by the true faith. Having become a heavenly holocaust, you feed the whole world on miracles. O sanctifying father Theodotus, beg Christ our God to have mercy on us. 

 

Genesis 5: 1-24

This is the record of the descendants of Adam. When God created human beings, he made them in the likeness of God; he created them male and female. When they were created, he blessed them and named them mankind.

Adam  was one hundred and thirty years old when he begot a son in his likeness, after his image; and he named him Seth. Adam lived eight hundred years after he begot Seth, and he had other sons and daughters. The whole lifetime of Adam was nine hundred and thirty years; then he died. 

When Seth was one hundred and five years old, he begot Enosh. Seth lived eight hundred and seven years after he begot Enosh, and he had other sons and daughters. The whole lifetime of Seth was nine hundred and twelve years; then he died. 

When Enosh was ninety years old, he begot Kenan. Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years after he begot Kenan, and he had other sons and daughters. The whole lifetime of Enosh was nine hundred and five years; then he died. 

When Kenan was seventy years old, he begot Mahalalel. Kenan lived eight hundred and forty years after he begot Mahalalel, and he had other sons and daughters. The whole lifetime of Kenan was nine hundred and ten years; then he died. 

When Mahalalel was sixty-five years old, he begot Jared. Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years after he begot Jared, and he had other sons and daughters. The whole lifetime of Mahalalel was eight hundred and ninety-five years; then he died. 

When Jared was one hundred and sixty-two years old, he begot Enoch. Jared lived eight hundred years after he begot Enoch, and he had other sons and daughters. The whole lifetime of Jared was nine hundred and sixty-two years; then he died. 

When Enoch was sixty-five years old, he begot Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he begot Methuselah for three hundred years, and he had other sons and daughters. The whole lifetime of Enoch was three hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God, and he was no longer here, for God took him.

 

Proverbs 6: 3-19

So do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor’s power: Go, hurry, rouse your neighbor!

Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids;

Free yourself like a gazelle from the hunter, or like a bird from the hand of the fowler. 

Go to the ant, O sluggard, study her ways and learn wisdom;

For though she has no chief, no commander or ruler, 

She procures her food in the summer, stores up her provisions in the harvest. 

How long, O sluggard, will you lie there? When will you rise from your sleep?

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest–

Then poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like a brigand.

Scoundrels, villains, are they who deal in crooked talk. 

Shifty of eye, feet ever moving, pointing with fingers,

They have perversity in their hearts, always plotting evil, sowing discord.

Therefore their doom comes suddenly; in an instant they are crushed beyond cure. 

There are six things the Lord hates, yes seven are an abomination to him,

Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,

A heart that plots wicked schemes, feet that are quick to run to evil,

The false witness who utters lies, and the one who sows discord among kindred.

 

Icon courtesy of Jack Figel, Eastern Christian Publications – ecpubs.com