Our venerable father Basil the Confessor was a monk and suffered during the reign of the iconoclast emperor Leo the Isaurian. When a persecution started against those who venerated holy icons, St. Basil and his companion St. Procopius of Decapolis were subjected to much torture and locked up in prison. Here both martyrs languished for a long while, until the death of the impious emperor. When the holy Confessors Basil and Procopius were set free along with other venerators of holy icons, they continued in their monastic struggles, instructing many in the Orthodox Faith and virtuous life.
You made the wilderness your dwelling, O father Basil, the bearer of God. You became an angel in the flesh and a wonderworker. Through fasts, vigils, and prayers, you obtained from God special graces to heal the sick and to sanctify the souls of those who come to you with trust. Glory to the One who gave you strength! Glory to the One who crowned you! Glory to the One who through your intercession grants healing to all!
Holy and wise father, when you received your calling from God, you left the troubles of this world and embraced the ascetic life. Most holy Basil, you received the graces of miracles and healing diseases.
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?
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
Friday, February 27 –
