Our venerable father John Cassian the Roman was born around 360, probably in Lesser Scythis. His pious Christian parents gave him an excellent classical education, and also instructed him in the Holy Scriptures and in the spiritual life. St. John entered a monastery in the diocese of Tomis, where his friend and relative St. Germanus labored as an ascetic. In 380, desiring to venerate the Holy Places, St. John went to Jerusalem with his sister and St. Germanus. The two monks stayed at a Bethlehem monastery, not far from where the Savior was born. After five years at the monastery, Saints John and Germanus traveled through the Theibad and the desert monasteries of Sketis for seven years. Because of the disturbances caused by Archbishop Theophilus of Alexandria to the monasteries along the Nile, they decided to go to Constantinople, after hearing of the virtue and holiness of St. John Chrysostom. When Chrysostom was exiled from Constantinople in 404, Saints John and Germanus went to Rome to plead his case before Innocent 1. Cassian was ordained to the holy priesthood in Rome, or perhaps later in Gaul. After Chrysostom’s death in 407, St. John Cassian went to Massilia in Gaul (modern Marseilles, France). There he established two cenobitic monasteries in 415, one for men and another for women, based on the model of Eastern monasticism.
Troparion
In you, O holy father Cassian, the faithful image of God shone forth, for you carried your cross and followed Christ. You taught by your deeds how to spurn the body, for it passes away; and how to value the soul, for it is immortal. Therefore, your soul is forever in happiness with the angels.
Kontakion
Being a pious man, you relied on God. Illumined with good teachings, you let us share the light. We venerate you and ask you to implore Christ for all of us.
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.
Thursday, February 29 –
