The holy great martyr Christine lived during the 3rd century. She was born into a rich family, and her father was governor of Tyre. By the age of 11 the girl was exceptionally beautiful, and many wanted to marry her. Christina’s father, however, envisioned that his daughter should become a pagan priestess. One time Christina was visited by an angel who instructed her in the true faith in Christ, the Savior of the world. The angel called her a bride of Christ and told her about her future suffering. After many methods of torment, the local governor Julian gave orders to throw her into a red-hot furnace and lock her in it. After five days they opened the furnace and found the martyr alive and unharmed. Seeing the miracle take place, many believed in Christ the Savior, and the torturers executed St. Christina with a sword.
The holy martyrs Boris and Gleb, baptized Roman and David, who were princes of Rus’ and sons of St. Vladimir the Great. They preferred to suffer death at the hands of their brother Svyatopolk than resist him through violence. Boris obtained the palm of martyrdom on the river Alta near Pereslavl and Gleb a short time later near Smolensk in the year 1015.
Righteous martyrs for the gospel and sharers in the passion, you did not oppose the violence of the enemy. Although your brother tried to kill your bodies, he still could not touch your souls. Let the evil lover of power groan unhappily. You are filled with joy among the angels standing before the Holy Trinity. Please pray for your homeland and its conversion and for the salvation of its people.
Today the memory of your suffering gleams, O noble martyrs; it compels us to praise Christ our God. Rushing to gather around your holy relics, we seek gifts of health by your prayers. You are heavenly healers, O holy ones.
Romans 8: 28-39
Brothers and sisters: We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who have called according to his decree. Those whom he foreknew he predestined to share in the image of his Son, that the Son might be the first-born of many brothers. Those he predestined he likewise called; those he called he also justified; and those he justified he in turn glorified. What shall we say after that? If God is for us, who can be against us? Is it possible that he who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for the sake of us all will not grant us all things besides? Who shall bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? God, who justifies? Who shall condemn them? Christ Jesus, who dies or rather was raised up, who is at the right hand of God and who intercedes for us?
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Trial, or distress, or persecution, or hunger, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword? As Scripture says: “For your sake we are being slain all the day long; we are looked upon as sheep to be slaughtered.” Yet in all this we are more than conquerors because of him who has loved us. For I am certain that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither present nor the future, nor powers, neither height nor depth nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
John 15:17- 16:2
The Lord said to his disciples: “The command I give you is this, that you love one another. If you find that the world hates you, know that it has hated me before you. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own; the reason it hated you is that you do not belong to the world. But I chose you out of the world. Remember what I told you: no slave is greater than his master. They will harry you as they harried me. They will respect your words as much as they respected mine. All this they will do to you because of my name, for they know nothing of him who sent me. If I had not come to them and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; now, however, their sin cannot be excused.
“To hate me is to hate my Father. Had I not performed such works among them as no one has ever done before, they would not be guilty of sin; bit as it is, they have seen, and they go on hating me and my Father. However, this only fulfills the text in their law: ‘They hated me without cause.’ When the Paraclete comes, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father – and whom I myself will send from the Father – he will bear witness on my behalf. You must bear witness as well, for you have been with me from the beginning.
“I have told all this to keep your faith from being shaken. Not only will they expel you from synagogues; a time will come when anyone who puts you to death will claim to be serving God!”
1 Corinthians 7: 24-35
Brothers and sisters, each of you should continue before God in the condition of life that was his when he was called. With respect to virgins, I have not received any commandments from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who is trustworthy, thanks to the Lord’s mercy. It is this: In the present time of stress it seems good to me for a person to continue as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Then do not seek your freedom. Are you free of a wife? If so, do not go in search of one. Should you marry, however, you will not be committing sin. Neither does a virgin commit a sin if she marries. But such people will have trials in this life, and these I should like to spare you.
I tell you, brothers and sisters, the time is short. From now on those with wives should live as though they had none; those who weep should live as though they were not weeping, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing; buyers should conduct themselves as though they owned nothing, and those who make use of the world as though they were not using it, for the world as we know it is passing away.
I should like you to be free of all worries. The unmarried man is busy with the Lord’s affairs, concerned with pleasing the Lord; but the married man is busy with this world’s demands and occupied with pleasing his wife. This means he is divided. The virgin – indeed, any unmarried woman – is concerned with things of the Lord, in pursuit of holiness in body and spirit. The married woman, on the other hand, has the cares of this world to absorb her and is concerned with pleasing her husband. I am going into this with you for your own good. I have no desire to place restrictions on you, but I do want to promote what is good, what will help you to devote yourselves entirely to the Lord.
Matthew 15: 12-21
At that time the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Do you realize the Pharisees were scandalized when they heard your pronouncement?” Jesus replied, “Every planting not put down by my heavenly Father will be uprooted. Let them go their way; they are blind leaders of the blind. If one blind man leads another, both will end in a pit.”
Then Peter spoke up to say, “Explain the parable to us.” Jesus asked, “Are you, too, still incapable of understanding? Do you not see that everything that enters the mouth passes into the stomach and is discharged into the latrine, but what comes out of the mouth originates in the mind? It is things like these that make a man impure. From the mind stem evil designs–murder, adulterous conduct, fornication, stealing, false witness, blasphemy. These are the things that make men impure. As for eating with unwashed hands – that makes no man impure.”
Then Jesus left that place and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
Icon courtesy of Jack Figel, Eastern Christian Publications – ecpubs.com
Wednesday, July 23 –
