Our venerable fathers John, Sergius, Patrick and others slain in the Monastery of St. Sabbas: During the eighth century the area around Jerusalem was subjected to frequent incursions of the Saracens. On March 13, 796 the Saracens broke into the monastery and demanded all the valuables. The monks told them that there was nothing in the monastery but a meager supply of food and old clothing. Then the Saracens began to shoot arrows at the monks. Thirteen men were killed and many were wounded, and monastery cells were set afire. The Saracens intended to torch the monastery church, but seeing a throng of people in the distance, they mistook it for an army sent from Jerusalem. The Saracens managed to get away, carrying off the little they were able to plunder. After the enemy fled, Father Thomas, an experienced physician, began to help those who remained alive.
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 way of peace.
Having truly spurned worldly and passing pleasures, you preferred the desert life, O blessed saints. By turning aside from beauty and comfort, you fashioned heavenly crowns for yourselves. You rejoice in the company of martyrs and ascetics, and we also keep your precious memory as we sing: Deliver us, O fathers, from all afflictions.
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
Wednesday, March 19 –
