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Thursday of the Second Week
The commemoration of the holy Martyrs Timothy the Reader and Mavra of Antinoe in Egypt, and our venerable Father Theodosios, Abbot of the Monastery of the Caves, initiator of the cnobitic monastic life in Russia.
No Fasting.
The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 12]. In those days:
4 23The apostles, having been set free, came to their own company and reported as much as the chief priests and the elders said to them. 24And after they heard that, with one accord they lifted up their voice to God and said, “Master, Thou art the God Who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all things that are in them, 25“Who by the mouth of Thy servant David said, ‘Why did the nations act arrogantly and the peoples meditate empty things [Ps. 2:1]? 26“‘The kings of the earth stood by, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ [Ps. 2:2].’ 27“For of a truth, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, were gathered together against Thy holy Servant Jesus, Whom Thou didst anoint, 28“to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel foreordained to be done. 29“And now, Lord, look upon their threats, and grant to Thy slaves to speak Thy word with all boldness, 30“as Thou stretchest forth Thy hand for healing and signs and wonders to be done through the name of Thy holy Servant Jesus.” 31And having made entreaty, the place was shaken in which they were gathered together; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and were speaking the word of God with boldness.
The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 16]. The Lord said to the Jews who had come to Him:
5 24“Verily, verily, I say to you, that the one who heareth My word and believeth the One Who sent Me hath everlasting life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed over out of death into life. 25“Verily, verily, I say to you, that an hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they who hear shall live. 26“For even as the Father hath life in Himself, so He also gave to the Son to have life in Himself, 27“and He also gave to Him authority to execute judgment. That He is Son of Man, 28“cease marvelling at this; for an hour is coming in which all those in the graves shall hear His voice, 29“and shall go forth—they who did good things to a resurrection of life, but they who practised bad things to a resurrection of condemnation. 30“I am not able to do anything of Myself. Even as I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the One Who sent Me, the Father.”
For the venerable Father:
The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 334]. Brethren:
13 7Be remembering those who lead you, who spoke to you the word of God, whose faith keep on imitating, observing attentively the end of their conduct: 8Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and to the ages. 9Cease being carried about by various and strange teachings. For it is good for the heart to be confirmed by grace, not by foods, in which those walking therein were not profited. 10We have an altar from which those serving the tabernacle have no authority to eat; 11for the bodies of those animals, “whose blood is being brought into the holies for sins” by the high priest, “are being burned outside of the encampment [cf. Lev. 16:27].” 12Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people by His own blood, suffered outside of the gate. 13Let us be going forth therefore to Him outside of the encampment, bearing His reproach; 14for we have no abiding city here, but we seek the coming one. 15Through Him, then, let us be offering up a “sacrifice of praise [Lev. 7:2(12)]” continually to God, that is, “the fruit of the lips [cf. Hos. 14:3(2); Is. 57:19],” giving thanks to His name. 16But cease being forgetful of doing good and of contributing; for God is well pleased with such sacrifices.
The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 43]. The Lord said to His disciples:
11 27“All things were delivered to Me by My Father. And no one doth fully know the Son, except the Father; nor doth anyone fully know the Father, except the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son is willing to reveal Him. 28“Come to Me, all ye who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. 29“Take up My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and humble in heart; and ye shall find rest to your souls. 30“For My yoke is good and My burden is light.”
May 16th — Civil Calendar May 3rd — Church Calendar
1. The Holy Martyrs Timothy and Maura.*
Strange was the destiny of these wonderful martyrs; husband and newly-wedded wife. Twenty days after their wedding, they were taken for trial for their Christian faith before Arrianus, the pagan governor of the Thebaid, in the time of the Emperor Diocletian. Timothy was a reader in the church where he lived. ‘Who are you?’, the governor asked him. Timothy replied: ‘I am a Christian and a reader in the Church of God.’ The governor said to him further: ‘You see, don’t you, the instruments prepared for torture?’ Timothy replied: ‘But you don’t see the angels of God, which are strengthening me. ‘Then the governor commanded that he be pierced through the ears with iron rods, so that the pupils of his eyes leapt out with the pain. They then suddenly hanged him by the feet and stuffed his mouth with wood. Maura was at first afraid of torture, but when her husband gave her courage, she also confessed her steadfast faith before the governor. He commanded that first her hair be torn out, then all her fingers cut off. After many other tortures, to which they would quickly have succumbed had they not been strengthened by the grace of God, they were both crucified, one in sight of the other. And thus, hanging on their crosses, they remained alive for nine full days, counseling each other and encouraging each other in endurance. On the tenth day they gave their spirits into God’s hands, the God for whom they had suffered crucifixion, and thus became worthy of His Kingdom. They suffered with honour for Christ in 286.
*Author’s note: ‘Maura’ means ‘black’, from which it comes that in Macedonia the day of these saints is known as ‘Black Day’. On the island of Zakynthos there is a church of Saints Timothy and Maura, in which many miraculous healings have taken place.
2. Our Holy Father Theodosius of the Kiev Caves.
From his earliest youth, he fled from laughter and merriment and gave himself to pondering on God and prayer. Because of this, he was often beaten by his mother, and especially when she saw one day an iron belt around his naked body, from which his shirt was stained with blood. Reading one day in the Gospel the words of the Lord: ‘He who loves father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me’, he left his parents’ home and fled to Kiev, to the cave of our holy father Antony. Antony received him and quickly made him a monk. When his mother found him, and called him to return home, he spoke with her and she then became a nun in a women’s monastery. By his asceticism, his meekness and his goodness, Theodosius quickly outstripped all the other monks and became very dear to Antony, who made him abbot of the monastery. In his time, the number of brethren in the monastery grew very rapidly, churches and cells were built and the Rule of the Studion introduced in its fullness. God endowed Theodosius with great grace in response to his virginal purity, labours in prayer and love for his neighbour, and so this man of God had great power over unclean spirits and healed sicknesses and had insight into the destinies of men. With St Antony, St Theodosius is regarded as the restorer and organizer of Russian monasticism. He entered peacefully into rest in 1074, and his healing relics rest beside those of St Antony.
FOR CONSIDERATION
Abba John the Dwarf asked his monks: ‘Who or what sold Joseph?’ One of them answered: ‘His brethren.’ To this the staretz said: ‘Not his brothers, but his humility.’ Joseph could have revealed that he was their brother, and thus oppose the sale. But he kept silent about that. By humility, then, was he sold, and this same humility later made him ruler of Egypt. We guard ourselves too carefully from the outward difficulties encountered in giving ourselves over to the will of God, and so we lose the good fruits that are reaped in difficult circumstances endured with humility. Abba Poemon spoke wisely thus: ‘We have set aside the light yoke; that is, self-instruction, and loaded ourselves with the heavy one; that is, self-righteousness.’ Christians accept every difficulty as payment for past or present sins, seeking the will of God with faith in all things, and looking to the end with hope.
Daily Scripture Readings taken from The Orthodox New Testament, translated and published by Holy Apostles Convent, Buena Vista, Colorado, copyright © 2000, used with permission, all rights reserved.
Daily Prologue Readings taken from The Prologue of Ochrid, by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic, translated by Mother Maria, published by Lazarica Press, Birmingham, England, copyright © 1985, all rights reserved.
