Thursday of the Sixth Week
The commemoration of the Martyr Ephemia the All-praised, the standard of the Fathers when she ratified the definition of the Faith, and the repose of the Equal-to-the-apostles Olga, Princess of Russia, in Baptism called Helen.
No Fasting.
The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians[§ 129]. Brethren:
3 18Let no one be deceiving himself. If anyone among you think himself to be wise in this age, let him become foolish, in order that he might become wise. 19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it hath been written: "He taketh the wise in their own craftiness [cf. Job 5:13]"; 20and again, "The Lord knoweth the reasonings of the wise, that they are vain [cf. Ps. 93(94):11]." 21Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: 22whether Paul, or Apollos, or Kephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things coming-all are yours. 23And ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's.
The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 54]. At that time:
13 36Jesus sent the crowds away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Declare to us the parable of the darnel of the field." 37And He answered and said to them, "The One Who soweth the good seed is the Son of Man. 38"And the field is the world, and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; but the darnel are the sons of the evil one. 39"And the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the consummation of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 40"Therefore even as the darnel is gathered together and burned completely, thus it shall be in the consummation of this age. 41"The Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather together out of His kingdom all the stumbling blocks, and those doing lawlessness; 42"and they shall cast them into the furnace of the fire. There shall be there the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth. 43"Then the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The one who hath ears to hear, let him hear."
The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 181]. Brethren:
6 1We, working together, beseech you also not to receive the grace of God in vain- 2for He saith, "In an acceptable time I heard thee, and in a day of salvation I helped thee [Is. 49:8]"; behold, now is an acceptable time; behold, now is a day of salvation- 3by not giving even one cause of stumbling in anything, that the ministry might not be blamed. 4But in all things commending ourselves as ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in straits, 5in blows, in imprisonments, in instabilities, in toils, in vigils, in fastings, 6in pureness, in knowledge, in long-suffering, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in love unfeigned, 7in the word of truth, in the power of God, by the weapons of righteousness of the right hand and of the left, 8by glory and dishonor, by ill-fame and good fame; as deceivers and yet true; 9as unknown and well-known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not put to death; 10as ones sorrowful, but always rejoicing; as poor, but enriching many; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 33]. At that time:
7 36 A certain one of the Pharisees was asking Jesus that He would eat with him. And He entered into the house of the Pharisee, and reclined at table. 37And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she found out that He was reclining at table in the house of the Pharisee, brought an alabaster flask of perfumed ointment, 38and she stood beside His feet behind Him, weeping; and she began to wet His feet with tears, and was wiping them off with the hairs of her head; and she was kissing His feet ardently and anointing them with the perfumed ointment. 39Now when the Pharisee who invited Him saw it, he spoke within himself, saying, "This One, if He were a prophet, would know who and of what sort the woman is who toucheth Him, for she is a sinner." 40And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to thee." And he saith, "Teacher, say it." 41"There were two debtors to a certain creditor: the one was owing five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42"But when they had nothing to pay back the debt, he showed himself gracious to both. Say which of them then will love him more?" 43Simon answered and said, "I suppose that he, to whom he showed himself the more gracious." And He said to him, "Rightly thou didst judge." 44And He turned to the woman, and said to Simon, "Seest thou this woman? I entered into thy house; water thou gavest Me not for My feet, but she with tears did wet My feet, and with the hairs of her head wiped them off. 45"A kiss thou gavest Me not, but she from the time that I entered did not cease from ardently kissing My feet. 46"With oil thou didst not anoint My head, but she anointed My feet with perfumed ointment. 47"For which reason I say to thee, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little." 48And He said to her, "Thy sins have been forgiven." 49And those reclining at table with Him began to say among themselves, "Who is this Who even forgiveth sins?" 50And He said to the woman, "Thy faith hath saved thee; go thy way in peace."
July 24th – Civil Calendar July 11th - Church Calendar
1. The Holy and Great Martyr Euphemia.
This saint is commemorated on September 16th, the day on which she suffered. On this day is commemorated the miracle wrought by her precious relics, revealed at the time of the Fourth Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon. This Council was called together in the reign of the Emperor Marcian and the Empress Pulcheria, in 451, after the death of the Emperor Theodosius the Younger, and was summoned because of the heresy of Dioscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria, and Eutyches, an archimandrite in Constantinople, who had disseminated the false teaching that there were in Christ not two natures, divine and human, but only one, a divine nature. At this Council, the chief role was played by Anatolius, Patriarch of Constantinople and Juvenal, Patriarch of Jerusalem. Because, through the quarrels and evidence on both sides, no decision could be reached, Patriarch Anatolius suggested that the Orthodox and the heretics each write down their confession of faith, and that they be put into the reliquary that contained the relics of St Euphemia. All agreed to this. Two confessions of faith, then, were written and placed in the hands of the great martyr. The reliquary was closed and sealed with the imperial seal, a watch then being set over it. They then all spent three days in fasting and prayer. On the fourth day, when the tomb was opened, they saw the Orthodox confession of faith above the saint's head and the heretical one beneath her feet. Thus was the conflict resolved by God's power, on the side of Orthodoxy. In the time of the Emperor Heraclius, the relics of St Euphemia were translated from Chalcedon to Constantinople, to the church dedicated to her near the Hippodrome. The iconoclast Emperor Leo the Isaurian ordered that her relics be thrown into the sea; but, by a wonderful act, the reliquary was brought to the island of Lemnos and placed in the church of the Holy Martyr Glykeria. Then, in the time of the Empress Irene, the reliquary with its relics was again taken to Constantinople, to its former place. Blood has flowed from these relics from time to time, to the succour of the sick and the feeble.
2. St Elena (Olga).
A great Russian princess, the wife of Prince Igor, she was called Olga before her baptism. She was baptised in Constantinople by Patriarch Polyeuctus, and was greatly zealous for the Orthodox faith in Russia. She entered into rest in 969.
3. Our Holy Father, the Martyr Nicodemus.
Born in Elbasan, he was married and had children. Duped by the Turks, he embraced Islam and forced his children to do likewise, with the exception of one son who fled to the Holy Mountain and became a monk. Nicodemus went to Athos to take his son back, but the place made such an impression on him that he repented, returned to the Christian faith and became a monk himself. He bewailed his apostasy for three years, then decided to return to Albania, to expiate his sin there where he had committed it. He therefore returned, informed the Turks that he was a Christian and was beheaded on July 11th, 1722. His wonderworking relics are preserved today whole and incorrupt.
4. Our Holy Father, the Martyr Nectarius.
Born in Vryoulla in Asia Minor, he was forced to accept Islam at the age of seventeen. His fate was similar to that of St Nicodemus. When he showed himself to his mother as a Turk, she cried at him: 'Get away from me! I don't know you. I bore you as a Christian, not as a Turk!' He repented bitterly, went to the Holy Mountain and there, in the skete of St Anne, became a monk. Having resolved to die for Christ and thus take away his sin, he went again to Vryoulla, where he suffered. He was beheaded for Christ by the Turks in his birthplace on July 11th, 1820, at the age of twenty-one.
FOR CONSIDERATION
A change of fortune hits hardest when it comes unexpectedly. But, to him who is prepared for the blow and is armed against it, can it be unexpected? The Emperor Charlemagne ensured that his sons learn some craft and his daughter to weave, so that they should have something to live on if their fortunes changed. The renowned Belissarius, a great general and conqueror, was slandered to the king by some malicious men and, on the foundation of this slander, was blinded and stripped of all his goods. The blind Bellisarius sat at the gate of Rome and begged for alms, saying to the passers-by: 'Give to Bellisarius, whom fortune raised up but envy struck down and deprived of his sight!' 'Is not man as a soldier in arms on earth?', says righteous Job (7:1). One must be as a vigilant watch-man, ready for anything that may happen. What is there that cannot happen to a man? One must have hope in God in every suffering. Righteous Job, on his dung-heap, cried out from among the filth: 'Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him!' (13:15).
Archbishop Gregory P.O. Box 3177 Buena Vista, CO 81211-3177 USA Email: ArchbishopGregory@starband.netCopyright 2005.
Copyright 2005.
