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Monday 14 March 2022

Ven. Benedict of Nursia

Monday of the Second Week of Lent

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Lenten Fast Tone 5

Great Lent, day 8 · 41 days until Pascha

Saints commemorated

  • Saint of the day

    Ven. Benedict of Nursia

    Benedict of Nursia (c. 480 – c. 547) is honoured as the father of Western monasticism and one of the great ascetic fathers of the undivided Church. Born of a well-born Umbrian family and sent to study at Rome, he fled the corruption of the city while still young and became a hermit in a cave at Subiaco, where he was fed by the monk Romanus and slowly gathered disciples. From twelve small communities at Subiaco he passed to the mountain of Monte Cassino, where he destroyed the last shrine of Apollo, built his great monastery, and composed the Rule that bears his name — a "little rule for beginners," drawn from Scripture and from the Eastern fathers (Basil, Cassian, the anonymous Rule of the Master), which became the charter of monastic life throughout the Latin West. His life is known almost wholly from the second book of the Dialogues of Pope Gregory the Great (the Dialogist), which tells of his miracles, his gift of prophecy, his yearly meetings with his sister Scholastica, and his death standing in prayer before the altar. The Byzantine calendar keeps him on March 14.

  • St Theognostus, Metropolitan of Kiev (1353)

    Theognostus (died 1353) was a Greek of Constantinople who served for twenty-five years as Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia, the chief hierarch of the Rus' Church, in the age when its centre was passing from Kiev to Moscow. Consecrated at Constantinople and sent north in 1328, he made Moscow his residence, confirmed the union of the metropolitan's see with the rising city, and upheld the Church's unity and its liberties against both the fragmentation of the princes and the demands of the Golden Horde, from whose khan he obtained the confirmation of the Church's ancient privileges — enduring, the tradition says, imprisonment and ill-usage rather than surrender them. He glorified his predecessor Peter as a saint and named Alexis his successor. He reposed in 1353 and is venerated among the holy hierarchs of Russia, kept on March 14.

  • Alexander of Pydna

    Alexander (died c. 305) was a priest of Pydna, a town on the coast of Macedonia south of Thessalonica, and a hieromartyr of the last great persecution. Zealous in preaching Christ and in turning the people from the worship of idols, he was seized in the persecution under the emperor Maximian (Galerius), subjected to cruel tortures which he bore unmoved, and at the last beheaded for his confession. His memory was cherished in Macedonia and on the Holy Mountain, where his skull is venerated among the treasures of the Great Lavra of Athos. The Greek synaxaria, which sometimes style him "of Thessalonica" from the region of his labours, keep him on March 14.

  • Euschemon of Lampsacus

    Euschemon (ninth century) was bishop of Lampsacus on the Hellespont and a confessor of the holy icons in the second iconoclast persecution. Formed from his youth in a virtuous and ascetic life, and honoured in his own day as a wonderworker, he was raised to the see of Lampsacus and, when the emperor Theophilus (829–842) renewed the war on the images, stood firm in their veneration; for this he was seized, ill-treated, and driven into banishment, in which he ended his life, a confessor who suffered for the faith without dying by the sword. He is kept on March 14.

  • Rostislav-Michael of Kiev

    Rostislav Mstislavich (c. 1110 – 1167), called Michael in holy baptism, was Prince of Smolensk and thrice Grand Prince of Kiev, a grandson of Vladimir Monomakh and one of the most respected rulers of the divided Rus' of the twelfth century. Founder of the enduring line of the princes of Smolensk, he raised that city to greatness, established its bishopric, and adorned it with churches; as Grand Prince he laboured to keep peace among the quarrelling princes and to uphold the order of the Church, defending the rights of the metropolitan see of Kiev. Devout from his youth and longing in his last years for the monastic life, he died on his way home from Novgorod, receiving the news of his end with joy and prayer. He is venerated among the right-believing princes of Rus' and kept on March 14.

British Isles and Ireland

  • St. Kyrin, bishop of Ross (660)
  • St. Talmach, disciple of Saint Finbar (7th C)

Troparia & kontakia

Kontakion — Tone 2

Enriched with the grace of God from thy youth, thou didst flee the tumult of the world for the wilderness, and there, having planted the monastic way and raised up a fair company of ascetics, thou wast shown to be a rule of the venerable and a father of monks. Wherefore we cry to thee: Rejoice, O God-blessed Benedict.

Troparion — Tone 4

Thy martyr Alexander, O Lord, in his contest received the crown incorruptible from thee our God; for possessed of thy might, he cast down the tyrants and broke the feeble insolence of the demons. By his intercessions save thou our souls.

Troparion — Tone 8

In thee, O Father, was the divine image faithfully preserved; for taking up thy cross thou didst follow Christ, and by thy deeds thou didst teach us to despise the flesh, for it passeth away, but to care for the soul as a thing immortal. Wherefore doth thy spirit, O venerable Benedict, rejoice together with the Angels.

Troparion — Tone 4

O God of our fathers, who dealest ever with us according to thy gentleness, take not thy mercy from us, but by the prayers of thy holy hierarch and confessor Euschemon guide our life in peace.

Troparion — Tone 4

Having lived devoutly in thy royal state, and preserved unshaken the true faith of Christ, thou didst rule thy people in justice and mercy, O right-believing prince Rostislav; and setting thy heart upon the monastic calm, thou didst pass in prayer to thy Lord. Entreat him that our souls may be saved.

Troparion — Tone 4

O God of our fathers, who dealest ever with us according to thy gentleness, take not thy mercy from us, but by the prayers of thy holy hierarch Theognostus guide our life in peace.

Readings

6th Hour

Isaiah 4.2-5.7

2In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. 3And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: 4When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. 5And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. 6And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain. 1Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: 2And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. 3And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. 4What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? 5And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: 6And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. 7For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

Vespers

Genesis 3.21-4.7

21Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. 22And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. 1And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. 2And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 6And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

Proverbs 3.34-4.22

34Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly. 35The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools. 1Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. 2For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. 3For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. 4He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. 5Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. 6Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. 7Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. 8Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. 9She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee. 10Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many. 11I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths. 12When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. 13Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life. 14Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. 15Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. 16For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. 17For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. 18But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. 19The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble. 20My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. 22For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.