Great Lent, day 16 · 33 days until Pascha
Saints commemorated
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Saint of the day
Hieromartyr Basil of Ancyra
Basil of Ancyra (†c. 362) was a martyr of Ancyra in Galatia who suffered under the emperor Julian the Apostate. A zealous confessor of the Nicene faith — the tradition remembers him as a presbyter of the church of Ancyra — he had contended in earlier years against both the Arians and the pagans, and when Julian's restoration of paganism emboldened the idolaters of Galatia, Basil went openly through the city strengthening the faithful and denouncing the worship of the gods. Arrested and brought before the imperial officers, he refused every inducement to sacrifice, was subjected to prolonged and savage torture — the Acts describe strips of flesh cut from his body — and was at last put to death, about the year 362, sealing his confession with his blood. He is commemorated on January 1, together with the Circumcision of Christ and Basil the Great; several calendars keep a martyr Basil of Ancyra also on March 22.
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Martyr Drosida of Antioch, and five nuns (104)
Drosis (Drosida) was a young woman of Antioch, honoured by tradition as a daughter of the emperor Trajan, who with a company of companions secretly gathered and buried the bodies of the martyrs that the persecutors had cast out unburied, and who was herself put to death for Christ in the early second century. Her memory was already famous at Antioch in the fourth century, when John Chrysostom preached a homily in her praise, holding her up before his people as a pattern of hidden love for the martyrs and of fearless confession.
British Isles and Ireland
- St. Darerca, sister of St. Patrick (5th C)
- St. Failbhe, abbot of Iona (7th C)
- St. Trien, abbot of Killelga (5th C)
Troparia & kontakia
Kontakion — Tone 4
In the divine meadows of the faith the Master found thee a plant of paradise, and reaped thee, a fair sheaf, by thy martyrdom; wherefore we honour thy struggles, O all-blessed Basil.
Troparion — Tone 4
Thy martyr Basil, O Lord, in his contest received an incorruptible crown from thee our God; for, possessed of thy might, he cast down the tyrants and broke the feeble insolence of the demons. By his prayers, O Christ God, save our souls.
Troparion — Tone 4 (common of a woman-martyr)
Thy lamb, O Jesus, crieth with a loud voice: Thee, O my Bridegroom, do I love, and seeking Thee I pass through many sufferings; I am crucified and buried with Thee in Thy baptism, and I suffer for Thy sake that I may reign with Thee; I die for Thee that I may live in Thee. Accept me as a spotless sacrifice, offered in love. By her prayers, O merciful One, save our souls.
Readings
6th Hour
Isaiah 9.9-10.4
9And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, 10The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars. 11Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together; 12The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 13For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts. 14Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day. 15The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. 16For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed. 17Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 18For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke. 19Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother. 20And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm: 21Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 1Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; 2To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! 3And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory? 4Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Vespers
Genesis 7.1-5
1And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. 2Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. 3Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. 4For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. 5And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.
Proverbs 8.32-9.11
32Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways. 33Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. 34Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. 35For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD. 36But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death. 1Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars: 2She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table. 3She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city, 4Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, 5Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. 6Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding. 7He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot. 8Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. 9Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. 10The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. 11For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.