Great Lent, day 12 · 37 days until Pascha
Saints commemorated
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Saint of the day
Martyr Quadratus and Companions
Quadratus of Corinth (third century) was a physician and confessor of Christ whose life began with a wonder: his mother Rufina, fleeing the persecution while great with child, gave birth to him on a lonely mountain and died there, and the infant — the tradition holds — was preserved and nourished by the providence of God, sheltered by a cloud and fed with a sweet dew, until Christians found and raised him. Grown to be a physician who healed body and soul, he gathered about him a company of the faithful — chief among them Cyprian, Dionysius, Anectus, Paul, Crescens and Victorinus — and led them in the confession of Christ when the persecution under Decius and Valerian came upon Corinth. Seized by the governor Jason and cruelly tortured, they were at the last beheaded together, about the middle of the third century. The Church keeps them on March 10.
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Saint of the day
Quadratus of Nicomedia and Companions
Quadratus of Nicomedia (third century) was a Christian of an illustrious and wealthy family of Bithynia who, during the persecutions under the emperors Decius and Valerian, used his freedom and his means to sustain the confessors in prison — bringing them food and comfort and encouraging them to stand firm. When his own faith was discovered he confessed Christ openly, and was carried by his persecutors through a succession of the cities of Asia Minor to be displayed and tortured, that his sufferings might frighten others from the faith; but he endured all and, with his companions Saturninus and Rufinus and others, was at the last beheaded. The Church keeps them on March 10, the same day as the martyrs of Corinth of the same name, from whom they are to be distinguished.
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Our Holy Mother Anastasia (563)
Anastasia the Patrician (c. 510 – c. 567) was a noblewoman of Constantinople, of patrician rank and great beauty, esteemed at the court of the emperor Justinian. When the emperor's marked favour toward her stirred the jealousy of the empress Theodora, Anastasia — desiring neither the court nor its perils to her soul — secretly left the capital, sailed to Alexandria, and founded a monastery outside the city, where she lived in ascesis. After Theodora's death, learning that Justinian was again seeking her, she fled to the desert of Scetis and cast herself on the great elder Abba Daniel, who clothed her in a monk's habit, gave her the name Anastasius the eunuch, and enclosed her in a distant cave. There, unknown to all as a woman, she lived twenty-eight years in silence and prayer, a disciple leaving water at her door once a week, until her death revealed her secret to none but Daniel. She is commemorated on March 10.
British Isles and Ireland
- St. Kessog the Wonderworker (560)
- St. Emilian, abbot of Lagny (675)
- St. Failbhe the Little, abbot of Iona (754)
- St. Sedna, bishop of Ossory (c.570)
- St. Silvester, companion of St. Palladius (c.420)
- St. Himelin of Vissenaeken (c.750)
Troparia & kontakia
Kontakion — Tone 3
As bright stars did ye enlighten all creation, O athletes who cannot be vanquished; ye brought the deceit of the idols to nothing and, contending lawfully, ye were crowned. Wherefore, unceasingly intercede with Christ for us all.
Troparion — Tone 8
In thee, O Mother, was the image faithfully preserved; for taking up thy cross thou didst follow Christ, and by thy deeds thou didst teach us to despise the flesh, which passes away, and to care for the soul, a thing immortal. Therefore doth thy spirit, O venerable Anastasia, rejoice together with the angels.
Troparion — Tone 4
Thy Martyrs, O Lord, in their contest received from Thee our God crowns of incorruption; for armed with Thy might, they cast down the tyrants and broke the powerless insolence of demons. By their supplications, O Christ our God, save our souls.
Troparion — Tone 4
Thy Martyrs, O Lord, in their contest received from Thee our God crowns of incorruption; for armed with Thy might, they cast down the tyrants and broke the powerless insolence of demons. By their supplications, O Christ our God, save our souls.
Readings
6th Hour
Isaiah 7.1-14
1And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. 2And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind. 3Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shear-jashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field; 4And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. 5Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, 6Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal: 7Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. 8For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. 9And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established. 10Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying, 11Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. 12But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD. 13And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? 14Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Vespers
Genesis 5.32-6.8
32And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 1And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. 3And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. 4There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. 5And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. 8But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
Proverbs 6.20-7.1
20My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: 21Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. 22When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. 23For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: 24To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. 25Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids. 26For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. 27Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? 28Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? 29So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent. 30Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry; 31But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house. 32But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. 33A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away. 34For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. 35He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts. 1My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.
Presanctified Liturgy