Nativity Fast, day 23
Saints commemorated
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St Ambrose, Bishop of Milan
Ambrose of Milan (c. 339–397) was one of the four great Latin Doctors of the Western Church and, with Augustine, Jerome and Gregory the Great, a pillar of Latin Christianity — yet he is venerated equally in the East as one of the universal teachers of the faith. A Roman provincial governor acclaimed bishop by the people of Milan while still an unbaptised catechumen, he became the foremost champion of Nicene orthodoxy against Arianism in the West, the spiritual father who baptised Augustine, a pioneer of Latin hymnody and antiphonal chant, and the bishop who compelled the emperor Theodosius the Great to do public penance for the massacre at Thessalonica — asserting that the emperor stands within the Church, not above it. His feast is December 7, the day of his consecration.
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Ven. Nilus of Stolobensk
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The Martyrs of Africa, who suffered during the Vandal persecution (429 and following)
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Our Venerable Father Antony of Siya (1556)
Anthony of Siya (c. 1477–1556) was a monastic founder of the Russian far north, the abbot who established the monastery of the Holy Trinity on the River Siya (Sija), in the wilderness of the North Dvina, and made it a centre of prayer, learning and iconography in the Archangelsk borderlands. Trained in his youth as an icon-painter and himself remembered as an iconographer, he sought solitude even as his foundation grew famous, twice withdrawing to remoter hermitages before the brethren recalled him. He guided the Siya monastery until his death at the age of seventy-nine, and is venerated among the wonderworkers of the Russian North. His feast is December 7.
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Athenodorus of Mesopotamia
Athenodorus was a martyr of Syrian Mesopotamia who suffered in the last great persecution of Diocletian, about the year 304. Having embraced the monastic life from his youth, he was denounced as a Christian, arrested, and subjected to severe tortures by the governor Eleusius; the miracles that attended his sufferings converted many of the pagan onlookers to Christ. He was beheaded, and is commemorated in the Byzantine synaxaria on December 7.
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Gregory of Grigoriou
Gregory of Grigoriou was the founder and first builder of the monastery of Grigoriou on Mount Athos, one of the twenty great houses of the Holy Mountain. A Serbian by birth, he pursued the ascetic life on Athos and raised a monastery dedicated to St Nicholas, which was afterward renamed Grigoriou in his honour. His signature is preserved in an Athonite document of 1405, fixing him to the close of the fourteenth and the opening of the fifteenth century; the tradition holds that his relics were later carried off from the Mountain by Serbian monks. He is commemorated on December 7.
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Nilus of Stolobny
Nilus of Stolobny (died 1554) was one of the great hermit-ascetics of northern Russia, who spent twenty-six years in absolute solitude on a wooded island in Lake Seliger, in the Tver borderlands, and there founded — after his death — one of the most famous monasteries of the Russian Church, the Nilov Hermitage (Nilova Pustyn). Renowned for extremes of self-denial, above all his vow never to lie down but to sleep upright, leaning on two wooden hooks set into the wall of his cell, he became after his repose a wonderworker venerated across Russia, his image reproduced in countless carved wooden figures. His feast is December 7; the uncovering of his relics is kept on May 27.
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Paul the Obedient
Paul the Obedient is a monastic saint known only from a short synaxarion notice, which gives neither his dates nor his country. Born of wealthy parents, he renounced the world on reaching maturity and received his surname "the Obedient" for the depth of his humility and the complete renunciation of his own will. Marvels attended his ascetic life, and after journeys to Jerusalem and Cyprus he ended his days as a solitary on Mount Paregoros ("the mountain of Solace"). He is commemorated on December 7.
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Philothea of Argeș
Philothea of Argeș (c. 1206 – c. 1218) is a child virgin-martyr of the Balkans whose incorrupt relics, enshrined at the monastery of Curtea de Argeș, made her one of the great protecting saints of Romania. Born near Trnovo in Bulgaria to a poor family, she was killed at about twelve years of age by her own father, who struck her in fury when he discovered that she was giving his food to the poor. Her body could not be lifted until the monastery of Curtea de Argeș was named as its resting place, and there she has been venerated for centuries with an annual festal pilgrimage on her feast, December 7.
British Isles and Ireland
- St. Buithe, missionary (521)
- St. Diuma, bishop and missionary (658)
Troparia & kontakia
Kontakion — Tone 3
Blazing with divine doctrines, thou didst darken the delusion of Arius, O initiate of the mysteries and shepherd Ambrose; and working wonders by the power of the Spirit, thou didst plainly heal afflictions of every kind. O venerable father, entreat Christ God to grant us great mercy.
Kontakion — Tone 8
From thy youth, O venerable one, thou didst waste thy flesh with fasting and prayers, and taking up thy cross thou didst follow Christ; wherefore thou didst joyfully accomplish thy course to the heights, where thou standest with all the saints before the Holy Trinity. And now, visiting thy flock, remember those who honour thy most holy memory, that we all may cry to thee with thanksgiving: Rejoice, O God-wise Anthony, instructor of the wilderness.
Kontakion — Tone 8
Withdrawing from thy homeland, O venerable one, thou didst settle in the wilderness, and going up onto the island in Lake Seliger thou didst show forth a life of hardship; and having astonished many by thy virtues, thou didst receive from Christ the gift of wonders. Remember us who honour thy memory, that we may cry to thee: Rejoice, O Nilus our father.
Magnification
We call thee blessed, O venerable father Nilus, and we honour thy holy memory, O instructor of monks and companion of the angels.
Troparion — Tone 4
A rule of faith and an image of meekness, a teacher of temperance, thy manner of life hath shown thee to thy flock; therefore by humility thou didst gain the heights, and by poverty riches. O father and hierarch Ambrose, entreat Christ God that our souls be saved.
Troparion — Tone 1
Kindled with spiritual longing and casting off the tumults of the world, thou didst cleave with love to the one God; and seeking Him with thy whole soul, thou didst depart into the inner wilderness, settling by the waters, where abiding long years in tears and labours thou didst pass an angelic life in great patience, taught by the divine Wisdom, and didst gather a multitude of monks, O wise one. Cease not to visit them, O Anthony our venerable father, praying to the Most Holy Trinity to deliver us from every evil and to save our souls.
Troparion — Tone 4
Thy martyr Athenodorus, O Lord, in his contest received from thee our God the crown incorruptible; for possessing thy strength, he cast down the persecutors and broke the feeble boldness of the demons. By his intercessions, O Christ God, save our souls.
Troparion — Tone 8
By a flood of tears thou didst make the barren desert bloom, and by thy deep sighs thou didst make thy labours bring forth fruit a hundredfold, becoming a beacon that shone upon the world with wonders. O Gregory our venerable father, intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.
Troparion — Tone 4
As a most radiant lamp thou didst shine forth on the island in Lake Seliger, O venerable father Nilus; for from thy youth thou didst take the Cross of Christ upon thy shoulders and follow after Him with fervour, and drawing near to God by purity thou wast enriched with the gift of wonders. Wherefore we also, coming to the shrine of thy relics, cry out with compunction: O venerable father, entreat Christ God that our souls be saved.
Troparion — Tone 8
By a flood of tears thou didst make the barren desert bloom, and by thy deep sighs thou didst make thy labours bring forth fruit a hundredfold, becoming a beacon that shone upon the world with wonders. O Paul our venerable father, intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.
Troparion — Tone 4
Thy lamb Philothea crieth out to thee with a loud voice, O Jesus: "O my Bridegroom, thee I love, and seeking thee I suffer; I am crucified and buried together with thee in thy baptism, and I endure 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 to thee with love." By her prayers, O merciful One, save our souls.
Readings
4th Matins Gospel
Luke 24.1-12
1Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. 2And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. 3And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. 4And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: 5And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? 6He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, 7Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. 8And they remembered his words, 9And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. 10It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. 11And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. 12Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.
Epistle
Ephesians 5.8-19
8For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 10Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. 11And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 12For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. 13But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. 14Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. 15See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. 18And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Gospel
Luke 17.12-19
12And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: 13And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. 14And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. 15And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. 17And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? 18There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. 19And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.