Paschaltide, day 22 · 21 days since Pascha
Paralytic; Ven. Theodosius, Abbot of the Kiev Caves
Saints commemorated
-
Martyrs Timothy the Reader and his wife Maura of Antinoe in Egypt (286)
Timothy and Maura were a young married couple of Penapeis in the Thebaid of Upper Egypt who were put to death about the year 286, in the persecution of Diocletian, twenty days after their wedding. Timothy, son of a village priest, was a reader of the church and a copyist of the sacred books, and when the prefect Arrianus demanded that he surrender the Scriptures for burning he answered that he would as soon give up his own children. Blinded with red-hot irons and hung head downward, he was not broken; and when the prefect summoned his bride in the hope that a girl of twenty days' marriage would plead him into apostasy, Maura was instead won over to her husband's confession and declared herself ready to die with him. She was scalped, her fingers were cut off, and she was plunged in boiling water; and at the last the two were crucified facing one another and hung on their crosses for nine days, giving up their souls on the tenth. Maura is the patroness of Lefkada — the island the Venetians called Santa Maura after her.
-
Diodorus and Rhodopianus
Diodorus and Rhodopianus were deacons of the church of Aphrodisias in Caria, on the south-western coastlands of Asia Minor, who were stoned to death by their own townspeople in the persecution of Diocletian, about the year 302. The synaxarion notice is short and gives no dialogue and no magistrate: the two were known in the city as Christians and as preachers of Christ among the pagans, were seized by the soldiery, endured insults and scourging, and were finally killed with stones — the mob's death rather than the executioner's, and one of the few martyrdoms by stoning in the Byzantine calendar after the age of the Apostles. The Greek books keep them on May 3 and the Slavonic books and the OCA on April 29; this entry, following the Greek placement, is primary on May 3 and secondary on April 29.
-
Luke of Steiris
Luke of Steiris (c. 896 – c. 953), called the Younger and Luke of Hellas, was the most beloved Greek ascetic-saint of the tenth century and one of the great wonderworkers of the Byzantine world. Born of poor Phocian farmers who had fled the Arab raids on Aegina, he gave himself from childhood to prayer, fasting, and an almost reckless charity, and left the world young to live as a monk and hermit in the mountains of central Greece. Driven from place to place by war, he settled at last at Steiris in Phocis, where a community gathered around him. He was famed for healings, for the reading of hearts, for the gift of prophecy — most celebrated of all his foretelling that Crete would be recovered from the Saracens, which came to pass under Nikephoros Phokas eight years after his death — and, the tradition says, for being lifted from the ground in prayer. He reposed on February 7. Over his tomb rose the monastery of Hosios Loukas, one of the supreme monuments of Byzantine art, where his myrrh-flowing relics rest to this day.
-
Peter of Argos
Peter (c. 855 – c. 922) was bishop of Argos and Nauplion in the Peloponnese, and is remembered in the Greek Church chiefly as the merciful hierarch: a monk of Constantinople from a family in which all five children took the habit, who twice refused a bishopric and accepted the third call only under compulsion, and who then spent some thirty years feeding a province through famine, ransoming captives from the Saracen raiders of Crete, and healing the sick. The Peloponnese of his episcopate was a frontier under attack, and his charity has the shape of that emergency: the Life by Theodore of Nicaea makes the miracle for which he is best known the flour and grain that would not run out while the queues of the hungry lasted. He wrote homilies, of which some seven survive; he foretold the day of his death and reposed at about seventy; and in 1421 his relics were carried to Nauplion, whence they exuded myrrh. He is titled ὁ Θαυματουργός, the Wonderworker, and is the patron of Argos and of Nauplion.
-
Theodosius of the Kiev Caves
Theodosius (Feodosy Pechersky, †3 May 1074) is the father of Russian monasticism: the second founder, with Antony, of the Kiev Caves monastery, and the man who turned a company of hermits in a hillside burrow into a cenobium governed by a written rule. Born at Vasilev near Kiev and raised at Kursk, he baked the prosphora for his village church as a boy against his mother's violent opposition, escaped to Kiev in his twenties, and was received by Antony into the cave above the Dnieper and tonsured by Nicon. As abbot he procured a copy of the typikon of the Studion monastery at Constantinople and imposed it on the brotherhood — common table, common property, unbroken obedience — so that the Caves became the mother and model of every monastery in the land of Rus'. He raised the community from a handful to a hundred, built the wooden and then began the great stone church of the Dormition, gave a tenth of the monastery's income to the poor and maintained a hospice for the sick and the mutilated, sent a cartload of bread each week to the prisoners, and rebuked the Grand Prince Svyatoslav to his face for usurping his brother's throne. His Life, written by Nestor the Chronicler, is one of the founding works of Slavonic literature; his relics were uncovered on 14 August 1091, and in 1108 he became the first monastic saint of Rus' to be formally canonised. Not to be confused with any of the six other saints named Theodosius already in this corpus, and above all not with Theodosius the Cenobiarch (†529), the founder of the coenobia of the Judaean desert. See Disputed questions below.
British Isles and Ireland
- St. Conleth the bishop (519)
- St. Scannal, missionary (563)
- St. Aldwyn, abbot of Partney (8th C)
Troparia & kontakia
Apolytikion — Tone 3
An unbreakable rock of the Church, and the best of shepherds for the city of Argos, hast thou been shown to be, O all-praised hierarch…
Apolytikion — Tone 4
As a pair yoked together and a wondrous team, O all-wise Timothy and Maura, bride of Christ, ye contended in godly manner; for scorning the vanity of the idols, ye were made conformable to the sufferings of the Lord, and were stretched out together upon the cross. Wherefore ye have received glory that fadeth not, and cease not to intercede for our souls.
Kontakion — Tone 4
Gloriously didst thou bear the name of the Chief of the wise Apostles, O father Peter…
Kontakion — Tone 3
Let us honour today the star of Rus', which rose in the east and came unto the west, enriching all this land with miracles and with good things, and founding for us the rule and the order of the monastic life: the blessed Theodosius. Him the monastery of the Caves honoureth, and with the brethren we cry aloud: Rejoice, O father, boast of the monks!
Kontakion — Tone 4
Having borne torments of every kind and received your crowns from God, intercede for us with the Lord, O holy martyrs, that He may grant remission of sins to us who keep your all-sacred memory.
Troparion — Tone 4 (common of two martyrs)
Thy martyrs Diodorus and Rhodopianus, O Lord, in their contest received incorruptible crowns from Thee, our God; for possessing Thy strength, they cast down the tyrants and shattered the feeble insolence of the demons. By their intercessions save our souls.
Troparion — Tone 1
The glory of Hellas and the boast of the venerable, the luminary of Steiris and its holy dweller — Luke the God-bearer — let us honour with piety in songs and hymns; for he poureth forth healings upon those who draw near to him in faith and cry: Glory to Christ who hath glorified thee; glory to him who hath made thee wondrous; glory to him who through thee worketh healings for all.
Troparion — Tone 4 (common of a hierarch)
O God of our fathers, who ever dealest with us according to Thy gentleness: take not Thy mercy from us, but by the intercessions of Thy hierarch Peter guide our life in peace.
Troparion — Tone 8
Raised up unto virtue, and loving the monastic life from thy childhood, thou didst valiantly attain unto thy desire and didst make thy dwelling in a cave, adorning thy life with fasting and with purity; and abiding in prayer as one without a body, thou didst shine forth in the land of Rus' as a radiant beacon, O venerable father Theodosius. Pray thou unto Christ God that our souls may be saved.
Readings
Vespers
Wisdom of Solomon 5.15-6.3
15But the righteous live for evermore; their reward also is with the Lord, and the care of them is with the most High. 16Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom, and a beautiful crown from the Lord’s hand: for with his right hand shall he cover them, and with his arm shall he protect them. 17He shall take to him his jealousy for complete armour, and make the creature his weapon for the revenge of his enemies. 18He shall put on righteousness as a breastplate, and true judgment instead of an helmet. 19He shall take holiness for an invincible shield. 20His severe wrath shall he sharpen for a sword, and the world shall fight with him against the unwise. 21Then shall the right aiming thunderbolts go abroad; and from the clouds, as from a well drawn bow, shall they fly to the mark. 22And hailstones full of wrath shall be cast as out of a stone bow, and the water of the sea shall rage against them, and the floods shall cruelly drown them. 23Yea, a mighty wind shall stand up against them, and like a storm shall blow them away: thus iniquity shall lay waste the whole earth, and ill dealing shall overthrow the thrones of the mighty. 1Hear therefore, O ye kings, and understand; learn, ye that be judges of the ends of the earth. 2Give ear, ye that rule the people, and glory in the multitude of nations. 3For power is given you of the Lord, and sovereignty from the Highest, who shall try your works, and search out your counsels.
Wisdom of Solomon 3.1-9
1But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them. 2In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure is taken for misery, 3And their going from us to be utter destruction: but they are in peace. 4For though they be punished in the sight of men, yet is their hope full of immortality. 5And having been a little chastised, they shall be greatly rewarded: for God proved them, and found them worthy for himself. 6As gold in the furnace hath he tried them, and received them as a burnt offering. 7And in the time of their visitation they shall shine, and run to and fro like sparks among the stubble. 8They shall judge the nations, and have dominion over the people, and their Lord shall reign for ever. 9They that put their trust in him shall understand the truth: and such as be faithful in love shall abide with him: for grace and mercy is to his saints, and he hath care for his elect.
Wisdom of Solomon 4.7-15
7But though the righteous be prevented with death, yet shall he be in rest. 8For honourable age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor that is measured by number of years. 9But wisdom is the gray hair unto men, and an unspotted life is old age. 10He pleased God, and was beloved of him: so that living among sinners he was translated. 11Yea speedily was he taken away, lest that wickedness should alter his understanding, or deceit beguile his soul. 12For the bewitching of naughtiness doth obscure things that are honest; and the wandering of concupiscence doth undermine the simple mind. 13He, being made perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time: 14For his soul pleased the Lord: therefore hasted he to take him away from among the wicked. 15This the people saw, and understood it not, neither laid they up this in their minds, That his grace and mercy is with his saints, and that he hath respect unto his chosen.
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
Acts 9.32-42
32And it came to pass, as Peter passed throughout all quarters, he came down also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda. 33And there he found a certain man named Æneas, which had kept his bed eight years, and was sick of the palsy. 34And Peter said unto him, Æneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed. And he arose immediately. 35And all that dwelt at Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned to the Lord. 36Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did. 37And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber. 38And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to come to them. 39Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them. 40But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up. 41And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive. 42And it was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in the Lord.
Hebrews 13.7-16 (St Theodosius)
7Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. 8Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. 9Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. 10We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. 11For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. 12Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. 13Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. 14For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. 15By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. 16But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
Gospel
John 5.1-15
1After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. 3In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. 4For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. 5And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? 7The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. 8Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. 9And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath. 10The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. 11He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. 12Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? 13And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. 14Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. 15The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.
Matthew 11.27-30 (St Theodosius)
27All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. 28Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.