St Theophylactus, Bishop of Nicomedia

Saints commemorated

Saint of the day

St Theophylactus, Bishop of Nicomedia

Theophylact (mid-8th century – c. 842/845) was bishop of Nicomedia in Bithynia and one of the leading confessors of the second Iconoclasm. A gifted disciple of the Patriarch Tarasius of Constantinople, he was trained in monastic life at a house on the Black Sea coast together with his friend Michael, later bishop of Synada, and was raised by Tarasius to the see of Nicomedia, which he governed with a boundless charity — building hospices, hospitals, and homes for strangers, and tending the lepers with his own hands. When the emperor Leo V the Armenian renewed the war on the holy images, Theophylact stood with the Patriarch Nicephorus against him, and to his face foretold the sudden and violent end that overtook the emperor. For this confession he was banished to the fortress of Strobilos, where he endured some thirty years and reposed still in exile, about the year 842 or 845. After the restoration of the icons his relics were carried back in honour to Nicomedia. The Church keeps him on March 8.
Hieromartyr Theodoretus (362)

Theodoretus (†c. 362) — Theodoret the Presbyter — was a priest of the church of Antioch and keeper of its sacred vessels, martyred under Julian the Apostate. When Julian's uncle, also named Julian, Count of the East, came to Antioch to seize and plunder the treasures of the Christian churches and shut their doors, the priest Theodoret refused to abandon his flock, gathering and strengthening the faithful in secret. Arrested and brought before the Count, he confessed Christ boldly, denounced the emperor's apostasy, and endured the rack, the tearing of his flesh, and burning torches without flinching, foretelling the wretched deaths that soon overtook both the Count and the emperor. He was beheaded about the year 362. An Antiochian martyr of the last pagan persecution, he is commemorated on March 3.
Athanasius of Murom

Athanasius (fifteenth century) was an abbot of the Murom (Muromsky) Monastery on Lake Onega — the house founded in the previous century by the Greek elder Lazarus of Murom — where he laboured in the monastic life and governed the brotherhood. Little is recorded of him beyond his office and his sanctity; he is remembered in the Russian Church together with the founder Lazarus on March 8, the two venerables of Murom kept on one day.
Dometius the Wonderworker

Dometius was a monastic saint of the fourth century, commemorated on March 8 and styled by the tradition a wonderworker. Very little is transmitted of him: the Greek Menaion keeps him among the day's saints as a venerable monk (hosios), and the Slavic reckoning for the day remembers a Dometius of Persia in the same century. Because of the bare notice and the shared name, the tradition itself is uncertain whether the Dometius of March 8 is a distinct ascetic or the same as Dometius the Persian, the venerable-martyr of the reign of Julian the Apostate more fully commemorated on August 7; the question is recorded here rather than resolved.
Euthymius of Sardis

Euthymius (c. 754 – 831) was metropolitan of Sardis in Lydia and one of the most steadfast defenders of the holy icons through the second iconoclast persecution. A confessor at the Seventh Ecumenical Council (Nicaea, 787), he spent the last quarter-century of his life in a succession of exiles under four emperors — Nicephorus I, Leo V, Michael II, and Theophilus — refusing to the end to abandon the veneration of images. Under Theophilus he was scourged so cruelly that he died of the wounds, on December 26, 831, and the Church honours him as both confessor and hieromartyr, reckoning him among the first martyrs of the renewed iconoclasm. His Life was written soon after by Methodius, later patriarch of Constantinople, who had known him.
Hermes of the Seventy

Hermes was one of the Seventy Apostles whom the Lord sent out before his face (Luke 10:1), named by the Apostle Paul in the closing greetings of the Epistle to the Romans — "Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brethren which are with them" (Romans 16:14). The tradition remembers him as a bishop of Dalmatia, a labourer of the apostolic generation who carried the Gospel to the Adriatic coast. The Church keeps his memory on March 8, and again on April 8 among a company of the Seventy, and gathers him with the whole company at the Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles on January 4. Because Romans 16:14 names in one breath both a Hermes and a Hermas, he is constantly confused with Hermas of Philippopolis (kept November 5), and with the shadowy Hermas to whom the second-century work The Shepherd is ascribed; the tradition distinguishes all three.
Lazarus of Murom

Lazarus of Murom (c. 1286 – 1391) was a Greek monk from Constantinople who became one of the first apostles of monasticism in the far Russian North. Sent, by the tradition, from the imperial city into the lands of Novgorod, he received the blessing of the archbishop Basil Kalika and withdrew to a wild, uninhabited island on the eastern shore of Lake Onega, in the Olonets country, where about the middle of the fourteenth century he founded the Murom (Muromsky) Monastery — one of the oldest religious houses of the Russian North. There he endured great hardship among the pagan Lop and Chud of the region, whom he converted to Christ by his patience and his miracles, and he gathered a brotherhood about him. He reposed, the tradition says, at the great age of a hundred and five, on March 8, 1391. The little wooden church of the Raising of Lazarus he is said to have built with his own hands survives to this day — removed to the island of Kizhi — as the most ancient wooden temple of the Russian North.
Paul the Confessor of Plousias

Paul the Confessor (died c. 850) was bishop of Plousias, a city of Bithynia in Asia Minor, and a defender of the holy icons in the second iconoclast persecution of the ninth century. His stand for the images, the tradition notes, was grounded above all in Holy Scripture. For it he was harassed, driven from his see, and — together with the confessor Theophylact, bishop of Nicomedia — sent into exile, where he ended his life as a confessor of the faith, never having yielded the veneration of the icons of Christ and the saints. He is commemorated on March 7.

British Isles and Ireland

St. Felix of Burgundy, bishop of Dunwich and Enlightener of East Anglia (c.648)
St. Senan, abbot of Scattery (544)
St. Beoadh, bishop of Ardcane (c.518)
St. Duthac of Ross (1065)
St. Rhian of Llanrhian

Troparia & kontakia

Kontakion — Tone 4

The Church knoweth thee for a shining star, O Euthymius, made radiant by the confession of the icons; contending unto blood against the ranks of the impious, thou didst receive the crown of martyrdom from Christ our God, whom thou dost entreat for us all.

Kontakion — Tone 2

Guarding the treasure of the true faith, O wise Theodoretus, you counted the wealth of the world as nothing; and when the apostate stretched out his hand against the Church, you were revealed a fearless priest and martyr, laying down your head for Christ. Wherefore we honour your holy memory.

Troparion — Tone 8

In thee, O Father, was the divine image kept secure; for taking up the Cross thou didst follow Christ, and by thy deeds thou didst teach us to despise the flesh, which passeth away, and to care rather for the soul, a thing immortal; wherefore thy spirit, O venerable Athanasius, rejoiceth with the Angels.

Troparion — Tone 8

In thee, O Father, was the divine image kept secure; for taking up the Cross thou didst follow Christ, and by thy deeds thou didst teach us to despise the flesh, which passeth away, and to care rather for the soul, a thing immortal; wherefore thy spirit, O venerable Dometius, rejoiceth with the Angels.

Troparion — Tone 4

Partaker of the ways of the Apostles and successor to their throne, thou didst find in action, O God-inspired, the ascent to contemplation; wherefore, rightly dividing the word of truth, thou didst contend for the faith even unto blood, O Hieromartyr Euthymius. Entreat Christ our God to save our souls.

Troparion — Tone 3

O holy Apostle Hermes, intercede with the merciful God, that he may grant to our souls the forgiveness of transgressions.

Troparion — Tone 8

In thee, O Father, was the divine image kept secure; for taking up the Cross thou didst follow Christ, and by thy deeds thou didst teach us to despise the flesh, which passeth away, and to care rather for the soul, a thing immortal; wherefore thy spirit, O venerable Lazarus, rejoiceth 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 hierarch Paul guide our life in peace.

Troparion — Tone 4

Your martyr Theodoretus, O Lord, in his contest received from you, our God, the crown of incorruption; for, armed with your strength, he cast down the persecutors and shattered the powerless insolence of the demons. By his supplications, O Christ God, save our souls.

Troparion — Tone 3

A sleepless guardian of the Church and a caster-down of impiety hast thou been shown to be, O hierarch Theophylact; for in venerating the Icon of Christ thou didst endure banishment and afflictions. O venerable Father, entreat Christ our God to grant us great mercy.

Readings

Epistle

3 John 1.1-14

¹The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth. ²Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. ³For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. ⁴I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. ⁵Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers; ⁶Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well: ⁷Because that for his name’s sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. ⁸We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth. ⁹I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. ¹⁰Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church. ¹¹Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God. ¹²Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record; and ye know that our record is true. ¹³I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee: ¹⁴But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name.

Gospel

Luke 19.29-40, 22.7-39

²⁹And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount called the mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, ³⁰Saying, Go ye into the village over against you; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither. ³¹And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him. ³²And they that were sent went their way, and found even as he had said unto them. ³³And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt? ³⁴And they said, The Lord hath need of him. ³⁵And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon. ³⁶And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way. ³⁷And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; ³⁸Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. ³⁹And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. ⁴⁰And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. ⁷Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed. ⁸And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat. ⁹And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare? ¹⁰And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in. ¹¹And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? ¹²And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. ¹³And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. ¹⁴And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. ¹⁵And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: ¹⁶For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. ¹⁷And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: ¹⁸For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. ¹⁹And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. ²⁰Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. ²¹But, behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table. ²²And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed! ²³And they began to enquire among themselves, which of them it was that should do this thing. ²⁴And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. ²⁵And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. ²⁶But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. ²⁷For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth. ²⁸Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations. ²⁹And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; ³⁰That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ³¹And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: ³²But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. ³³And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death. ³⁴And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me. ³⁵And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing. ³⁶Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. ³⁷For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end. ³⁸And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough. ³⁹And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him.