Great Lent, day 22 · 27 days until Pascha
Saints commemorated
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Saint of the day
Ven. Theophanes the Confessor
Theophanes the Confessor (c. 759/760 – 817/818) was a wealthy Byzantine noble of Constantinople who renounced rank and riches to become a monk, and who is remembered on three counts above all: as founder and abbot of the great monastery of the Great Field (Megas Agros) on the peninsula of Sigriane by the Sea of Marmara; as author of the Chronographia, the annalistic chronicle of the years 284–813 that is one of the primary sources for Byzantine, Persian, and early Islamic history; and as a confessor of the holy icons in the second iconoclasm. Married in youth but living with his wife in continence until both took the monastic habit, he distributed his fortune, built monasteries, and signed the decrees of the Seventh Ecumenical Council (787). When Leo V the Armenian revived iconoclasm, Theophanes, already broken by a painful illness, refused to condemn the icons, was imprisoned some two years, and was exiled to the island of Samothrace, where he died of his sufferings a few days after arrival, on March 12. His relics were returned to Megas Agros, and he is venerated throughout the Orthodox world.
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St Gregory the Great (the Dialogist), Pope of Rome (604)
Gregory the Dialogist (c. 540 – 604), known in the West as Gregory the Great, was Pope of Rome from 590 to 604 and is honoured by East and West alike as a Father of the whole undivided Church and one of the four great Latin Doctors. Born to a Roman senatorial family, he rose to be Prefect of the City, then renounced the world, turned his houses into monasteries, and became a monk; drawn back into service as papal legate at Constantinople and then, against his will, as pope, he governed Rome through plague and Lombard war with wisdom and charity. He is remembered for the Dialogues — from which the East names him "the Dialogist" — for the Pastoral Rule, the classic manual of the shepherd's office, and the Moralia on Job; for sending the mission of Augustine to convert the Anglo-Saxons; for the reform of the Roman chant that bears his name; and, in Orthodox tradition, as the compiler to whom the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts of Great Lent is ascribed. He reposed at Rome on March 12, a day kept in Lent, and is one of the few Western fathers venerated without interruption in the Orthodox East.
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Repose of St Symeon the New Theologian (1021)
Symeon the New Theologian (949–1022) is the great mystical theologian of Byzantium: monk of Stoudios, abbot of St. Mamas in Constantinople, spiritual son of Symeon the Pious, and the poet of the Hymns of Divine Love. He taught, against the polite religion of his age, that the conscious experience of God — the vision of the divine light, the felt presence of the Holy Spirit — is not the privilege of a vanished apostolic past but the birthright and calling of every baptised Christian now; for this he was tried, exiled, and finally vindicated. Of all the saints, only he, John the Theologian, and Gregory of Nazianzus bear the title "Theologian."
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Phineas the High Priest
Phineas (Hebrew Pinchas) was the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron, and the third high priest of Israel, remembered in Scripture for the burning zeal by which he turned away the wrath of God from his people. When Israel, encamped at Shittim, was drawn into the idolatry and licence of Baal-Peor and a plague broke out among them, Phineas rose up and struck through an Israelite man and the Midianite woman with him, and the plague was stayed. For this the Lord granted him and his descendants a covenant of peace and an everlasting priesthood (Numbers 25). He led Israel in later crises, kept the priesthood after Eleazar, and his name became in the tradition of Israel and the Church a byword for righteous zeal for God. The Orthodox Church commemorates him among the holy righteous of the Old Covenant on March 12.
British Isles and Ireland
- St. Paul Aurelian of Wales, bishop of Ouismor (575)
- St. Alphege the Elder, bishop of Winchester (951)
- St. Mura McFerednach of Donegal (645)
Troparia & kontakia
Kontakion — Tone 3
Thou wast likened to the great Shepherd, O Gregory, leading the ranks of monks to the heavenly sheepfold; and from thence thou didst teach to all men the way. Wherefore now thou dost rejoice and art glad together with them in the dwelling-places of heaven.
Kontakion — Tone 3
Enlightened by the light three-sunned, O God-wise one, thou wast shown a theologian of the all-divine Trinity. Enriched from on high with the wisdom of words, thou didst pour forth the divine streams of the wisdom of God; drinking of them, we cry: Rejoice, thrice-blessed Symeon, taught of God.
Kontakion — Tone 2
Having received revelation from on high, thou didst hasten forth from the midst of the world's tumults; and taking up the monastic life, O righteous one, thou wast granted the working of wonders and the gift of foretelling things to come. For having scattered thy riches and thy possessions and thy wedded life, thou wast made a kinsman of Christ, O Theophanes.
Troparion — Tone 4
Receiving divine grace from God on high, O glorious Gregory, and strengthened by its power, thou didst choose to walk according to the Gospel. Wherefore thou hast received from Christ the reward of thy labours, O all-blessed one. Entreat him that our souls may be saved.
Troparion — Tone 3
Having received the divine illumination within thy soul, O father Symeon, thou wast shown to the world a most radiant light, dispelling its deep darkness and persuading all to seek the grace of the Spirit which they had lost. Entreat him fervently, that he grant us great mercy.
Troparion — Tone 8
O guide of Orthodoxy, teacher of piety and holiness, luminary of the world, God-inspired adornment of monastics, O wise Theophanes: by thy teachings thou hast enlightened all, thou lyre of the Spirit. Intercede with Christ our God that our souls may be saved.
Readings
6th Hour
Isaiah 14.24-32
24The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: 25That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. 26This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. 27For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back? 28In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden. 29Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. 30And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant. 31Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times. 32What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.
Vespers
Genesis 8.21-9.7
21And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. 22While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. 1And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. 2And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. 3Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. 4But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. 5And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. 6Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. 7And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.
Proverbs 11.19-12.6
19As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death. 20They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the LORD: but such as are upright in their way are his delight. 21Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered. 22As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion. 23The desire of the righteous is only good: but the expectation of the wicked is wrath. 24There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. 25The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. 26He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it. 27He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him. 28He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch. 29He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart. 30The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise. 31Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner. 1Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish. 2A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn. 3A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved. 4A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones. 5The thoughts of the righteous are right: but the counsels of the wicked are deceit. 6The words of the wicked are to lie in wait for blood: but the mouth of the upright shall deliver them.