Pre-Lenten Triodion, day 22 · 49 days until Pascha
Forgiveness Sunday
Saints commemorated
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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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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.
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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.
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
8th Matins Gospel
John 20.11-18
11But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, 12And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. 14And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. 15Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. 16Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. 17Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. 18Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.
Epistle
Romans 13.11-14.4
11And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 12The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 13Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. 1Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. 2For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. 3Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. 4Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
Gospel
Matthew 6.14-21
14For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 16Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 17But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. 19Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.