Saturday 19 November 2033
Prophet Obadiah; Ven. Barlaam and Joasaph
Saturday of the 23rd week after Pentecost
Nativity Fast, day 5
Saints commemorated
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Saint of the day
Prophet Obadiah
Obadiah — Abdias in the Greek of the Septuagint and the Byzantine service books — is the fourth of the Twelve Minor Prophets and the author of the shortest book in the Old Testament, a single chapter of twenty-one verses proclaiming the judgment of God upon Edom and the deliverance of Zion. The tradition the Church received identifies him with the God-fearing steward of King Ahab who, in the days of Jezebel's persecution, hid a hundred prophets of the Lord in two caves and fed them (1 Kings 18). His name means "servant" or "worshipper of the Lord." He is commemorated on November 19, within the Nativity Fast.
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Saint of the day
Ven. Barlaam and Joasaph
Barlaam and Josaphat are the two ascetic saints of one of the most widely translated and beloved stories of the medieval world: the hermit Barlaam, who in the guise of a merchant sought out the sheltered prince Josaphat (Ioasaph) of India and, through a chain of parables, brought him to faith in Christ; and Josaphat himself, the king's son, who was baptised, converted his father and people, renounced his throne, and ended his life in the desert beside his teacher. Their tale — passed to Byzantium in Greek, thence into Latin, Slavonic, and dozens of European and Eastern tongues — is now recognised by scholars as a Christianised retelling of the life of the Buddha, the Indian setting and the very name Josaphat (through Bodhisattva) preserving its origin. The Church commemorates the two saints together on November 19, within the Nativity Fast.
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Our Holy Father Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow (1867)
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Holy Martyr Barlaam of Antioch (304)
Barlaam was an aged and unlettered Christian farmer martyred in the persecution of Diocletian, around the year 304. Arrested and unable to be argued or tortured out of his confession, he was carried to a pagan altar, where the judge had his right hand stretched out over the fire and a coal with a heap of burning incense laid upon the open palm — expecting that when the flame reached the flesh the old man would fling it down, and so, against his will, be seen to have offered sacrifice to the idol. Barlaam did not let it fall: he held his hand steady until it was burned away, and gave up his soul. His constancy so captured the imagination of the Church that both Basil the Great and John Chrysostom preached homilies in his honour. He is commemorated on November 19, within the Nativity Fast.
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Heliodorus of Magydos
Heliodorus was a martyr of Magydos (Magydum) in Pamphylia, on the southern coast of Asia Minor, who suffered for Christ in the reign of the emperor Aurelian (270–275). Brought before Aetius, the governor of the city, and refusing to renounce his faith, he was subjected to prolonged tortures — which the fuller synaxarion accounts describe him as enduring unharmed — and was finally beheaded. He is commemorated on November 19, within the Nativity Fast.
British Isles and Ireland
- St. Egbert, 1st archbishop of York (766)
- St. Ermenburgh, abbess of Thanet (c.700)
- St. Medana of Galloway (8th C)
Readings
Epistle
2 Corinthians 8.1-5
1Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; 2How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. 3For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves; 4Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. 5And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.
Gospel
Luke 9.57-62
57And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 58And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 59And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. 61And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. 62And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
Troparia & kontakia
Kontakion
God alone, the Knower of hearts, beholding thy good will from thine infancy, O Josaphat, led thee from an earthly kingdom into the monastic life and granted thee to follow the great Barlaam. Having now with him the radiant heavenly Jerusalem for thy homeland, and delighting in the longed-for beauty of the Holy Trinity, we beseech thee, O royal adornment: remember us who honour thee with faith.
Kontakion — Tone 4
Thou wast shown forth wondrous in the strength of thy whole-burnt sacrifice: as fragrant frankincense thou didst offer thyself a sacrifice to Christ; and having received the crown of honour, O Barlaam, ever pray for us, O sufferer.
Troparion
Taught by thy spiritual guide to know God, O King Josaphat, and enlightened by holy Baptism, thou didst turn thy people to the faith; becoming thy own father's sponsor at the font, thou didst forsake thy kingdom and attain to the wilderness, and there didst labour diligently in the ascetic struggle. Pray to Christ God, together with thy teacher Barlaam, that our souls may be saved.
Troparion
Forsaking the fair things of the world and its glory, thou camest to a cave, where, advancing from strength to strength, thou didst become a guide of the flock of Christ, all-glorious Barlaam. As thou didst shepherd them well, shepherd us also, we entreat thee, keeping us from every evil, that we may call thee blessed.
Troparion — Tone 4 (general troparion of a martyr)
Thy martyr Barlaam, O Lord, in his contest received an incorruptible crown from thee, our God; for possessing thy strength, he cast down the tyrants and shattered the feeble insolence of the demons. By his intercessions save our souls.
Troparion — Tone 4 (general troparion of a martyr)
Thy martyr Heliodorus, O Lord, in his contest received an incorruptible crown from thee, our God; for possessing thy strength, he cast down the tyrants and shattered the feeble insolence of the demons. By his intercessions save our souls.
Troparion — Tone 2
As we celebrate the memory of thy prophet Obadiah, O Lord, through him we entreat thee: save our souls.