Nativity Fast, day 34
Sunday before Nativity
Saints commemorated
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Martyr Sebastian and Companions at Rome
Sebastian (d. c. 288) was, by the tradition received in both East and West, an officer of the Roman army under Diocletian — captain of the imperial guard — who concealed his Christianity in order to strengthen the persecuted brethren. His Passion makes him above all an encourager of martyrs: he steadied the wavering brothers Marcellinus and Mark, converted their jailers and a whole company of prisoners and officials, and when at last denounced was tied to a stake and shot with arrows. Surviving that ordeal, he confronted the emperor a second time and was beaten to death with clubs. He is commemorated on December 18 together with the many companions who suffered in the same cycle — Zoe, Tranquillinus, Nicostratus, Castorius, Claudius, Victorinus, Symphorian, Tiburtius, Castulus, and the deacons Marcellinus and Mark.
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Holy Hieromartyr Modestus I, Archbishop of Jerusalem (634)
Modestus (c. 537–634) was the archbishop who rebuilt the holy places of Jerusalem after the catastrophe of the Persian sack. Born in Cappadocia and tonsured on Mount Sinai, he governed the great monastery of St Sabbas and then, as locum tenens of the widowed patriarchal throne, led the restoration of the churches — above all the Church of the Holy Sepulchre — that Chosroes II's army had burned in 614, when the True Cross was carried off and the Patriarch Zachariah taken captive. With the help of John the Merciful of Alexandria he raised the shrines from their ashes and buried the martyred monks of St Sabbas. On Zachariah's death he became patriarch himself, reposing at the age of ninety-seven. He is honoured as a wonderworker and, in popular devotion, as a protector of flocks and herds.
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Florus of Amisus
Florus (d. early 7th century) was a Byzantine nobleman who became bishop of Amisus on the Black Sea coast of Asia Minor. Named for his father, and given a fine education, he served at the imperial court and was raised to the rank of patrician; he married and had children. When his wife and children died of an epidemic, he renounced the world, withdrew to the neighbourhood of Constantinople to live in solitude and prayer, and was afterwards chosen bishop of Amisus, where he shepherded his flock wisely and reposed in peace. He is commemorated on December 18.
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Michael the Synkellos
Michael the Synkellos (c. 761–846) was a monk of the Lavra of St Sabbas and synkellos of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem who became one of the steadfast confessors of the second iconoclast crisis. Sent to Constantinople on the patriarch's business, he was caught in the icon controversy and, with his disciples the brothers Theodore and Theophanes — the "Branded" (Graptoi) — was beaten, imprisoned, and exiled under the emperors Leo V and Theophilus for his defence of the holy images. When the veneration of icons was restored under the empress Theodora in 843, he was offered the patriarchal throne of Constantinople but declined it, ending his days as synkellos and as abbot of the Chora monastery. He reposed in peace and is honoured as a confessor.
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Sebastian of Poshekhonye
Sebastian of Poshekhonye (†c. 1500) was a Russian monastic saint, the founder and first abbot of a hermitage in the forested Poshekhonye country of the upper Volga. On the River Sokhota, some ninety versts from the town of Romanov (now Tutaev) in the region of Yaroslavl, he raised a monastery in honour of the Transfiguration of the Lord, and gathered a brotherhood whom he taught to live by the labour of their own hands, tilling the soil for their bread. He reposed about the year 1500 and was buried at his monastery; his relics rested there, and in later centuries a stone church was built above them. He is commemorated on February 26.
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Simeon of Verkhoturye
Simeon of Verkhoturye (c. 1607–1642) is the most beloved saint of the Russian Urals and Siberia — a nobleman who hid his birth to live as a poor wanderer among the newly settled and half-Christianised peoples of the frontier. Making his home by the village church of Merkushino near Verkhoturye, he supported himself by sewing coats for the poor, deliberately leaving each garment a little unfinished so as to earn reproach rather than praise, and he taught the faith to the local Russians and native peoples while fishing and praying in the wilderness. He died young and obscure, but in 1692 his coffin rose from the earth and his incorrupt relics began to work abundant healings; their translation to Verkhoturye in 1704 is his second feast.
British Isles and Ireland
- St. Winebald, abbot and missionary in England and Heidenheim (761)
- St. Samthan, foundress of Clonbroney Convent (6th C)
- St. Flannan, 1st bishop of Killaloe (7th C)
Readings
Vespers
Genesis 14.14-20
14And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. 15And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. 16And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. 17And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale. 18And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. 19And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
Deuteronomy 1.8-11, 15-17
8Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them. 9And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone: 10The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. 11(The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!) 15So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. 16And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. 17Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.
Deuteronomy 10.14-21
14Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD’s thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is. 15Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day. 16Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked. 17For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: 18He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. 19Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. 20Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. 21He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.
5th Matins Gospel
Luke 24.12-35
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. 13And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. 14And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. 16But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. 17And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? 18And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? 19And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: 20And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. 21But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. 22Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; 23And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. 24And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. 25Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 27And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 28And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. 29But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. 30And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. 31And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. 32And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? 33And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, 34Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. 35And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.
Epistle
Hebrews 11.9-10, 17-23, 32-40 (Sunday before Nativity)
9By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 17By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. 20By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. 21By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. 22By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones. 23By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment. 32And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 33Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 36And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 37They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 38(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 40God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
Gospel
Matthew 1.1-25 (Sunday before Nativity)
1The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; 3And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; 4And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; 5And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; 6And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; 7And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa; 8And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; 9And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias; 10And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias; 11And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon: 12And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel; 13And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor; 14And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud; 15And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; 16And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. 17So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations. 18Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. 19Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. 20But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 21And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 22Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. 24Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: 25And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
Troparia & kontakia
Kontakion — Tone 3
Beholding the steadfastness of thy shining struggles and the riches of thy compassion toward all, the all-good Bestower of the contest, our God, granted thee His abundant gifts, O Modestus, glorious hierarch and wonderworker. Wherefore, praying to thee, we cry aloud: Deliver us from grievous circumstances, and grant healing to our infirmities.
Kontakion
Having shone forth as radiant lamps, O divine martyrs, ye illumine all creation with the splendour of your miracles, loosing infirmities and ever driving away the deep darkness, as ye unceasingly entreat Christ God on behalf of us all.
Kontakion — Tone 2
Thou didst renounce the vain world to inherit the good things of eternal life, loving guilelessness and purity of soul and body. Thou hast gained what thou didst love, for thy grave and the incorruption of thy relics bear witness thereto, and the grace of wonderworking most of all; for thou pourest forth healings upon all who run to thee, and upon the unenlightened, O blessed Simeon, most marvellous wonderworker.
Troparion
A rule of faith and an image of meekness, a teacher of temperance, hast thou been shown to thy flock by the truth of thy deeds; therefore by humility thou didst gain the things on high, and by poverty the things of wealth. O father and hierarch Florus, intercede with Christ God that our souls may be saved.
Troparion
Guide of Orthodoxy, teacher of piety and reverence, luminary of the world, God-inspired adornment of hierarchs: by thy teachings thou hast enlightened all, O all-wise Michael. O harp of the Spirit, intercede with Christ God that our souls may be saved.
Troparion — Tone 4
Having lived in holiness, O God-wise Modestus, and adorned with the vesture of the hierarchs, most blessed shepherd of Jerusalem, thou now standest before Christ in gladness and dost illumine the ends of the earth with wonders. Be a helper to those who call upon thee, praying, O father, for us all.
Troparion — Tone 8
In thee, O Father, was preserved unimpaired that which is according to the image; for taking up thy cross thou didst follow Christ, and by thy deeds thou didst teach us to despise the flesh, for it passes away, but to care for the soul, a thing immortal. Therefore, O venerable Sebastian, thy spirit rejoices together with the Angels.
Troparion
Thy Martyr, O Lord, in his contest received the crown of incorruption from Thee, our God; for possessing Thy strength, he cast down the tyrants and shattered the feeble insolence of the demons. By his supplications, O Christ God, save our souls.
Troparion — Tone 4
Fleeing the tumult of the world, thou didst turn all thy longing toward God, that thou mightest find the ascent to the vision of things on high; and turning not aside into the guile of the heart, but cleansing soul and body, thou didst receive the grace to pour forth healings upon the faithful and the faithless who run to thee, O righteous Simeon. Therefore, by the gift given thee, ask of Christ God healing for us who are sick with the passions of the soul, and pray that our souls may be saved.