Friday, 29 December 2023

Friday of the 30th week after Pentecost

257 days after Pascha · Tone 4 · Liturgy · No Fast (Fast Free)

Saints commemorated

Holy Innocents of Bethlehem slain by Herod

When the wise men from the East had come to Jerusalem seeking the new-born King of the Jews and had departed by another way, King Herod, perceiving that he had been mocked of the Magi, was exceedingly wroth. Resolved to destroy the Christ Child whose birth he feared as a rival to his throne, he sent forth and slew all the male children that were in Bethlehem and all its borders, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.

Tradition, following the synaxarion of Constantinople and the chant of the holy hymnographers, numbers these children at fourteen thousand. The infants, slaughtered by the sword in their mothers' arms, became the first martyrs to shed their blood for Christ, though they had not yet been able to confess Him with their lips. The Church honours them as a "harvest of first-fruits" offered to God before the harvest of His apostles and saints, and sees in them the fulfilment of the prophecy of Jeremiah: "In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not."

Among the slain Christian tradition counts also the small son of the priest Zachariah, who, when Zachariah refused to reveal where his son John, the future Forerunner, was hidden, was put to death between the temple and the altar. The Holy Family, warned by an angel, fled into Egypt and so escaped the slaughter, until the death of Herod brought them back into the Holy Land.

Saint Benjamin of Nitria

Saint Benjamin was an ascetic of the Egyptian desert, dwelling in the celebrated monastic settlement of Nitria during the late fourth and early fifth centuries. From his youth he gave himself to fasting, prayer and the eradication of the passions, and through long struggle he received from God the gift of healing. Multitudes flocked to him from far and near, and he laid his hands on the sick and they were made whole. In the last year of his life he was afflicted with a great and painful dropsy, which swelled his body to many times its natural size, so that he could neither walk nor lie at ease. Yet even in this condition he continued to heal others by laying his hands upon them, and his face was filled with peace. He used to say to those who came to comfort him, "Pray rather that the inner man may have no need of healing." So he reposed in peace around the year 392, glorified by God as a great wonderworker of the desert.

Saint Thaddeus the Confessor of the Studite Monastery

Saint Thaddeus was a Scythian by birth, taken captive in his youth and sold as a slave to the family of the noble Theodore the Studite. Recognising his piety, Theodore baptized him and afterwards received him into the great Monastery of Stoudios in Constantinople, where Thaddeus became a fervent disciple of his master and a zealous defender of the holy icons. When the iconoclast persecution flared again under the emperor Leo V the Armenian (813 to 820), Thaddeus was arrested with other monks of the Studite community and pressed to trample upon a holy icon laid before him on the ground. Refusing with horror to commit such an act, he was beaten with cudgels until his body was a single wound, and then dragged by the legs through the streets of the city and thrown out beyond the walls. There he lay for three days, still alive, before he gave up his soul to God around the year 818. His confession is commemorated each year on this day, together with the other saints who suffered for the veneration of icons.

Venerable Marcellus, Abbot of the Monastery of the Unsleeping Ones

He was born to a wealthy family in Syria at the beginning of the fifth century. Early in life he saw the futility of worldly things, gave away all of his wealth, and went to Ephesus, where he earned his living as a scribe. There he was schooled in the virtues by his fellow-worker Promotus, a slave who distributed most of his earnings to the poor; after the day’s work was done, Promotus would take Marcellus to pray all night in the churches and monasteries.

Marcellus heard of the Saint Alexander the Unsleeping (February 25), who had settled near Constantinople with about thirty disciples, who made it their discipline to send up prayer and praise to God at every hour of the day and night. The monastery aroused the resentment of some more worldly monasteries, and the brethren were forced to flee to Bithynia. It was there that Marcellus joined them and took the monastic habit.

After the death of St Alexander and his successor, Marcellus was elected Abbot of the monastery against his will. Under his direction the Monastery of the Unsleeping Ones became a beacon of sanctity, with monks flocking to it from every corner of the Empire. The practice of never-ceasing service to God spread throughout the Empire, in both the West and the East. The monks were divided into three companies according to the language they spoke: Greek, Latin, or Syriac; each company took its turn celebrating the services in its particular language, and thus every hour of the day was given over to God’s glory. The monastery not only grew but give birth to others: The famed Studion Monastery in Constantinople was founded by monks from Marcellus’ monastery.

Saint Marcellus took part in the Council of Chalcedon, defending Orthodoxy against the Monophysite heresy both at the Council and in the years that followed. His generosity and contempt for worldly wealth were known to all: anyone who came to the monastery in need received alms, but God always replenished the funds so that more could be given. When Marcellus inherited his family’s fortune upon his brother’s death, he kept none of it either for himself or even for his monastery, but distributed it to poorer communities and to the needy.

Saint Marcellus reposed in peace around 484, having lived the ascetical life for some sixty years.

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

Hebrews — Hebrews 11.8, 11-16

⁸By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out unto a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. ⁸By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. ¹¹By faith even Sarah herself received power to conceive seed when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised: ¹¹Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. ¹²wherefore also there sprang of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of heaven in multitude, and as the sand, which is by the sea-shore, innumerable. ¹²Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

¹³These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. ¹³These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. ¹⁴For they that say such things make it manifest that they are seeking after a country of their own. ¹⁴For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. ¹⁵And if indeed they had been mindful of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁵And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. ¹⁶But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for he hath prepared for them a city. ¹⁶But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Mark — Mark 12.1-12

¹And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.

¹And he began to speak unto them in parables. A man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a pit for the winepress, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another country. ²And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. ²And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruits of the vineyard. ³And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. ³And they took him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. ⁴And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. ⁴And again he sent unto them another servant; and him they wounded in the head, and handled shamefully. ⁵And he sent another; and him they killed: and many others; beating some, and killing some. ⁵And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some. ⁶Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. ⁶He had yet one, a beloved son: he sent him last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. ⁷But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. ⁷But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. ⁸And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. ⁸And they took him, and killed him, and cast him forth out of the vineyard. ⁹What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. ⁹What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. ¹⁰And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: ¹⁰Have ye not read even this scripture: The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner; ¹¹This was from the Lord, And it is marvellous in our eyes? ¹¹This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

¹²And they sought to lay hold on him; and they feared the multitude; for they perceived that he spake the parable against them: and they left him, and went away. ¹²And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way.