Monday, 15 January 2024

Monday of the 33rd week after Pentecost

274 days after Pascha · Tone 7 · Black squigg (6-stich typikon symbol) · No Fast

Saints commemorated

Saint Ita, Hermitess of Killeedy

Saint Ita (c. 480 – c. 570), also known as Itha, Ida, Ide, Deirdre, or Dorothy, was an early Irish nun and saint of the fifth to sixth centuries. Born around 480 into a devout Christian family of nobility in County Waterford in the Munster province of southeastern Ireland, Ita was the daughter of a local chieftain. Her parents raised her in the Christian faith and provided her with an excellent education befitting her station. Responding to a monastic calling, Ita founded a convent school at Killeedy (Cille Ide), near Newcastle West in County Limerick, which bears her name to this day. She became known as the "Foster Mother of the Irish Saints" because of her role in educating and fostering numerous young men who would become prominent saints of Ireland. Among her most notable pupils were Saint Brendan the Navigator of Clonfert, Saint Mochoemoc (her nephew), Saint Cumian, and Saint Fachanan. Her school was famous throughout Ireland as a centre of learning, and parents from various regions sent their sons to be educated under her guidance. Ita is venerated as the patroness of Munster and celebrated for her natural gift for organisation and teaching. It is believed she may have been the abbess of a double monastery, overseeing communities of both men and women. Her feast day on 15 January is celebrated with solemn services and festive events in the surrounding churches of Limerick and beyond.

Saints Salome of Ujarma and Perozhavra of Sivnia

Saints Salome of Ujarma and Perozhavra of Sivnia were devoted disciples and closest companions of Saint Nino, the Enlightener of Georgia, during the fourth century. Both women came from noble Georgian families and played crucial roles in the establishment of Christianity throughout the kingdom of Kartli. Salome was the wife of Revi, son of King Mirian of Georgia, whilst Perozhavra was married to the ruler of the Kartli region. When Saint Nino arrived in Georgia with her holy mission to convert the kingdom to Christianity, these two noble women became her steadfast companions and helpers in spreading the Christian faith. After King Mirian's own conversion and the adoption of Christianity as the official faith of Georgia, Saint Salome, inspired by Saint Nino and under the orders of King Mirian, erected a cross at Ujarma in the Kakheti region—a symbol that stands to this day as a testament to early Georgian Christianity. When Saint Nino fell gravely ill in the village of Bodbe, both Salome and Perozhavra remained devoted at her bedside, weeping at the prospect of losing their beloved teacher and spiritual guide. In her final days, Saint Nino imparted sacred knowledge to them, which they faithfully recorded. Saints Salome and Perozhavra composed The Life of Saint Nino, Enlightener of Georgia, preserving for posterity the account of Georgia's apostolic evangelist. The Apostolic Orthodox Church of Georgia commemorates both saints on 15 January, the day following the commemoration of Saint Nino.

Venerable John the Hutdweller

Venerable John, known as the Kalyvitis or Hutdweller, was an ascetic monk whose spiritual struggle and unwavering devotion to Christ became a model for monastic practice. He dwelt in a small hut (kalyvi) in remote monasticism, pursuing a life of profound prayer, fasting, and contemplation. Through his intense ascetical discipline and mystical communion with God, he attained significant spiritual gifts, becoming known amongst the brethren as a guide to the hesychastic prayer tradition. His life exemplifies the Orthodox monastic commitment to withdrawal from the world in order to pursue union with God through perpetual prayer and contemplative practice. John's feast day is celebrated on 15 January in the Eastern Orthodox Church, where he is venerated as a holy father who illuminated the path of monastic struggle through his own example of steadfast devotion. His memory serves as a reminder of the power and necessity of solitary ascetical practice within the broader monasticism of the Church.

Venerable Paul of Thebes

Paul of Thebes (c. 227 – c. 341), commonly known as Paul the First Hermit or Paul the Anchorite, was an Egyptian saint regarded as the first Christian hermit and founder of monasticism. Born around 227 in the Thebaid of Egypt during the reign of Emperor Alexander Severus, Paul was left orphaned and suffered many injustices from a greedy relative who sought to seize his inheritance.

During the persecution against Christians under the emperor Decius (249–251), Paul learned of his brother-in-law's insidious plan to deliver him to the persecutors. He fled into the wilderness and settled in a mountain cave, where he dwelt for ninety-one years in continuous prayer. He sustained himself on dates and bread, which according to tradition a raven brought to him, and clothed himself with woven palm leaves. His life became a beacon for future ascetics, inspiring the development of monasticism throughout the Christian world.

Saint Anthony the Great, the founder of communal monasticism, had a divine revelation concerning Paul's sanctity and visited him in his cave. After Paul's repose in 341 at the age of 113, Anthony discovered his body and buried it with great reverence. Though Paul did not establish a monastery, the example of his solitary ascetic life inspired countless imitators who soon filled the Egyptian desert with monastic communities, earning him the title "Father of Monks" amongst solitary hermits.

His iconography depicts him as an elderly ascetic, often shown with a raven bringing him bread. The Coptic Orthodox Church also commemorates him on 2 Meshir (9 February).

Our Holy Father John Kalyvites

c. 450

He was the son of Eutropius, a prominent senator, and Theodora, who lived in Constantinople. At the age of twelve, he secretly fled his home, taking nothing but a Gospel book with him. Entering the Monastery of the Unsleeping Ones in the City, he gave himself up with fervor to a life of prayer, self-denial and obedience. For three years he ate only on Sundays after taking communion, and became so thin and haggard that he bore no resemblance to the young nobleman who had entered the monastery. Tormented by longing to see his parents, but unwilling to give up the ascetic struggle, he left the monastery with his Abbot’s blessing, dressed in beggar’s rags, and took up residence in a poor hut near the gate of his parents’ house. Here he lived, mocked by those who had once been his servants and despised by his own parents, who no longer recognized him. After three years, Christ appeared to him and told him that his end was drawing near, and that in three days angels would come to take him home. John sent a message to his parents, asking them to visit his hut. In perplexity, they came, and John, showing them the Gospel book that they had given him as a child, revealed to them that he was their son, and that he was about to die. They embraced him, rejoicing at their reunion but weeping for his departure from this life. Immediately, he gave back his soul to God. The whole City of Constantinople was stirred by the story, and great crowds came to John’s burial service. A church was later built on the site of his hut, and many miracles were wrought there through the Saint’s prayers.

Saint Ita of Kileedy, Ireland

570

The gentle and motherly St. Ita was descended from the high kings of Tara. From her youth she loved God ardently and shone with the radiance of a soul that loves virtue. Because of her purity of heart she was able to hear the voice of God and communicate it to others. Despite her father’s opposition she embraced the monastic life in her youth. In obedience to the revelation of an angel she went to the people of Ui Conaill in the southwestern part of Ireland. While she was there, the foundation of a convent was laid. It soon grew into a monastic school for the education of boys, quickly becoming known for its high level of learning and moral purity. The most famous of her many students was St. Brendan of Clonfert (May 16). She went to the other world in great holiness to dwell forever with the risen Lord in the year 570. —from the 2003 Saint Herman Calendar

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

2 Timothy — 2 Timothy 2.20-26

²⁰Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some unto honor, and some unto dishonor. ²⁰But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. ²¹If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, meet for the master’s use, prepared unto every good work. ²¹If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work. ²²But flee youthful lusts, and follow after righteousness, faith, love, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. ²²Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. ²³But foolish and ignorant questionings refuse, knowing that they gender strifes. ²³But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. ²⁴And the Lord’s servant must not strive, but be gentle towards all, apt to teach, forbearing, ²⁴And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, ²⁵in meekness correcting them that oppose themselves; if peradventure God may give them repentance unto the knowledge of the truth, ²⁵In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; ²⁶and they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him unto his will. ²⁶And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Luke — Luke 19.37-44

³⁷And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; ³⁷And as he was now drawing nigh, even at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works which they had seen; ³⁸Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. ³⁸saying, Blessed is the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. ³⁹And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. ³⁹And some of the Pharisees from the multitude said unto him, Teacher, rebuke thy disciples. ⁴⁰And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. ⁴⁰And he answered and said, I tell you that, if these shall hold their peace, the stones will cry out.

⁴¹And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,

⁴¹And when he drew nigh, he saw the city and wept over it, ⁴²Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. ⁴²saying, If thou hadst known in this day, even thou, the things which belong unto peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. ⁴³For the days shall come upon thee, when thine enemies shall cast up a bank about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, ⁴³For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, ⁴⁴And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. ⁴⁴and shall dash thee to the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.