Wednesday, 14 February 2024

Wednesday of the 37th week after Pentecost

304 days after Pascha · Tone 3 · Red cross (polyeleos typikon symbol) · Fast

Saints commemorated

★ Saint Cyril, Equal-of-the-Apostles, Teacher of the Slavs

Cyril, along with his brother Methodius, was an apostle to the Slavic peoples and is venerated as one of the greatest missionaries in the history of the Church. Born in the ninth century, he was a learned and pious man who possessed great linguistic gifts. Cyril and Methodius were sent by the Patriarch of Constantinople to bring the Orthodox faith to the Slavic lands. To accomplish this mission, Cyril created the Glagolitic alphabet to allow the translation of the liturgical texts into the Slavonic language, making the divine services comprehensible to the Slavic peoples. Through his tireless labour and missionary zeal, Cyril brought countless souls to the knowledge of Christ and established the Orthodox Church among the Slavs. He endured many hardships and opposition but remained steadfast in his apostolic mission. His legacy continues through the Church's liturgical life among the Slavic peoples, and he is commemorated as one of the most important figures in the mission and Christianization of Eastern Europe.

Hieromartyr Philemon of Gaza

Philemon was a hieromartyr and priest of Gaza in the early Christian era. He was arrested for his Christian faith and refused to renounce Christ or offer sacrifice to idols. Despite severe tortures and imprisonment, Philemon remained steadfast in his confession of Christ. He was eventually martyred for his unwavering commitment to the Gospel and his refusal to deny the God he served. His martyrdom strengthened the faith of the Christian community in Gaza and testified to the power of Christ's redemption. He is remembered as a faithful priest and confessor whose life and death witnessed to the truth of the Christian faith.

Our Holy Father Auxentius

470

He was of Persian origin, born in Syria. As a young man, he distinguished himself as a member of the court of the Emperor Theodosius the Younger. Seeing the vanity of the world’s honors and pleasures, he became a monk in Constantinople; but when the people began to praise his holiness, he fled to Mount Oxeia near Chalcedon, which later became known as Auxentius’ Mountain. There he built a small hut and lived in reclusion; but in time he was discovered by some shepherds, and the faithful began to come in increasing numbers for his teaching, blessing, prayers and healing. He performed countless miracles, but such was his humility that he always sought to avoid their being attributed to him. When he was asked to pray for someone’s healing, he would try to refuse, saying “I too am a sinful man.” But, when he was prevailed on by the pleas of the people, he would call on all of them to pray together for the healing; or he would remind them that God would give according to their faith; or he would say to the sick person “The Lord Jesus Christ heals you.” When the Emperor Marcian summoned the Fourth Ecumenical Council to Chalcedon, he ordered that the hermit join the assembly of holy Fathers. Auxentius refused, saying that doctrinal teaching was the province of bishops, not monks. The Emperor’s envoys took him by force. He was greeted with honor by the Emperor, and affirmed all the decisions of the Council. He never returned to Mount Oxeia, but settled in an even wilder and more remote spot on Mount Skopa, which later came to be called Mount St Auxentius. His disciples built him a tiny wooden hut with one small window through which he could converse with his steady stream of visitors. He reposed in peace in 470. A great crowd gathered for his funeral, and his holy relics were taken into the care of a women’s monastery whose spiritual Father he had been. Mount St Auxentius soon became a center of hesychastic life, with seven monasteries.

Saint Auxentius of Bithynia

Auxentius was a holy ascetic and venerable monk of Bithynia who lived a life of great spiritual discipline and devotion to God. He withdrew from the distractions of worldly life to pursue monasticism and the perfection of the Christian virtue. Through his prayers, fasting, and unwavering commitment to God, Auxentius became a vessel of God's grace and was granted gifts of spiritual discernment and wisdom. He served as a spiritual father to many who sought his guidance, and his words of wisdom continue to inspire the faithful. He is remembered for his profound holiness and his dedication to the monastic life.

Venerable Maron the Hermit

Maron was a venerable hermit and ascetic monk of the fourth century known for his life of extreme asceticism and his powerful miracles of healing and deliverance. He withdrew from the world and devoted himself entirely to prayer and the pursuit of spiritual perfection. Through his unceasing prayers and intercession, Maron became a channel of divine grace and power, working wonders in the name of Christ. He was known for his great humility and his unwavering commitment to the monastic life. Maron's prayers were sought by the sick and afflicted, and many were healed through his intercession. He is remembered as one of the greatest ascetics of the Eastern Church and remains widely venerated for his holiness and miraculous powers.

What Happened to Valentine's Day?

On February 14 the Roman church commemorates two Saints named Valentinus, both martyred in Rome at different times (one was a bishop in Italy). Both are also saints of the Orthodox Church, but are commemorated on July 30 and October 24. As for chocolates, flowers, cards, etc., the Encyclopedia Britannica says: “St Valentine’s day as a lovers’ festival… has no relation to the saint or to any incident in his life. These customs seem rather to be connected either with the pagan Roman festival of the Lupercalia which took place in the middle of February, or with the spring season in general.”

Venerable Maron the Hermit of Syria

c. 423

This ascetic and wonderworker was a friend of St John Chrysostom. Read his life here.

Also commemorated: St Cyril, Teacher of the Slavs

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

James — James 3.11-4.6

¹¹Doth the fountain send forth from the same opening sweet water and bitter? ¹¹Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? ¹²can a fig tree, my brethren, yield olives, or a vine figs? neither can salt water yield sweet. ¹²Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.

¹³Who is wise and understanding among you? let him show by his good life his works in meekness of wisdom. ¹³Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. ¹⁴But if ye have bitter jealousy and faction in your heart, glory not and lie not against the truth. ¹⁴But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. ¹⁵This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. ¹⁵This wisdom is not a wisdom that cometh down from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. ¹⁶For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. ¹⁶For where jealousy and faction are, there is confusion and every vile deed. ¹⁷But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without variance, without hypocrisy. ¹⁷But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. ¹⁸And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for them that make peace. ¹⁸And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

¹From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

¹Whence come wars and whence come fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your pleasures that war in your members? ²Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. ²Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and covet, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war; ye have not, because ye ask not. ³Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. ³Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may spend it in your pleasures. ⁴Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. ⁴Ye adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of God. ⁵Or think ye that the scripture speaketh in vain? Doth the spirit which he made to dwell in us long unto envying? ⁵Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? ⁶But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. ⁶But he giveth more grace. Wherefore the scripture saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Mark — Mark 11.22-26

²²And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. ²²And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. ²³For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. ²³Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he saith cometh to pass; he shall have it. ²⁴Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. ²⁴Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. ²⁵And whensoever ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any one; that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. ²⁵And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. ²⁶But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. ²⁶