Thursday, 22 February 2024

73 days before Pascha · Tone 4 · Liturgy · No Fast

Saints commemorated

Holy Martyrs Maurice and Photinus of Apamea

305

Maurice was a distinguished military commander of the Syrian city of Apamea who held considerable authority and respect among the soldiers under his command. When the imperial authorities learned that Maurice was proclaiming the faith in Christ and converting his subordinates to the Orthodox Christian religion, he was brought before the authorities to answer charges of apostasy from the imperial pagan gods. Maurice, together with his beloved son Photinus and the seventy soldiers under his military command, stood firm in their confession of Christ, neither yielding to persuasion nor succumbing to threats against their lives. They endured systematic and cruel torture, being beaten mercilessly, burned with fire and torn with iron implements. The young man Photinus, who had heroically borne the torments inflicted upon him, was eventually beheaded by the sword before the very eyes of his father. The sight of his son's martyrdom did not break Maurice's resolve but rather strengthened his faith, knowing that his child had been granted the crown of martyrdom. The remaining confessors were subsequently led to a swampy place infested with mosquitoes, wasps and gnats, where they were bound to trees and covered with honey to enhance their suffering. Weakened by hunger and thirst, these holy martyrs endured this terrible torment for ten days, yet they never ceased their prayers and praises of God. Finally the Lord granted them relief from their earthly struggles in the year 305, during the reign of the emperor Maximian Galerius.

Saint Athanasius the Confessor of Constantinople

821

Saint Athanasius was born in Constantinople to pious and affluent parents who ensured he received both a classical education and thorough grounding in Holy Scripture and the spiritual life. From his earliest years he felt called to dedicate himself entirely to the service of God. Upon reaching maturity, he retired to the Pavlopetrios monastery in Nicomedia, a community dedicated to the memory of the holy apostles Peter and Paul, where he embraced the monastic vocation. During the reign of the iconoclast emperor Leo the Armenian (813-820), Saint Athanasius endured severe persecution for his steadfast defence of the veneration of holy icons. He was subjected to vicious torture and subsequently exiled, suffering imprisonment, grief and anguish for his Orthodox faith. Despite the ferocity of imperial opposition and the horrors inflicted upon his body, he remained unwavering in his confession of the Orthodox teaching, never wavering in his witness to the sacred tradition. Saint Athanasius continued to confess the Orthodox Faith until the very end of his earthly existence, and he fell asleep in the Lord peacefully in the year 821, departing to the eternal rest that awaits the faithful.

Uncovering of the relics of the Holy Martyrs at the gate of Eugenius at Constantinople

c. 423

“At the time of the holy Patriarch Thomas I of Constantinople (607-610), the relics of some unknown holy Martyrs were discovered buried in the district of Eugenius. As soon as the Patriarch exposed them for the veneration of the people who gathered from all over the city, numerous healings took place. “Many years had gone by when a clergyman named Nicolas, who worked as a book copyist, learnt by divine revelation that among these anonymous relics were those of Saint Paul’s disciples, the holy apostles Andronicus and Junia, who are mentioned in the Epistle to the Romans (16:7). The Emperor Andronicus I (1183-5) built a beautiful church at the place where thise relics were venerated.” (Synaxarion)

Venerable Limnaeus, hermit of Syria

Venerable Limnaeus was a Syrian ascetic who devoted himself to monastic life under the spiritual direction of the great Saint Thalassius, dwelling with his elder for a considerable time. Through constant association with this accomplished master, Limnaeus acquired the virtues characteristic of his teacher, namely simplicity of manner, gentleness and profound humility. After establishing himself in these spiritual foundations, Limnaeus joined the venerable Saint Maron and together with him pursued a life of rigorous mortification atop a mountain, exposed to the elements without shelter or protection. He constructed a small stone enclosure without a roof, and through a narrow aperture cut into its walls, he conversed with those who approached seeking his counsel and prayers. After the death of Saint Thalassius, Limnaeus continued his labours with Saint Maron, witnessing to the power of monastic dedication and the grace of God throughout his long years of solitary struggle.

Venerable Thalassius, hermit of Syria

440

Venerable Thalassius was a fifth-century ascetic who withdrew from the world to practise strict monasticism in the deserts of Syria. At a young age he left secular life and established himself on a hill near the village of Targala, where he remained for thirty-eight years engaged in unceasing prayer and ascetic labour. Throughout this extended period of spiritual struggle, he neither possessed nor sought shelter, enduring the elements without roof or cell, relying entirely upon divine providence. He became renowned for his exceptional virtue and wisdom, attracting many who sought his spiritual guidance. His practice of profound silence as a form of ascetical discipline became widely known, and he served as an example to countless monks and ascetics who sought to emulate his unwavering commitment to prayer and mortification of the flesh. Saint Thalassius reposed peacefully in the year 440.

Also commemorated: Unc. Rel. Holy Martyrs at Gate of Eugenius

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

1 Peter — 1 Peter 4.12-5.5

¹²Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial among you, which cometh upon you to prove you, as though a strange thing happened unto you:

¹²Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: ¹³but insomuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, rejoice; that at the revelation of his glory also ye may rejoice with exceeding joy. ¹³But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. ¹⁴If ye are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are ye; because the Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God resteth upon you. ¹⁴If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. ¹⁵For let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evil-doer, or as a meddler in other men’s matters: ¹⁵But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. ¹⁶Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. ¹⁶but if a man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this name. ¹⁷For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? ¹⁷For the time is come for judgment to begin at the house of God: and if it begin first at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God? ¹⁸And if the righteous is scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear? ¹⁸And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? ¹⁹Wherefore let them also that suffer according to the will of God commit their souls in well-doing unto a faithful Creator. ¹⁹Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

¹The elders therefore among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:

¹The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: ²Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; ²Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; ³Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. ³neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock. ⁴And when the chief Shepherd shall be manifested, ye shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away. ⁴And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. ⁵Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. ⁵Likewise, ye younger, be subject unto the elder. Yea, all of you gird yourselves with humility, to serve one another: for God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Mark — Mark 12.38-44

³⁸And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces,

³⁸And in his teaching he said, Beware of the scribes, who desire to walk in long robes, and to have salutations in the marketplaces, ³⁹And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: ³⁹and chief seats in the synagogues, and chief places at feasts: ⁴⁰Which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation. ⁴⁰they that devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers; these shall receive greater condemnation.

⁴¹And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.

⁴¹And he sat down over against the treasury, and beheld how the multitude cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. ⁴²And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. ⁴²And there came a poor widow, and she cast in two mites, which make a farthing. ⁴³And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: ⁴³And he called unto him his disciples, and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, This poor widow cast in more than all they that are casting into the treasury: ⁴⁴For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living. ⁴⁴for they all did cast in of their superfluity; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.