Thursday, 28 March 2024

Thursday of the Second Week of Lent

38 days before Pascha · Tone 1 · Liturgy · Lenten Fast

Saints commemorated

Saint Eustratius of the Kiev Caves, martyr

Saint Eustratius was a wealthy citizen of Kiev who, in the late eleventh century, distributed his goods to the poor and entered the Kiev Caves Lavra as a monk under the holy abbot Saint John. He embraced strict fasting and obedience and was known for his patience and prayerful disposition. When the Polovtsians sacked Kiev in 1096, Eustratius was taken captive together with thirty monks and fifty laymen and sold to a Jewish slaver in the Crimean city of Cherson. The slaver tortured his prisoners by starvation to compel them to deny Christ, but Eustratius strengthened his fellow captives, all of whom died rather than apostatise. On the day of Holy Pascha he was nailed to a cross, where he hung for fifteen days, blessing his persecutor and rejoicing in his union with the crucified Lord. After his death his body was cast into the sea, and his incorrupt relics were later recovered and brought to the Caves of the Lavra, where they rest to this day.

Saint Herodion of Iliotsk, abbot

Saint Herodion of Iliotsk was a disciple of Saint Cornelius of Komel and a younger contemporary of Saint Cyril of New Lake. Drawn by love of stillness, he withdrew to a remote spot near Lake Iloza, in the Belozersk wilderness of northern Russia, where in the early sixteenth century he founded a small skete in honour of the Mother of God. Living in great poverty and unceasing prayer, he was joined by disciples who followed his example of silence and labour. Saint Herodion reposed about 1541 and was buried in the church he had built. Over the centuries his memory has been preserved among the venerable fathers of the Russian North, whose lives knit the wilderness of Vologda and Belozersk into a constellation of monastic holiness.

Venerable Hilarion the New, Abbot of Pelekete

Saint Hilarion the New was the abbot of Pelekete monastery and lived in an era of significant monastic development in the Christian Church. As an abbot, he provided spiritual leadership and established patterns of discipline and prayer within his monastic community. Hilarion is remembered for his ascetic labours and his contribution to monastic tradition. The epithet "the New" indicates that he is distinguished from an earlier Saint Hilarion (Hilarion the Great) by placing him within a later historical period. His abbatial tenure helped preserve Orthodox monastic practice and he is remembered as a guide for monks seeking to advance in the spiritual life through obedience, humility, and dedication to prayer.

Venerable Stephen the Wonderworker of Trigleia

Saint Stephen was a venerable monastic father and wonderworker venerated in the Orthodox Church. The designation "wonderworker" indicates that he was known for performing miracles and experiencing supernatural grace. Stephen devoted himself to the ascetic life and achieved great spiritual advancement. Through his prayers and intercession, he became a channel of God's healing and protective power, assisting the afflicted and those in need. The traditions concerning him recount numerous instances of divine intervention on behalf of those who sought his help. Stephen's life exemplifies the Orthodox belief that sanctity produces miraculous charisms, and his veneration continues as the Church calls upon his intercessions for healing and assistance.

Repose of Gerontissa Gavrilia

1992

Mother Gavrilia, who was known to many who are still alive, has not been officially glorified by the Church, but is considered by many to be a Saint of our time. Her fine biography, Ascetic of Love, has been translated into English and several other languages. The account below is excerpted from that on the web site of St Gregory Palamas Monastery. “The Gerontissa Gabrielia was born in Constantinople a hundred years ago on October 2/15, 1897. She grew up in the City until her family moved to Thessalonika in 1923. She went to England in 1938 and stayed there throughout the Second World War. She trained as a chiropodist and physiotherapist. In 1945 she returned to Greece where she worked with the Friends Refugee Mission and the American Farm School in Thessalonika in early post-war years. Later she opened her own therapy office in Athens until 1954. In March of that year her mother died and the office was closed. Sister Lila left Greece and traveled overland to India where she worked with the poorest of the poor, even the lepers, for five years. “It was not until 1959 that she went to the Monastery of Mary and Martha in Bethany, Palestine, to become a nun. When she arrived she asked Fr. Theodosius the chaplain for a rule of prayer. Fr. Theodosius was somewhat surprised to find that she could read even ancient Byzantine Greek. Fr. Theodosius said, “The great elders that we hear about no longer exist. I certainly am not one. You came here to save your soul. If I start giving you rules, you will lose you soul and I will as well. But here is Fr. John. He will be your elder.” So for her first year in the monastery he set her to reading only the Gospels and St. John Climacus. (It should be noted that at that time the Ladder had not been published in modern Greek.) “She was three years in Bethany. In April, 1962, word came that Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople sought to send an Orthodox monastic to Taize in France. Sister Gabrielia went by way of Taize (she spoke fluent French from childhood) to America. “In 1963 she was back in Greece. The Gerontissa was tonsured to the Small Schema by Abbot Amphilochios (Makris) on Patmos in the Cave of St. Anthony under the Monastery of Evangelismos just before she and the nun Tomasina left again for India. Elder Amphilochios was enthusiastic at the idea a nun who would be open to the an active outreach in the world. In India she was for three year in Nani Tal in Uttar Pradesh where Fr. Lazarus Moore was the priest and where he consulted the Gerontissa in his translations of the Psalter and the Fathers. Between 1967 and 1977 the Gerontissa traveled in the Mission field of East Africa, in Europe including visiting old friends and spiritual fathers Lev Gillet and Sophrony of Essex, again to America, and briefly in Sinai where Archbishop Damianos was attempting to reintroduce women’s monasticism. She traveled extensively, with much concern and broad love for the people of God. Some of her spiritual children found her in Jerusalem beside the Tomb of Christ; others found her on the mission field of East Africa. For years beginning in about 1977, she lived hidden in a little apartment, the “House of the Angels” in Patissia in the midst of the noise and smog and confusion of central Athens. A little place, a hidden place, a precious place to those who knew her there. “In 1989 she moved to Holy Protection hermitage on the island of Aegina, close by the shrine of St. Nectarios. There she called the last two of her spiritual children to become monastics near her, and there she continued to receive many visitors. At the start of Great Lent in 1990 she was hospitalized for lymphatic cancer. She was forty days in the hospital, leaving during Holy Week and receiving communion of Pascha. And to the puzzlement of the doctors, the cancer disappeared. It was not yet her time. “The Gerontissa finally withdrew to quiet. With only one last nun she moved for the last time in this life, to the island of Leros. There they established the hesychastirion of the Holy Archangels. Only in this last year of her life did she accept the Great Schema at the hands of Fr. Dionysious from Little St. Anne’s Skete on Athos. He came to give her the Schema in the Chapel of the Panaghia in the Kastro on the top of Leros. “Gerontissa Gabrielia passed from this world on March 28, 1992, having never built a monastery. Over the years, six of her spiritual children did become monastics, but never more that one or two were with her at a time. Only the angels could count the number of lives that God touched and changed through her. Her biography and collected writings were published in Greek in 1996, through the work of her last monastic daughter and the contribution of many, many others who held the Gerontissa dear. An English translation is in process [Note: it has now been published]. “Anyone who knew the Gerontissa realized that God has not left us without His saints, even down to the present day. The few words recorded here scarcely suggest the clarity and love of her soul. Words are only the tools of this world; the wonder of the Gerontissa was wrapped in the mystery of the silence of the world to come. “She never sought a reputation. She never allowed anything about her to be published during her long life and only allowed her children to take photographs in her very last years. Those whom God touched through her called her Gerontissa; she never made herself anything but the nun Gabrielia. “She was humility and love incarnate.” The Gerontissa embodied an ‘ecumenism’ that might serve as a model for many in our time: she was completely loving and open to all people of all faiths, yet while working freely with protestants and Hindus in service to man, she never compromised any aspect of her Orthodox faith. Once, some protestant fellow-workers suggested that they pray together; Mother Gavrilia thanked them lovingly, but said ‘I only pray in church or alone.’

Daily readings

6th Hour

weekly cycle

Isaiah — Isaiah 6.1-12

¹In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

¹In the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. ²Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. ²Above him stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. ³And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. ³And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. ⁴And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. ⁴And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. ⁵Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts.

⁵Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. ⁶Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

⁶Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: ⁷and he touched my mouth with it, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin forgiven. ⁷And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. ⁸Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. ⁸And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I; send me.

⁹And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. ⁹And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. ¹⁰Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. ¹⁰Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed. ¹¹Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until cities be waste without inhabitant, and houses without man, and the land become utterly waste, ¹¹Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, ¹²and Jehovah have removed men far away, and the forsaken places be many in the midst of the land. ¹²And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

Vespers

weekly cycle

Genesis — Genesis 5.1-24

¹This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;

¹This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; ²Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. ²male and female created he them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. ³And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

³And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: ⁴and the days of Adam after he begat Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters. ⁴And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: ⁵And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died. ⁵And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.

⁶And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:

⁶And Seth lived a hundred and five years, and begat Enosh: ⁷and Seth lived after he begat Enosh eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters: ⁷And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters: ⁸and all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died. ⁸And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.

⁹And Enosh lived ninety years, and begat Kenan:

⁹And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan: ¹⁰And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters: ¹⁰and Enosh lived after he begat Kenan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters: ¹¹and all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years: and he died. ¹¹And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.

¹²And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel:

¹²And Kenan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalalel: ¹³and Kenan lived after he begat Mahalalel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters: ¹³And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters: ¹⁴And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died. ¹⁴and all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.

¹⁵And Mahalalel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:

¹⁵And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared: ¹⁶And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters: ¹⁶and Mahalalel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters: ¹⁷and all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died. ¹⁷And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.

¹⁸And Jared lived a hundred sixty and two years, and begat Enoch:

¹⁸And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch: ¹⁹And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: ¹⁹and Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: ²⁰and all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died. ²⁰And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.

²¹And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:

²¹And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: ²²and Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: ²²And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: ²³And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: ²³and all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: ²⁴And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. ²⁴and Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

Vespers

weekly cycle

Proverbs — Proverbs 6.3-20

³Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend. ³Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, Seeing thou art come into the hand of thy neighbor: Go, humble thyself, and importune thy neighbor; ⁴Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. ⁴Give not sleep to thine eyes, Nor slumber to thine eyelids; ⁵Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler. ⁵Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, And as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

⁶Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: ⁶Go to the ant, thou sluggard; Consider her ways, and be wise: ⁷Which having no chief, Overseer, or ruler, ⁷Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, ⁸Provideth her bread in the summer, And gathereth her food in the harvest. ⁸Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. ⁹How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? ⁹How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? ¹⁰Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: ¹⁰Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep: ¹¹So shall thy poverty come as a robber, And thy want as an armed man. ¹¹So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man. ¹²A worthless person, a man of iniquity, Is he that walketh with a perverse mouth;

¹²A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth. ¹³That winketh with his eyes, that speaketh with his feet, That maketh signs with his fingers; ¹³He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers; ¹⁴In whose heart is perverseness, Who deviseth evil continually, Who soweth discord. ¹⁴Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord. ¹⁵Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy. ¹⁵Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; On a sudden shall he be broken, and that without remedy.

¹⁶These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: ¹⁶There are six things which Jehovah hateth; Yea, seven which are an abomination unto him: ¹⁷A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, ¹⁷Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood; ¹⁸An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, ¹⁸A heart that deviseth wicked purposes, Feet that are swift in running to mischief, ¹⁹A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren. ¹⁹A false witness that uttereth lies, And he that soweth discord among brethren.

²⁰My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: ²⁰My son, keep the commandment of thy father, And forsake not the law of thy mother: