Sunday, 14 April 2024

St John Climacus

Fourth Sunday of Lent

21 days before Pascha · Tone 4 · Liturgy · Lenten Fast (Wine and Oil are Allowed)

Saints commemorated

Apostles Aristarchus, Pudens and Trophimus of the Seventy

All three are mentioned by name by the Apostle Paul. Aristarchus is mentioned in Acts 19:29, Colossians 4:10 and Philemon 24. He was bishop of Apamea in Syria; St Paul calls him ‘my fellow-prisoner’ and ‘my fellow-laborer’. Pudens is mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:21. He was a prominent Roman citizen who gave refuge to Christians; his house was first a place of refuge for the Apostles, then one of the first churches in Rome. Trophimus is mentioned with Pudens in 2 Timothy 4:21, and in Acts 21:29, where we learn that he was from Ephesus. He accompanied the Apostle Paul on some of his missions. All three, like St Paul, were beheaded during Nero’s persecutions.

Holy Apostle Aristarchus of the Seventy

Saint Aristarchus was a native of Thessalonica and one of the Seventy Apostles whom Christ Himself sent out to preach the Gospel before His face. He became a beloved companion of Saint Paul and shared with him many of the labours and dangers of his apostolic mission. The Acts of the Apostles records that he was seized by the rioting silversmiths at Ephesus together with Gaius (Acts 19:29), that he accompanied Paul from Greece into Macedonia and on to Asia (Acts 20:4), and that he sailed with the Apostle on the perilous voyage to Rome that ended in shipwreck on Malta (Acts 27:2). In his epistles Saint Paul calls him his "fellow prisoner" (Colossians 4:10) and his "fellow worker" (Philemon 24), showing how closely he was joined to him in suffering and in service. After Paul's first imprisonment Saint Aristarchus was made bishop of Apamea in Syria, where he laboured in preaching the Gospel and gathering souls into the Church. He sealed his apostolate with his blood, being beheaded at Rome together with Saint Pudens and Saint Trophimus during the persecution of the Emperor Nero, around the year 67. He is also commemorated on 4 January with the rest of the Seventy and on 27 September.

Holy Apostle Pudens of the Seventy

Saint Pudens was numbered among the Seventy Apostles whom the Lord Jesus Christ sent forth before His face to proclaim the Gospel. He was a Roman of distinguished family, the son of the senator Quintus Cornelius Pudens, and held himself a senatorial rank. Together with his mother Priscilla he was among the first converts of Saint Peter when the chief Apostle came to Rome, and he was baptised by Peter himself. The house of Pudens, on the Viminal Hill, became a centre of the Church in Rome, where Saints Peter and Paul lodged when they were in the city, and where the faithful gathered for prayer and the breaking of bread. Saint Paul greets him by name in his second letter to Timothy: "Eubulus greets you, and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brethren" (2 Timothy 4:21). Tradition gives Saint Pudens two sons, Novatus and Timothy, and two daughters, Praxedes and Pudentiana, who themselves were honoured among the saints. Saint Pudens received the crown of martyrdom in Rome under the Emperor Nero and was buried in the Catacomb of Priscilla on the Via Salaria. He is also commemorated on 4 January.

Holy Apostle Trophimus of the Seventy

Saint Trophimus was a native of the city of Ephesus and one of the Seventy Apostles whom the Lord sent out to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom. He became a faithful companion of Saint Paul, sharing with him sorrows, persecutions and labours alike. Saint Luke names him among those who travelled with Paul from Greece into Asia (Acts 20:4), and it was the sight of Trophimus, a Greek, in the company of Paul that gave occasion in Jerusalem to the false accusation that the Apostle had taken a Gentile into the Temple, leading to the riot that ended in Paul's arrest (Acts 21:29). Saint Paul mentions him in his second letter to Timothy as having been left at Miletus because of illness (2 Timothy 4:20). After his recovery Saint Trophimus continued in the apostolic ministry and laboured in the spreading of the Gospel. He sealed his confession with his blood by being beheaded at Rome under the Emperor Nero around the year 67, together with the holy Apostles Aristarchus and Pudens. He is also commemorated, with all the Seventy, on 4 January.

Holy Martyrs Antony, John and Eustathius of Vilnius

1347

These three holy martyrs of the Lithuanian land suffered for Christ in the city of Vilnius in the year 1347. Originally bearing the pagan names Kumetis, Nezhilo and Krulis, they were of noble birth and served as courtiers of Algirdas (Olgerd), Grand Duke of Lithuania. Kumetis and Nezhilo were brothers, and Krulis was their cousin. Algirdas had taken to wife the Orthodox princess Maria of Vitebsk, who brought to his court her chaplain, the priest Nestor, and through his preaching the three young men received holy Baptism with the Christian names Antony, John and Eustathius. After the death of the princess, Algirdas turned again to support the old paganism and its priests, who began a persecution of the Christians at the court. The three saints openly confessed their faith. When the Grand Duke commanded them to eat meat during Great Lent and they refused, they were imprisoned and severely tortured. Saint Antony was the first to be hanged on a great oak tree sacred to the pagans, on 14 April 1347. Saint John was strangled by a crowd of pagans soon afterwards and his body hung from the same tree on 24 April. Saint Eustathius, after long sufferings, was hanged on the same oak on 13 December of the same year. Their relics were placed in the Church of the Holy Trinity in Vilnius, and the Monastery of the Holy Trinity was later built on the site of their martyrdom. The Church commemorates all three together on this day.

Saint Thomais of Alexandria

476

Saint Thomais was born into a pious Christian family in the city of Alexandria in Egypt and was raised from her earliest years in the love of God. She loved to read the Holy Scriptures and the lives of the saints, and she grew in modesty, gentleness and prayer. At the age of fifteen she was given in marriage to a young fisherman, and she lived with her husband and his family, beloved by all for her mild and humble disposition. Her father-in-law, however, conceived an unclean passion for her. One night, while his son was out at sea, he came into her chamber and tried to force her to sin with him. Saint Thomais, calling on the Name of God and reminding him of the dread judgement that awaits the impure, defended her chastity with all her strength. Enraged at her refusal he seized a sword and cut her in two, and so she received the unfading crown of martyrdom in the year 476. Even as he stood over her body the murderer was struck blind, and being soon afterwards arrested he confessed his crime and was condemned to death. Many faithful sought spiritual help at the tomb of Saint Thomais, and from earliest times the Church has invoked her aid for those who struggle against the passions of the flesh. The Greek tradition keeps her memory on 14 April, while the Slavic on 13 April.

Holy Martyr Ardalion the Actor

3rd c.

He was a comic actor whose specialty was an act which mocked the Christian martyrs. But during an especially fierce persecution under the Emperor Maximian, his heart was changed in an unknown way, and during one of his performances he called out to the crowd that he was a Christian and that they must not laugh. For this, Ardalion was arrested and tried, and died by torture, as the Prologue says, “playing the role of martyr in very truth and with honour.”

Also commemorated: St Martin the Confessor, Pope of Rome

Daily readings

1st Matins Gospel

Matthew — Matthew 28.16-20

¹⁶Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.

¹⁶But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. ¹⁷And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. ¹⁷And when they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. ¹⁸And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit:

¹⁹Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: ²⁰Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. ²⁰teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

Epistle

weekly cycle

Hebrews — Hebrews 6.13-20

¹³For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,

¹³For when God made promise to Abraham, since he could swear by none greater, he sware by himself, ¹⁴saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. ¹⁴Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. ¹⁵And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. ¹⁵And thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise. ¹⁶For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. ¹⁶For men swear by the greater: and in every dispute of theirs the oath is final for confirmation. ¹⁷Wherein God, being minded to show more abundantly unto the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an oath; ¹⁷Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: ¹⁸That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: ¹⁸that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us: ¹⁹which we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and stedfast and entering into that which is within the veil; ¹⁹Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; ²⁰whither as a forerunner Jesus entered for us, having become a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. ²⁰Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Epistle

— St John

Ephesians — Ephesians 5.8-19

⁸for ye were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord: walk as children of light ⁸For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: ⁹(for the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth), ⁹(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) ¹⁰proving what is well-pleasing unto the Lord; ¹⁰Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. ¹¹and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even reprove them; ¹¹And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. ¹²For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. ¹²for the things which are done by them in secret it is a shame even to speak of. ¹³But all things when they are reproved are made manifest by the light: for everything that is made manifest is light. ¹³But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. ¹⁴Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. ¹⁴Wherefore he saith, Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon thee.

¹⁵Look therefore carefully how ye walk, not as unwise, but as wise; ¹⁵See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, ¹⁶redeeming the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁶Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷Wherefore be ye not foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁷Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; ¹⁸And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit; ¹⁹Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; ¹⁹speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

Gospel

weekly cycle

Mark — Mark 9.17-31

¹⁷And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; ¹⁷And one of the multitude answered him, Teacher, I brought unto thee my son, who hath a dumb spirit; ¹⁸And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. ¹⁸and wheresoever it taketh him, it dasheth him down: and he foameth, and grindeth his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast it out; and they were not able. ¹⁹He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me. ¹⁹And he answereth them and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I bear with you? bring him unto me. ²⁰And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. ²⁰And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him grievously; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. ²¹And he asked his father, How long time is it since this hath come unto him? And he said, From a child. ²¹And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. ²²And oft-times it hath cast him both into the fire and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us. ²²And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. ²³Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. ²³And Jesus said unto him, If thou canst! All things are possible to him that believeth. ²⁴And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. ²⁴Straightway the father of the child cried out, and said, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. ²⁵When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. ²⁵And when Jesus saw that a multitude came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I command thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. ²⁶And having cried out, and torn him much, he came out: and the boy became as one dead; insomuch that the more part said, He is dead. ²⁶And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead. ²⁷But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose. ²⁷But Jesus took him by the hand, and raised him up; and he arose. ²⁸And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, How is it that we could not cast it out? ²⁸And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? ²⁹And he said unto them, This kind can come out by nothing, save by prayer. ²⁹And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

³⁰And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it.

³⁰And they went forth from thence, and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it. ³¹For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered up into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he shall rise again. ³¹For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.

Gospel

— St John

Matthew — Matthew 4.25-5.12

²⁵And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan. ²⁵And there followed him great multitudes from Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judæa and from beyond the Jordan.

¹And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

¹And seeing the multitudes, he went up into the mountain: and when he had sat down, his disciples came unto him: ²And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, ²and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, ³Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

³Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. ⁴Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

⁵Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. ⁵Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. ⁶Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

⁶Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. ⁷Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

⁷Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. ⁸Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

⁸Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

⁹Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God. ⁹Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

¹⁰Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹⁰Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹¹Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. ¹¹Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. ¹²Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you. ¹²Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.