Thursday, 30 May 2024

Thursday of the 4th Sunday of Pascha

25 days after Pascha · Tone 3 · Liturgy · No Fast

Saints commemorated

Saint Exuperantius, Bishop of Ravenna

Saint Exuperantius was the twelfth bishop of Ravenna, the imperial seat of the Western Roman emperors in the time of his episcopate, ruling that important see for some six years until his repose about the year 418. He was raised to the episcopal throne in the difficult years following the sack of Rome by Alaric the Goth in 410, when Italy was full of refugees from the wars and ravages of the barbarians, and the city of Ravenna had become the residence of the Emperor Honorius. As bishop he gave himself unceasingly to the relief of the poor, the ransom of captives, the protection of his flock, and the strengthening of the faith in the face of Arian incursions among the Gothic peoples. He laboured to maintain the unity of the Church and to support the orthodox profession of faith confessed at Nicaea. He reposed in peace and was buried in his cathedral church at Ravenna, where his memory was kept with honour by the local faithful. The Orthodox Church remembers him among the holy hierarchs of the West on 30 May.

Saint Felix the First, Pope of Rome

Saint Felix the First was Pope of Rome from 5 January 269 until his repose, and in the synaxaria of the Orthodox Church he is honoured on 30 May. A Roman by birth, Felix succeeded Saint Dionysius in the chair of the apostle Peter and ruled the Roman Church through years of comparative peace under the emperors Claudius II and Aurelian. The chief act of his pontificate was his vigorous opposition to the heresy of Paul of Samosata, the deposed bishop of Antioch, who had denied the true divinity of the Word made flesh. Saint Felix wrote a dogmatic letter to Bishop Maximus of Alexandria affirming the unity of the Person of the Saviour, the Word incarnate, and the consubstantial divinity of the Son with the Father. When Paul, condemned by a synod, refused to vacate the cathedral church of Antioch, Saint Felix appealed through the emperor Aurelian, who ruled that the church should be given to him whom the bishops of Italy and of Rome judged to be in communion with the Catholic Church, and so Paul was at last expelled. Saint Felix is recorded in the ancient martyrologies and was buried in the catacomb of Callixtus on the Appian Way. He reposed about the year 274.

Saint Walstan of Bawburgh

Saint Walstan was born about the year 975 in the village of Bawburgh in Norfolk in eastern England, the son of pious parents named Benedict and Blide who, according to local tradition, were of the kindred of the West Saxon royal house. From his youth he was given to a life of prayer, chastity, and labour, and refusing the comforts of his rank he went out at the age of twelve to seek work as a hired man on the lands of a farmer named Nalga at Taverham. There he laboured for the rest of his life as a simple farm worker, gaining a great reputation for hard work, charity to the poor, and gentleness to beasts. Whatever wages he received he immediately divided with those poorer than himself; he gave away even the new shoes from his feet to a beggar, and his cloak to one who had none. Tradition records that an angel revealed to him that his death was approaching, and on 30 May 1016, while at his work in the harvest fields of Taverham, he gave up his soul to God. As his body was carried home springs of water broke forth at the places where his cart paused, and many sick afterwards received healing at his tomb at Bawburgh. He is honoured as the patron of farmers, farm-workers, and their animals throughout East Anglia.

Venerable Isaac the Confessor, Founder of the Dalmaton Monastery

Saint Isaac the Confessor lived in the fourth century in the reign of the emperor Valens (364 to 378), an adherent of the Arian heresy. From his youth Isaac had withdrawn to the desert and lived as a hermit, but when he learned that Valens was driving the Orthodox bishops from their sees and giving the churches into the hands of the Arians, he left his solitude and came to Constantinople. Going out to meet the emperor as he was setting out for the war against the Goths, Saint Isaac three times took hold of the bridle of the emperor's horse and cried, "Emperor, reopen the churches of the Orthodox, and the Lord will help you in your campaign." Twice the emperor passed by; on the third time he had Isaac thrown into a pit, but the saint emerged unharmed and prophesied that Valens would perish in fire if he did not give the churches back. Valens fell in battle at Adrianople in 378 and was burned in a barn where he had taken refuge, just as the saint had foretold. The succeeding emperor, Theodosius the Great, restored the Orthodox to their churches, and a wealthy aristocrat named Saturninus built a monastery for Saint Isaac at Constantinople, over which the saint was made first abbot. At the end of his life he committed the rule of the house to his disciple Dalmatus, after whom the monastery thereafter took its name. He reposed in peace about the year 383.

St Macrina, grandmother of St Basil the Great

4th c.

“The grandmother of St Basil the Great, she was outstanding for her intellect and piety. She was a disciple of St Gregory the Wonder-worker of Neocaesarea. In the reign of Diocletian, she abandoned her home and hid in the forests and desert places with her husband, Basil. Although their home was confiscated, they felt no pangs of regret. Stripped of everything except their love for God, they settled in an ancient forest and spent seven years there. By God’s providence, goats would come down from the mountains and provide them with food. They both died peacefully in the fourth century, after great sufferings for the Christian faith.” (Prologue)

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

Acts — Acts 10.34-43

³⁴Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:

³⁴And Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: ³⁵But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. ³⁵but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to him. ³⁶The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) ³⁶The word which he sent unto the children of Israel, preaching good tidings of peace by Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all)— ³⁷That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judæa, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; ³⁷that saying ye yourselves know, which was published throughout all Judæa, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; ³⁸even Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. ³⁸How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. ³⁹And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the country of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom also they slew, hanging him on a tree. ³⁹And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: ⁴⁰Him God raised up the third day, and gave him to be made manifest, ⁴⁰Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; ⁴¹Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴¹not to all the people, but unto witnesses that were chosen before of God, even to us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴²And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. ⁴²And he charged us to preach unto the people, and to testify that this is he who is ordained of God to be the Judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. ⁴³To him bear all the prophets witness, that through his name every one that believeth on him shall receive remission of sins.

Gospel

weekly cycle

John — John 8.12-20

¹²Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

¹²Again therefore Jesus spake unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life. ¹³The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true. ¹³The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest witness of thyself; thy witness is not true. ¹⁴Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go. ¹⁴Jesus answered and said unto them, Even if I bear witness of myself, my witness is true; for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye know not whence I come, or whither I go. ¹⁵Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man. ¹⁵Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man. ¹⁶And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me. ¹⁶Yea and if I judge, my judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me. ¹⁷Yea and in your law it is written, that the witness of two men is true. ¹⁷It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. ¹⁸I am he that beareth witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me. ¹⁸I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me. ¹⁹Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also. ¹⁹They said therefore unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, Ye know neither me, nor my Father: if ye knew me, ye would know my Father also. ²⁰These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come. ²⁰These words spake he in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man took him; because his hour was not yet come.