Saturday, 27 July 2024

Greatmartyr and Healer Panteleimon

Saturday of the 5th week after Pentecost

83 days after Pascha · Tone 3 · Black squigg (6-stich typikon symbol) · No Fast

Saints commemorated

★ Holy great-martyr and healer Panteleimon

Saint Panteleimon, originally called Pantoleon, was born around 275 in Nicomedia of Bithynia, the son of a noble pagan father, Eustorgius, and a Christian mother, Eubula, who reposed while he was still a child. His father set him to study medicine under Euphrosynus, the most celebrated physician of the city, and the youth made such progress that he was presented to the emperor Maximian and chosen as a court physician. About this time he met the holy presbyter Hermolaus, who was hidden with two other priests in a small house, and was instructed by him in the faith. The Lord confirmed his teaching when Pantoleon, walking alone, found a child dead from the bite of a viper; calling on the name of Christ, he raised the child and slew the serpent.

He was baptised and renamed Panteleimon, "all-merciful," and from that hour gave himself to the healing of the sick without payment, casting out demons and curing every kind of disease in the name of Christ. He restored sight to a man who had been blind from birth, won his pagan father to the faith and inherited his estate, which he distributed to the poor and to prisoners. The other physicians, envying his success, denounced him to the emperor. He confessed Christ openly, was tortured by various means, cast to wild beasts who became gentle before him, fastened to a wheel which broke at his prayer, and bound to an olive tree to be beheaded. The tree blossomed at the moment of his death and bore fruit, and milk flowed from his wound instead of blood. He suffered around 305. The Church honours him as one of the holy unmercenary physicians and as one of her great healers, second only to Saint Demetrius and Saint George among warriors and martyrs in the affection of the faithful.

★ Saint Clement, equal-of-the-apostles, archbishop of Ochrid

Saint Clement was one of the most distinguished of the disciples of the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius, equals-of-the-apostles and enlighteners of the Slavs. Of South Slavic origin, born around 840, he accompanied his teachers on their mission to Great Moravia in the 860s and shared in the labour of translating the Scriptures and the services of the Church into the Slavonic tongue. After the death of Saint Methodius and the violent expulsion of his disciples by the Latin clergy of Moravia, Clement and his companions Naum, Angelarius and Gorazd made their way to Bulgaria, where they were welcomed by Prince Boris-Michael in 886.

Sent into the western provinces of the Bulgarian kingdom, Clement settled at Ochrid in Macedonia, where he founded one of the great schools of Slavic letters. He trained over three thousand five hundred disciples, established churches and monasteries, and spread the use of the Slavonic books from the surrounding mountains to the sea. In 893 he was consecrated bishop of Velika, the first hierarch of Slavic blood and tongue. He composed services, lives of saints, homilies and catechetical writings, many of which are still in use. He reposed on 27 July 916 and was buried in his own monastery of Saint Panteleimon at Ochrid, where his relics work miracles to this day. The Slavic Church honours him as the founder and patron of Slavic Orthodoxy in the Balkans.

Saint Manuel the confessor of Crete

Saint Manuel was a Cretan Christian who suffered for the faith during the long Ottoman occupation of his island. According to the local synaxaria, he was a young man of noble bearing and devout life, well known in his town for his almsgiving. Through the malice of certain Muslim neighbours he was falsely accused of having insulted Islam, and was brought before the local cadi. Refusing the demand that he renounce Christ and embrace the religion of the conquerors, he made a clear and reasoned confession of the Gospel, drawing upon the Scriptures and the witness of the saints. He endured imprisonment and severe beatings without compromise, and at last received the crown of martyrdom by the sword. The faithful reverently took up his body and buried it, and his memory was preserved by the local Church among the new-martyrs of Crete. He is honoured on 27 July together with the great-martyr and healer Saint Panteleimon and Saint Clement of Ochrid.

Saint Nicholas Cabasilas of Thessalonica

Saint Nicholas Cabasilas was a layman, theologian, and statesman of fourteenth-century Byzantium. Born about 1322 in Thessalonica into a distinguished family, the nephew of Nilus Cabasilas archbishop of Thessalonica, he was educated in classical letters and the sacred sciences and was at home in the imperial court. In the civil wars of his time he served as a counsellor of the emperor John VI Cantacuzenus, and he played a prominent part in the controversy over the divine energies on the side of Saint Gregory Palamas, defending the hesychast theology against the Latinising scholars of the day. Withdrawing from public affairs, he gave himself to prayer, the writing of treatises, and the spiritual instruction of monks and laity. His Commentary on the Divine Liturgy and his Life in Christ are reckoned among the supreme works of Orthodox theology. In them he sets forth, with great clarity and warmth, that the whole Christian life is a participation in Christ, given through the holy mysteries of baptism, chrismation and the eucharist, and that this participation is open to every believer in the world, not only to those who have withdrawn to the desert. He reposed in peace about 1392. He was numbered among the saints of the Church by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and the Greek calendar keeps his memory on 20 June; in some local calendars he is also remembered on 27 July with his fellow Thessalonicans.

Venerable Anthousa of Mantineum

Saint Anthousa was abbess of a women's monastery near the village of Mantineum in Paphlagonia in the eighth century. From her youth she was drawn to the monastic life, and after entering the community she advanced quickly through every degree of obedience until, on the death of her predecessor, she was chosen by the sisterhood to govern. She ruled the monastery, which grew to over nine hundred nuns, with great wisdom, severity towards herself and gentleness towards others. In the iconoclast persecution of the emperor Constantine V Copronymus, Anthousa boldly defended the holy icons and refused to surrender them to the imperial commissioners. She was seized, beaten and tortured, but neither threats nor blandishments could turn her from the orthodox faith. Tradition relates that she was at length set free through the prayers of the empress Eudocia, whom she had earlier helped through a difficult childbirth, and that she was permitted to return to her monastery, where she shepherded her community to her holy repose around the year 808. She is held up among the great women confessors of the seventh ecumenical council.

Commemoration of the canonization of St Herman of Alaska

1837

His feast day is December 12. Due to the severity of the Alaskan climate, the annual pilgrimage to his relics in Kodiak, Alaska, is in the Summer, around this date.

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

Romans — Romans 8.14-21

¹⁴For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. ¹⁴For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¹⁵For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. ¹⁵For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. ¹⁶The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: ¹⁶The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God: ¹⁷And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. ¹⁷and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him.

¹⁸For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

¹⁸For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward. ¹⁹For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. ¹⁹For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope ²⁰For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, ²¹Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. ²¹that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.

Epistle

— St Panteleimon

2 Timothy — 2 Timothy 2.1-10

¹Thou therefore, my child, be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

¹Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. ²And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. ²And the things which thou hast heard from me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. ³Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ³Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. ⁴No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. ⁴No soldier on service entangleth himself in the affairs of this life; that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier. ⁵And if also a man contend in the games, he is not crowned, except he have contended lawfully. ⁵And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. ⁶The husbandman that laboreth must be the first to partake of the fruits. ⁶The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits. ⁷Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. ⁷Consider what I say; for the Lord shall give thee understanding in all things. ⁸Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, of the seed of David, according to my gospel: ⁸Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel: ⁹Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound. ⁹wherein I suffer hardship unto bonds, as a malefactor; but the word of God is not bound. ¹⁰Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. ¹⁰Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Matthew — Matthew 9.9-13

⁹And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.

⁹And as Jesus passed by from thence, he saw a man, called Matthew, sitting at the place of toll: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.

¹⁰And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.

¹⁰And it came to pass, as he sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? ¹¹And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Teacher with the publicans and sinners? ¹²But when he heard it, he said, They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick. ¹²But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. ¹³But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. ¹³But go ye and learn what this meaneth, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice: for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.

Gospel

— St Panteleimon

John — John 15.17-16.2

¹⁷These things I command you, that ye love one another. ¹⁷These things I command you, that ye may love one another. ¹⁸If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. ¹⁸If the world hateth you, ye know that it hath hated me before it hated you. ¹⁹If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. ¹⁹If ye were of the world, the world would love its own: but because ye are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. ²⁰Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. ²⁰Remember the word that I said unto you, A servant is not greater than his lord. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. ²¹But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. ²¹But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. ²²If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²²If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. ²³He that hateth me hateth my Father also. ²³He that hateth me hateth my Father also. ²⁴If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. ²⁴If I had not done among them the works which none other did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. ²⁵But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause. ²⁵But this cometh to pass, that the word may be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause. ²⁶But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall bear witness of me: ²⁶But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: ²⁷and ye also bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. ²⁷And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

¹These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.

¹These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be caused to stumble. ²They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the hour cometh, that whosoever killeth you shall think that he offereth service unto God. ²They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.