Tuesday, 28 January 2025

Tuesday of the 32nd week after Pentecost

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

Saints commemorated

Saint Isaac the Syrian, bishop of Nineveh

He was born early in the seventh century in the East. His birthplace is unclear: the Great Horologion says that he was born in eastern Arabia (present-day Qatar); the Synaxarion that he was born in Kurdistan. While still young he entered the Lavra of St Matthew with his brother, but after a few years of monastic life, having advanced far in obedience and the practice of prayer, he withdrew into the desert. His reputation for holiness reached the city of Nineveh, where the people prevailed on the hierarchy to consecrate him as their bishop in 670. Reluctantly but obediently, St Isaac took up the duties of shepherd of his flock in Nineveh. After a few months, he was called on to settle a dispute between two of the faithful, but they rejected his counsel and said ‘Leave your Gospel out of this matter!’ The holy bishop said, ‘If they are not prepared to obey Our Lord’s commandments, what need have they of me?’, and retired to live as a hermit in the mountains of Kurdistan. Later, he settled in the monastery of Raban Shapur, where he wrote his Ascetical Homilies and other jewel-like works on the spiritual life. There he reposed in peace.

The fame of St Isaac’ Homilies spread, and about one hundred years after their writing they were translated from Syriac into Greek by two monks in Palestine. In this form they spread throughout the monastic world, becoming a treasured guide to those who seek the fullness of the life of prayer. The Synaxarion says, “The book of Saint Isaac is, with the Ladder of Saint John Climacus, the indispensible guide for every Orthdox soul to journey safely toward God. Hence, not many years ago, a holy spiritual father, Jerome of Egina (d. 1966), recommended begging, if necessary, in order to be able to purchase a copy.” We are blessed to have a good translation of the Ascetical Homilies available in English.

Saint Isaac is a very unusual case of an Orthodox Saint who lived outside the canonical boundaries of the Church: he was a bishop of the “Nestorian” communion, now sometimes called the “Oriental Orthodox.” The purity of his own Orthodox faith is so clearly evident in his writings that the Church has nonetheless recognized his sanctity.

Saint James the Faster of Phoenicia

James the Faster was a saint of Phoenicia venerated in the Orthodox tradition. He is commemorated as one who distinguished himself through ascetic practice and spiritual discipline. The epithet "the Faster" indicates his particular commitment to the ascetic practice of fasting as a means of mortifying the flesh and drawing close to God in prayer. James devoted his life to the pursuit of holiness, combining physical asceticism with interior spiritual discipline aimed at the transformation of the heart and the attainment of virtue. He exemplified the early Christian understanding of the body as a worthy instrument of salvation when subjected to the will of God and aligned with the spirit in pursuit of holiness. James is venerated as a saint of Phoenicia and an example of ascetic dedication, commemorated on 28 January.

Venerable Ephrem the Syrian

373

He is often called “The Harp of the Holy Spirit” for the sublimity of his writings. He was born in Nisibis of Mesopotamia about the year 306. He embraced the Christian faith while young and for this was driven from his home by his father, a pagan priest. He came under the care of St James of Nisibis (January 13), who was one of the bishops at the Council of Nicaea. He took up a strictly ascetical life, renouncing all possessions and denying himself all comforts. It is said that his eyes constantly flowed with tears: tears of compunction for his own sins, or tears of joy as he contemplated the wonders of God’s grace.

He was baptized at the age of twenty and withdrew to the desert, then settled in Edessa. Once, as he was walking to the city, a harlot approached him. Pretending to accept her proposition, he took her to the city’s public square and suggested that they lie together there, in plain view. Horrified, the woman rebuked him, saying ‘Have you no shame?’ The Saint answered, ‘Poor woman, you are afraid of being watched by other people; but why are you not afraid of being seen by God, who sees everything and, on the last day, will judge all our actions and most secret thoughts?’ The woman repented and, with the Saint’s help, embarked upon a new life.

The Saint returned to the desert for a time, then to Nisibis to aid the Persian Christians, persecuted because they were seen as allies of the Romans. When Nisibis finally fell under Persian rule, St Ephraim and his spiritual father St James both settled in Edessa. At that time Edessa was troubled by the gnostic heretic Bardaisan, one of whose devices was to compose attractive hymns, which became popular and enticed many away from the truth. Taking up Bardaisan’s own weapons, St Ephraim composed a number of hymns, beautiful in word and melody, which poetically set forth the true Faith.

Hearing of the sanctity of St Basil the Great, St Ephraim traveled to Cappadocia to meet him. It is recorded that at their first meeting, St Basil greeted him: ‘Art thou the Ephraim who hath beautifully bended his neck and taken upon himself the yoke of the saving Word?’; to which St Ephraim replied, ‘I am Ephraim who hinder myself from traveling the way to heaven.’ After discoursing with the Syrian Saint for some time, St Basil cried out ‘O, if only I had thy sins!’ Basil then ordained St Ephraim to the diaconate. He would have ordained him a priest but St Ephraim, feeling unworthy, refused to be ordained, then and for the rest of his life.

The Saint returned to a life of solitude; but when a famine broke out in Edessa in 372, he came forth to rebuke the wealthy for failing to share their wealth with the poor. Some replied that they knew no one whom they could trust with their goods, so St Ephraim persuaded them to give their alms to him for distribution to the poor. A true deacon, he cared for the sick with his own hands. The following year, he reposed in peace.

St Ephraim was the first to use hymnody and song to express the teaching of the Church, and so might be called the Church’s first hymnographer. His works were probably an inspiration to St Romanos the Melodist, also a Syrian. He is said to have written more than three million lines of verse in Syriac, in addition to many homilies and treatises. Only a fraction of his work has been translated.

A beautiful selection of St Ephraim’s writings can be found in A Spiritual Psalter, a collection edited by St Theophan the Recluse, available in English.

Venerable Palladius of the Antiochene Desert

Palladius was a Syrian monk and ascetic who devoted himself to the monastic life in the deserts surrounding Antioch. Living in the early Christian era, he pursued the ascetic path with great fervour, seeking through prayer, fasting, and spiritual combat to attain union with God. Palladius became a spiritual father to many disciples who sought his guidance in the monastic life and in the struggle against the passions. He is remembered as an exemplar of the Syrian monastic tradition, which combined rigorous asceticism with pastoral compassion and wisdom. The details of his biography remain sparse in the historical record, but his memory persists in the liturgical tradition of the Orthodox Church as a testament to the transformative power of monastic discipline and grace. Palladius is commemorated on 28 January as a venerable father of the desert and a guide in the ascetic life.

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

James — James 3.1-10

¹Be not many of you teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment.

¹My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. ²For in many things we all stumble. If any stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also. ²For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. ³Now if we put the horses’ bridles into their mouths that they may obey us, we turn about their whole body also. ³Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. ⁴Behold, the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by rough winds, are yet turned about by a very small rudder, whither the impulse of the steersman willeth. ⁴Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. ⁵Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! ⁵So the tongue also is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how much wood is kindled by how small a fire! ⁶And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. ⁶And the tongue is a fire: the world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the wheel of nature, and is set on fire by hell. ⁷For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: ⁷For every kind of beasts and birds, of creeping things and things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed by mankind: ⁸but the tongue can no man tame; it is a restless evil, it is full of deadly poison. ⁸But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹Therewith bless we the Lord and Father; and therewith curse we men, who are made after the likeness of God: ⁹Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. ¹⁰out of the same mouth cometh forth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. ¹⁰Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Mark — Mark 11.11-23

¹¹And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.

¹¹And he entered into Jerusalem, into the temple; and when he had looked round about upon all things, it being now eventide, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.

¹²And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:

¹²And on the morrow, when they were come out from Bethany, he hungered. ¹³And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. ¹³And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season of figs. ¹⁴And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it. ¹⁴And he answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit from thee henceforward for ever. And his disciples heard it.

¹⁵And they come to Jerusalem: and he entered into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and them that bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold the doves;

¹⁵And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves; ¹⁶and he would not suffer that any man should carry a vessel through the temple. ¹⁶And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple. ¹⁷And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves. ¹⁷And he taught, and said unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations? but ye have made it a den of robbers. ¹⁸And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine. ¹⁸And the chief priests and the scribes heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, for all the multitude was astonished at his teaching. ¹⁹And when even was come, he went out of the city.

¹⁹And every evening he went forth out of the city.

²⁰And as they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away from the roots.

²⁰And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. ²¹And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Rabbi, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. ²¹And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. ²²And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. ²²And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. ²³Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he saith cometh to pass; he shall have it. ²³For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.