Tuesday, 4 February 2025

75 days before Pascha · Tone 7 · Liturgy · No Fast

Saints commemorated

Hieromartyr Abramios, Bishop of Arbela

342

The Holy Hieromartyr Abramios was consecrated as Bishop of Arbel (also called Arbil), located in Mesopotamia, following the martyrdom of his predecessor, the holy Bishop John, in the year 342. Saint Abramios received the pastoral responsibility of shepherding the flock of Christ in this important apostolic see during a time of grave danger for the Church. Shortly after his consecration, the pagan inhabitants of Arbel, together with Persian soothsayers, magicians, and other practitioners of false religion, brought complaints against Saint Abramios to the authorities. They accused the holy bishop of preaching Christ with such persuasive power and performing such evident miracles that he was converting too many people to the faith and establishing Christian communities throughout the region. These pagan leaders, seeing their religious influence and political power threatened, sought his destruction. Saint Abramios was arrested and brought before Aderphora, the chief magus of Persia, during the persecution of Christians under the Persian emperor Sapor II. He was interrogated and commanded to abandon his faith and to worship the pagan sun god. When confronted with this impious demand, the holy bishop answered with wisdom and courage: "How foolish to forsake the Creator and instead worship creatures!" Despite the threats of torment and death, Saint Abramios remained unmoved in his faith. He was subjected to cruel and prolonged tortures in an attempt to break his resolve and force him to renounce Christ. Throughout his suffering, he prayed unceasingly, and his prayers echoed the words of the Saviour Himself: "Lord, do not count this sin against us, for they know not what they do." His steadfast faith and prayer became a witness to the power of Christ even in the midst of terrible suffering. Ultimately, the persecutors, unable to turn him from his faith, condemned him to death. The holy hieromartyr was beheaded by the sword in the village of Felman, thereby receiving the crown of martyrdom and joining the great cloud of witnesses who have given their lives for Christ.

Venerable Cyril of New Lake, the wonderworker

1532

Saint Cyril of New Lake (Novoezersk) was born into a pious family in the lands of Galich in Russia in the fifteenth century. From childhood he was drawn to a life of prayer, and at the age of fifteen he secretly left his parents' home to seek the monastic life. He came to the Saviour's monastery at Pskov Caves, where the abbot Saint Cornelius received him and tonsured him with the name Cyril. After the death of his parents, who in his absence had sought him through many monasteries, Cyril returned briefly to receive their blessing and dispose of their goods to the poor. He then resumed the wandering life of a pilgrim, visiting the monasteries of the north of Russia for some twenty years. At length, while at prayer, he beheld a heavenly light over a small island in New Lake (Novoezero) in the region of Belozersk. Going thither he saw above the same place a pillar of fire ascending to heaven, and beneath an ancient spruce tree he built a hut and a small chapel. There a community gathered around him, and a monastery was founded. The Lord granted his servant the gifts of foresight and healing, and many came to Cyril for counsel and prayers. He foretold the troubles that would come upon Russia in the time of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. With the words "Glory to God for everything", Saint Cyril reposed on 4 February in the year 1532. The discovery of his relics is commemorated on 7 November.

Venerable Isidore of Pelusium

The Venerable Isidore of Pelusium was born in Alexandria, Egypt, during the fourth century, in a time of great spiritual renewal and monastic development. He was raised from his youth in a devout Christian household and received a sound education in sacred learning. Moved by a desire to live wholly for Christ, he withdrew from the world while still a young man and journeyed to Mount Pelusium in Egypt, where he dedicated himself entirely to the ascetical life.

In his monastic solitude, Isidore spent long hours in prayer, fasting, and the study of Holy Scripture. Over the course of his extended monastic life, he became known throughout the monastic communities of Egypt as a great spiritual father and ascetic. Though he lived in relative seclusion, his wisdom and holiness drew many to seek his counsel. Letters requesting his spiritual guidance came not only from simple folk and monks, but also from bishops, the Patriarch of Alexandria himself, and even from the emperor.

Saint Isidore responded with generosity to all who sought his wisdom, providing spiritual encouragement and moral guidance to seekers from all walks of life. He left behind a rich spiritual legacy in the form of his letters. Approximately ten thousand letters were composed over the course of his life, of which about two thousand ninety have survived to the present day. These letters contain profound theological thought, revealing the depth of his understanding of Christ and the Orthodox faith, and provide morally edifying interpretations of Holy Scripture that continue to teach and inspire the faithful.

Through his life of prayer, asceticism, and faithful service, Saint Isidore became a teacher of righteousness and a light to the Church. He continued his labours and spiritual work until his death around the year 436. His memory is preserved in the Church as an example of faithful monastic witness and of the transformative power of prayer and obedience to God.

Venerable Nicholas the confessor, abbot of Studion

868

Saint Nicholas the confessor was born on the island of Crete in the village of Kydonia about the year 793. At the age of ten he was sent to Constantinople to his uncle, the monk Theophanes of the Studion monastery. With the blessing of Saint Theodore the Studite he was enrolled in the monastery school, and at sixteen he received the monastic tonsure. He was ordained presbyter and became a noted scribe, copying many liturgical and patristic books in a beautiful hand. When the iconoclast persecution flared up under Leo the Armenian, Saint Nicholas stood firm with his abbot Theodore in defence of the holy icons. He was scourged, imprisoned and sent into exile, sharing the sufferings of his teacher in several places of confinement. After the death of Leo the Armenian a brief peace was granted to the Church, but persecution returned under Theophilus, and Nicholas was again imprisoned and beaten. After the restoration of the icons by the empress Theodora, Saint Nicholas returned to the Studion. He was twice chosen as abbot, but withdrew during the controversies that troubled the patriarchate of Constantinople. Under the emperor Basil the Macedonian he was restored to the abbacy at imperial command. He governed the monastery with gentleness and wisdom and was granted by God the gift of healing. He reposed in peace in the year 868. Saint Theodore the Studite said of him, "Brother Nicholas has suffered bravely and with fidelity."

Venerable Cyril of New Lake

1532

When he was only fifteen, St Cyril left home in secret to join the Monastery of St Cornelius of Komel (May 19). Seven years later his father visited the monastery and recognized his son. Instead of persuading Cyril to return to the world, the father was persuaded by his son to enter monastic life; his mother soon joined them, entering a convent nearby. Within the next few years, St Cyril’s mother and father both died, prompting him to exclaim ‘I too am mortal!’ He redoubled his ascetical labors and before long was granted the gift of tears in prayer. Ten years after entering the monastery, St Cyril obtained his abbot’s blessing to live the life of a hermit. He lived in complete reclusion, subsisting on wild greens and mushrooms. After seven years of solitude, he built a hermitage at New Lake and established two churches there. Soon he was ordained to the priesthood. His sanctity attracted a large company of disciples, and he founded a large monastery. There he continued to live in the strictest asceticism and shared in all the common labor of the monks. Once some thieves tried to steal the church bells, but by divine intervention became disoriented and circled the monastery in the dark until morning. When they were apprehended and brought to the Saint, he told them, ‘My children, no one has ever been enriched by stealing, but many have lost even what belonged to them.’ He then ordered that they be given food and released. During his lifetime the Saint wrought many healings, and was especially known for restoring the sight of the blind. Once his disciple Athanasius saw an unknown deacon serving with St Cyril at the Liturgy. The mysterious deacon disappeared at the end of the service, and St Cyril forbade his disciple to speak of the incident until after his death. In 1532 the Saint reposed in peace: his last words were ‘Glory to God for all things!’

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

1 Peter — 1 Peter 3.10-22

¹⁰For, He that would love life, And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips that they speak no guile: ¹⁰For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: ¹¹And let him turn away from evil, and do good; Let him seek peace, and pursue it. ¹¹Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. ¹²For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, And his ears unto their supplication: But the face of the Lord is upon them that do evil. ¹²For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

¹³And who is he that will harm you, if ye be zealous of that which is good?

¹³And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? ¹⁴But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; ¹⁴But even if ye should suffer for righteousness’ sake, blessed are ye: and fear not their fear, neither be troubled; ¹⁵But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: ¹⁵but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord: being ready always to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear: ¹⁶having a good conscience; that, wherein ye are spoken against, they may be put to shame who revile your good manner of life in Christ. ¹⁶Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. ¹⁷For it is better, if the will of God should so will, that ye suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing. ¹⁷For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. ¹⁸Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; ¹⁸For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: ¹⁹By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; ¹⁹in which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, ²⁰Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. ²⁰that aforetime were disobedient, when the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water: ²¹which also after a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ; ²¹The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: ²²Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. ²²who is on the right hand of God, having gone into heaven; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Mark — Mark 12.18-27

¹⁸Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying,

¹⁸And there come unto him Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying, ¹⁹Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man’s brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. ¹⁹Teacher, Moses wrote unto us, If a man’s brother die, and leave a wife behind him, and leave no child, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. ²⁰Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed. ²⁰There were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed; ²¹And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise. ²¹and the second took her, and died, leaving no seed behind him; and the third likewise: ²²and the seven left no seed. Last of all the woman also died. ²²And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also. ²³In the resurrection whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife. ²³In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife. ²⁴Jesus said unto them, Is it not for this cause that ye err, that ye know not the scriptures, nor the power of God? ²⁴And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? ²⁵For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven. ²⁵For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as angels in heaven. ²⁶And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? ²⁶But as touching the dead, that they are raised; have ye not read in the book of Moses, in the place concerning the Bush, how God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? ²⁷He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err. ²⁷He is not the God of the dead, but of the living: ye do greatly err.