Thursday, 20 February 2025

Thursday of Meatfare

59 days before Pascha · Tone 1 · Liturgy · No Fast

Saints commemorated

Saint Agatho, pope of Rome

Saint Agatho was born of Greek parents in Sicily towards the end of the sixth century. From his youth he embraced the monastic life and entered the monastery of Saint Hermas in Palermo, where he was distinguished for his humility, his learning and his gentleness. After many years of monastic labour he was called to the service of the Roman Church and elected to the apostolic see, succeeding Pope Donus on 27 June 678. His brief pontificate was crowned by the Sixth Ecumenical Council, which was convened at Constantinople in 680 at the request of the emperor Constantine IV to deal with the heresy of Monothelitism, which taught that there was only one will in Christ. Saint Agatho sent his legates to the council together with a dogmatic epistle in which he confessed, in the name of the apostolic see, the traditional faith of the Church in the two wills and two natural operations of the incarnate Word. His letter was read at the council and was received by the assembled fathers as agreeing with the teaching of the holy apostles, the ecumenical synods and the great fathers. The council, completing its work in September 681, condemned Monothelitism and anathematised those who had taught it. Saint Agatho did not live to see the conclusion, having reposed peacefully in Rome on 10 January 681. He is honoured as a saint in both the Eastern and Western Churches; in the Greek calendar his memory is kept on this day.

Saint Leo, Bishop of Catania

He lived at the time of the first persecutions of the holy icons. He was born in Ravenna to a noble family, and became bishop of his native city. Soon his reputation as a true shepherd of Christ’s flock spread, and he was elected Bishop of Catania in Sicily. As is so often true even today, the city, though nominally Christian, was plagued by superstition and paganism. The holy bishop set about to turn the people away from error: by his prayers he caused a pagan temple to collapse and built a church on its site, dedicated to the Forty Maryrs of Sebaste. At that time the entire island was under the oppressive rule of a magus named Heliodorus, who used all his magical skills to oppress the people and advance himself. Though he had been taken captive by Imperial order, and condemned to death, he was always able to escape his captors by his occult skills. Saint Leo, who sought the conversion of everyone, did his best to turn the magus to Christ, but to no effect. One day Heliodorus entered the church during the Divine Liturgy, mocking the Mysteries of Christ. The Saint came out of the sanctuary and, casting his omophorion over the mocker, instantly deprived him of his demonic powers. The Prefect of Sicily ordered the magus to be burnt alive. Bishop Leo went to the stake with him, but emerged unmarked without even the smell of fire upon him, while Heliodorus was burnt to ashes.

Saint Leo’s fierceness in defense of the Faith was matched by his love and compassion for the poor and defenseless, for whom he poured himself out unceasingly with prayers, alms and visitation. By his prayers he restored sight to the blind and healed the paralyzed. After his repose, his holy relics, which exuded a fragrant myrrh, were venerated in a church that he had founded in honor of Saint Lucia.

Saint Sadoth of Persia

Saint Sadoth was a holy bishop who laboured in Persia and remained faithful to the Orthodox Gospel despite fierce persecution. He endured torment and death rather than renounce his faith in Christ. According to Church tradition, Sadoth and his faithful companions were imprisoned and martyred for refusing to submit to idolatrous practices. His martyrdom exemplified the cost of discipleship and the triumph of the Cross over worldly power. The Orthodox Church venerates Saint Sadoth as a powerful intercessor and martyr whose witness strengthened the faith of countless believers.

Saint Wulfric of Haselbury, anchorite

1154

Saint Wulfric was born about the year 1080 at Compton Martin in Somerset, England. He was ordained to the priesthood and served first at Deverill near Warminster, where in his early years he gave himself more to hunting with hawk and hound than to the cure of souls. A chance encounter with a beggar, who reproached him for his worldliness and warned him to amend his life, brought him to deep repentance. About the year 1125 Wulfric returned to his native country and settled at Haselbury Plucknett, where he received the bishop's blessing to enclose himself as an anchorite in a cell built against the wall of the church of Saint Michael. There he lived for nearly thirty years in unceasing prayer, fasting and silence. He copied and bound books, sang the psalter standing in a barrel of cold water, wore a coat of mail beneath his habit, and slept little. He was honoured by King Henry I and King Stephen, who came to him for counsel, and was sought by the simple and the great alike for the gift of prophecy and for healing. Saint Wulfric reposed on 20 February in the year 1154 and was buried in his cell at Haselbury, where his tomb became a place of pilgrimage. His life was written by John, abbot of Forde, who had known many of his friends and disciples. He is honoured among the saints of the British Isles in the Orthodox tradition.

St Bessarion the Great, wonder-worker of Egypt

466

“An Egyptian by birth, Abba Bessarion was initiated into the angelic life by Saint Anthony the Great. He later became a disciple of Saint Macarius, the founder of Scetis (19 Jan.), and then set out to lead the life of a wanderer, borne hither and thither by Providence like a bird by the wind. All his wealth lay in the Gospel, which he always had in his hand. Living in the open air, he patiently endured all weathers, untroubled by care for a dwelling or for clothing. Fortified by the strength of the faith, he thus remained untouched by all the passions of the flesh. “On coming to a monastery where the brethren led the common life, he would sit weeping at the gate. A brother once offered him hospitality and asked why he was distressed. ‘I cannot live under a roof, until I have regained the wealth of my house,’ he replied, meaning the heavenly inheritance lost since Adam. ‘I am afflicted, in danger of death every day, and without rest because of my huge misfortunes, which oblige me ever to travel on in order to finish my course.’ “He wandered for forty years without ever lying down to sleep, and he spent all of forty days and forty nights standing wide awake in a thorn bush. One winter’s day, he was walking through a village when he came upon a dead man. Without hesitation, he took off his own coat and covered the body. A little further on, he gave his tunic to a poor man who was shivering in the cold. An army officer, who happened to be passing, saw the naked ascetic and wanted to know who had stripped him of his clothing. ‘He did!’ replied Bessarion, holding up the Gospel Book. On another occasion, he met with a poor man and, having nothing to give him in alms, he hurried to the market in order to sell his Gospel Book. On his disciple’s asking him where the Book was, he replied cheerfully, ‘I have sold it in obedience to the words which I never cease to hear: Go, sell what you possess and give to the poor‘ (Matt. 19:21). “Through this evangelic way of life he became a chosen vessel of Grace, and God wrought many miracles through him. One day, for example, he made sea water sweet through the sign of the Cross, to quench his disciple’s thirst. When the latter wanted to keep some for the remainder of the journey, he prevented him, saying, ‘God is here, God is everywhere!’ At another time, having stood for two weeks in prayer with hands raised to heaven, he brought about rain enough to fill a thirsty brother’s coat. Then there was the time when he stopped the sun from setting until he reached the cell of an elder whom he wished to meet; and the time when he walked across the waters of a river. Through these and many other wonders wrought by the Saint, God showed, as He did with Moses, Joshua and Elias, that He grants His servants mastery even over natural phenomena. Through the power of Christ, he raised a paralytic, drove out demons and showed himself truly to be a ‘god’ upon the earth. “When, having reached his goal, he was at the point of regaining that dwelling in heaven which he had sought throughout his wanderings, he said to those about him, ‘The monk ought, like the cherubim, to be all eye.’ “In answer to a brother who asked what a monk living in community ought to do, he replied: ‘Keep silence and do not measure yourself.’ Indeed, this is how even in the midst of people one can obtain the grace of the great anchorites.” (Synaxarion)

Thirty-four Holy Martyrs of the Monastery of Valaam

1578

These thirty-four venerable fathers of the Monastery of the Transfiguration at Valaam on Lake Ladoga were massacred by a party of converts to Lutheranism who besieged the monastery and attempted to make the brethren renounce the Orthodox Faith.

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

1 John — 1 John 4.20-5.21

²⁰If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? ²⁰If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, cannot love God whom he hath not seen. ²¹And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. ²¹And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also.

¹Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God: and whosoever loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

¹Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. ²By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. ²Hereby we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and do his commandments. ³For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. ³For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. ⁴For whatsoever is begotten of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that hath overcome the world, even our faith. ⁴For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. ⁵And who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? ⁵Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? ⁶This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. ⁶This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. ⁷And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is the truth. ⁷For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. ⁸For there are three who bear witness, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and the three agree in one. ⁸And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. ⁹If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. ⁹If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for the witness of God is this, that he hath borne witness concerning his Son. ¹⁰He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in him: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he hath not believed in the witness that God hath borne concerning his Son. ¹⁰He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. ¹¹And the witness is this, that God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹¹And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹²He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. ¹²He that hath the Son hath the life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life.

¹³These things have I written unto you, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, even unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God. ¹³These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. ¹⁴And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: ¹⁴And this is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: ¹⁵and if we know that he heareth us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of him. ¹⁵And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. ¹⁶If any man see his brother sinning a sin not unto death, he shall ask, and God will give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: not concerning this do I say that he should make request. ¹⁶If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. ¹⁷All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death. ¹⁷All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.

¹⁸We know that whosoever is begotten of God sinneth not; but he that was begotten of God keepeth himself, and the evil one toucheth him not. ¹⁸We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. ¹⁹And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. ¹⁹We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in the evil one. ²⁰And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. ²⁰And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. ²¹My little children, guard yourselves from idols. ²¹Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Mark — Mark 15.1-15

¹And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate.

¹And straightway in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes, and the whole council, held a consultation, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him up to Pilate. ²And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering said unto him, Thou sayest it. ²And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering saith unto him, Thou sayest. ³And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing. ³And the chief priests accused him of many things. ⁴And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against thee. ⁴And Pilate again asked him, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they accuse thee of. ⁵But Jesus no more answered anything; insomuch that Pilate marvelled. ⁵But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marvelled.

⁶Now at the feast he used to release unto them one prisoner, whom they asked of him. ⁶Now at that feast he released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired. ⁷And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection. ⁷And there was one called Barabbas, lying bound with them that had made insurrection, men who in the insurrection had committed murder. ⁸And the multitude crying aloud began to desire him to do as he had ever done unto them. ⁸And the multitude went up and began to ask him to do as he was wont to do unto them. ⁹But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews? ⁹And Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews? ¹⁰For he perceived that for envy the chief priests had delivered him up. ¹⁰For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy. ¹¹But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them. ¹¹But the chief priests stirred up the multitude, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them. ¹²And Pilate again answered and said unto them, What then shall I do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews? ¹²And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews? ¹³And they cried out again, Crucify him. ¹³And they cried out again, Crucify him. ¹⁴Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him. ¹⁴And Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out exceedingly, Crucify him. ¹⁵And Pilate, wishing to content the multitude, released unto them Barabbas, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.

¹⁵And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.