Wednesday, 5 March 2025

Wednesday of the First Week of Lent

46 days before Pascha · Tone 3 · Presanctified · Lenten Fast (No overrides)

Great Canon; Presanctified Liturgy

Saints commemorated

Holy Martyr Conon of Isauria

The holy Martyr Conon lived in the days of the holy Apostles; he was born in the village of Bydane of Isauria in Asia Minor, to parents named Nestor and Nada. He was instructed in the Faith and baptised into Christ by the Archangel Michael himself, who, it is said, accompanied him for the rest of his life. His parents joined him in marriage to a pagan maiden named Anna; but on their wedding night he took a candle, put it under a vessel, and asked her ‘Which is better, light or darkness?’ She answered ‘Light,’ and he told her of the Christian faith and the joys of the spiritual life. She accepted Christ, and the two agreed to live in virginity. Conon went on to bring many pagans to Christ, including his own parents. His wife and both parents died after a few years (Nestor as a Martyr) and he gave himself up entirely to prayer, fasting, and contemplation on God. He was known as a wonder-worker, and even evil spirits were compelled to serve him.

During one of the persecutions, Magnus the governor of Isauria imprisoned Conon and had him tortured, beaten and stabbed with knives. Believers obtained some of his blood, and the sick who were anointed with it became well. A large crowd of Christians whom Conon had brought to Faith surrounded the governor’s palace demanding Conon’s release, and the frightened governor let him go. He lived for two more years in his own home, then reposed in peace.

Holy Martyr Conon the Gardener

Conon the Gardener was a Christian martyr who lived in the ancient world, known for his humble occupation and his extraordinary faith. Living through the era of persecution, Conon laboured as a gardener whilst cultivating a garden of virtue in his soul through prayer, fasting, and labour. When persecution arose, he refused to renounce Christ and was brought to trial. Rather than compromise his faith to save his life, Conon endured torture and death as a testimony to Christ. His martyrdom, though that of a humble gardener rather than a person of worldly prominence, became a powerful witness to the equality of all believers in Christ. The Orthodox Church venerates him as a holy martyr whose example shows that greatness in God's Kingdom is not measured by earthly station but by faithfulness and love.

Venerable Hesychius the Faster

Hesychius was a venerable monastic ascetic known for his extraordinary dedication to fasting and the ascetic disciplines of the Orthodox Christian tradition. Living in a monastic community, Hesychius pursued the way of hesychasm—the practice of quiet prayer and inner stillness—with singular devotion. Through rigorous fasting, he mortified his passions and liberated his soul from the distractions that bind it to earthly concerns. His fasting was not merely a physical discipline but a spiritual practice aimed at heightening his awareness of God's presence and deepening his union with the divine. Through the rigours of voluntary self-denial, Hesychius became a transparent vessel through which God's grace could work. His example inspired others to take up the ascetic struggle, and his teachings regarding the proper approach to fasting and prayer were treasured by the monastic tradition. The Orthodox Church venerates him as a venerable father whose intercession sustains those engaged in spiritual warfare and the mortification of the passions.

Venerable Mark the Faster

Mark was a venerable monk of the Eastern Orthodox tradition known for his intense ascetic disciplines and his pursuit of spiritual perfection. Living in a monastic community, Mark devoted himself to fasting, vigil, prayer, and manual labour as means of mortifying the passions and drawing near to God. Through rigorous self-denial, he sought to free his soul from the attachments that bind human beings to earthly concerns and to cultivate the virtues that align the soul with the divine will. Mark became known to his brother monks for his humility, his gentle teaching, and his powerful example of ascetic dedication. His sayings and teachings regarding fasting and spiritual warfare were preserved and treasured by the monastic tradition. The Orthodox Church venerates him as a venerable father and ascetic whose intercession sustains those struggling to mortify the passions and advance in holiness.

St Mark of Athens

4th c.

He was born in Athens of pagan parents, but believed and was baptized, and, forsaking everything, lived as a hermit in the desert beyond Egypt. He did not see another human being for ninety-five years, and we would know nothing of his life had not the monk Serapion come upon him. Mark was about to depart this life, and lived only long enough to tell Serapion his story. Serapion then gave him burial.

St Mark the Ascetic

5th c.

St Mark was a disciple of St John Chrysostom, tonsured a monk at the age of forty by St John himself. He then withdrew to the Nitrian desert and lived for sixty years as a hermit, devoting himself to fasting, prayer, and writing spiritual discourses. Saint Mark knew all the Holy Scriptures by heart. His compassion was so great that he wept at the distress of any of God’s creatures: once he wept for the blind pup of a hyena, and the pup received its sight. Though he lived alone in the desert, it is said that he received Communion from an angel. The holy and scholarly Patriarch Photios held his writings in the highest esteem, and at one time there was a saying, ‘sell all that you have, and buy Mark.’ Some of these beautiful and profound writings may be read in English in the first volume of the Philokalia.

Daily readings

6th Hour

weekly cycle

Isaiah — Isaiah 2.3-11

³And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. ³And many peoples shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. ⁴And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. ⁴And he will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. ⁵O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

⁵O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of Jehovah.

⁶Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. ⁶For thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they are filled with customs from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of foreigners. ⁷Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots: ⁷And their land is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land also is full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots. ⁸Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made. ⁸Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: ⁹And the mean man is bowed down, and the great man is brought low: therefore forgive them not. ⁹And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not.

¹⁰Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty. ¹⁰Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, from before the terror of Jehovah, and from the glory of his majesty. ¹¹The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. ¹¹The lofty looks of man shall be brought low, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day.

Vespers

weekly cycle

Genesis — Genesis 1.24-2.3

²⁴And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind: and it was so.

²⁴And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. ²⁵And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the ground after its kind: and God saw that it was good. ²⁵And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. ²⁶And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

²⁶And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. ²⁷And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. ²⁷So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. ²⁸And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. ²⁸And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

²⁹And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. ²⁹And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food: ³⁰And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. ³⁰and to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for food: and it was so. ³¹And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. ³¹And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

¹And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

¹Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. ²And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. ²And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. ³And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; because that in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made. ³And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Vespers

weekly cycle

Proverbs — Proverbs 2.1-22

¹My son, if thou wilt receive my words, And lay up my commandments with thee;

¹My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; ²So as to incline thine ear unto wisdom, And apply thy heart to understanding; ²So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; ³Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; ³Yea, if thou cry after discernment, And lift up thy voice for understanding; ⁴If thou seek her as silver, And search for her as for hid treasures: ⁴If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; ⁵Then shalt thou understand the fear of Jehovah, And find the knowledge of God. ⁵Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. ⁶For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. ⁶For Jehovah giveth wisdom; Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding: ⁷He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. ⁷He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to them that walk in integrity; ⁸He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. ⁸That he may guard the paths of justice, And preserve the way of his saints. ⁹Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path. ⁹Then shalt thou understand righteousness and justice, And equity, yea, every good path.

¹⁰When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; ¹⁰For wisdom shall enter into thy heart, And knowledge shall be pleasant unto thy soul; ¹¹Discretion shall watch over thee; Understanding shall keep thee: ¹¹Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: ¹²To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things; ¹²To deliver thee from the way of evil, From the men that speak perverse things; ¹³Who forsake the paths of uprightness, To walk in the ways of darkness; ¹³Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; ¹⁴Who rejoice to do evil, And delight in the perverseness of evil; ¹⁴Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked; ¹⁵Who are crooked in their ways, And wayward in their paths: ¹⁵Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths: ¹⁶To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; ¹⁶To deliver thee from the strange woman, Even from the foreigner that flattereth with her words; ¹⁷Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. ¹⁷That forsaketh the friend of her youth, And forgetteth the covenant of her God: ¹⁸For her house inclineth unto death, And her paths unto the dead; ¹⁸For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. ¹⁹None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life. ¹⁹None that go unto her return again, Neither do they attain unto the paths of life: ²⁰That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, And keep the paths of the righteous. ²⁰That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. ²¹For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. ²¹For the upright shall dwell in the land, And the perfect shall remain in it. ²²But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it. ²²But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, And the treacherous shall be rooted out of it.