Friday, 4 April 2025

Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent

16 days before Pascha · Tone 7 · Presanctified · Lenten Fast (Wine and Oil are Allowed)

Presanctified Liturgy

Saints commemorated

Saint Theonas, Metropolitan of Thessalonica

Saint Theonas, Metropolitan of Thessalonica, was a holy hierarch of the early sixteenth century. According to tradition he was born on the island of Lesbos toward the close of the fifteenth century. He came in his youth to Mount Athos, where he received tonsure at the Pantokrator Monastery and was ordained priest. Drawn by the reputation of Saint Iakovos the Neomartyr (the holy ascetic of the skete of the Forerunner above Iveron), he joined Iakovos's brotherhood. After the martyrdom of Saint Iakovos in 1520, Theonas led the small community. In 1522 the brethren settled in the Athonite Monastery of Simonopetra, but seeking deeper quiet they soon withdrew to Galatista in the Chalkidiki, where they restored the ruined Monastery of Saint Anastasia "Pharmakolytria" (the Deliverer from Poisons). Saint Theonas served as abbot of this house, restoring its buildings, gathering many monks and renewing its spiritual life. In 1535 he was elected by the clergy and people Metropolitan of Thessalonica. There, despite the heavy burdens laid upon Greek hierarchs by the Ottoman authorities, he carried out a vigorous pastoral, charitable and educational ministry, defending his flock from violence and converting many. He reposed in peace in May 1542, after little more than a year as metropolitan. His relics worked miracles and were carried back to the Monastery of Saint Anastasia. In 1821 they were taken for safekeeping to Skopelos and afterwards to the Monastery of Esphigmenou on the Holy Mountain, where they remain today. His memory is honoured on 4 April.

Venerable George of Mount Maleon

Saint George the Righteous of Mount Maleon (also Maleos, Malevos), known as "the Hesychast," was a ninth-century ascetic of the Peloponnese. From his youth he was drawn to the angelic life. When his parents arranged a marriage for him with a maiden of their own social rank he refused, and instead departed for Mount Maleon (Maleas) on the wild southern peninsula of Laconia, between the gulfs of Argolis and Lakonika, where he received tonsure and gave himself up to silence, fasting and unceasing prayer. His sanctity drew other monks who gathered round him and asked to be guided by him; from these he formed a small lavra. He was granted the gift of foreknowledge, predicting his own repose three years before it occurred. Living in the fragrance of the Holy Spirit, with great composure of mind, he died in peace at a great old age and was buried at his hermitage. The Greek synaxaria commemorate him on 4 April together with the Hymnographer Joseph.

Venerable Plato of the Studion

Saint Plato of Sakkoudion, abbot and confessor (c. 735 to 814), was uncle and teacher of the great Saint Theodore the Studite. Born at Constantinople of pious parents who perished early in the bubonic plague of 747, he was raised by relatives, given an excellent education and entered the imperial service, but the love of God soon drew him to abandon the world. About the age of twenty-four, in 759, he received tonsure at the monastery of Symbolon on Mount Olympus in Bithynia. When the abbot of that monastery, Theoktistos, died around 770 the brethren chose Plato to succeed him, despite his being only thirty-five years of age. He governed Symbolon for many years, and around 783 he founded with his nephew Saint Theodore the great monastery of Sakkoudion on Mount Olympus, in Bithynia, of which he became the first abbot. He took part in the Seventh Ecumenical Council at Nicaea in 787, defending the veneration of the holy icons. His later life was a series of confessions for the truth. When Constantine VI dismissed his lawful wife Mary of Amnia and married Theodote (Plato's own niece) in 795, Plato and Theodore broke communion with the Patriarch Tarasios for accepting the imperial adultery; for this they were imprisoned and exiled (the so-called "Moechian Controversy"). Around 798 Plato moved with the brethren of Sakkoudion to the monastery of Stoudios in Constantinople, becoming its co-abbot. Under the emperor Nikephoros (802 to 811) he and his nephew once more denounced the rehabilitation of the priest Joseph and were again imprisoned and exiled. Plato bore great sufferings. Returning at last to Stoudios, he reposed there in great peace on Lazarus Saturday, 4 April 814, at the age of seventy-nine, having received the Holy Mysteries.

Venerable Zosimas of Palestine

Saint Zosimas of Palestine was a hieromonk of the late fifth and early sixth centuries, best known as the holy elder who discovered, conversed with, communed and buried Saint Mary of Egypt. He was born in the second half of the fifth century, during the reign of the Emperor Theodosius II, and was placed in a Palestinian monastery while still a child. Distinguishing himself by ascetic discipline, watchfulness and humility, he gained a reputation as a great spiritual father and teacher of monks.

At the age of fifty-three, having begun to think that he had attained the heights of monastic virtue, he was prompted by a divine voice to leave his monastery and to travel to a stricter community by the river Jordan, where for the rest of his life he laboured in the customary discipline of that house, by which the brothers, after the Sunday of Forgiveness, would cross the river and disperse alone into the desert for the forty days of Lent, returning to the monastery for the celebration of Pascha.

In one such Lenten withdrawal, in the deep desert beyond the Jordan, Zosimas met an old woman, naked and burned by the sun, who told him her life: this was Saint Mary of Egypt. He was dazzled by her humility and gift of clairvoyance. The next year, on Holy Thursday, he returned at her bidding to the bank of the Jordan with the Holy Mysteries; and a year later, returning again, he found her body lying undecayed and a written request that he should bury her, which a lion is reputed to have helped him to do. The whole account, recorded by Saint Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, has been read in the Church since antiquity. Zosimas himself reposed in peace, almost a hundred years old, and is commemorated on 4 April. The OCA synaxarion locates him at "Phoenicia" because his original monastery is thought to have been there before his removal to the lavra by the Jordan.

Also commemorated: Ven. Joseph the Hymnographer

Daily readings

6th Hour

weekly cycle

Isaiah — Isaiah 45.11-17

¹¹Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.

¹¹Thus saith Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: Ask me of the things that are to come; concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands, command ye me. ¹²I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. ¹²I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens; and all their host have I commanded. ¹³I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts. ¹³I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make straight all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let my exiles go free, not for price nor reward, saith Jehovah of hosts. ¹⁴Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God.

¹⁴Thus saith Jehovah, The labor of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall go after thee, in chains they shall come over; and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God. ¹⁵Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. ¹⁵Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. ¹⁶They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols. ¹⁶They shall be put to shame, yea, confounded, all of them; they shall go into confusion together that are makers of idols. ¹⁷But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end. ¹⁷But Israel shall be saved by Jehovah with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be put to shame nor confounded world without end.

Vespers

weekly cycle

Genesis — Genesis 22.1-18

¹And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

¹And it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham; and he said, Here am I. ²And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. ²And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

³And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. ³And Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he clave the wood for the burnt-offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. ⁴Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. ⁴On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. ⁵And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship, and come again to you. ⁵And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. ⁶And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife; and they went both of them together. ⁶And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. ⁷And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? ⁷And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold, the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering? ⁸And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. ⁸And Abraham said, God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son: so they went both of them together.

⁹And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. ⁹And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. ¹⁰And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. ¹⁰And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹And the angel of Jehovah called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

¹¹And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. ¹²And he said, Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me. ¹²And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. ¹³And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. ¹³And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son. ¹⁴And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. ¹⁴And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of Jehovah it shall be provided.

¹⁵And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, ¹⁵And the angel of Jehovah called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven, ¹⁶And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: ¹⁶and said, By myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, ¹⁷That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; ¹⁷that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; ¹⁸And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. ¹⁸and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Vespers

weekly cycle

Proverbs — Proverbs 17.17-18.5

¹⁷A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. ¹⁷A friend loveth at all times; And a brother is born for adversity. ¹⁸A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend. ¹⁸A man void of understanding striketh hands, And becometh surety in the presence of his neighbor. ¹⁹He loveth transgression that loveth strife: and he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction. ¹⁹He loveth transgression that loveth strife: He that raiseth high his gate seeketh destruction. ²⁰He that hath a froward heart findeth no good: and he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief. ²⁰He that hath a wayward heart findeth no good; And he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief. ²¹He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow; And the father of a fool hath no joy. ²¹He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy. ²²A cheerful heart is a good medicine; But a broken spirit drieth up the bones. ²²A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. ²³A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment. ²³A wicked man receiveth a bribe out of the bosom, To pervert the ways of justice. ²⁴Wisdom is before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth. ²⁴Wisdom is before the face of him that hath understanding; But the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth. ²⁵A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him. ²⁵A foolish son is a grief to his father, And bitterness to her that bare him. ²⁶Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity. ²⁶Also to punish the righteous is not good, Nor to smite the noble for their uprightness.

²⁷He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. ²⁷He that spareth his words hath knowledge; And he that is of a cool spirit is a man of understanding. ²⁸Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise; When he shutteth his lips, he is esteemed as prudent. ²⁸Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding. ¹He that separateth himself seeketh his own desire, And rageth against all sound wisdom.

¹Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom. ²A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself. ²A fool hath no delight in understanding, But only that his heart may reveal itself. ³When the wicked cometh, then cometh also contempt, and with ignominy reproach. ³When the wicked cometh, there cometh also contempt, And with ignominy cometh reproach. ⁴The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook. ⁴The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters; The wellspring of wisdom is as a flowing brook. ⁵It is not good to accept the person of the wicked, to overthrow the righteous in judgment. ⁵To respect the person of the wicked is not good, Nor to turn aside the righteous in judgment.