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March 5
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Wednesday |
New Style
March 18
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4th Week of Great Lent.
Tone 7.
Великий пост. |
 Monastic rule: xerophagy (bread, uncooked fruits and vegetables).
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Martyr Conon of Isauria (1st c.). Translation of the relics of St. Theodore, prince of Smolensk and Yaroslavl, and his children Sts. David and Constantine (1463).
Martyr Onisius of Isauria (1st c.). Martyr Conon the Gardener, of Pamphylia (3rd c.). St. Mark the Faster, of Egypt (5th c.). St. Hesychius the Faster, of Bithynia (ca. 790). Monk-martyr Adrian (1550), founder of Poshekhonye Monastery (Rostov), and his fellow-ascetic St. Leonid (1549). Virgin-martyr Irais (Rhais) of Antinoe in Egypt. Martyr Eulogius of Palestine. Martyr Eulampius of Palestine. Sts. Basil (1249) and Constantine (1257), princes of Yaroslavl.
New Hieromartyrs Theophan (Grafov), hierodeacon of Borisoglebsk Monastery (Vladimir) and Mardarius (Isaev), hieromonk, of Yurievskoe (Yaroslavl) (1938).
St. Theophilus, bishop of Caesarea in Palestine (200). Martyr Archelaus and 152 Martyrs in Egypt (ca. 308). St. Kieran (Ciaran) of Saighir, Munster (5th c.-6th c.). St. Virgil, archbishop of Arles (618). New Martyr John the Bulgarian, at Constantinople (1784). New Hieromartyr Parthenius, bishop of Didymoteichon in Thrace (1805). New Martyr George of Rapsana, at Larissa (1818). St. Nikolai (Velimirovich), bishop of Ochrid and Zhicha, Serbia (1956).
Repose of Metropolitan Cornelius of Novgorod (1698).
Thoughts for Each Day of the Year
According to the Daily Church Readings from the Word of God
By St. Theophan the Recluse
Wednesday.
Baptism (kreshenie) in the Russian language sounds like cross (krest). This is fortunate consonance, for although the visible action of baptism is submersion, its essence is a co-crucifixion with Christ on the inner, spiritual cross. The Apostle Paul says: our old man is crucified with him in baptism (Rom. 6:6). This is not some sort of mechanical act, but a moral change, or a revolution of thoughts, goals, desires, and sympathies. Before, all of these were stained with self-pleasure; now all are selflessly dedicated to God, in Christ Jesus, by the grace of the Holy Spirit. [If you were baptized as an infant] you will say, “I didn’t understand that when I was baptized.” Now you understand; set it in your conscience to carry out the meaning of baptism, for your baptism is indelible. Even at the judgement its seal will be visible either for you, or against you.