Martyrs Andrew Stratelates and 2,593 soldiers with him, in Cilicia (284-305).
Martyrs Timothy, Agapius, and Thecla, of Palestine (304-306). St. Pitirim, bishop of Perm (1456). Uncovering of the relics of St. Gennadius, abbot, of Kostroma (1646).
“Donskoy” Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos (1591).
St. Theophanes, new wonderworker, of Macedonia (Mt. Athos) (16th c.).
Repose of Abbess Maria (Ushakova) of Diveyevo (1904) and Archimandrite Spyridon (Efimov) (1984), disciple of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco.
Tuesday. [II Cor. 12:20-13:2; Mark 4:24-34]
The parable about the gradual growth of
wheat from seed portrays, with respect to each man, the
gradual growth of what is hidden in a man’s heart,
sown and watched over by God’s grace, while with
respect to mankind—the gradual increase in the body
of the Church or the community of those saved in the Lord
Jesus Christ, according to the order established by Him.
Through this parable the question is settled: why to this
day is Christianity not universal? Just as a man who has
cast seed into the ground sleeps and rises, and the seed
sprouts and grows up on its own without his knowing how,
so the Lord, placing the seed of Divine life on the ground
has given it freedom to spread on its own, subordinating
it to the natural flow of events, and not forcing them. He
only watches over the seed, assists it in individual
circumstances and gives the general direction. The reason
for this lies in man’s freedom. The Lord wants man
to submit to Him on his own, and awaits the inclination of
his freedom; this affair takes time. If all depended only
on God’s will, everyone would have been a Christian
long ago. Another thought: the body of the Church is being
created in heaven; from the earth enter only materials,
formed also by heavenly agents. The word passes over the
earth from heaven and attracts those who desire it. Those
who take heed and follow enter, like raw material, into
God’s laboratory, the Church, and here are remade
according to patterns given from heaven. Those who are
remade, upon departure from this life, pass into heaven
and there enter into the house of God, each where he is
fit. This goes on continuously, and consequently the work
of God does not stand still. A universal solemn
celebration of Christianity is not required for this. The
house of God is created invisibly.