Sts. Alexander (340),
John the Faster (595),
and Paul the New (784),
patriarchs of Constantinople.
Repose of St. Alexander, founder of Svir Monastery (1533).
Translation of the relics of St. Alexander Nevsky (Alexis in schema), great prince of Novgorod (1724).
Uncovering of the relics of St. Daniel, great prince of Moscow (1652).
St. Christopher of Palestine (6th c.). St. Fantinus of Calabria (9th c.-10th c.). Synaxis of Serbian Hierarchs: Sts. Sava I (1235), Arsenius (1266), Sava II (1269), Eustathius I (1285), James (1292), Nicodemus (1325), and Daniel II (1338), archbishops; Sts. Ioannicius II (1354), Ephraim II (1395), Spyridon (1388), Cyril (1419), Nicon (ca. 1439), Macarius (1574), and Gabriel I (1659), patriarchs; and St. Gregory, bishop (1012). St. Alexander, founder of Voch Monastery, near Galich (14th-15th c.).
New Hieromartyr Ignatius (Lebedev), schemaarchimandrite, of the Vysokopetrovsky Monastery (Moscow) (1938). New Hiero-confessor Peter Cheltsov, archpriest, of Smolensk (1972).
St. Bryaene of Nisibis (318). St. Sarmata of Egypt (ca. 362). St. Eulalius, bishop of Cyprus (4th c.). St. Fiacrius (Fiacre), Irish hermit and hospice-founder at Breuil in Brie (ca. 670). St. Barlaam, metropolitan of Moldavia (1657). St. John of Rasca and Secu, bishop of Roman, Moldavia (1685). 16 Monk-martyrs of Thebes. Six Martyrs of Melitene (Gr. Cal).
Saturday. [I Cor. 4:17-5:5; Matt. 24:1-13]
Because iniquity shall abound,
the love of many shall wax cold. Love is destroyed
by transgressions; the more sins, the less love. Where
there is all sin, do not seek love. Therefore, he who
seeks the spread of love and curtailment of lack of love
ought to be concerned with decreasing sin and cutting
short the sin-loving realm. This is the true foundation
for humanism! Having taken up this work, one must use all
means to oppose sin. External sins are the fruit of inner
sinfulness. Inner sinfulness is rooted in egoism and its
offspring. Consequently, humanists need to make it a rule
for themselves to suppress egoism by all means; egoism is
suppressed most forcefully by not allowing one’s own
will. Do not allow yourself to have your own will, and
soon you will overcome egoism. On the contrary, no matter
what means you want to use against egoism, you won’t
be able to do anything with it if you give freedom to your
will. It would follow that wherever people seek their own
little will, they are seeking an expansion of egoism and
the waxing cold of love—and they are seeking the
greater evil. Yet such is the spirit of the current
time—and evil is growing.