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January 8
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| 32nd Week after Pentecost. Tone 6. |  Fast-free period.
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Second Day of the Feast of the Nativity. 
Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos. Hieromartyr Euthymius, bishop of Sardis (840).
St. Constantine, monk, of Synnada (9th c.). St. Evaristus, monk of the Studion Monastery (825). St. Nicodemus of Tismana, Romania (1406) (Рум.). New Hieromartyr Constantius the Russian, priest, of Constantinople (1743).
New Hieromartyr Isaac II (Bobrakov), archimandrite, of Optina Monastery (1938). New Hieromartyrs Leonid (Antoshchenko), bishop of Mariisk, Basil (Mazurenko), hieromonk, and New Martyr Augusta (Zashchuk), schemanun (1937).
St. Archelaus, bishop of Haran in northern Mesopotamia (ca. 280). St. Zeno, bishop of Maiuma in Palestine (4th c.). St. Jarlath, first bishop of Tuam, founder of the monastery of Cluain Fois (Ireland) (ca. 540).
Repose of Abbot Barlaam of Valaam and Optina Monasteries (1849) and Archimandrite Irenarchus (Rosetti) of Mt. Tabor (1859).
Thoughts for Each Day of the Year
According to the Daily Church Readings from the Word of God
By St. Theophan the Recluse
Friday. [James 2:1-13; Mark 10:23-32]
Hearing the word of the Lord about the inconvenience rich people have in entering the Kingdom of God, the disciples thought, Who then can be saved? The Lord said to this, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible. It is not possible to renounce self-interest without the influence of grace on the heart; it is not possible to cope with all sorts of weaknesses for things, or with all the sin living in us and all of its consequences without God’s grace. God’s grace is given, according to faith in the Lord, in the mysteries of the holy Church. Hold tightly to the holy Church of God and to all of its institutions, and the power of God, helping to bring about every good, will always abide with you. But at the same time always remember that these illuminating and life-giving institutions are a means and not the goal; that is why you should go through them only in order to enliven and nourish the grace-filled powers hidden in you through their influence, and then take up your work as a strong man, ready for every good deed. If you keep what you have received to yourself and not release it through good deeds, you will not be right; just like one is not right who shuns everything belonging to the church. Incorrect zealots of piety make the very structure of a pious life subject to criticism; but this does not take the significance away from this structure, and does not justify philosophizers, who shun it only on these grounds.
Friday. [James 2:1-13; Mark 10:23-32]
Hearing the word of the Lord about the inconvenience rich people have in entering the Kingdom of God, the disciples thought, Who then can be saved? The Lord said to this, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible. It is not possible to renounce self-interest without the influence of grace on the heart; it is not possible to cope with all sorts of weaknesses for things, or with all the sin living in us and all of its consequences without God’s grace. God’s grace is given, according to faith in the Lord, in the mysteries of the holy Church. Hold tightly to the holy Church of God and to all of its institutions, and the power of God, helping to bring about every good, will always abide with you. But at the same time always remember that these illuminating and life-giving institutions are a means and not the goal; that is why you should go through them only in order to enliven and nourish the grace-filled powers hidden in you through their influence, and then take up your work as a strong man, ready for every good deed. If you keep what you have received to yourself and not release it through good deeds, you will not be right; just like one is not right who shuns everything belonging to the church. Incorrect zealots of piety make the very structure of a pious life subject to criticism; but this does not take the significance away from this structure, and does not justify philosophizers, who shun it only on these grounds.