St. Macrina, sister of Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa (380). St. Dius, abbot, of Antioch (ca. 430). Uncovering of the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov (1903). Synaxis of the Saints of Kursk.
Blessed Romanus, prince of Ryazan (1270). St. Paisius of the Kiev Caves (14th c.). Blessed Stephen Lazarevic, king of Serbia (1427) and his mother St. Milica (Eugenia in schema) (1405). St. Sophronius, archimandrite, of Svyatogorsk Monastery (1921).
St. Theodore, bishop of Edessa (848). Abba Diocles of the Thebaid.
Repose of Hieroschemamonk Anthony of Valaam (1862), Blessed Abbot Nilus (1870) and Elder John (1903), both of St. Nilus of Sora Monastery, and Archimandrite Nektary (Chernobyl) of Jerusalem (2000).
Monday. [I Cor. 5:9-6:11; Matt. 13:54-58]
The Nazarenes did not believe the word
of the Lord, because when He lived in amongst them, He had
no attractive lustre or outward dignity that would command
involuntary respect from all. “We know who He
is,” they said; “there can’t be anything
extraordinary about Him.” Their reaction, however,
did not induce the Lord to assume an imposing appearance.
He remained extremely simple in appearance; later the
Apostles bore themselves the same way, as did all of those
who truly followed and emulated them. Why is this so?
Because it is there is no man-made lustre that could fully
correspond to the light of life in Jesus Christ. Moreover,
we recognize that it is better to relegate external
appearance the lowest value, so that it does not block
what is within. Let him who has eyes to see look directly
at the latter, without arresting his attention upon the
former. The holy Apostle Paul expressed it like this:
We have this treasure in earthen vessels (II Cor.
4:7). If we could see what was the outward appearance of
those persons whom we now revere and call upon in prayer,
we would not believe our eyes—they were so simple.
But to this day, those who have come to know the life in
Jesus Christ abandon care for their outward appearance and
turn fully within. That is why the former falls away on
its own, but the latter is raised up and grows. It often
happens that nobody even notices this inner brightness,
not even the one who possesses it. The human eye is evil;
it is not shown what is truly good, if this good can harm
it.