The Eve of the Nativity of Christ. Nun-martyr Eugenia of Rome, and with her Martyrs Philip (her father), Protus, Hyacinth ( Jacinth), Basilla, and Claudia (262).
St. Nicholas the Monk, of Bulgaria (9th c.).
New Hieromartyrs Innocent (Beda), archimandrite, of Voronezh (1927) and Sergius Mechev, archpriest, of Moscow (1941).
St. Vitimionus of Scetis (5th c.). St. Aphrodisius (6th c.) and St. Antioch (635), monks, of Palestine. New Martyr Achmed (Ahmet) the Calligrapher, at Constantinople (1682).
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.