St. Xenophon and his wife St. Mary, and their two sons Sts. Arcadius and John, of Constantinople (5th c.-6th c.).
Martyrs Ananias the priest, Peter the prison guard, and seven soldiers, in Phoenicia (295). St. Symeon the Ancient, of Mt. Sinai (390). St. Joseph the Confessor, archbishop of Thessalonica, brother of St. Theodore the Studite (830). Translation of the relics of St. Theodore the Confessor, abbot of the Studion (845). St. David the Builder, king of Georgia (1125). St. Xenophon, founder of Robeika Monastery (Novgorod) (1262).
St. Ammon of Egypt (350), disciple of St. Anthony the Great. St. Paula of Rome, monastic foundress in Palestine (404). St. Gabriel, abbot, in Jerusalem (ca. 490). St. Conon, bishop and monastic founder on the Isle of Man (648). St. Clement of Mt. Sagmation (12th c.).
Repose of Metropolitan Gabriel of Novgorod and St. Petersburg (1801) and Metropolitan Joseph (Naniescu) of Suceava, Romania (1902).
Wednesday. [II Pet. 3:1–18; Mark 13:24–31]
The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the
night (II Pet. 3:10). A thief in the night
sneaks up when he is not expected. So will the day of the
Lord also come when it is not expected. But when He that
cometh is not expected, no preparations are made for
meeting Him. Lest we allow such negligence, the Lord
commanded: Watch: for ye know not what hour your Lord
doth come (Matt. 24:42). Meanwhile, what are we doing?
Are we watching? Are we waiting? We must confess that we
are not. Some at least await death, but scarcely anyone
awaits the day of the Lord. And it is as if they are
right. Our fathers and forefathers waited, but the day did
not come. Since we do not see anything, why should we
think that it will come in our days? Thus, we do not
think; and do not wait. It will not be a wonder, if with
such a disposition as ours, the day of the Lord falls upon
us like a thief. We shall be like the inhabitants of a
city which the head of the province promised to visit in
the near future. They waited for him an hour, waited
another, waited a day and then said, “I suppose
he’s not coming,” and went home. But as soon
as they departed and gave themselves over to
sleep—he appeared. It will be the same with
us—whether we are waiting or not, the day of the
Lord will come, and it will come without warning. For the
Lord said: Heaven and earth shall pass away: but My
words shall not pass away (Mark 13:31). But is it not
better to wait, lest we be caught by surprise? For we will
not get off without paying.