Afterfeast of the Entry into the Temple. Apostles of the Seventy Philemon and Archippus, Martyr Apphia, wife of Philemon, and St. Onesimus, disciple of St. Paul (1st c.). Martyrdom of St. Michael, great prince of Tver (1318).
Martyrs Cecilia, Valerian, Tiburtius, and Maximus, at Rome (ca. 230). Martyr Menignus, at Parium (250). Martyr Procopius the Reader, at Caesarea in Palestine (303). St. Agabbas of Syria (5th c.). Righteous Michael the Soldier, of Bulgaria (866). St. Yaropolk-Peter, prince of Vladimir in Volhynia (1086).
New Hieromartyrs Ioasaph (Zhevakhov), bishop of Mogilev, Gerasim (Mochalov), hieromonk of the Zosima Hermitage (Smolensk), and Alexis Benemansky, archpriest, of Tver (1937). New Monk-martyrs Eutychius (Didenko), Abner (Sinitsyn), Sava (Suslov), and Mark (Makhrov), of Optina Monastery, and with them Martyr Boris Kozlov (1937).
Martyr Agapion of Greece (304). Martyrs Stephen, Mark, and Mark (another), at Antioch in Pisidia (4th c.). St. Germanus of Eikoiphinissa in Macedonia (9th c.). St. Clement of Ochrid, bishop of Greater Macedonia (916).
Monday. [I Tim. 5:1-10; Luke 17:20-25]
Having said that the Son of Man will
appear in his day like lightning, instantly illuminating
everything under heaven, the Lord added: But first must
He suffer many things, and be rejected of this
generation. The word order here makes it apparent that
this “must suffer” should precede Lord’s
appearance in glory. Thus, the whole time until that day
is the time of the Lord’s suffering. He suffered in
His person at one known time; after that His sufferings
continue in believers—suffering as they are born,
their upbringing in the spirit and protection from actions
of the enemy, both inner and outer—for the
Lord’s union with His own is not just mental or
moral, but living. Everything that touches them is
accepted by Him as well, as the head. Therefore, it is
impossible not to see that the Lord indeed suffers much.
The most painful sorrows are the falls of believers; even
more painful for Him is when they fall away from the
faith. But these are the final wounds; as continuously
wounding arrows are the sorrows, temptations, and wavering
faith of unbelief. Words and writings that exude unbelief
are kindled arrows of the evil one. Nowadays, the evil one
has led many blacksmiths to forge such arrows. The hearts
of believers ache when they are struck by them and see
others being struck. The Lord aches too. But the day of
the Lord’s glory will appear—then all the
secret darkness will be revealed, and those who have
suffered will rejoice with the Lord. Until that time we
must endure and pray.
Tuesday. [I Tim. 5:11-21; Luke 17:26-37]
Whosoever shall seek to save his
life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life
shall preserve it. One must understand it this way: to
save your life means to pity yourself, while to lose your
life means not pitying yourself—that is, on the path
of the Lord’s commandments, or in working for the
Lord. So, it is like this: he who works for the Lord,
fulfilling His commandments without pitying himself, is
saved; but he who pities himself, perishes. If you pity
yourself you will unfailingly be found as a transgressor
of the commandments and, consequently, an unprofitable
servant; and what is the sentence for an unprofitable
servant? Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer
darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth
(Matt. 25:30). Make an effort to watch yourself if only
for a single day, and you will see that self-pity distorts
all of our [good] deeds and kills the desire to do them.
Without labour and effort, you will not be able to do
anything; but if you regret forcing yourself—it all
stops there. There are things which you must do, whether
you want to or not. Such things are done without fail,
difficult as they may be. But here self-pity is overcome
by self-pity. If you don’t do them, there will be
nothing to eat. But since what is required by the
commandments are not of such nature, they are always
omitted out of s elf-pity. You make condescensions to
yourself when it comes to bad deeds, also out of
self-pity. You hate to refuse yourself what you want and
so the desire is fulfilled, even though it is either
outright sinful, or will lead to sin. Thus it always goes
with one who pities himself—what he should do, he
does not, and what he should not do, he indulges himself
in doing; and he ends up good for nothing. What salvation
can there be here?