Martyrs Thyrsus, Leucius, and Callinicus (Coronatus), with others, in Bithynia (ca. 250). Martyrs Apollonius, Philemon, Arianus, Theoctychus, and four guards converted by St. Arianus, at Alexandria (ca. 305).
St. Hilarion, metropolitan of Suzdal and Yuriev (1707).
New Hiero-confessor Bassian (Pyatnitsky), archbishop of Tambov (1940).
St. Venantius Fortunatus, bishop of Poitiers (ca. 605). St. Hygbald, abbot, in Lincolnshire (7th c.). St. Folciunus, bishop of Tervas (Neth.) (855).
Repose of Blessed Recluse John of Sezenovo (1839) and Elder Maxim Yugov of Vologda (1906).
Wednesday. [Heb. 10:1-18; Mark 8:30-34]
Having invited people to follow Him
with the cross, the Lord shows also shows this path,
eliminating the main obstacles to it, which are not outer,
but inner, rooted in the human heart. It is as though He
is saying, “If you want to follow Me, first of all
do not pity yourself, for he who pities himself will
destroy himself; second, do not have anything to do with
self-interest, for, What shall it profit a man, if he
shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul
(Mark 8:38)? Third, do not be embarrassed by what people
will say or how they will look at you: Whosoever
therefore shall be ashamed of Me and of My words, in this
adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the
Son of man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His
Father with the holy angels. Self-pity, self-interest,
and embarrassment are the main chains by which a person is
held in a life not pleasing to God, on the path of
passions and sin. They are the main obstacles to a
sinner’s conversion; they are the main object of
spiritual struggle in a person who repents and who already
has begun to bring forth fruits of repentance. As long as
these threads are not cut, the Christian life in us is
unreliable, full of stumbles and falls, if not always
outer, then inner. Let everyone look attentively at
himself; if there is anything in you of what is said
above, take care to give it up: otherwise you can not hope
to rise to perfection in Christ, although you may
outwardly be very proper.