Translation of the relics of Great-martyr Theodore Stratelates (“the General”), of Heraclea (319).
St. Ephraim, patriarch of Antioch (545). St. Zosimas, monk, of Phoenicia (Syria) (6th c.). St. Theodore, bishop of Rostov and Suzdal (ca. 1023). Uncovering of the relics of Sts. Basil and Constantine, princes of Yaroslavl (1501).
Yaroslavl Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos (13th c.).
Martyr Calliope, at Rome (ca. 250). Martyrs Nicander and Marcian, at Dorostolum in Moesia (303). St. Naucratius, brother of St. Basil the Great (4th c.). St. Melania the Elder, of Palladius’ Lausiac History (410). St. Atre (Athre) of Nitria (Egypt) (5th c.). St. Medardus, bishop of Noyon (Neth.) (560). St. Paul the Confessor, of Kaiuma Monastery in Constantinople (766). New Martyr Theophanes at Constantinople (1588). New Hieromartyr Theodore, priest, of Kvelta, Georgia (1609). Synaxis of the Church of the Cross at Mtskheta, Georgia. St. Nicephorus (Cantacuzene), archdeacon, of Constantinople, who suffered under the Uniates in Marienburg, Galicia (1599).
Repose of lay elder Theodore (Sokolov) of White Lake (1973).
Thursday. [Rom. 11:13-24; Matt. 11:27-30]
Come unto Me, all ye that labor and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. O divine, O
dear, O sweetest voice of Thine! Let us all follow the
Lord Who calls us! But first we must feel something
difficult and burdensome for us. We must feel that we have
many sins, and that these sins are grave. From this
feeling is born the need to seek relief. Faith will then
show us that our only refuge is in the Lord and Saviour,
and our steps will direct themselves toward Him. A soul
desiring to be saved from sins knows what to say to the
Lord: “Take my heavy, sinful burden from me; and I
will take on Thy easy yoke.” And it happens like
this: the Lord forgives the sins, and the soul begins to
walk in His commandments. The commandments are the yoke,
and sins are the burden. But comparing the two, the soul
finds that the yoke of the commandments is light as a
feather, while the burden of sins is heavy as a mountain.
Let us not fear readily accepting the Lord’s easy
yoke and His light burden. In no other way can we find
rest unto our souls.