Holy Prophet Zachariah and Righteous Elizabeth, parents of St. John the Forerunner (1st c.). Martyrdom of St. Athanasius, abbot, of Brest-Litovsk, by the Latins (1648).
Virgin-martyr Rhais of Alexandria (ca. 308). Martyrs Juventinus and Maximinus, soldiers, at Antioch (361-363). Martyrs Urban, Theodore, Medimnus, and 77 companions, at Nicomedia (370). Hieromartyr Abdas, bishop of Hormidz-Ardashir, and Martyrs Hormizd and Sunin, of Persia (ca. 420). Martyrdom of the Holy Passionbearer Gleb of Russia, in holy baptism David (1015). Martyrs Sarbelus (Thathuil) and his sister Bebaia, of Edessa (98- 138).
New Hieromartyr Alexis (Belkovsky), archbishop of Great Ustiug (1937).
Appearance of Apostle Peter to Emperor Justinian at Athira, near Constantinople (6th c.).
Repose of Priest Hilarion Felea of Romania (1961).
Tuesday. [Eph. 2:19-3:7; Mark 11:11-23]
The fig tree covered with leaves was
splendid in appearance, but was not honoured with approval
from the Lord because there was no fruit on it, and there
was no fruit because there was no inner fruit-bearing
power. How many such fig trees there are in the moral
sense! In appearance all is proper, but on the inside
there is nothing. They are orderly, honourable, and fulfil
all that is Christian, but they do not have the spirit of
life in Christ Jesus; that is why they do not have living
fruit. And what is in them only seems to be fruit, but is
not. In what lies the spirit of life in Christ Jesus? To
this we say: one part in this is from the Lord, and the
other from us. What is from the Lord essentially is a
fruit-bearing spiritual power; while what comes from us is
just the receiver of this power. Concern yourself more
with the latter. The root of this is the feeling that you
are perishing, and that if it were not for the Lord, you
would perish. From this you will have a heart that is
broken and humbled, in everything you do, throughout your
life. Further, since the future is unknown, there are many
enemies, and you can stumble every moment, fear and
trembling accompany salvation, along with the unceasing
cry: “O Thou Who knoweth all things, save me.”
Woe to him also who rests on something other than the
Lord; woe to him who has worked for something other than
the Lord! Ask yourself, you who labour in deeds which are
considered God-pleasing, for whom are you working? If your
conscience boldly answers: only for the Lord—it is
good; but if not, you are building a house upon the sand.
Here are several indications of a fertile inner spirit.
You can understand many other things according to
this.
Tuesday. [James 3:1–10; Mark 11:11–23]
The Lord took away His blessing from the fig tree which
was rich with leaves but had no fruit, and it dried up.
This is a lesson in action. The fig tree represents people
who in appearance are proper, but in essence are not
worthy of approval. Who are these people? They are those
who eloquently discourse about the faith, but do not have
that faith—they hold the objects of faith in the
intellect only. They are those whose outward behaviour is
proper but their feelings and dispositions are very
improper, and they manifest proper works only to hide
their impropriety from people; whenever possible, they do
not do these works. For example, such a person gives alms
when someone asks of him in front of people, but ask him
in private and he will berate you. He goes to church to
pray to God, prays in sight of everyone, and prays at home
as well, so as to not bring shame upon himself before his
household. But as soon as he is alone, he does not even
make the sign of the cross over his brow. He does not have
any idea about turning to God with the mind and heart. Let
us pray that God will not allow us to be as these. For
then we will not escape the judgement pronounced over the
fig tree.