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| Old Style
December 19
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Tuesday |
New Style
January 1
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32nd Week after Pentecost.
Tone 6.
Nativity Fast. |
 Wine and oil allowed.
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Martyr Boniface, at Tarsus in Cilicia (290). and Righteous Aglae (Aglaida), of Rome (ca. 303).
Martyrs Elias, Probus, and Ares, Egyptians, in Cilicia (308). Martyrs Polyeuctus, at Caesarea in Cappadocia, and the deacon Timothy, in Mauretania (309). St. Gregory (Gregentius), archbishop of Omirits (552). St. Boniface the Merciful, bishop of Ferentino (6th c.). St. Elias of Murom, wonderworker of the Kiev Caves (1188). St. Seraphim (Romantsov), schema-archimandrite, of Sukhumi (Abkhazia), elder, of Glinsk Monastery (1975).
Hieromartyr Capito, bishop of Cherson (4th c.). Sts. George the Scribe and Sabbas, monks of Khakhuli Monastery (11th c.). Martyrs Eutyches and Thessalonica, and with them 200 men and 70 women.
Repose of Hieromonk Hermogenes, founder of Kirensk and Albazin Monasteries (Siberia) (1690).
Thoughts for Each Day of the Year
According to the Daily Church Readings from the Word of God
By St. Theophan the Recluse
Tuesday. [Heb. 12:25-26, 13:22-25; Mark 10:2-12]
What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. With these words the Lord affirms the integrity of marriage; only one lawful ground for divorce is indicated—a spouse’s unfaithfulness. But what should one do if one discovers something like this? Be patient. We have a universal commandment—to bear one another’s burdens; even more willingly should close ones, such as spouses, mutually fulfill this with respect to one another. Unwillingness to be patient blows up some unpleasantness out of proportion, and trifles pile up into a dividing wall. What is the mind given us for? To smooth out the path of life. Wisdom will work out any unpleasantness which is met. Because of lack of earthly wisdom, it not worked out; even more because of an unwillingness to think over well the state of things, and even more from not having any goal in life other than pleasure. Pleasures cease, satisfaction with one another ceases; on it goes until divorce. The more goals in life are debased, the more frequent divorces become on the one hand, and on the other—unlawful temporary cohabitation. The source of this evil lies in materialistic views of the world and life.
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