The Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste: Cyrion (or Quirio), Candidus, Domnus, Hesychius, Heraclius, Smaragdus, Eunoicus, Valens, Vivianus, Claudius, Priscus, Theodulus, Eutychius, John, Xanthias, Helianus, Sisinius, Angus, Aetius, Flavius, Acacius, Ecdicius, Lysimachus, Alexander, Elias, Gorgonius, Theophilus, Dometian, Gaius, Leontius, Athanasius, Cyril, Sacerdon, Nicholas, Valerius, Philoctimon, Severian, Chudion, Aglaius, and Meliton (ca. 320).
Martyr Urpasianus of Nicomedia (ca. 295). St. Caesarius, brother of St. Gregory the Theologian (ca. 369). St. Tarasius the Wonderworker, of Lycaonia. Translation to Vladimir of the relics of Martyr Abraham of the Bulgars on the Volga (1230). St. Jonah, archbishop of Novgorod (1470). St. Theodosius Levitsky, priest, of Balta (Odessa) (1845). St. Dimitra, nun and foundress of the Vvedensk Convent in Kiev (1878).
New Hieromartyrs Mitrophan Buchnoff, archpriest, of Voronezh (1931), and Ioasaph (Shakhov), abbot, of Popovka (Moscow) (1938). New Hieromartyrs Sergius Lebedev, Sergius Tsvetkov, and Alexis Smirnov, archpriests, and Dimitry Glivenko, priest, all of the Moscow region (1938).
“Albazin” Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos (“The Word Was Made Flesh”) (1666).
St. Philoromus the Confessor, of Galatia (4th c.). St. Pacianus, bishop of Barcelona (390). St. Bosa, bishop of York (705). St. Vitalis of Castronovo (994). New Martyrs (two priests and forty students) of Momisici (Montenegro) (1688).
Repose of Elder Cleopas of Ostrov-Vvedensk Monastery (1778) and Schema-archimandrite Theophilus of Kiev (1996).
Friday.
My Spirit shall not always strive
with man, for that he also is flesh (Gen.
6:3).[1]
Man has two opposing forces inside, but one
consciousness—the human being. The
characteristics of this being are determined by his
inclinations. If he sides with the Spirit, he is
spiritual; if he sides with the flesh, he is fleshly.
The spirit does not disappear altogether even from the
fleshly, but it is enslaved, and has no voice. It
becomes yoked, and serves the flesh like a slave serves
its mistress, inventing all sorts of pleasures for it.
Similarly, the flesh does not disappear from the
spiritual, but it submits to the spirit and serves it.
It loses its natural rights for food through fasting,
its rights for sleep through vigil, for rest through
continuous labour and weariness, for pleasing the
feelings through seclusion and silence. Where the flesh
reigns, God does not abide; for His organ of
communication with man is the spirit, which is not
given its due priority in the flesh. God’s
approach is felt for the first time when the spirit
begins to claim its own through the operation of the
fear of God and one’s conscience. When
consciousness and freedom also come to help, then God
communicates with man and begins to dwell in him. From
that moment on begins the inspiration of the soul, the
flesh and of the entire inner and outer man, while God
becomes all in all in him. By becoming spiritual, man
is made divine. What a marvellous benefit, and how
little it is remembered, valued and sought
after!
[1]The
Slavonic for Gen. 6:3 reads: My Spirit shall not
eternally be scorned by men, because they are
flesh.