May 9, 2019. + Orthodox Calendar

Orthodox Calendar 2019

Преполовение Пятидесятницы

Old Style

May 9

Wednesday

New Style

May 22

4th Week after Pascha. Tone 3.
Fast Day.

Fish, wine and oil allowed.

Prophet Isaiah (8th c. b.c.). Martyr Christopher of Lycia, and with him Martyrs Callinica, Aquilina, and 200 soldiers (ca. 250). St. Shio of Mgvime, monk, of Georgia (6th c.). Translation of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker from Myra to Bari (1087). St. Joseph, elder, of Optina Monastery (1911).

Translation of the relics of Child-martyr Gabriel of Slutsk (1775).

New Hieromartyr Dimitry Voskresensky, archpriest, of Anastasovo (Chuvashia) (1938).

Martyr Epimachus of Pelusium, at Alexandria (250). St. Maximus III, bishop of Jerusalem (ca. 350). Martyr Gordion, at Rome (362). Monk-martyr Nicholas of Vouneni in Thessaly (901).

Thoughts for Each Day of the Year
According to the Daily Church Readings from the Word of God
By St. Theophan the Recluse

St. Theophan the Recluse

Wednesday. [Acts 14:6–18; John 7:14–30]

On Mid-Pentacost a cry is heard from the Lord: If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink (John 7:37). If so, then let us all go to Him. Whoever thirsts for anything, as long as it is not contrary to the spirit of the Lord, will find satisfaction without fail. Whoever thirsts for knowledge, go to the Lord, for He is the only light truly enlightening every man. Whoever thirsts for cleansing from sins and to soothe the burning of his conscience, go to the Lord, for He lifted up the sins of the whole world onto the tree (cf. I Pet. 2:24) and tore up their handwriting (cf. Col. 2:14). Whoever thirsts for peace of heart, go to the Lord, for He is the treasure, the possession of which will force you to forget all deprivations and despise all goods in order to possess Him alone. Whoever needs strength—He has every strength. Glory—He has glory on high. Freedom—He is the giver of true freedom. He will resolve all of our uncertainties, will break the bonds of the passions, will disperse all sorrows and grieving, will enable us to overcome all impediments, all temptations and snares of the enemy, and will smooth out the path of our spiritual life. Let us all go to the Lord!

Articles

Prophet Isaiah

The Holy Prophet Isaiah lived 700 years before the birth of Christ, and was of royal lineage.

Martyr Christopher of Lycia

The Holy Martyr Christopher lived during the third century and suffered about the year 250, during the reign of the emperor Decius (249-251).

Repose of Venerable Shio of Mgvime (6th century)

Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze

An Antiochian by birth, St. Shio of Mgvime was among the Thirteen Syrian Fathers who preached the Christian Faith in Georgia. His parents were pious nobles who provided their son with a sound education.

There is a St. Nicholas!

“I took the sack. It was heavy. I took it inside the hut and opened it… My dear children!...” the elder began to sob. “There were fresh loaves of bread in the sack. And they were still warm, absolutely hot! As if they had just taken them out of the oven. But what oven could be there?! There wasn’t a single home within fifty versts, only exiles and prisoners.

A Strange Miracle of St. Nicholas in 1956

A true incident which shocked and brought repentance to hundreds of people in the Russian Soviet city of Kuibyshev (modern day Samara), in the year 1956.

Life of St Nicholas the Wonderworker

Alexei Cominos ascended the throne of the Byzantine Empire in 1081, in which year Asia Minor suffered various attacks and threats of barbarian invasion. St Nicholas' relics at this time remained in his city of Myra. However, a priest in the Italian city of Bari soon beheld a vision in which Nicholas appeared and informed him that he did not wish to remain in a city as barren as the defeated Myra. He instructed the priest to remove his body from the city. After informing the residents of Bari of his vision, three ships were sent to Myra to retrieve the saint's relics.

St. Nicholas

Nicholas was taught by his parents to love the Lord with his whole mind, heart, soul, and with ail his strength. When they died he inherited their money. He used this to help the poor, the hungry, and the sick. Whenever he helped anyone he did it secretly, so that only God would know, He did not want praise from people; he wanted his reward to be only in Heaven.

St. Nicholas the Merciful and Recent Miracles in China

Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky)

The Russians like to call Saint Nicholas “Nikola the Merciful” because his miracles are as numerous as the stars of heaven. I would like to remind you of one touching miracle that shows his mercy. This did not happen once upon a time, long ago; it happened in our time, in the city of Harbin [China], where I lived for over 40 years.

St. Nicholas, Protector of Children

Nun Cornelia (Rees)

On this day, the 19th of December (December 6 according to the Julian calendar), the Church celebrates the memory of one of her most beloved saints—St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra and Lycia. We are half way through Advent, the fast preceding the feast of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, born as a babe to the Virgin Mary. This is a time when we especially delight in the beauty and sanctity of children—defenseless, dependent, yet meaning everything to us. We would do anything to protect a child, even die ourselves, because we see in him God’s gift of our own eternal existence.

“Every Miracle Happens for a Reason.” A sermon on the feast of the Translation of the Relics of St. Nicholas the Wonder-worker

Archpriest Nicholai Agofonov

God has granted me in my life to experience many miracles of St. Nicholas, some of which I have written about in my short stories. But there is one incident that shook all of Russia over fifty years ago in the city of Kuibishev, now Samara. This was an event that occurred with the girl, Zoya. Many of you already know about this—another miracle of St. Nicholas.

Saint Nicholas: icons and frescoes

Prayerful intercessor for those in need, St. Nicholas is fervently and sincerely loved by people on all continents. You will hardly find a single Orthodox church anywhere that does not have a fresco or icon with his image.

The Real Saint Nicholas

Gabe Martini

While most today only consider a fictional, elf-like inhabitant of the North Pole—and his band of flying reindeer—the prototype of this myth is a very real and very important person in the life of the Church.

Sermon by metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) of Kiev and Galich on the feast day of St. Nicholas the wonderworker

Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky)

Tell me, Orthodox Christians: If there were ever such a man who for a grave crime were sentenced by royal decree to eternal prison, and his kind master would ask of the king that he would be forgiven, and instead this master accepted his punishment upon himself, while the criminal remained free; and that this good master sent him this good news, in a letter saying “I freed you, and took upon myself your just punishment from the king”? Tell me, brothers, what would the emancipated criminal do with this treasured letter?

A Miracle of St. Nicholas

Deacon Vladimir Vasilik

The weather forecasts were good, and nothing indicated any trouble. Just the same, on the horizon there appeared at first a large dark cloud, which started growing rapidly. A sharp wind blew, which grew into a strong squall. A storm began. Huge waves started beating against the small ship.The ship was tossed from side to side. Water flowed into the machinery area. The ship was on the verge of stopping, and that would fatal for all.

Homily on the Feast of St. Nicholas

Metropolitan Nicholai (Yarushevich)

This virtue of love and mercy in all its beauty and power is personified, my dear ones, by the one whom our faithful, pious hearts glorify today: the “feeder of orphans,” consoler of the sorrowing, intercessor in prayer for all who seek God’s help and mercy—St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

Venerable Joseph of Optina

Saint Joseph of Optina was born on November 2, 1837 in the village of Gorodishcha in the province of Kharkov.

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