Martyrs Mamas of Caesarea in Cappadocia, and his parents, Theodotus and Rufina (3rd c.)
St. John the Faster, patriarch of Constantinople (595).
Sts. Anthony (1073)
and Theodosius (1074), of the Kiev Caves.
3,628 Martyrs at Nicomedia (303-305). Synaxis of the Saints of Saratov.
New Hieromartyrs Barsanuphius (Lebedev), bishop of Kyrillov, and priest John Ivanov, and Martyrs Seraphima (Sulimova), abbess of the Therapontov Convent, and Anatole, Nicholas, Michael, and Philip, all at the St. Cyril of White Lake Monastery (1918). New Hieromartyr Damascene (Tsedrik), bishop of Starodub (1937). New Hieromartyrs Herman (Ryashentsev), bishop of Vyaznikov, and the priest Stephen Yaroshevich (1937).
“Kaluga” Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos (1748).
Righteous Eleazar, son of Righteous Aaron, and Righteous Phineas (ca. 1400 b.c.). St. Hieu, abbess of Tadcaster (England) (ca. 657).
Repose of Archbishop Vladimir of Kazan (1897).
Wednesday. [II Cor. 9:12-10:7; Mark 3:20-27]
If a kingdom be divided against
itself, that kingdom cannot stand. While
single-mindedness for sinful evil is the quality within
us, the kingdom of darkness and sin is strong in us; but
when God’s grace attracts to itself the part of the
spirit held captive by sin, freeing it from captivity,
then there occurs a division within: sin on the one side,
good on the other. As soon as a person unites his
consciousness and freedom with good as a result of this
awakening, sin loses all support and starts to decay.
Constancy in the good intention taken on and patience in
labours completely thwart sin and destroy it. Then begins
the kingdom of good within, and it remains until some evil
thought steals in, and, attracting the will to itself,
once again brings about divisions. Just give entrance to
the sinful stirring which has arisen, unite with it and
set it in action, and again good will begin to weaken, and
evil will grow, until it destroys the good entirely. This
is the nearly continuous history of the inner life of
those who are weak-hearted and do not have a strong
disposition.