| Previous day | 
|
Next day |
| Old Style
September 24
|
Thursday |
New Style
October 7
|
| 16th Week after Pentecost. Tone 6. |  No fast.
|
Protomartyr and Equal-to-the-Apostles Thecla of Iconium (1st c.).
St. Coprius, monk, of Palestine (530). Sts. Stephen the First-Crowned (in monasticism Simon) (1224), David (13th c.), and Stephen Vladislav (1243), of Serbia. St. Nicander, hermit, of Pskov (1582). Monk-martyr Galacteon of Vologda (1612). St. Abramius, first abbot of Mirozh Monastery (Pskov) (1158). St. Theodosius, abbot, of Manyava Skete (Ukraine) (1629). St. Dorothea, schemanun, of Kashin (1629). St. Gabriel of Seven Lakes Monastery (Kazan) and Pskov-Eleazar Monastery (Pskov) (1915).
New Monk-martyr Vitaly (Kokorev) of the St. Nilus Hermitage (Tver) (1937).
Icons of the Most Holy Theotokos “Of Mirozh” and “Of the Myrtle Tree” (ca. 1160).
St. Isarnus of Toulouse, abbot (1048). New Hiero-confessor Leontius, archimandrite, of Vilnius (1620). Arrival in America of the first Orthodox Mission: Sts. Herman, Juvenaly, and others (1794).
Thoughts for Each Day of the Year
According to the Daily Church Readings from the Word of God
By St. Theophan the Recluse
Thursday. [Eph. 1:1-9; Mark 7:24-30]
What moved the Syrophenician woman to come to the Lord and be so persistent in her petition? The shape of her convictions which had formed—she was convinced that the Saviour had power to heal her daughter and she came to Him; she was convinced that He would not leave her petition without fulfilment, and she would not stop asking. Convictions are the sum total of all of life, upbringing, current thinking, impressions from surroundings, from teachings received and various incidents and activities in life. One’s thoughts work under the influence of all this, and come to certain convictions. Meanwhile one must keep in mind that God’s truth is everywhere, and from everywhere crowds into the soul of man. Truth lies in the heart of man; God’s truth is imprinted in all creatures. There is God’s truth in the customs and dispositions of man; it is also in his teachings to a greater or lesser degree. But falsehood is everywhere as well. He who is of the truth gathers the truth, and is full of true, saving convictions. Whereas he who is not of the truth gathers lies and is full of false convictions, and fatal delusions. Whether a person is of the truth or not of the truth—let everyone examine for himself; but meanwhile God’s judgment awaits everyone.…
Friday. [Eph. 6:18-24; Luke 4:22-30]
The people of Nazareth marvelled at the word of the Lord, but nevertheless they did not believe: envy prevented them as the Lord Himself revealed. Every passion opposes truth and goodness, but envy most of all, because falsehood and spite make up its essence. This passion is the most unjust and poisonous both for the one who bears it and for the one against whom it is directed. It occurs on a small scale with everyone when someone equal or inferior gets the upper hand. Egoism gets irritated, and envy begins to gnaw away at the heart. This is still not so tormenting if the road is still open to you; but when it is blocked off, especially by the one you already envy, then its aggression is unstoppable, and peace is impossible. Envy demands the overthrow of one’s enemy from his place on the peak, and will not rest content until it somehow attains this, or until it ruins the envier. Good natured, well-wishing people, whose kindly sentiments prevail over egotistical ones, do not suffer from envy. This is also the way to extinguish envy for any person tormented by it. You must hasten to inspire good will, especially towards the one whom you envy, and manifest it in deed; then envy will immediately abate. If you repeat this several times, with God’s help it will entirely subside. But if you leave it the way it is, if you do not overcome yourself and force yourself to do good to the one you envy, it will torment you, dry you up, and send you to your grave.
Article
