St. Macrina, sister of Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa (380). St. Dius, abbot, of Antioch (ca. 430). Uncovering of the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov (1903). Synaxis of the Saints of Kursk.
Blessed Romanus, prince of Ryazan (1270). St. Paisius of the Kiev Caves (14th c.). Blessed Stephen Lazarevic, king of Serbia (1427) and his mother St. Milica (Eugenia in schema) (1405). Sts. Demetrius, metropolitan of Rostov (1709), and Mitrophan (1703) and Tikhon (1783), bishops of Voronezh. St. Sophronius, archimandrite, of Svyatogorsk Monastery (1921).
Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Umileniye” (“Of Tender Feeling”) of Diveyevo, before which St. Seraphim reposed.
St. Theodore, bishop of Edessa (848). Abba Diocles of the Thebaid.
Repose of Hieroschemamonk Anthony of Valaam (1862), Blessed Abbot Nilus (1870) and Elder John (1903), both of St. Nilus of Sora Monastery, and Archimandrite Nektary (Chernobyl) of Jerusalem (2000).
Monday. [I Cor. 9:13-18; Matt. 16:1-6]
The Pharisees and Sadducees desired of
the Lord that He would show them a sign, but they did not
see the sign before their very eyes. The Lord Himself was
the sign—His teaching and deeds clearly showed who
He was; no additional evidence was needed. The works
that I do…they bear witness of me (John 10:25),
He said to the Jews. The Lord denounced them, saying,
Ye can discern the face of the sky, but the signs
of the times ye cannot discern. Why did this happen with
them? Because they lived an outward life, and did not
enter within themselves. Without collectedness, without
attentiveness and without self-searching it is impossible
to notice or comprehend the works of God. This has
continued until this day. Christianity is before
everyone’s eyes as the true sign of God; but those
who look at it do not see this, are shaken in faith and
step away. Their eyes lose the ability to see the stamp of
divinity in it, and they are ready to ask for special
signs from heaven, like the Jews. But a sign is not given
and shall not be given, because those who seek this do so
only to tempt, and not in order to walk the path of
Christ. Just enter onto this path, and from the first step
you will see that it is divine, that it leads to God and
brings God nearer to you. The Lord said to the Jews:
“there shall no sign be given…but the sign of
the prophet Jonas.” The Lord foresaw today’s
unbelievers as well, and prepared for them an answer:
Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven:
and then shall all the tribes of the earth
mourn… (Matt. 24:30).