Martyrs Lucillian and those with him at Byzantium: four youths—Claudius, Hypatius, Paul, and Dionysius—and the virgin Paula (ca. 270-275). St. Barlaam, abbot of Khutyn (Novgorod) (1192).
Hieromartyrs Lucian, bishop, Maxianus, priest, and Julian, deacon and Martyrs Marcellinus and Saturninus, at Beauvais (Gaul) (ca. 81-96). Translation of the relics of the martyred Crown Prince Demetrius from Uglich to Moscow (1606).
New Hieromartyr Cyprian (Nelidov), hieromonk, of Moscow (1934).
“Kursk Root” (1295) and “Tabynsk” (1597) Icons of the Most Holy Theotokos.
St. Achilles, bishop of Alexandria (312). St. Hieria, widow, of Mesopotamia (312). Monk-martyr Barsabas, abbot, of Ishtar, and ten companions, in Persia (342). St. Clotilde (Chlotilda), queen of France (545). St. Kevin, hermit and abbot, of Glendalough (618). Monk-martyr Isaac of Cordoba (851). New Hieromartyr Joseph, metropolitan of Thessalonica (1821).
Repose of Archimandrite Justin (Parvu) of Petru Voda Monastery (Romania) (2013).
Friday. [Rom. 5:17–6:2; Matt. 9:14–17]
The Lord was asked why His disciples did not
fast. He answered that the time for them has not yet come.
Then in a parable he showed that in general, the
strictness of outer asceticism must be in keeping with the
renewal of inner powers of the spirit. First kindle the
spirit of fervour, and then take on austerities; for then
there will be a new inner power capable of enduring them
profitably. If you take them on without first having this
fervour, because you were either impressed by the example
of others, or wanted to make a show of your own
asceticism, then it will bring no profit. You will sustain
this austerity for a bit, and then you will weaken and
drop it. And you will be worse off than before. Austerity
without the inner spirit is like a patch of new linen on
an old garment, or new wine in old wineskins. The patch
will fall off and the rent made even worse; and the wine
will burst the wineskin, and the wine will be lost, and
the wineskin ruined. This, by the way, does not mean that
austerity is bad, but only suggests that one must begin it
in the proper order. The need for it must come from
within, so that it might content the heart, and not just
press from the outside like a weight.