St. Bessarion the Great, wonderworker, of Egypt (4th c.-5th c.). St. Hilarion the New, abbot, of the Dalmatian Monastery (845).
Virgin-martyrs Archelais, Thecla, and Susanna, beheaded at Salerno (293). St. Jonah, bishop of Perm (1470). St. Paisius, abbot, of Uglich (1504). St. Jonah, founder of Klimets Monastery (Olonets) (1534).
New Hiero-confessor Raphael (Sheichenko), hieromonk of Optina Monastery (1957).
St. Justus, bishop of Alexandria (130). Martyrs Amandus, Amantius, Alexander, Lucius, Alexander, Alexandria, Donatus, and Peregrinus at Noviodunum (Niculitel) (320). St. Jarlath, first bishop of Tuam, founder of the monastery of Cluain Fois (Ireland) (ca. 540). St. Claudius of Besancon, Gaul (699).
Repose of Eldress Raisa of Serafimovich village near Volgograd (1957) and Schemanun Macaria of Temkino in the Smolensk region (1993).
Monday. [Rom. 7:1-13; Matt. 9:36-10:8]
Sending the holy apostles to preach,
the Lord commanded them to call everyone, saying, The
Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, that is the Kingdom has
come—go to it. What ought we to preach? We should
cry to all, “sons of the kingdom! Do not run from
the kingdom into bondage and slavery,” because they
are running. Some are captivated by freedom of mind. They
say, “we don’t want the bonds of faith and
oppression of authority, even Divine authority; we will
figure things out and make up our minds for
ourselves.” So they made up their minds. They built
fables in which there is more childishness than in the
mythology of the Greeks—and they magnify
themselves… Others are enticed by the broad path of
the passions. They say, “we don’t want to know
positive commandments, nor the demands of
conscience—this is all abstract: we need tangible
naturalness.” And they have gone after it. What has
come of it? They have bowed down before dumb beasts. Has
not the theory that man originated from animals arisen
from this moral fall? This is where they have gone! And
everyone runs from the Lord, everyone runs…