Sts. Isaac (383), and Dalmatus and Faustus (5th c.), ascetics of the Dalmatian Monastery, Constantinople. St. Anthony the Roman, abbot (Novgorod) (1147).
Protomartyr Rajden of Tsromi and Nikozi, Georgia (457). St. Cosmas, eunuch and hermit, of Palestine (6th c.).
Holy Myrrh-bearer Salome (1st c.). St. John, confessor and abbot, of Patalaria Monastery (8th-9th c.). St. Theoclita the Wonderworker, of Optimaton (ca. 842). Nine Kherkheulidze brothers, their mother and sister, and 9,000 others, who suffered on the field of Marabda, Georgia (1625).
Repose of Hieroschemamonk Ignatius of Harbin (1958).
Wednesday. [II Cor. 3:4-11; Matt. 23:29-39]
How many mercies the Lord revealed to
Jerusalem, (that is to the Jews). And, in the end, he was
still forced to say, Behold, your house is left unto
you desolate. It is well-known to all what the
consequences of this were: the Jews to this day are
homeless. Does not a similar thing occur with the soul?
The Lord cares for it and gives it understanding in every
way; an obedient soul walks the path indicated, but a
disobedient soul remains in opposition to God’s
calling. But the Lord does not abandon even this soul, and
uses every means to bring it to reason. If stubbornness
increases, God’s influence increases. But there is
measure to everything. A soul becomes hardened, and the
Lord, seeing that already there is nothing more that can
be done with this soul, leaves it in the hands of its own
fall, and it perishes, like pharaoh. Let anyone who is
beset by passions learn the lesson from this that is he
cannot continue indulging himself indefinitely without
punishment. Is it not time to abandon those
passions—not just to deny oneself occasionally, but
to decisively turn away? Indeed, nobody can say when he
will overstep the limit. Perhaps the end to God’s
longsuffering is just around the corner.