Commemoration of the Miracle of the Archangel Michael at Colossae (Chonae) (4th c.). Martyr Eudoxius, and with him Martyrs Zeno, Macarius, and 1,104 soldiers, in Melitene (311-312).
Martyrs Romulus and 11,000 others, in Armenia (ca. 107-115). St. Archippus of Hierapolis (4th c.). Martyrs Cyriacus, Faustus, Abibus, and 11 others, at Alexandria (250). Hieromartyr Cyril, bishop of Gortyna on Crete (ca. 303). St. David of Hermopolis in Egypt (6th c.).
Icon of the Mother of God of Kiev-Bratsk (1654). Icon of the Mother of God Arapet (Arabian).
Martyrs Calodote, Macarius, Andrew, Cyriacus, Dionysius, Andrew the Soldier, Andropelagia, Thecla, Theoctistus, and Sarapabon the Senator, in Egypt (256). St. Beya, virgin, first abbess of Copeland in Cumbria (7th c.). St. Magnus of Fussen, enlightener of the Allgau region of Germany (750-772).
Repose of Ivan Yakovlevich Koreisha, fool-for-Christ, of Moscow (1861), and Archimandrite Paisius the New, of Mt. Athos (1871).
Tuesday. [Gal. 5:11-21; Mark 7:5-16]
There is nothing from without a man,
that entering into him can defile him: but the things
which come out of him, those are they that defile the
man. This and similar passages, for example: But
meat commendeth us not to God (1 Cor. 8:8) are usually
cited by those who do not like to fast, supposing that
they thereby sufficiently justify their not fasting
according to the rule and custom of the Church. The
validity of this excuse is known to everyone faithful to
the Church. The fast decrees that we abstain from some
foods not because they are defiled, but because we can
more conveniently refine our flesh by this
abstinence—something crucial for inner progress.
This meaning of the law of fasting is so essential that
those who consider some foods to be defiled are numbered
among the heretics. Those who do not like to fast would do
better not dwell on this point, but on the point that
fasting is not obligatory, although it definitely is a
means for overcoming sinful urges and the strivings of the
flesh. But they can in no way stand their ground on this
point, either. If inner progress is obligatory, then the
means by which it is obtained is also obligatory, namely,
fasting. Each person’s conscience says this to him.
In order to soothe their conscience, they assert: I will
compensate for my omission of fasting in another way; or,
fasting is harmful for me; or, I will fast when I want to,
and not during the established fasts. However, the first
excuse is inappropriate because nobody has yet managed
without fasting to cope with his flesh, or order his inner
life properly. The last excuse is also inappropriate,
because the Church is one body, and to separate oneself
from others in it means opposing its construction. One can
remove oneself from the general customs of the Church only
by leaving it; but while someone is a member of it, he
cannot say this and demand that. The second excuse has a
shadow of a right. Indeed, among the limitations of
fasting the obligation is lifted from those for whom
fasting acts destructively, because the fast was
established not to kill the body, but to mortify the
passions. But if one should conscientiously count the true
number of such people it would be seen that they are so
few that they do not even count. Only one real reason
remains—lack of desire. There is no point in
debating with this. You will neither be brought to heaven
against your will; only when you are condemned to hell you
will go whether you want to or not—they will grab
you and fling you there.