September 25, 2023. + Orthodox Calendar

Orthodox Calendar 2023

Святитель Герман, архиепископ Казанский

Преподобный Сергий Радонежский

Прп. Евфросиния Суздальская

Old Style

September 25

Sunday

New Style

October 8

18th Sunday after Pentecost. Tone 1.

No fast.

St. Euphrosyne, nun, and her father St. Paphnutius, monk, of Alexandria (5th c.). Repose of St. Sergius, abbot, of Radonezh (1392).

Monk-martyr Paphnutius and 546 companions, in Egypt (ca. 303). St. Euphrosyne, nun, of Suzdal (1250). Translation of the relics of St. Herman, archbishop of Kazan (1595). St. Dosithea the Recluse, of the Kiev Caves (1776). Synaxis of the Saints of Spain and Portugal.

New Hiero-confessor Nicholas Rozov, archpriest, of Yaroslavl (1941).

Commemoration of the earthquake in Constantinople in 447. St. Cadoc, abbot, of Llancarfan (577). St. Finbarr (Barry), bishop of Cork (ca. 633). St. Ceolfrith (Geoffrey), abbot, of Wearmouth-Jarrow Monastery (716). St. Arsenius the Great, catholicos of Georgia (887). Martyrs Paul and Tatta and their children Sabinian, Maximus, Rufus, and Eugene, of Damascus.

Repose of philosopher Alexei Stepanovich Khomiakov (1860).

Thoughts for Each Day of the Year
According to the Daily Church Readings from the Word of God
By St. Theophan the Recluse

St. Theophan the Recluse

Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost. [II Cor. 9:6-11; Luke 5:1-11]

The fishermen toiled for an entire night and took nothing; but when the Lord entered their ship, and, after preaching commanded them to cast their net, they took so many that they could not pull them out and the net broke. This is an image for all work without God’s help, and for work with God’s help. When one person works, wanting to achieve something through his strength alone—he is all thumbs. When the Lord draws near to him, then one good thing after another flows in from somewhere. In the spiritual-moral sense the impossibility of success without the Lord is tangibly visible: Without Me ye can do nothing, said the Lord. And this law acts in all things. Just as a branch not grown onto a tree not only does not bear fruit, but dries up and loses its life as well, neither can people bring forth fruits of truth valuable for eternal life if they are not in living communion with the Lord. Any good that they might have is only an appearance of good, but in essence it is faulty—like a forest apple that appears red but if you taste it, it is sour. It is also tangibly clear in an external, worldly sense: one struggles and struggles, and all in vain. When God’s blessing descends, all comes out well. Those who are attentive toward themselves and the paths of life know these truths through experience.

Articles

A Miracle of Knowledge: St. Sergius of Radonezh

The venerable monk, when he had ended his prayers, glanced at the boy and, conscious that he beheld the chosen vessel of the Holy Spirit, he called him to his side, blessed him, bestowed on him a kiss in the name of Christ, and asked: "What art thou seeking, or what dost thou want, child?" The boy answered, "My soul desires above all things to understand the Holy Scriptures. I have to study reading and writing, and I am sorely vexed that I cannot learn these things. Will you, holy Father, pray to God for me, that he will give me understanding of book-learning?" The monk raised his hands and his eyes toward heaven, sighed, prayed to God, then said, "Amen."

Athlete of Virtues—St. Sergius of Radonezh

So remarkable is the life Of this wondrous Saint, so full of miracles, that we tend to overlook those points which, with prayer, can be applied to our own circumstances. Even his childhood gives a picture of an exemplary Christian life. How many contemporary mothers are so solicitous over the spiritual needs of their children even while they are still in the womb? How many of us turn first to God in time of need and teach our children to do likewise?

Sergei of Radonezh, Saint of All Russia

Artemy Yermakov

At that moment, the fate of the Russian Church was being decided; even the whole fate of Russian culture was being sealed. Just try to imagine Russia without the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra, without Andrei Rublev, without the churches dedicated to the Holy Trinity. And yet, St. Sergius left that decision up to another, even though he already knew the answer to his own question.

A Wreath to St. Sergius of Radonezh

Archpriest Sergei Bulgakov

Five and a half centuries have passed since the blessed repose of St. Sergius. The changes that have occurred in everything are great, and great is the historical distance that separates us. However, he still remains not only our spiritual leader and heavenly intercessor but also a friend who measured the depths of our sorrow and through it became our kin.

Dwelling Together in Unity—St. Sergius of Radonezh

Nun Cornelia (Rees)

The Russian people’s problems with power struggles, treachery, and war between different princes were not over. In the midst of it all, there stood a humble monk, ever avoiding honor or power over others, asking nothing and giving everything. This was a magnetic force that drew together seemingly irreconcilable enemies.

Cross procession in honour of St. Sergius of Radonezh takes place in the Caucasus mountains

The starting point and the point of destination of the cross procession was the ancient Balkar village of Eltyubyu. Among the cross procession participants there were the famous Ukrainian traveler Alexander Voloshchuk from Chernigov, who specially came from the suffering Ukraine for participation in the cross procession, and two teenage boys from the city of Tyrnyauz in the Elbrus region.

The 700th Anniversary of Sergius of Radonezh: 8.6 Million Russian Residents Visit the Lavra

The founder of the monastery, St. Sergius of Radonezh, ranks as the second most frequently commemorated saint born in the land of Russia.

A Servant of the Holy Trinity

Deacon Georgiy Malkov

In the Orthodox consciousness, the brightest examples of a harmonious human personality are connected with the figure of St. Sergius of Radonezh, living “by the law of Christ”—humbly wise, warmly merciful toward every man and every creature, yet without the weakness of sentimentalism; always active, hardworking, whether it be in the work of everyday life or in deep prayer.

Uncovering of the relics of the Venerable Sergius of Radonezh

The fifth of July, the day of the Uncovering of the relics of holy Abba Sergius, igumen of the Russian Land, is a crowded and solemn church feastday at the monastery.

September 6 the Church commemorates the appearance of the Most Holy Theotokos to Venerable Sergius of Radonezh

The appearance of the Mother of God in St. Sergius’ cell on the place of the current Serapion chamber occurred on a Friday of the Nativity Fast in 1385. The memory of this visitation and promise of the Mother of God to the Trinity Monastery was piously kept by the disciples of St. Sergius.

St. Sergius of Radonezh

Undoubtedly, the most outstanding establisher of the truly selfless “life equal to the angels” in fourteenth century Russia is St. Sergius of Radonezh, the founder of the famous Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Monastery, which embodies in its historical legacy his blessed precepts, and gradually became a kind of spiritual heart for all of Orthodox Russia.

St. Sergius was a theologian in the highest sense of the word

Lyubov Ulyanova, Vladimir Legoida

Representative of the Synodal Information Department V. R. Legoida speaks on the importance of this great saint for the establishment of Russian statehood, the development of Russian monasticism and Church institutions in the context of modern Church-state relations.

Venerable Cadoc, Abbot of Llancarfan in Wales

Dmitry Lapa

St. Cadoc (c. 497 - c. 580) was the founder of the famous monastery of Llancarfan (c. 518) in the present-day Vale of Glamorgan in Wales. This monastery was to become one of the best-known in Wales, as well as a great centre of learning.

Holy Hierarch Finbarr of Cork

Dmitry Lapa

St. Finbarr preached energetically in the south of Ireland and, according to some traditions, also in Scotland, though there is no written evidence to confirm that. The saint of God spent a part of his life as an anchorite in full seclusion on an island in lake Gougane Barra in county Cork. With time the holy ascetic was joined by numerous disciples, mainly from southern Ireland, and St. Finbarr founded a monastery and a school near his hermitage at Gougane Barra, both of which became very famous and attracted a large number of monks and students from the southern part of the emerald island.

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