Great-martyr Theodore the Tyro (306).
St. Hermogenes, patriarch of Moscow and all Russia (1612).
St. Mariamne, sister of Apostle Philip (1st c.). Uncovering of the relics of Martyr Menas the Most Eloquent, of Alexandria (889). St. Theodore the Silent, of the Kiev Caves (13th c.). St. Barnabas, elder, of Gethsemane Skete of St. Sergius Lavra (1906).
New Hieromartyrs Paul Kosminkov, archpriest, of Lystsevo (Moscow), Mikhail Nikologorsky, priest, of Shchelkovo (Moscow) (1938).
Weeping “Tikhvin” Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, St. Elias Skete, Mt. Athos.
St. Auxibius, bishop of Soli on Cyprus (102). St. Mesrop Mashtots of Armenia (440). St. Finan, bishop of Lindisfarne (661). St. Theodosius, monastic founder at Mt. Kelifarevo (1363), and his disciple St. Romanus (14th c.), of Turnovo (Bulgaria). New Martyr Michael Mavroeidis of Adrianople (1490). New Martyr Theodore of Byzantium, at Mytilene (1795). New Hieromartyr Theodore of Adjara, hieromonk, at Mt. Athos (1822). St. Nicholas Planas, priest, of Athens (1932). Synaxis of Holy Emperor Marcian (457) and St. Pulcheria, his wife (453).
Repose of Elder Agapitus of the Kiev Caves (1887) and Schemamonk John (Shova) of Kolitsou Skete, Mt. Athos (2009).
Friday. [I John 2:7–17; Mark 14:3–9]
The world passeth away, and the lust
thereof (I John 2:17). Who does not see this?
Everything around us passes away—things, people,
events; and we ourselves are passing away. Worldly lust
also passes; we scarcely taste the sweetness of its
satisfaction before both the lust and the sweetness
disappear. We chase after something else, and it is the
same; we chase after a third thing—again the same.
Nothing stands still; everything comes and goes. What? Is
there really nothing constant?! There is, says the
Apostle: he that doeth the will of God abideth for
ever (I John 2:17). How does the world, which is so
transient, endure? Because God so desires that the world
endure. The will of God is the world’s unshakeable
and indestructible foundation. It is the same among
people—whosoever begins to stand firmly in the will
of God is made steadfast and firm at once. One’s
thoughts are restless when chasing after something
transient. But as soon as one comes to his senses and
returns to the path of the will of God, his thoughts and
intentions begin to settle down. When at last one succeeds
in acquiring the habit for such a way of life, everything
he has, both within and without, comes into quiet harmony
and serene order. Having begun here, this deep peace and
imperturbable serenity will pass over to the other life as
well, and there it will abide unto the ages. Amidst the
general transience of things around us, this is what is
not transient, and what is constant within us: walking in
the will of God.