ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY Orthodox Calendar
Orthodox Calendar 2020
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April 1 		Tuesday
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April 14
Passion Week.
Great Lent.
Monastic rule: xerophagy (bread, uncooked fruits and vegetables).

Cовершается служба, не отмеченная в Типиконе никаким знакомSt. Mary of Egypt (522). Совершается служба со славословиемSt. Euthymius the Wonderworker, archimandrite, of Suzdal (1404). St. Barsanuphius of Optina Monastery (1913).

Martyrs Gerontius and Basilides (3rd c.). St. Macarius, abbot, of Pelecete (ca. 830). Martyr Abraham of the Bulgars on the Volga (1229). St. Gerontius, canonarch of the Kiev Caves (14th c.). St. Pachomius, archbishop of Roman and Galati (Moldavia) and monk of the Kiev Caves (1724).

New Hieromartyr Sergius Zavarin, archpriest, of Yaroslavl (1938). New Hiero-confessor Schema-bishop Macarius (Vasiliev), at the Pskov Caves Monastery (1944).

St. Meliton, bishop of Sardis (177). Martyr Romanus of Raqqa (Syria) (780). St. Procopius, abbot, of Sazava in Bohemia (1053). Sts. John of Shavta, bishop of Gaenati (7th c.-13th c.) and Eulogius the Prophet, fool-for-Christ (13th c.). of Georgia.

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

The Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost. [II Cor. 6:1-10; Matt. 25:14-30]

   The parable about the talents offers the thought that life is a time for trading. That means that it is necessary to hasten to use this time as a person would hurry to a market to bargain for what he can. Even if one has only brought bast shoes, or only bast,[1] he does not sit with his arms folded, but contrives to call over buyers to sell what he has and then buy for himself what he needs. No one who has received life from the Lord can say that he does not have a single talent—everyone has something, and not just one thing; everyone, therefore, has something with which to trade and make a profit. Do not look around and calculate what others have received, but take a good look at yourself and determine more precisely what lies in you and what you can gain for that which you have, and then act according to this plan without laziness. At the Judgment you will not be asked why you did not gain ten talents if you had only one, and you will not even be asked why you gained only one talent on your one, but you will be told that you gained a talent, half a talent or a tenth of its worth. And the reward will not be because you received the talents, but because you gained. There will be nothing with which to justify yourself—not with nobleness, nor poverty, nor lack of education. When this is not given, there will be no question about it. But you had hands and feet. You will be asked, what did you gain with them? You had a tongue, what did you gain with it? In this way will the inequalities of earthly states be levelled out at God’s judgment.

[1] Very inexpensive, unsophisticated items.

Articles

This is our chance to bear good fruit

Priest Alexander Kovalev

In the broader sense given to that sin in the Holy Scriptures, it is the idolatrous attachment to the visible world… Fornication means giving your heart not to one who is worthy of love; it means instead of directing your will to the one thing needful, to pure, holy love for a person, for people, and for God, you vaporize it, disperse it anarchically, in all different directions, so that it serves all idols, all desires, and every impulse.

Saint Mary of Egypt

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh

And she was so profoundly shaken by this experience that she left all that had been her life, retired into the desert, and with a life which the service books define as ‘extreme’, fought to conquer her flesh, her soul, her memories - everything that was sin, but also everything that could lead her away from God. And we know how glorious her life was, the kind of person she became.

Venerable Mary of Egypt

Covered by the cloak, the ascetic turned to Zosimas: “Why do you want to speak with me, a sinful woman? What did you wish to learn from me, you who have not shrunk from such great labors?”

Venerable Euthymius of Suzdal

The ascetic struggles of Saint Euthymius were so great that Saint Dionysius advised him to lessen them.

Venerable Barsanuphius of Optina

Elder Barsonuphius’s “Old, Old Ladies”

Novice Elena Shamonina

I used to need one-on-one talks, and the elder’s constant attention. Now I would be happy just to sit and listen to phrases from batiushka’s talks with others.

Martyrs Gerontius and Basilides

The Martyrs Gerontius and Basilides suffered martyrdom for Christ in the third century.

Venerable Macarius the Abbot of Pelecete

Saint Macarius was born at Constantinople in 785. While still a child, he lost his parents.

Martyr Abraham of Bulgaria

The Holy Martyr Abraham the Bulgar, Vladimir Wonderworker, lived during the thirteenth century, and was descended from the Kamska Bulgars and brought up as a Moslem.

Venerable Gerontius the Canonarch of the Kiev Far Caves

He spent all his life at the monastery, in ascetic deeds of abstinence, obedience, and prayer.

Venerable Ioane of Shavta, Bishop of Gaenati, and Evlogi the Prophet and Fool-for-Christ (13th century)

Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze

The great Georgian hymnographer, philosopher, and orator St. Ioane of Shavta labored in the 12th and 13th centuries, during the reign of the holy queen Tamar. Few details of his life have been preserved, but we know that he received his education at Gelati Academy, where he studied theology, ancient and Arabic history, philosophy, and literature. He was later tonsured a monk and labored at Vardzia Monastery.
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