Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Tuesday, 12 October 2010. Commemoration of the Holy Martyrs Probos, Tarachos, and Andronicos.

Tuesday, 12 October 2010. Commemoration of the Holy Martyrs Probos, Tarachos, and Andronicos.

Prokeimenon
Psalms 64:10,1 (Tone 7)
Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him. Let all the upright in heart glory.
Stichon: Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; preserve my life from the dread enemy. (NRSV)

Epistle of the Divine Liturgy
Colossians 1:1-11 (21 after Pentecost)
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God. This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow-servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit. For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience. (NRSV)

Alleluia verse
Psalms 92:12,13 (Tone 2)
The righteous flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Stichon: They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. (NRSV)

Gospel of the Divine Liturgy
Luke 8:1-3 (4 after Holy Cross)
At that time, Jesus went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources. (NRSV)

Synaxarion of the Day (story of the feast or commemoration)
Saint Probus was a citizen of the city of Side in Pamphylia. Tarachos was a soldier, a native of Claudiopolis of Isauria, and Andronicos was the descendent of a noble family of Ephesus in Asia. Led to Pompeiopolis (or Scoli), in Cilicia, before President Maximos, under Emperor Diocletian, then to Tarsus and to Mopsuestia, they courageously suffered all sorts of tortures during various questionings and their lives were ended by the sword at Anazarbus in 304.


Class of Feast: 5
Tone of Week: 3

Monday, October 4, 2010

Monday, 04 October 2010. Commemoration of the Holy Hieromartyr Hierotheos, Bishop of Athens.

Monday, 04 October 2010. Commemoration of the Holy Hieromartyr Hierotheos, Bishop of Athens.

Prokeimenon
Psalms 104:4,104:1 (Tone 4)
You make the winds your messengers, fire and flame your ministers.
Stichon: Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great. (NRSV)

Epistle of the Divine Liturgy
Philippians 2:12-16 (20 after Pentecost)
Brothers and sisters, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without murmuring and arguing, so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world. It is by your holding fast to the word of life that I can boast on the day of Christ. (NRSV)

Alleluia verse
Psalms 148:1,2 (Tone 2)
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights!
Stichon: Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his host! (NRSV)

Gospel of the Divine Liturgy
Luke 6:24-30 (3 after Holy Cross)
Jesus said to the crowd, ‘Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. ‘Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. ‘Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. ‘Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets. ‘But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again.' (NRSV)

Synaxarion of the Day (story of the feast or commemoration)
According to the Greek Menaia, Saint Hierotheos "was one of the nine counsellors of the Areopagus." He was instructed by Saint Paul the Apostle and consecrated Bishop of Athens. In his turn he taught the Christian faith to Dionysius the Areopagite. After having led a holy life completely filled by the love of God, and having pleased the Creator by his conduct and good works, he committed his soul into the Lord's hands.


Class of Feast: 5
Tone of Week: 2

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Akathist Hymn to the Most Holy Theotokos - Ode 1 in English

So Beautiful!

Tuesday, 28 September 2010

Tuesday, 28 September 2010. Commemoration of our Holy Father Chariton the Confessor.

Prokeimenon
Psalms 64:10,1 (Tone 7)
Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him. Let all the upright in heart glory.
Stichon: Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; preserve my life from the dread enemy. (NRSV)

Epistle of the Divine Liturgy
Philippians 1:8-14 (19 after Pentecost)
Brothers and sisters, God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that on the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God. I want you to know, beloved, that what has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to everyone else that my imprisonment is for Christ; and most of the brothers and sisters, having been made confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, dare to speak the word with greater boldness and without fear. (NRSV)

Alleluia verse
Psalms 92:12,13 (Tone 2)
The righteous flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Stichon: They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. (NRSV)

Gospel of the Divine Liturgy
Luke 5:12-16 (2 after Holy Cross)
At that time, when Jesus was in one of the cities, there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground and begged him, ‘Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean Then Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, ‘I do choose. Be made clean.’ Immediately the leprosy left him. And he ordered him to tell no one. ‘Go’, he said, ‘and show yourself to the priest, and, as Moses commanded, make an offering for your cleansing, for a testimony to them.’ But now more than ever the word about Jesus spread abroad; many crowds would gather to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. But he would withdraw to deserted places and pray. (NRSV)

Synaxarion of the Day (story of the feast or commemoration)
Saint Chariton was born in Iconium in the eparchy of Lycaonia. Under Emperor Diocletian he was summoned before the consul's tribunal which, by the strength of his word, convicted him of error by his courageous confession of Christ. Four men stretched him out on the ground, struck him, and tortured him with fire. Delivered from prison, he took refuge in Egypt. After the liberating edict of Constantine the Great in 313, he went to Palestine and there converted a grotto into a church in a place called Pharan in order to practice the ascetic life there (330). But soon he had to leave this place to flee from the multitudes who were coming to him, and to withdraw to Doucas mountain in the grottos around Jericho (340). Seeing that a great number of monks were gathering around him, he built a third laura, near the place called Thecoa, in Syriac "Souka", or "monastery". It is also called "The Ancient Laura" or "the Laura of Saint Chariton". Before dying, the Saint returned to Pharan and there committed his soul in peace in 350.


Class of Feast: 5
Tone of Week: 1

Friday, September 24, 2010

Pope Compares Atheism to Nazism, Draws Fire

LONDON (Sept. 17) -- Pope Benedict XVI has been accused by secularists of making "a terrible libel" during his first papal visit to Britain, after he appeared to associate atheism with the crimes of the Nazi regime during World War II.

Find the rest of the article here:

www.aolnews.com/world/article/pope-benedict-xvi-criticized-after-comparing-atheism-to-nazism-during-visit-to-britain/19637648