Saturday of the 33rd week after Pentecost 1Thess 5.14-23 And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophesying, but test everything; hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil. May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Luke 17.3-10 Take heed to yourselves; if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him; and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine tree, ‘Be rooted up, and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. Will any one of you, who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep, say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and gird yourself and serve me, till I eat and drink; and afterward you shall eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that is commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” Blessed Xenia of St Petersburg (19th) Gal 3.23-4.3 Now before faith came, we were confined under the law, kept under restraint until faith should be revealed. So that the law was our custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian; for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no better than a slave, though he is the owner of all the estate; but he is under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. So with us; when we were children, we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe. Matt 25.1-13 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise replied, ‘Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut. Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. NUN XENIA (EUSEBIA) (V). SAINTED GERASIM OF VELIKOPERMSK (GREATPERM) (USTVYMSK) (+ 1441). MARTYR JOHN OF KAZAN (+ 1529). MARTYRS BABYLA OF SICILY AND HIS DISCIPLES TIMOTHY AND AGAPIUS (III). MONK MACEDONIAS, SYRIAN HERMIT (+ C. 420). MONK DIONYSIOS (XVI). MARTYRS PAUL, PAUSYRIOS AND THEODOTION (III). MONK PHILONOS, BISHOP OF KOLPASTEIA (V). PRIESTMARTYR PHILIPPIKOS AND MARTYRESS BARSIMA. The Nun Xenia (V), in the world Eusebia, was the only daughter of an eminent Roman senator. From her youth she yearned for God. In order to evade the marriage set up for her, she secretly left from her parental home together with two servants devoted to her and they set sail upon a ship. Through the Providence of God meeting up with the head of the monastery of the holy Apostle Andrew, which was situated in the city of Milassa, in Caesarea, she besought him to take her with her companions to Milassa. Having changed her name, she called herself Xenia [which in Greek means stranger or foreigner]. At Milassa she bought land, built a church in the name of Saint Stephen and founded a womans monastery. Soon after this the bishop of Milassa, Paul, consecrated Xenia a deaconess, as fully worthy of that calling through virtuous life. The saint rendered aid to all: for the destitute she was a benefactress, for the grief-stricken -- a comforter, for sinners -- a guide. She possessed deep humility, accounting herself worst and most sinful of all. In her ascetic deeds she was guided by the counsels of the Palestinian ascetic, the Monk Euthymios. By her lofty life Saint Xenia attracted many a soul to salvation. The death of the holy virgin, during a time of prayer, was marked by the Lord with the appearance over the monastery in the heavens of an apparition in the form of a luminous crown with a radiant cross amidst it, which accompanied the body of the saint when it was carried into the city to the people, and it stayed until the moment of burial. Many of the sick, having touched to the remains of the saint, received healing. Sainted Gerasim, Bishop of Velikopermsk (GreatPerm) and Ustvymsk, was the third bishop of the newly-enlightened Zyryani people, and he was a worthy successor to Sainted Stephen, the Enlightener of Perm. Having been elevated onto the Perm cathedra-seat sometime after the year 1416, he was a participant in Church Sobor-Councils: in that of the year 1438 condemning the Unia and metropolitan Isidor, and in that of the year 1441, which defined the selection of the metropolitan of All Rus by means of a Sobor of Russian pastors. The saint unrelentingly concerned himself about his newly-established flock, which suffered raids from Novgorodians, and in particular from the pagan Vogulians -- where he fearlessly showed up in their camps urging them to cease the pillaging of villages of the defenseless Perm Christians. During the time of one of his journeys through the Perm land in 1441, he was murdered (according to tradition, strangled with his omophor) by a Vogul servant. He was buried in the cathedral church of the first bishops of Perm, -- later becoming the Annunciation church in the village of UstVyma, situated northeast of the city of Yarensk, at the River Vychegda. The celebration of his memory was established in 1607. On 29 January is made a general commemoration to the three Perm Sainted-Hierarchs: Gerasim, Pitirim and Jona. The Martyr John of Kazan suffered for Christ in the city of Kazan on 24 January 1529. During the reign of greatprince Vasilii Ivanovich the Tatars swooped down upon Nizhni Novgorod. Many of the inhabitants were taken into captivity and led off to Kazan. Among their number was also the fearless John. At the dividing up of the captives he was given over to the khans kinsman Alei-Shnura. By day John honestly served his master, but at nights he prayed, going without sleep, patiently enduring insults and abuse. The master resolved to force his involuntary captive to worship Mahomet, but John firmly declared, that he confessed Jesus Christ as the Lord God. In winter the Tatars led him to a Russian graveyard, mortally wounded him with swords and threw him still tied up into the snow. Stumbling in the night, Saint John reached the door of some Russians living in Kazan, where he asked them to summon a priest, and having communed the Holy Mysteries and praying the night, in the morning he died. The Holy Martyrs Babyla of Sicily and his two Disciples Timothy and Agapius lived during the III Century on the outskirts of Rome. Saint Babyla was born in the city of Reupolium into a rich family, and he was raised by his parents in the Christian faith. While still in his youth he abandoned the world, secretly going from the house of his parents to a mountain, where he spent all his time in fasting, prayer and silence. Together with him asceticised his two disciples: Timothy and Agapius. Fleeing a persecution by the pagans, he set off with his disciples to the island of Sicily, where they converted many of the unbelieving to Christ. The governor of the island, angered by the enlightening activity of Saint Babyla, gave orders to arrest him together with his disciples, and he then gave them over to fierce tortures. The saints patiently endured the sufferings, and all three died from the sword. Their bodies were thrown into a fire, but the flames did not harm the warriors of Christ. They were buried on the island of Sicily by local Christians. The Monk Macedonias, a Syrian Hermit, lived during the end-IV early-V Centuries. At the start of his ascetic path he led the life of a wanderer, roving through the cities of Phoenicia, Cilicia and Syria for 25 years, and then he found a shelter in a deep ditch and lived under the open sky in the Syrian wilderness, shunning human glory. A multitude of people came out to him, seeking spiritual help and guidance. Only in his old age did he accede to the requests of people to live in a narrow cell built for him. Throughout his continuous life Saint Macedonias ate only barley, ground up and mixed with water, for which he was called Kritophagos (Barley-Eater) (Grk. ΄η κριθη -- barley and φαγομαι -- to eat). Only when he sensed the decline of his powers did he begin to use soft bread. For his ascetic life he was granted of God the gift to cast out demons and to heal the sick. The monk died in about the year 420, having reached his 70th year of age. The Monk Dionysios (XVI Century) was born into a family of poor parents in the village of Platina. The infancy of the monk was marked by a sign: over his crib shone the Cross. Fond of reading the Divine books and of prayer from the time of his youth, Saint Dionysios upon the death of his parents decided to accept monasticism and with this aim he set out for Holy Mount Athos. There he settled with a pious elder, the priest Seraphim, and under his guidance he began to lead an ascetic life, in particular keeping strict fast. Thus during Passion Week, having gone off into the forest, he ate only chestnuts. Soon they ordained him to deacon, and then to presbyter. The lofty life of the monk became known about, and many a monk began to come to him, to hear from him words of edification. The monk also directed onto the path of salvation many a lawless person, among which was a robber, wanting to rob the cell of the saint and was moved by the kindly and wise discourse into profound penitence. The brethren of the Philotheion monastery, having lost their hegumen, besought Saint Dionysios to be their head. Among the brethren, however, insufficient were found choosing him, and dissensions arose. Valuing most of all peace and love, the Monk Dionysios put aside the calling of hegumen and withdrew to Berroeia, and then to Mount Olympos. Here the zealous for monasticism began to flock to him. Dionysios built cells for them and also a church and together with them spent the time in fasting and prayer. Having attained the spiritual heights, he worked many miracles. Many a time, through the prayers of the monk, the Lord punished iniquitous people that oppressed the monks of Olympos or broke the commandments of Christ, -- and thus were destroyed by severe drought and by hail the holdings of a Turk, who had expelled the monks and wrecked their monastery; by cattle disease and by sickness also was punished an herdsman, who had oppressed the monastery; a maiden from one of the villages for her impudence was subjected to an assault of the devil. Yet they all, likewise through the prayers of the saint, received healing and deliverance from misfortune, having been led to penitence through the saints lack of malice. The monk compiled a rule for monastic life, himself giving example of monastic activity. On Olympos he built a church, and later also a monastery in the name of the Prophet of God, Elias (Elijah). He bequeathed to the brethren a final testament about monastic life based on the Ustav (Monastic Rule) of the Holy Mountain of Athos. The monk died in old age, and was buried on Olympos, in the church portico of the monastery founded by him. The Holy Martyrs Paul, Pausyrios and Theodotion were brothers by birth. They suffered in the III Century in Egypt under Diocletian (284-305). Sainted Philonos, Bishop of Kolpasteia (island of Crete): He died peacefully in the V Century. To him they attribute a commentary on the Pentateuch of Moses, and an Excursus on the Song of Songs. The PriestMartyr Philippikos the Presbyter and the Martyress Barsima with Two Brothers were beheaded for their confession of faith in Christ. © 1998 by translator Fr S Janos. From the OCA Website: Blessed Xenia of St Petersburg Saint Xenia lived during the eighteenth century, but little is known of her life or of her family. She passed most of her life in Petersburg during the reigns of the empresses Elizabeth and Catherine II. Xenia Grigorievna Petrova was the wife of an army officer, Major Andrew Petrov. After the wedding, the couple lived in St Petersburg. St Xenia became a widow at the age of twenty-six when her husband suddenly died at a party. She grieved for the loss of her husband, and especially because he died without Confession or Holy Communion. Once her earthly happiness ended, she did not look for it again. From that time forward, Xenia lost interest in the things of this world, and followed the difficult path of foolishness for the sake of Christ. The basis for this strange way of life is to be found in the first Epistle to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 1:18-24, 1 Cor. 2:14, 1 Cor. 3:18-19). The Lord strengthened her and helped her to bear sorrow and misfortune patiently for the next forty-five years. She started wearing her husband’s clothing, and insisted that she be addressed as “Andrew Feodorovich.” She told people that it was she, and not her husband, who had died. In a certain sense, this was perfectly true. She abandoned her former way of life and experienced a spiritual rebirth. When she gave away her house and possessions to the poor, her relatives complained to the authorities. After speaking to Xenia, the officials were conviced that she was in her right mind and was entitled to dispose of her property as she saw fit. Soon she had nothing left for herself, so she wandered through the poor section of Petersburg with no place to lay her head. She refused all assistance from her relatives, happy to be free of worldly attachments. When her late husband’s red and green uniform wore out, she clothed herself in rags of those colors. After a while, Xenia left Petersburg for eight years. It is believed that she visited holy Elders and ascetics throughout Russia seeking instruction in the spiritual life. She may have visited St Theodore of Sanaxar (February 19), who had been a military man himself. His life changed dramatically when a young officer died at a drinking party. Perhaps this officer was St Xenia’s husband. In any case, she knew St Theodore and profited from his instructions. St Xenia eventually returned to the poor section of Petersburg, where she was mocked and insulted because of her strange behavior. When she did accept money from people it was only small amounts, which she used to help the poor. She spent her nights praying without sleep in a field outside the city. Prayer strengthened her, and in her heart’s conversation with the Lord she found the support she needed on her difficult path. When a new church was being built in the Smolensk cemetery, St Xenia brought bricks to the site. She did this in secret, during the night, so that no one would know. Soon her great virtue and spiritual gifts began to be noticed. She prophesied future events affecting the citizens of Petersburg, and even the royal family. Against her will, she became known as someone pleasing to God, and nearly everyone loved her.They said, “Xenia does not belong to this world, she belongs to God.” People regarded her visits to their homes or shops as a great blessing. St Xenia loved children, and mothers rejoiced when the childless widow would stand and pray over a baby’s crib, or kiss a child. They believed that the blessed one’s kiss would bring that child good fortune. St Xenia lived about forty-five years after the death of her husband, and departed to the Lord at the age of seventy-one. The exact date and circumstances of her death are not known, but it probably took place at the end of the eighteenth century. She was buried in the Smolensk cemetery. By the 1820s, people flocked to her grave to pray for her soul, and to ask her to intercede with God for them. So many visitors took earth from her grave that it had to be replaced every year. Later, a chapel was built over her grave. Those who turn to St Xenia in prayer receive healing from illness, and deliverance from their afflictions. She is also known for helping people who seek jobs.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 23:03:19 +0000
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