Friday Oct 31/Nov 13 ns/2026 • Holy Apostles Stáchys, Apellés, Amplías, Urban, Aristóboulos, and Nárkissos of the Seventy; Holy Martyr Epímachos • Fast day • Apostles: Rom. 16:1-16; Day: St. Luke 11:23-26

♛

Stáchys was an assistant to St. Andrew the First-called. St. Andrew appointed him Bishop of Byzantium. He established the church in Argyropoulos and governed his flock faithfully and zealously. After sixteen years as bishop, he entered peacefully into rest in the Lord. Amplías and Urban worked likewise with St. Andrew, and were ordained bishops by him, Amplías in Lydda of Odyssopolis in Judea, and Urban in Macedonia. Both died as martyrs for Christ the Lord. Nárkissos was appointed Bishop of Athens by the Apostle Philip. St. Apellés was Bishop of Heraclea in Trachis. Aristóboulos, brother of the Apostle Barnabas, preached the Christian Faith in Britain and reposed peacefully there.

♛

Romans 16:1-16 KJV

16 I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea:

2 That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.

3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus:

4 Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.

5 Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well-beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.

6 Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us.

7 Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.

8 Greet Amplias my beloved in the Lord.

9 Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved.

10 Salute Apelles approved in Christ. Salute them which are of Aristobulus' household.

11 Salute Herodion my kinsman. Greet them that be of the household of Narcissus, which are in the Lord.

12 Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which laboured much in the Lord.

13 Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.

14 Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren which are with them.

15 Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them.

16 Salute one another with an holy kiss. The Churches of Christ salute you.

Saint Luke 11:23-26 KJV

23 He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.

24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.

25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.

26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

Prior to prayers, if we read, contemplate and reflect on the God-revealed guidance found in the testimony of the saints in homilies, we will find not only crucial clarity in scripture but also clarity of our spiritual status in our journey from transient darkness to the Eternal Light of the Holy Trinity.

A TREASURY OF DIVINE KNOWLEDGE

P R O G R E S S I O N   W I T H I N

by Saint Peter of Damascus

If you turn from all other activity and give yourself entirely to the cultivation of the virtues of soul and body, which is what the fathers mean by religious devotion; and if you disregard any dream or private thought not confirmed by Scripture, and avoid all pointless company, not hearing or reading anything fruitless, and especially anything that involves heresy, then the tears of joy and understanding will well up copiously within you and you will drink from their plenitude. In this way you will attain another form of prayer, the form of pure prayer that is proper to the contemplative. For just as previously you had one form of reading, one form of tears and prayer, so now you have another. Since your intellect has moved into the sphere of spiritual contemplation, you should now read all pits of the Scriptures, no longer fearing the more difficult and obscure passages, as is the case with those still at the stage of ascetic practice, who are weak in their ignorance.

By your persistent struggle in practicing the virtues of body and soul, you have been crucified with Christ and buried with Him through the knowledge of created things, both of their nature and of the changes they undergo; and you have been raised with Him through dispassion and through the knowledge of the Mysteries of God inherent in the visible world. As a result of this knowledge you have ascended with Christ into the transcendent world through the knowledge of intelligible realities and of the Mysteries hidden in the Divine Scriptures. You move from fear to religious devotion, from which springs spiritual knowledge; from this knowledge comes judgment, that is, discrimination; from discrimination comes the strength -that leads to understanding; from thence you come to wisdom.

By passing through all these levels of practice and contemplation you are granted pure and perfect prayer, established within you through the peace and love of God and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This is what is meant by saying, ‘Gain possession of God within yourself; and, as Saint John Chrysostomos has said, this manifestation and indwelling of God is realized when your body and soul become so far as is possible sinless, like those of Christ; and when you possess, by virtue of Christ, an intellect that apprehends, through the grace and wisdom of the Holy Spirit, the knowledge of things both human and divine.

During the Civil War representatives from the North and the South approached President Lincoln and asked if God was on the side of the North or the South. His response was this:  Your question is wrong. The question is who is on God's side?

Thursday Oct 30/Nov 12ns/2026 • Holy Martyrs Zenóbios and Zenobía; Holy Apostle Cleopas; St. Joseph, Patriarch of Constantinople I Thess. 4:18-5:10; St. Luke 11:14-23

Zenόbios and Zenobίa were from the town of Aegea in Cilicia. They inherited the true Faith and great material wealth from their parents. Working zealously for the Faith and with great love, they distributed all their wealth to the poor.

Because their hands were so generous, the hand of God shielded them from every evil intent of men and demons. The generous hands of Zenόbios, which gave to the poor, were endowed by God with the gift of miracle-working, and Zenόbios healed the sick of every kind of infirmity merely by touching them. Zenόbios was appointed Bishop of Aegea.

During a persecution, the Prefect Lysias arrested him and said: "I offer you two choices: life or death; life if you worship the gods, or death if you do not.'' St. Zenόbios replied: "Life without Christ is not life but death, whereas death for the sake of Christ is not death but life.''

When Zenόbios was subjected to cruel tortures, Zenobίa came to the judge and said: "I also want to drink from this cup of suffering, and be crowned with that wreath.''

After being tortured in fire and in boiling pitch, both were beheaded with the sword in about the year 285. Thus this brother and sister took up their habitation in the Kingdom of the Immortal Christ the King.

1 Thessalonians 4:18-5:10 KJV

4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

5 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.

2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

Saint Luke 11:14-23 KJV

11:14 And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered.

15 But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils.

16 And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven.

17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth.

18 If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub.

19 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges.

20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.

21 When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace:

22 But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.

23 He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.

THE HEART IS LIKE A SPONGE

Saint Theophan the Recluse

We are the creation of the God of all. Has He forgotten us or have we forgotten Him?

The Lord is on the Cross. Stand in front of Him in your thoughts and ponder, how would the Lord meet you once He comes down from the Cross? Keep thinking about this for some time, and your conscience will clearly tell you the truth.

Adam and Eve made a choice and reaped the result. The saint tells us how we can reverse it

The heart is like a sponge that has absorbed various liquids. Squeeze it and the liquid will come out. The pressures upon the heart are the life experiences and circumstances of this world, which can produce either good or evil depending on which part of the heart pressure is placed upon. Pay attention. Such thoughts can lead to a good level of self realization.

Faith is a requirement but the promise given

Learn about the teachings of the Orthodox Christian Church and hold onto them in your heart - and you will see the way to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Again, the choice is ours. Shall we refuse the Gift and be justified?

Knowing what is contained in the Holy Mysteries of the church, be a communicant of the Mysteries as often as possible, with faith and with the Holy Tradition of the church. Then the Divine power of God, will direct you to the Kingdom of Heaven.

ARISE MY SOUL

WHY ARE YOU SLEEPING?

Some days go well and some days don't, but how often do we take advantage of the help of the saints so that things go according to God's will since the saints and the Mother of God lived and breathed His Will. If you don't believe they can help, you won't call on them. Nevertheless we should know that many times Christ sends His spiritual centurions to help us regardless of our slothfulness or disbelief.

YES ETERNAL BUT ...

Yes, we're eternal. It is our nature given to us by our Creator - The Holy Trinity, Who is beginningless and without end, yet so many people believe that we are product of anonymity or Mother Nature, driven mostly by superego (Freud), experience and instinct. If we affiliate ourselves more with corruptible attachments and passions than with Christ, we end up alienated from Him.  Did He not say we must love Him with ALL our heart, mind and soul and love our neighbors as ourselves.

Q:  Does God speak to all those He created, people, animals, the wind?   

 

Please note: 

ABOUT HOMILIES
If, especially prior to prayers, we read, contemplate and reflect on the God-given guidance found in the testimony of the saints in homilies, we will find not only crucial clarity in scripture but also clarity of our spiritual status in our journey from transient darkness to the Eternal Light of the Holy Trinity.

• The Ascetical  Homilies and Vignette portions of the PARAGON will no longer be linked/archived to PARADISE NOW since one need only scroll down for past posts which include homilies and vignettes.

• When irregular sized fonts appear on the PARAGON, they are not always errors but often glitches created by Google.

• Texts in blue are the comments made by the creator of the PARAGON.

 

Wednesday Oct 29/Nov 11 ns/2026 • Holy Martyr Anastasía of Rome, Sts. Abrámios and Mary ~ Fast day ~ I Thess. 4:1-12; St. Luke 11:9-13

 

ANASTSIA was born in Rome of noble parents, and was left an orphan at the age of three. As an orphan, she was taken to a convent near Rome where the abbess was Sophia, a nun of the highest level of perfection. After seventeen years, Anastasia was well known-among the Christians as a great ascetic, and among the pagans as a rare beauty.

Probus, the pagan governor, heard of Anastasia and sent his soldiers to bring her to him. For two hours, the good Abbess Sophia counseled Anastasia how to keep the Faith, how to resist flattering deceits, and how to endure torture. Anastasia said to her:

"My heart is ready to suffer for Christ; my soul is ready to die for my Sweet Jesus.'' Brought before the governor, Anastasia openly expressed her faith in Christ the Lord, and when the governor tried to turn her away from the Faith-first by promises and then by threats-the martyr said to him: "I am ready to die for my Lord not only once, but-oh, if it were only possible-a hundred times!'' When they stripped her naked to humiliate her, she cried out to the servants: "Whip me, cut me up and tear me apart, cover my naked body with wounds and cover my shame with blood!'' She was beaten, torn and cut up. On two occasions she felt a great thirst and asked for water, and a Christian, Cyril, gave her a drink, for which he was blessed by the martyr of Christ and beheaded by the pagans.

Anastasia's breasts and tongue were severed, but an angel of God appeared and sustained her. Finally, she was beheaded outside the city. Blessed Sophia found her body and buried it honorably.

Anastasia was crowned with the wreath of martyrdom during the reign of Decius.

1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 KJV 

4 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.

2 For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.

3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:

4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;

5 Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:

6 That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.

7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.

8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.

9 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.

10 And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;

11 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;

12 That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.

Saint Luke 11:9-13 KJV

9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

St. Basil the Great:

On Giving Thanks to the Creator

As thou takest thy seat at table, pray. As thou liftest the loaf, offer thanks to the Giver. When thou sustainest thy bodily weakness with wine, remember Him Who supplies thee with this gift, to make thy heart glad and to comfort thy infirmity. Has thy need for taking food passed away? Let not the thought of thy Benefactor pass away too. As thou art putting on thy tunic, thank the Giver of it. As thou wrappest thy cloak about thee, feel yet greater love to God, Who alike in summer and in winter has given us coverings convenient for us, at once to preserve our life, and to cover what is unseemly. Is the day done? Give thanks to Him Who has given us the sun for our daily work, and has provided for us a fire to light up the night, and to serve the rest of the needs of life. Let night give the other occasion of prayer. When thou lookest up to heaven and gazest at the beauty of the stars, pray to the Lord of the visible world; pray to God the Arch-artificer of the universe, Who in wisdom hath made them all. When thou seest all nature sunk in sleep, then again worship Him Who gives us even against our wills release from the continuous strain of toil, and by a short refreshment restores us once again to the vigour of our strength. Let not night herself be all, as it were, the special and peculiar property of sleep. Let not half thy life be useless through the senselessness of slumber. Divide the time of night between sleep and prayer. Nay, let thy slumbers be themselves experiences in piety; for it is only natural that our sleeping dreams should be for the most part echoes of the anxieties of the day. As have been our conduct and pursuits, so will inevitably be our dreams. Thus wilt thought pray without ceasing; if thought prayest not only in words, but unitest thyself to God through all the course of life and so thy life be made one ceaseless and uninterrupted prayer.”

Saint Theophylact's

Homily On Todays Gospel

St Luke 11:9. “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Observe the precision of His words. He did not say, ‘ask once,’ and it shall be given, but ‘keep asking,’ that is, seek continuously. 

St Luke 11:10. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. ‘Everyone who asks receives.’ But does one who asks for what is useless also receive? No. For, first, a request for something useless cannot truly be called a request before God. For he who prays to God must ask for that which God gives. But if someone asks for what is harmful, he does not make a prayer to God, for God does not give that which is harmful. 

St Luke 11:13. If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Then listen to how even the Lord Himself teaches us what we ought to ask. He says: the son asks for ‘bread,’ ‘fish,’ and ‘egg.’ Just as these make up a person’s food, so must our requests be beneficial and serve us for salvation. The one asking for ‘bread’ is, perhaps, anyone asking that faith in the Trinity and soundness in the dogmas be revealed to him. For these, as that which establishes the heart, are bread. He who asks for ‘fish’ is one who, swimming in the sea of this life, asks God for help to remain alive like a fish and not be drowned amid temptations. The one who asks for an ‘egg’ desires that there be born within him virtuous souls, which—having taken wing, rising in spirit and soaring above the earth—may rightly be likened to birds.

 ~ V I G N E T T E S ~

NO NEW VIGNETTES TODAY

WED. OCT 29/NOV 11

Please note: 

ABOUT HOMILIES
If, especially prior to prayers, we read, contemplate and reflect on the God-given guidance found in the testimony of the saints in homilies, we will find not only crucial clarity in scripture but also clarity of our spiritual status in our journey from transient darkness to the Eternal Light of the Holy Trinity.

• The Ascetical  Homilies and Vignette portions of the PARAGON will no longer be linked/archived to PARADISE NOW since one need only scroll down for past posts which include homilies and vignettes.

• When irregular sized fonts appear on the PARAGON, they are not always errors but often glitches created by Google.

• Texts in blue are the comments made by the creator of the PARAGON.