Thursday Dec 19/Jan 1 ns 2025 • Holy Martyr Boniface and St. Aglaḯs; St. Gregéntios, Archbishop of Ethiopia ~ Wine and olive oil are permitted ~ Heb. 10:35-11:7; St. Mark 10:17-27

 Rejoice, Life of Mystic Feast 

Holy Martyr Boniface and St. Aglaḯs;
St. Gregéntios, Archbishop of Ethiopia

MARTYRDOM FOR CHRIST makes a saint out of a sinner. The example of St. Boniface shows this. At first, he was a servant in Rome to a wealthy and immoral woman, Aglaïs, and had impure and unlawful relations with her. They were both pagans. Once, Aglaïs desired to have the relics of a martyr in her house as an amulet to protect against evil, so she sent her servant to Asia to find and purchase what she desired. Boniface took several slaves with him and a large amount of money.

Before parting with Aglaïs, he said to her: "If I cannot find a martyr, but instead they bring you back my body martyred for Christ, will you receive it with honor, my lady?'' Aglaïs laughed and called him a drunkard and a sinner, and then they parted.

Coming to the city of Tarsus, Boniface saw many Christians undergoing torture: some with their legs cut off, others with their hands severed, others with their eyes plucked out, still others on the gallows, and so forth. Boniface's heart was changed, and he repented of his sinful life and wept. He cried out among the Christian martyrs: "I too am a Christian!'' The judge took him for interrogation and ordered that he be harshly flogged, then that boiling lead be poured into his mouth, and-since this did him no harm-that he be beheaded. The slaves then took his body and carried it to Rome. An angel of God appeared to Aglaïs and said: "Receive the one who was once your slave but now is our brother and fellow servant; he is the guardian of your soul and the protector of your life.'' The awestruck Aglaïs came out to meet them, received the body of Boniface, built a church for him, and placed the relics of the martyr in it. She then repented, gave away her goods to the poor, withdrew from the world, and lived for fifteen more years in bitter repentance. St. Boniface suffered in the year 290.

Thursday

December 19, 2025

January1, 2026 new style

Nativity Fast

Hebrews 10:35-11:7 KJV

35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.

36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.

38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.

3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

Saint Mark 10:17-27 KJV

17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?

18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.

20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.

21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

22 And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.

23 And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

24 And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!

25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

26 And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?

27 And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.

Christ is the summit of desire; there is nothing higher.

All sensible things {perceived by🠋means of the senses}

lead to satiety, but with God there is no satiation.

by Saint Porphyrios

of the Holy Mountain

He is everything.

God is the summit of desire. No other joy, no other beauty, nothing else can rival Him. What is higher than the highest? Our love for Christ is something else. It is without end, without satiety. It gives life; it gives strength; it gives health; it gives, gives, and gives. And the more it gives, the more the person wishes to fall in love. 

Human love and passion, by contrast, may be destructive and even drive a person mad. When we love Christ, all other loves abate. Other loves have a point of satiety. The love of Christ has no point of satiety. Fleshly love has a point of satiety. Thereafter jealousy and disgruntlement may set in, and may even lead to murder. Love in Christ knows no alteration. Worldly love remains for a time, and is gradually extinguished, whereas divine love continually grows and deepens. Every other kind of love can lead a person to despair. Divine love, however, raises us up into the sphere of God; it bestows on us serenity, joy and fullness. Other pleasures enervate us, but of this pleasure we can never have enough. It is an insatiable pleasure, which you never tire of. It is the highest good.

We should regard Christ as our friend. He is our friend. He asserts this Himself when He says, “you are My friends…” (St John 15:14). Let us stretch out to Him and approach Him as a friend. Do we fall? Do we sin? With familiarity, love and trust let us run to Him – not with fear that He will punish us, but with confidence which we derive from the sense of being with a friend. We can say to Him, ‘I have fallen, forgive me.’ At the same time, however, let us have the sense that He loves us and that He receives us with tenderness and love and forgives us. Don’t let sin separate us from Christ. When we believe that He loves us and we love Him, we don’t feel estranged and distanced from Him, even when we sin. We have secured His love, and however we behave, we know that He loves us.

SELF-CONTROL

by Saint Hesychios the Priest

Someone else wise in the things of God has said that as the fruit begins with the flower, so the practice of the ascetic life begins with self-control. Let us then learn to control ourselves with due measure and judgment, as the Fathers teach us. Let us pass all the hours of the day in the guarding of the intellect, for by doing this we shall with God's help and with a certain forcefulness be able to quell and reduce the evil in us. For the spiritual life, through which the kingdom of heaven is given, does indeed require a certain forcefulness (St. Matt. 11:12).

Wednesday Dee 18/31 ns 2025 • Holy Martyrs Sebastian, Zoë, and those with them; St. Módestos ~ Fast day ~ Heb. 10:1-18; St. Mark 10:11-16

Holy Martyrs Sebastian, Zoë,

and those with them;

St. Módestos

Wednesday

December 18

December 31 new style

2025

Nativity Fast

Fast Day

GLORIOUS SEBASTIAN was born in Italy and brought up in the city of Milan.

While still young, he dedicated himself to military service. Being educated, handsome and courageous, he received the favor of Emperor Diocletian, who appointed him captain of his imperial guard. Secretly he confessed the Christian Faith and prayed to the Living God. As an honorable, just and merciful man, Sebastian was greatly beloved by his soldiers. Whenever he could, he saved Christians from torture and death, and, when he was unable to do so, he exhorted them to die for Christ the Living God without turning back.

Two brothers, Marcus and Marcellinus, who had been imprisoned for Christ and were already on the verge of denouncing Him and worshiping idols, were confirmed in the Faith by Sebastian, who strengthened them for martyrdom. As he spoke with them, encouraging them not to fear death for Christ, his face was illumined. Everyone saw his shining face, like that of an angel of God. Sebastian also confirmed his words by miracles: he healed Zoë, the jailer Nicostratus's wife, who had been mute for six years; he brought her, Nicostratus and his entire household to baptism; he healed the two ailing sons of Claudius the commander and brought him and his household to baptism; he healed Tranquillinus, the father of Marcus and Marcellinus, of gout and pains in his legs which had troubled him for eleven years, and brought him to baptism together with his entire household; he healed the Roman eparch Chromatius of the same illness and brought him and his son Tiburtius to baptism. The first of them to suffer was St. Zoë, whom they seized at the tomb of the Apostle Peter, where she was praying to God. After torturing her, they threw her into the Tiber River. They then seized Tiburtius, and the judge placed live coals before him, telling him to choose between life and death, that is, either to cast incense on the coals and to cense the idols or to stand barefoot on the hot coals. St. Tiburtius made the sign of the Cross, stood barefoot on the hot coals, and remained unharmed. After this, he was beheaded. Nicostratus was killed with a stake, Tranquillinus was drowned, and Marcus and Marcellinus were tortured and pierced with spears.

c

Then Sebastian was brought before Emperor Diocletian. The emperor rebuked him for his betrayal, but Sebastian said: "I have always prayed to my Christ for your health and for the peace of the Roman Empire.'' The emperor ordered that he be stripped naked and shot through with arrows. The soldiers shot him through with arrows until the martyr was so completely covered with arrows that his body was not seen because of them. When all thought that he was dead, he appeared alive and completely healthy. Then the pagans killed him with staves. He suffered gloriously for Christ his Lord and took up his habitation in the Kingdom of Christ in the year 287 at the time of Diocletian the Emperor and Gaius the Bishop of Rome.

Hebrews 10:1-18 KJV

10 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.

3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.

4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:

6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.

7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;

9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.

10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:

12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;

13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.

14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,

16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;

17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

Saint Mark 10:11-16 KJV

11 And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.

12 And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.

13 And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.

14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

16 And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.

About the Remembrance

of the Imminent Putting off

of the Body

by Saint Nikolai Velimirovich

"Yes, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle (body), to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ had showed me" (2 St. Peter 1: 13-14).

Here is a good reminder to lovers of the body who, because of their bodies, forget their souls.
The body must be cast off from us.
No matter how dear we hold it to be, no matter how precious adornments we hang upon it, no matter how much we caress and pamper it, we must cast it off one day.
Oh, how powerful and truthful are the words "cast it off!" When the soul is separated from the body, the soul casts the body off as something no longer necessary.
When shipwrecked men reach the shore on a board (plank), they step onto the shore and cast away the board. When spring blossoms, the serpent sheds its skin and casts it off. When a butterfly wings its way out of the cocoon, the cocoon is cast off. In the same manner, the body is cast off when the soul departs from it..
No longer of use and without benefit, and even harmful to other men, it is cast out of the house, cast out of the city, cast from the sight of the sun, and is buried deep into the ground. Think about this, you who live in luxury and adorn your bodies; you who are haughty and gluttonous!

As long as the soul is in the body, it should utilize the body for its salvation, submitting to the Law of God and performing the works of God. Do you see how the apostolic soul is a lover of labor? As long as I am in this tabernacle (body) to stir you up. That task was given to him by God. He wants to conscientiously complete it to the end before he must put off his body.

Brethren, let us labor--first to embrace the apostolic warning; and second, to remind others, all others whom we wish well.
We are rapidly approaching the shore of the other world; and the hour swiftly approaches when we must cast off our bodies and, with a naked soul, appear before the Judgment of God. What will we say at the Dread Judgment Seat of God? For what goals will we have used that thing of the earth, the body?

O Lord Jesus, Righteous Judge, direct our minds to think of death and judgment.

To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.

Tuesday December 7/30 ns 2025 • Prophet Daniel & the 3 Youths; St. Dionysios of Zákynthos, Bishop of Ǽgina ~ Last day for eating fish before NATIVITY, Wine and olive oil are permitted ~ Prophet: Heb. 11:33-12:2; St. Luke 11:47-12:1

The Holy Prophet Daniel &

the 3 Youths; 

St. Dionysios of Zákynthos,

Bishop of Ǽgina

All four, the Holy Prophet Daniel & the 3 Youths were of the royal tribe of Judah. When Nebuchadnezzar destroyed and plundered Jerusalem, Daniel, as a boy, was carried away into slavery together with the Jewish King Jehoiakim and countless other Israelites. An account of his life, sufferings and prophecies can be found in detail in his book. Completely devoted to God, St. Daniel from his early youth received from God the gift of great discernment. His fame among the Jews in Babylon began when he denounced two lecherous and unrighteous elders, Jewish judges, and saved the chaste Susanna from an unjust death. But his fame among the Babylonians began from the day he deciphered and interpreted the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar. For this, the king made him a prince at his court.

When the king made a golden idol on the Plain of Dura, the Three Children refused to worship it, and for this they were cast into a fiery furnace. But an angel of God appeared in the furnace and cooled the fire so that the children walked around the furnace unharmed by the fire, singing: Blessed art Thou, Lord God of our fathers (Daniel 3:26). The king saw this miracle and was amazed. He then brought the children out of the furnace and bestowed upon them great honors.

In the time of King Belshazzar, when the king was eating and drinking with his guests at a banquet from consecrated vessels taken from the Temple in Jerusalem, an invisible hand wrote three words on the wall, referring to the King Belshazzar's end: Mene, Tekel, Upharsin (Daniel 5:25-28). No one was able to interpret these words except Daniel. That night, King Belshazzar was killed. Daniel was twice thrown into the lions' den because of his faith in the One, Living God, and both times the Lord saved him and he remained alive. Daniel beheld God on a throne with the heavenly hosts; saw angels; discerned the future of certain people, of kingdoms, and of the whole human race; and prophesied the time of the coming of the Savior on earth. According to St. Cyril of Alexandria, Daniel and the three children lived to old age in Babylon and were beheaded for the true Faith. When they beheaded Ananias, Azarias stretched out his cloak and caught his head; following this, Misael caught Azarias's head and Daniel caught Misael's head. An angel of the God translated their bodies to Judea, to Mount Gebal, and placed them under a rock.

According to tradition, these four God-pleasers arose at the time of the death of the Lord Christ, appeared to many and again fell asleep. Daniel is numbered among the four great prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel). He lived and prophesied five hundred years before Christ.

Tuesday

December 17

December 30 new style

2025

NATIVITY FAST

is the last day for eating fish before

the GREAT FEAST OF THE NATIVITY

OF OUR LORD

permitted

Hebrews 11:33-12:2 KJV

33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions.

34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

12 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.


Saint Luke 11:47-12:1 KJV

47 Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.

48 Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres.

49 Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:

50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;

51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

52 Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.

53 And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things:

54 Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.

12 In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Christ is the summit of desire; there is nothing higher.

All sensible things {perceived by means of the senses}lead to satiety, but with God there is no satiation.

by Saint Porphyrios of the Holy Mountain

He is everything.

God is the summit of desire. No other joy, no other beauty, nothing else can rival Him. What is higher than the highest? Our love for Christ is something else. It is without end, without satiety. It gives life; it gives strength; it gives health; it gives, gives, and gives. And the more it gives, the more the person wishes to fall in love. 

Human love and passion, by contrast, may be destructive and even drive a person mad. When we love Christ, all other loves abate. Other loves have a point of satiety. The love of Christ has no point of satiety. Fleshly love has a point of satiety. Thereafter jealousy and disgruntlement may set in, and may even lead to murder. Love in Christ knows no alteration. Worldly love remains for a time, and is gradually extinguished, whereas divine love continually grows and deepens. Every other kind of love can lead a person to despair. Divine love, however, raises us up into the sphere of God; it bestows on us serenity, joy and fullness. Other pleasures enervate us, but of this pleasure we can never have enough. It is an insatiable pleasure, which you never tire of. It is the highest good.

We should regard Christ as our friend. He is our friend. He asserts this Himself when He says, “you are My friends…” (St John 15:14). Let us stretch out to Him and approach Him as a friend. Do we fall? Do we sin? With familiarity, love and trust let us run to Him – not with fear that He will punish us, but with confidence which we derive from the sense of being with a friend. We can say to Him, ‘I have fallen, forgive me.’ At the same time, however, let us have the sense that He loves us and that He receives us with tenderness and love and forgives us. Don’t let sin separate us from Christ. When we believe that He loves us and we love Him, we don’t feel estranged and distanced from Him, even when we sin. We have secured His love, and however we behave, we know that He loves us.

Great Art Thou O Lord and Marvelous Are Thy Works

Word Cannot Suffice to sing The Praises of Thy Wonders

Do you see the chimps and the Hand of their Fashioner?