Tuesday
September 2 / 15 new style
2026
Today, we honor
🕀
The Holy Martyr Mámas
& St. John the Faster,
Patriarch of Constantinople
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When Mamas reached his fifth year, he began to talk and his first word was "Mama!'' for which he received the name "Mamas.'' In school, Mamas displayed unusual intelligence, and as he had been reared in a Christian spirit, he did not hide his faith, but confessed it to the other children and laughed at the idols.
During the reign of Aurelian there was a bitter persecution of Christians. The pagans did not even spare the Christian children. Mamas was fifteen years old when he was brought before the emperor. The emperor told him that he needed only to deny Christ verbally. Mamas replied: "Neither in my heart nor with my lips will I renounce my God and King, Jesus Christ.'' The emperor ordered him to be beaten, burned with torches, and finally thrown into the sea. But an angel of God saved him, and took him to a high mountain near Caesarea. There he lived in solitude and prayer. Even the wild beasts were tamed by his sanctity. He was finally discovered by his persecutors and subjected to torture again. When he had overcome torture both by fire and by wild beasts, St. Mamas was run through with a trident (icon above) by a pagan priest. Thus he gave his holy soul to God, to Whom he had been faithful during all of his tortures. From his relics many healings of the sick have taken place. {Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His holy ones. Psalm 116:15}
Galatians 5:11-21 KJV
11 And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.
12 I would they were even cut off which trouble you.
13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Saint Mark 7:5-16 KJV
5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?
6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
10 For Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death:
11 But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free.
12 And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother;
13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
14 And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand:
15 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.
16 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.
Joy in Christ:
The Sure Indicator of Our Spiritual Condition
† His Eminence, Metropolitan Cyprian of Oropos and Fili
In memory, in love
“Rejoice evermore”
“Rejoice in the Lord always,
and again I say, Rejoice”
(I Thessalonians 5:16; Philippians 4:4)
Can it be that all of these things constitute substantial obstacles, such that a Christian is thereby deprived of the peace of the Holy Spirit and the joy of Christ? Certainly not; for the joy of the pious Faithful derives not from the absence of life’s tribulations and afflictions, but from the presence of our Savior in their hearts.
When a Christian has a humble attitude and laments for his sins; when his pursuit is “always that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men”; when he strives to keep God’s commandments; when he continually partakes of the Immaculate Mysteries; when he constantly reflects with gratitude on the love and gifts of God; when he cultivates the unceasing prayer of the heart—then, he lives in Christ and with Christ; that is, he has the Giver of joy and peace in his heart.
The believer who is God-Bearing and Christ-Bearing “rejoices in the Lord always,” and his presence in the world is a testimony to the Resurrection and to Pentecost; it is a revelation of the Kingdom of Heaven and the bliss of the Age to come, of which he already has a foretaste.
To those who would object that it is impossible for one to rejoice at all times, St. Basil the Great wrote a marvelous homily, entitled, “Concerning Thanksgiving,” in which he confronts those who dare “to accuse St. Paul of laying down things that are impossible for us.” The blessed joy of Christians is the indicator of their spiritual condition: a lack of joy—and, indeed, of unceasing joy—betokens a deficiency in communion with Christ, and also with our brother. It is especially when there is no love for our neighbor in our hearts, when we malign and hurt him, when we belittle and despise him, and when we cause him distress and upset, that the Lord is missing from our hearts and we have no communion with Him. The Apostle Paul urges us to “follow that which is good,” by which he means: “Be intensely and exceedingly eager to do good to each other, that is, to your Christian fellow-believers and to all; that is, [even] to the unbelieving and the godless.”
The opposite—that is, arrogance and vengeance, coldness, apathy and listlessness, hatred for our brother and ruthlessness— will make us to resemble the bee, as St. John Chrysostomos strikingly notes: “Do you not see how the bee dies as soon as it has injured someone with its sting? By that animal, God instructs us not to grieve our neighbor, because it is we who thereby first greet death. For, in striking at them, we may perhaps pain them temporarily; but we ourselves shall not live any longer, just as this animal does not.”
The most blessed Theotokos is the one to whom we address the salutation: “Rejoice, joy of all generations,” and in the Paraklesis (Services of Supplication) to her, we chant the very beautiful hymn: “Fill my heart with joy, O Virgin, who didst receive the fullness of joy and didst cause the sorrow of sin to disappear.” Let us repeat this joyful Troparion frequently and sincerely, praying to our All-Holy Mother that she count us worthy to rejoice in the Lord evermore, in the joy of the Resurrection and the Kingdom. Amen!
Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos 21 November 2005 (Old Style)
