Friday Oct 17/30 ns/2026 - Holy Prophet Hosea, Holy Monk-Martyr Andrew of Krísis, Sýnaxis of the Holy Twenty Unmercenaries - Fast day - Rom. 9:18-33; St. Luke 9:12-18

Friday

Oct 17/30 ns/2026 

Holy Prophet Hosea,

Holy Monk-Martyr Andrew of Krísis,

Sýnaxis of the Twenty

Holy Unmercenaries
FAST DAY

Hosea was the son of Beeri of the tribe of Issachar. Hosea lived and prophesied more than eight hundred years before the birth of Christ. His divinely inspired words are found in his book, which contains fourteen chapters. He strongly rebuked Israel and Judah for their idolatry and also foretold God's punishment for their sins, the destruction of Samaria and Israel for their apostasy, and God's mercy on the tribe of Judah. He foretold the abolition and the end of the sacrifices of the Old Testament. He foretold the coming of the Lord, and the richness of gifts that He would bring with Him to earth. He lived to a very old age and entered peacefully into rest.

Romans 9:18-33 KJV

9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:

23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.

26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.

27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:

28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.

29 And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.

30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.

31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.

32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;

33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Saint Luke 9:12-18 KJV

12 And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place.

13 But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people.

14 For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company.

15 And they did so, and made them all sit down.

16 Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude.

17 And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.

18 And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am?

Ascetical homilies are the God-given fruits of guidance and agape granted to those who in asceticism, from the apostles on, gave and give all of their life and love to Christ and His two salvific commands.  If we, in turn, contemplate and reflect on those gifts, they bring crucial clarity not only to scripture, (which can at times be difficult to comprehend and apply for the fallen mind), but also clarity to our own personal spiritual status as we take up the Cross and transcend from transient darkness to the Eternal Light of of the Holy Trinity.

NOTHING TO FEAR

Saint Theophan the Recluse

The devil approaches the God-man with temptations. Who among men is free of them?

As soon as one begins to come to himself and intends to begin a new life according to God’s will, immediately the entire satanic realm enters into action: they hasten to scatter good thoughts and the intentions of the repentant one in any way they can.
If they do not manage to turn him aside, they attempt to hinder his good repentance and confession; if they do not manage to do that, they contrive to sow tares amidst the fruits of repentance and disrupt his labors of cleansing the heart.
If they do not succeed in suggesting evil they attempt to distort the truth; if they are repulsed inwardly they attack outwardly, and so on until the end of one’s life. They do not even let one die in peace; even after death they pursue the soul, until it escapes the aerial space where they hover and congregate.

You ask, “What should we do? It is hopeless and terrifying!”
For a believer there is nothing terrifying here, because near a God-fearing man demons only busy themselves, but they do not have any power over him. A sober man of prayer shoots arrows against them, and they stay far away from him, not daring to approach, and fearing the defeat which they have already experienced.

If they succeed in something, it is due to our blundering. We slacken our attention, or allow ourselves to be distracted by their phantoms, and they immediately come and disturb us more boldly.
If you do not come to your senses in time they will whirl you about; but if a soul does come to its senses they again recoil and spy from afar to see whether it is possible to approach again somehow.
So be sober, watch, and pray—and the enemies will do nothing to you.

L O V E 

Saint Maximos the Confessor

Love is a holy state of the soul, disposing it to value knowledge of God above all created things. We cannot attain lasting possession of such love while we are still attached to anything worldly.

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Thursday Oct. 16/29 ns/2026 • Holy Martyr Longínos the Centurion; St. Yakov (Netsvetov) of Alaska; St. Gall, Enlightener of Switzerland • Col. 4:2-9; St. Matt. 27:33-54

Taken from PSALM 102

Thursday

Oct. 16/29 ns/2026

 Holy Martyr Longínos the Centurion;

St. Yakov (Netsvetov) of Alaska;

St. Gall, Enlightener of Switzerland

The divine Matthew the Evangelist, in describing the passion of the Lord Jesus Christ, says: Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God (St. Matthew 27:54).

That centurion was this blessed Longínos, who with two other of his soldiers came to believe in Jesus, the Son of God. Longínos was chief of the soldiers who were present at the Crucifixion of the Lord on Golgotha, and was also the chief of the watch that guarded the tomb. When the Jewish elders learned of the Resurrection of Christ, they bribed the soldiers to spread the false news that Christ did not resurrect, but rather that His disciples stole His body. The Jews also tried to bribe Longínos, but he did not allow himself to be bribed. Then the Jews resorted to their usual strategy: they decided to kill Longínos. Learning of this, Longínos removed his military belt, was baptized with his two companions by an apostle, secretly left Jerusalem and moved to Cappadocia with his companions. There, he devoted himself to fasting and prayer and, as a living witness of Christ's Resurrection, converted many pagans to the true Faith by his witness. After that, he withdrew to a village on the estate of his father. Even there, however, the malice of the Jews did not leave him in peace.

Due to the calumnies of the Jews, Pilate dispatched soldiers to behead Longínos. St. Longínos foresaw in the spirit the approach of his executioners and went out to meet them. He brought them to his home, not telling them who he was. He was a good host to the soldiers, and soon they lay down to sleep. But St. Longínos stood up to pray, and prayed all night long, preparing himself for death. In the morning, he called his two companions to him, clothed himself in white burial clothes, and instructed the other members of his household to bury him on a particular small hill. He then went to the soldiers and told them that he was that Longínos whom they were seeking. The soldiers were perplexed and ashamed, and could not even contemplate beheading Longínos, but he insisted that they fulfill the order of their superior {REFLECT}. Thus, Longínos and his two companions were beheaded. The soldiers took Longínos 's head to Pilate, and he turned it over to the Jews. They threw it on a dung heap outside the city.

Colossians 4:2-9 KJV

4:2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;

3 Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds:

4 That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.

5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.

6 Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

7 All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved brother, and a faithful minister and fellowservant in the Lord:

8 Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that he might know your estate, and comfort your hearts;

9 With Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They shall make known unto you all things which are done here.

Saint Matthew 27:33-54 KJV

27:33 And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull,

34 They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.

35 And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.

36 And sitting down they watched him there;

37 And set up over his head his accusation written, This Is Jesus The King Of The Jews.

38 Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.

39 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads,

40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.

41 Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said,

42 He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.

43 He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.

44 The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.

45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.

46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

47 Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.

48 And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.

49 The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.

50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

54 Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.

*

MY LIFE IN CHRIST

THEOSIS - ONE WITH GOD 

Saint John of Kronstadt

God is the cause of everything visible and invisible. 

God  is invisible.

Yearn after the invisible God. 

God is an eternal, All Holy, Most Gracious, Omniscient, Almighty, All Righteous, Omnipresent, Unchangeable, All Satisfied, Most Blessed Spirit. And you are the image of God. Therefore, be spiritual, despising the flesh, which is only your temporal home; be holy, kind, wise, just, watchful, and courageous, unchangeable in good, and satisfied with everything. He who has built himself a house, He, by every right, ought to live in it. We are the houses of our Creator; He has created us for Himself, for He "has done all things for His own sake;" and it is He Who should dwell in us, and not the Devil--this murderer, thief, ravisher, this deceiver. " Come and make Thine abode in us." "We will come unto him, and make our abode with him." "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" Reverence every word, every thought of the Word of God, of the writings of the Holy Fathers, and, amongst them, the various prayers and hymns which we hear in church or which we read at home, because they are all the breathing and words of the Holy Spirit. It is, so to say, the " Holy Spirit Himself," Who " maketh intercession" for us, and through us, " with groanings which cannot be uttered."

The great litany daily said in the Orthodox Church is the most wise litany, the litany of love; in it both living Christians and the saints are represented as fellow members of the Body of Jesus Christ. It finishes most beautifully with the following exclamation: " Commemorating our most holy, most pure, most blessed, glorious Lady, the Mother of God and Ever Virgin Mary, together with all the saints, let us commend ourselves and one another and all our life to Christ our God." The redoubled and supplicatory litanies are also beautiful. We have grown accustomed to them, but let us imagine that we hear them for the first time: let us put ourselves in the position of foreigners. [Have no doubt]

Saint Paisios of the Holy Mountain Athos carrying an icon
of the Theotokos, the Mother of all the saints and angels, and who appeared to him.

(Don't stop here, keep reading)

When praying to God, we must always represent to ourselves His infinite greatness, His worship by thousands of thousands and millions of millions of the angels of Heaven and the saints; also His omnipresence and omniscience, His infinite mercy, righteousness and holiness. 

And when in prayer you call the most holy Virgin Mother of God, most holy, most pure, most spotless, most blessed--represent to yourself that Her very being is holiness eternal, immovable, unchangeable, unimaginable, "impenetrable, even to angelic eyes." Think the same of all the angels and saints--that is, that their being is holiness and goodness, by the grace of Jesus Christ. 

Always consider as a great happiness it is for you to be able to converse in prayer with the Lord, or with His most pure Mother, or with the angels and saints, and pray to them with joy and trembling reverence, remembering with Whom you are conversing ...

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*ON ASCETICAL HOMILIES

Ascetical homilies are the God-given fruits of guidance and agape granted to those who in asceticism, from the apostles and on, gave and give all of their life and love to Christ and His two salvific commands.  If we, in turn, contemplate and reflect on those gifts, they bring crucial clarity not only to scripture, (which can at times be difficult to comprehend and apply for the fallen mind), but also clarity to our own personal spiritual status as we take up the Cross and transcend from transient darkness to the Eternal Light of of the Holy Trinity.

MUTUAL LOVE

When you finally begin to not only read from but love your guides and instructors of Christ (holy ones/saints), you become aware that their love for you was already there and as a result you may come to know the meaning of selfless love.

SEEKING FAULTS

When you admit that you all too frequently look for and remind others of their faults, consider that they may not mention yours because there are too many for them to remember.

IN MY OPINION

I think that anyone who may dutifully read and study Holy Scripture but has no need for help or interpretation in homilies from God-inspired saints and ascetics, (who exchanged this transient life for illumination and Eternal Life in Christ St. Matt 16:26 KJV), is much like someone who chooses to become a physicist and turns down personal help and guidance offered by Albert Einstein or Isaac Newton!

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Wednesday • Oct 15/28 ns/2026 • Holy Hieromartyr Lucian, Presbyter of Antioch; St. Evthymios the New, of Mount Peristerás • Fast day • Col. 3:17-4:1; St. Luke 8:22-25

Wednesday

Oct. 15/28 ns / 2026

 • Holy Hieromartyr Lucian,

Presbyter of Antioch;

• St. Evthymios the New,

of Mount Peristerás

• Fast day •

♕ Lucian was born of noble parents in the Syrian city of Samosata. In his youth, he acquired a very broad education, both secular and spiritual. He was a man distinguished in learning, as well as in the austerity of his ascetic life. Having distributed his goods to the poor, Lucian supported himself by compiling instructive works, and thus fed himself by the work of his hands. He performed a great service to the Church in that he corrected many Hebrew texts in Holy Scripture (that heretics, in accordance with their own false teaching, had distorted). Because of his learning and spirituality, he was ordained a presbyter in Antioch.

During Maximian's persecution, when St. Anthimos of Nicomedia and St. Peter of Alexandria were tortured, St. Lucian was on the list of those the emperor wanted to kill. Lucian fled the city and hid, but an envious heretical priest, Pancratios, reported him. The persecution was horrible and not even young children were spared. Two boys who did not want to eat food sacrificed to idols were thrown into a boiling bath, where in torments they gave up their holy souls to God.

A disciple of Lucian named Pelagia (October 8) preserved her virginal purity from dissolute attackers by praying to God on her roof-top: she gave up her soul to Him, and her body fell from the roof.

Lucian was brought to Nicomedia before the emperor. Along the way, his counsels converted forty soldiers to the Christian Faith, and all died a martyr's death. Following interrogation and flogging, St. Lucian was cast into prison where he suffered starvation. St. John Chrysostomos writes of St. Lucian: "He scorned hunger: let us also scorn luxury and destroy the power of the stomach that we may, when the time that requires such courage comes for us, be prepared in advance by the help of a lesser ascesis, to show ourselves glorious at the time of battle.'' He received Holy Communion in prison on the Feast of Theophany, and on the following day rendered his soul to God. St. Lucian suffered on January 7, 311.

♕Colossians 3:17-4:1 KJV

17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

18 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.

19 Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.

20 Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.

21 Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God;

23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.

4 Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.

♕Saint Luke 8:22-25 KJV

22 Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth.

23 But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy.

24 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.

25 And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.

are God-inspired fruits from ascetical struggle that bring crucial clarity to our spiritual status as we transcend from darkness to the

Light of Illumination of the Holy Spirit

Saint John's quote below is repeated from yesterday

for obvious reason.

WE ARE ONE BODY

St. John of Kronstadt

You know that eternal life in God has been promised to you and that it must be attained in this brief life through obedience to God and His Church and through patiently enduring illnesses, sorrows, misfortunes, and various privations. Yet you live carelessly, neglecting your soul and virtue...

When you glorify a pious neighbor, you glorify God. When you do good to your neighbor, you do good to yourself, for we are one body.

When you do good to your neighbor, you make God your debtor, for your neighbor is God’s image and God is all in all. When you do good to a Christian, you make Christ, the Son of God, your debtor, for Christians are His Body and His members. When you lend to a Christian, you lend to the Holy Spirit, for Christians are temples of the Holy Spirit. “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).

2. O Lord, deliver me from the eternal torments.

A MUTUAL EXPERIENCE DURING CONFESSION

While confessing to God from the heart before the priest, purging it of sin with tears, whether wet or dry, in sincere sorrow and regret for your offences against LOVE itself - that Is CHRIST, have you not felt Him listening and already gently blessing you with a dew drop of forgiveness but a dew drop that lifts you from sorrow, whelms you and presents you before Him washed and completely clean?

Having read and been illumined by our Beloved John of Kronstadt's homily above, do you see more clearly why our Lord is called the "Son of Man"? 

Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?

St. John 14:9 KJV

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