P A R A G O N † CHEESEFARE SUNDAY February 13 / 26 ns 2023 • St. Martinian, Holy Apostles Aquila and Priscilla, St. Seraphim of Sófia, St. Symeon the Myrrh-Gusher > All foods are permitted, except meat > ARE YOU PREPARED FOR THE HOLY AND GREAT FAST? by Bishop Cyprian of Oreoi Acting President of the Holy Synod in Resistance

CHALLENGE: What gives us the capacity to love?
Galatians 3:26-29 KJV

➽ All foods are permitted, except meat

VIDEO LINK - 3m 34s

PASCHA ON THE    HOLY MOUNTAIN

ATHOS

 Saint Martinian 

 T he glorious and most wonderful life of Martinian is worthwhile to read in its entirety. What did he not endure just to fulfill the commandments of the Lord! At age eighteen, Martinian retreated to a mountain in Cappadocia called "The Place of the Ark" where he lived for twenty-five years in fasting, vigils, prayer and struggling with many temptations. When a woman came to tempt him and, he perceiving that he will succumb to sin with her, Martinian leaped into the fire barefooted and remained in the fire until the pain brought tears to his eyes and subdued any lust within himself. When another temptation erupted, Martinian fled to an isolated rock in the sea and there he lived. During a shipwreck a young woman swam to this rock. Martinian jumped into the sea to avoid any further temptation, but a dolphin rescued him on its back and by God's Providence brought him ashore. Martinian then decided never to make any place his permanent home but to continually travel. In two years, Martinian passed through one hundred and sixty-four towns correcting and counseling people. He finally reached Athens where he died in the year 422 A.D.

Orthros (Matins) Saint Luke 24:1-12 KJV

24 Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.

2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.

3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:

5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?

6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,

7 Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.

8 And they remembered his words,

9 And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.

10 It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles.

11 And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.

12 Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.

Romans 13:11-14:4 KJV

11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

14 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.

2 For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.

3 Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.

4 Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

Saint Matthew 6:14-21 KJV

14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;

18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

ARE YOU PREPARED FOR
THE HOLY AND GREAT FAST?

Fully Bathed in the Light of the Resurrection “Walk as children of light” 

• “he that loveth his brother abideth in the light” (Ephesians 5:8; I St. John 2:19)  

A. Let us rediscover the true meaning of of asceticism:

• a joyous rejection of what is beyond what one needs
• the sharing of what is excess with the poor
• the continuous glorification and appreciation of God
• a Godly orientation “towards the Other”—towards our Lord, our brother, towards all creation—with reverence and dutifully.

B. Let us not forget:

• without love, no act of asceticism will lead us to the Great Encounter, to the Nuptial Mystery of our union with Christ...!
• We will be brought to judgment first and foremost “for negligence in things virtuous and for not having loved our neighbor.”

C. The Holy Ascetic Saint Theodore dwelled atop a pillar (as a Stylite) for forty-eight years.

• To his naïve question about his “future recompense,” a Holy Angel informed him:
• “It will be the same as the recompense of a certain actor in Damascus, who gave away all of his possessions to a poor woman...!”

D. “The Devil does not eat, drink, or marry....!

• And he, who is technically the greatest ascetic, is not, for all that, any less a demon”!

E. Let us constantly direct our asceticism towards its main purpose:

• purity of the heart and its
• receptivity to love, that it might be filled with the Light of the Resurrection!

† Bishop Cyprian of Oreoi Acting President of the Holy Synod in Resistance