Wednesday November 16 / 29 ns 2023 † Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew, of the Twelve ~ Wine and olive oil are permitted

Nativity Fast 2023

As it has been said, one day we will no longer be able to satisfy our passions.

The Church, in her love for her children, established periods of fasting to temper our desire and calm the passions in preparation for separation.  With this at the forefront of our minds and hearts, not as an opportunity to lose weight or to comply with a duty, let's rejoice with faith, trusting in the Lord's promise of the Life to come where all sickness, sighing and sorrow are no longer.

May our Precious Lord and His All Embracing Holy Mother strengthen all of us.

Our God, Who is omnipotent and omniscient does what He pleases, but His omniscience and omnipotence are but a cobweb compared to His Love.

 

Holy Apostle and Evangelist

Matthew of the 12

Ahh...WHEN THE VOICE OF GOD SAYS COME AND THE EAR  OF THE SOUL  IS ATTENTIVE . . .

...and he saith unto him, Follow me.
And he arose, and followed him.

Matthew, son of Alphaeus, was a tax collector when the Lord saw him in Capernaum and said: Follow Me. And he arose, and followed Him (St. Matthew 9:9). After that, Matthew prepared a reception for the Lord in his home and thus provided the occasion for the Lord to express several great truths about His coming to earth. 

After receiving the Holy Spirit, Matthew preached the Gospel to the Parthians, Medes and Ethiopians. In Ethiopia he appointed his follower Plato as bishop, and withdrew to prayerful solitude on a mountain, where the Lord appeared to him. Matthew baptized the wife and the son of the prince of Ethiopia, at which the prince became greatly enraged and dispatched a guard to bring Matthew to him for trial. The soldiers returned to the prince saying that they had heard Matthew's voice, but could not see him with their eyes. The prince then sent a second guard. When this guard approached the apostle, he shone with a heavenly light so powerful that the soldiers could not look at him; filled with fear, they threw down their weapons and returned. The prince then went himself. Matthew radiated such light that the prince was instantly blinded. However, the holy apostle had a compassionate heart; he prayed to God, and the prince was given back his sight. Unfortunately, he saw only with physical eyes and not spiritual eyes. He arrested Matthew and subjected him to cruel tortures. Twice, a large fire was lighted on his chest, but the power of God preserved him alive and unharmed. Then the apostle prayed to God and gave up his spirit. The prince commanded that the martyr's body be placed in a lead coffin and thrown into the sea. The saint appeared to Bishop Plato and told him where the coffin bearing his body could be found. The bishop retrieved the coffin with Matthew's body from the sea. Witnessing this new miracle, the prince was baptized and received the name Matthew. After that, the prince left all the vanity of the world and became a presbyter and served the Church in a God-pleasing way. When Plato died, the Apostle Matthew appeared to the presbyter Matthew and counseled him to accept the episcopacy. He accepted the bishopric and, for many years, was a good shepherd until the Lord called him to His Immortal Kingdom. St. Matthew the Apostle wrote his Gospel in the Aramaic language. It was soon after translated into Greek and the Greek text has come down to us, while the Aramaic text has been lost. It is said of this evangelist that he never ate meat, but only vegetables and fruit.

1 Corinthians 4:9-16 KJV

9 For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.

10 We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.
 
11 Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place;

12 And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:

13 Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.

14 I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.

15 For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

16 Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.

Saint Matthew 9:9-13 KJV

9 And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.

10 And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.

11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?

12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.

13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

HYMN OF PRAISE

The Holy Apostle Matthew the Evangelist

of the Twelve

To His Holy Apostle Matthew,

The Lord appeared in the land of the blacks,

Giving great comfort to the tortured warrior,

And great strength to his heroic soul.

The Lord gave him a staff from His hand,

And told Matthew to plant it in front of the church.

He told him that it would grow green with life and blossom with various colors,

And bear sweet fruit for everyone to enjoy.

A spring would flow from beneath its roots-

A spring of cool water for those who thirst.

The face of whomever would partake of it with thanksgiving

Would shine with a wondrous light.

The apostle did as the Lord said,

And the wood budded forth, and was adorned with blossoms,

And living water flowed from its roots,

And the church was filled with a multitude of people.

Whoever was sick, was healed;

Whoever was healthy, became healthier still.

The blacks were blessed, their faces radiant,

And this fierce people became God's vineyard.

O wondrous tree, would that we could have it!

But we do have it, brethren; all of us have it!

It is Christ the Lord, the Lord of Hosts-

He is the Tree of Life; by Him we are saved.