But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? (St. Luke 12:20)
FRIDAYApril 13/26 ns 2024Great LentFast day
Saint Martin the Confessor,
Pope of Rome
Pope of Rome
Born in Tuscany, St. Martin was educated with Church doctrine and joined the clergy of the Church of Rome. As a priest Fr. Martin represented the See of Rome in Constantinople. After the death of Pope Theodore I in 649, Martin was chosen to succeed him. He appointed John, bishop of Philadelphia (Amman) to be Administrator of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem after the death of Patriarch Sophrónios, who had died in 638. Martin, as Pope, justified this appointment "by the apostolic power which came to him from Jesus Christ through St. Peter."
During his papacy, the Monothelite heresy began to question Church doctrine. The heresy advanced the teaching that Christ had two natures but one will, contrary to the Orthodox position that he had two wills - human and divine. The heretics were able to find adherents in high levels of society, such as Emperor Constans (641–668) and Patriarch Paul of Constantinople (641–654). Emperor Constans even published a book entitled "Pattern of Faith" that all people were forced to read. The book supported the heresy. When St. Martin read the book, he staunchly supported Orthodoxy and even convened the Lateran Council at Rome in order to condemn the Monothelite heresy.
When the emperor learned this, he sent a military commander to kill the pope. Since the commander was too scared to assassinate the pope himself, he hired someone to perform the deed. The hired assassin became blinded upon approaching St. Martin and was unable to kill him. The military commander fled from Rome in fear and soon died in battle.
The emperor continued his pursuit to eliminate the saint by hiring another military commander to accuse him of heresy. Unable to dethrone the pope on these claims, the commander resorted to capturing St. Martin at night and bringing him to the island of Naxos in the Aegean Sea in the year 654. During the course of a year on this small, scarcely populated island, St. Martin was starved and abused by prison guards.
The saint was brought to trial, weak and ill from the abuses he endured in prison, and stood against false witnesses who claimed he was treasonous to another group of peoples. The judge condemned the saint without hearing his defense. Unable to bare the tortures anymore, the saint said, "The Lord knows what a great kindness you would show me if you would deliver me quickly over to death." Many believed the false witnesses and jeered him as he was brought to prison, while those who believed the saint were not able to bear seeing him so humiliated and fled in tears. The saint was to be deposed from his rank and executed.
When Emperor Constans reported this to Patriarch Paul, the patriarch realized the faults of his ways and ordered for the torments to stop. St. Martin boldly declined the patriarch's request, not wanting to adhere to the Church of Constantinople since it was still under heretical doctrine. His death sentence to exile was carried out at Chersón in the Crimea. Saint Martin died due to hunger and sickness on September 16, 655.
During his papacy, the Monothelite heresy began to question Church doctrine. The heresy advanced the teaching that Christ had two natures but one will, contrary to the Orthodox position that he had two wills - human and divine. The heretics were able to find adherents in high levels of society, such as Emperor Constans (641–668) and Patriarch Paul of Constantinople (641–654). Emperor Constans even published a book entitled "Pattern of Faith" that all people were forced to read. The book supported the heresy. When St. Martin read the book, he staunchly supported Orthodoxy and even convened the Lateran Council at Rome in order to condemn the Monothelite heresy.
When the emperor learned this, he sent a military commander to kill the pope. Since the commander was too scared to assassinate the pope himself, he hired someone to perform the deed. The hired assassin became blinded upon approaching St. Martin and was unable to kill him. The military commander fled from Rome in fear and soon died in battle.
The emperor continued his pursuit to eliminate the saint by hiring another military commander to accuse him of heresy. Unable to dethrone the pope on these claims, the commander resorted to capturing St. Martin at night and bringing him to the island of Naxos in the Aegean Sea in the year 654. During the course of a year on this small, scarcely populated island, St. Martin was starved and abused by prison guards.
The saint was brought to trial, weak and ill from the abuses he endured in prison, and stood against false witnesses who claimed he was treasonous to another group of peoples. The judge condemned the saint without hearing his defense. Unable to bare the tortures anymore, the saint said, "The Lord knows what a great kindness you would show me if you would deliver me quickly over to death." Many believed the false witnesses and jeered him as he was brought to prison, while those who believed the saint were not able to bear seeing him so humiliated and fled in tears. The saint was to be deposed from his rank and executed.
When Emperor Constans reported this to Patriarch Paul, the patriarch realized the faults of his ways and ordered for the torments to stop. St. Martin boldly declined the patriarch's request, not wanting to adhere to the Church of Constantinople since it was still under heretical doctrine. His death sentence to exile was carried out at Chersón in the Crimea. Saint Martin died due to hunger and sickness on September 16, 655.
No need to strain or depend on an unenlightened brain to understand scripture. Simply read in faith; Christ will reveal to the heart what is needed for the hour and day; besides the soul clearly hears it all.
Soon We Will Cry Out with Joy
“Christ is Risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and to those in the tombs, He is bestowing life.”
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10 Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her:
11 That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.
12 For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees.
13 As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
14 And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies.
15 For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.
19 And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.
20 And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord.
21 And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the Lord.
22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain.
23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.
24 And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
Genesis 49:33-50:26 KJV
33 And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.
50 And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.
2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.
3 And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.
4 And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,
5 My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again.
6 And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear.
7 And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
8 And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father's house: only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.
9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.
10 And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days.
11 And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians: wherefore the name of it was called Abelmizraim, which is beyond Jordan.
12 And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them:
13 For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a burying place of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.
14 And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.
15 And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.
16 And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
17 So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.
18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
21 Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.
22 And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father's house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years.
23 And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph's knees.
24 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
25 And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.
26 So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
Proverbs 31:8-31 KJV
8 Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.
9 Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.
10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
13 She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
14 She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.
15 She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.
16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
17 She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.
18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.
19 She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.
20 She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
22 She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.
24 She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
25 Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
29 Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.
30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.
VARIOUS QUOTES FROM THE LOVERS OF GOD
“But now that the Savior has raised His Body, death is no longer terrible, but all those who believe in Christ tread it underfoot as nothing, and prefer to die rather than to deny their faith in Christ, knowing full well that when they die they do not perish, but live indeed, and become incorruptible through the Resurrection.”
Saint Athanasios the Great
“Oh if you only knew what joy, what sweetness awaits a righteous Soul in Heaven!”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
“All my hope is in God’s Mercy.”
Saint Ephrem the Syrian
“Our grief over the death of our close ones would be inconsolable and boundless if the Lord had not given us Eternal Life. Our life would be meaningless if it ended with death. What benefit, then, would there be from virtue or good deeds? They would be right who say, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!’ But man was created for immortality.”
Saint John Maximovich the Wonderworker
of Shanghai and San Francisco
“God takes each person at the very best time of his life, in a particular manner, in order to save his Soul.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
“If God has taught you a Spiritual knowledge of created beings, you will not doubt the words of Scripture concerning the Blessings held in store.”
Saint Thalassios the Libyan
“Strive to be united first with the Lord, and then with the Saints, so that after death they may receive you as familiar friends into the everlasting dwellings.”
Saint Anthony the Great
TO PONDER ONCE AGAIN AND BE FREE:
If you believe the words of our Lord, then you know that you are a transient in this world BUT in Him and Him only, you are filled with joy, hope and anticipation of a glorified self in Paradise or, you may have had a taste of it already.
If you believe the words of our Lord, then you know that you are a transient in this world BUT in Him and Him only, you are filled with joy, hope and anticipation of a glorified self in Paradise or, you may have had a taste of it already.
Honor Christ in any saint, and he or she will grant you a taste of the Kingdom of Paradise and you will know that the beauty of this world cannot compare to that of the next which includes the repentant sons of Adam.
So there is no need to be without faith, hope and love at the departure of youth, beauty and strength and the arrival of weakness and wrinkles.
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