Sýnaxis of the Archangel Gabriel
MONDAY March 26/April 8 ns 2024
GREAT LENT
The great archangel of God Gabriel is honored for his appearances and miracles throughout the entire history of man's salvation. It is believed that this celebration was first established on Mt. Athos in the 9th century, during the reign of Emperor Basil and the Empress Constantina Porphyrogenitus and Patriarch Nicholas Chrysoverges, on the occasion of the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel in a cell near Karyes where he wrote on a stone tablet with his finger, the hymn to the Birth-giver of God, "Worthy It is meet," [Axion Estin]. As a result of this, even today, this cell is called the cell of "Axion Estin."
In connection with this, other appearances of the Archangel Gabriel are also commemorated:
The appearance to Moses while he was tending the flock of Jethro and, at which time, he related to this great one called of God, how the world was created and all the rest which Moses recorded in his Book of Creation (Genesis);
- His appearance to the Prophet Daniel and revealing to him the mystery of future kingdoms and of the coming of the Savior;
- His appearance to St. Anna and the promise that she will give birth to a daughter, the All-blessed and All-pure Holy Virgin Mary;
- The very brief appearance to the Holy Virgin while she lived in the Temple in Jerusalem;
- The appearance to Zacharias the High Priest and the tidings concerning the birth of John the Forerunner and the severe punishment of Zacharias with dumbness because he did not believe his words; again, the appearance to the Holy Virgin in Nazareth and informing Her of the good news of the conception and the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- The appearance to the righteous Joseph;
- The appearance to the shepherds near Bethlehem;
- The appearance to the Lord Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane when he strengthened our Lord as a man prior to His passion; the appearance to the myrrh-bearing women and so forth.
Holy Prophet Isaiah 14:24-32 KJV
24 The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
25 That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.
26 This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.
27 For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
28 In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.
29 Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.
30 And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant.
31 Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times.
32 What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.
Genesis 8:21-9:7 KJV
21 And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
9 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.
3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
5 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man.
6 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
7 And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.
Proverbs 11:19-12:6 KJV
19 As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death.
20 They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the Lord: but such as are upright in their way are his delight.
21 Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered.
22 As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.
23 The desire of the righteous is only good: but the expectation of the wicked is wrath.
24 There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.
25 The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.
26 He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it.
27 He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him.
28 He that trusteth in his riches shall fall; but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.
29 He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.
30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
31 Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.
12 Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.
2 A good man obtaineth favour of the Lord: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.
3 A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.
4 A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.
5 The thoughts of the righteous are right: but the counsels of the wicked are deceit.
6 The words of the wicked are to lie in wait for blood: but the mouth of the upright shall deliver them.
WOE TO HIS BLINDED SOUL
by Saint Symeon the New Theologian
God said to Adam
In the day that thou eatest of it (that is, of the forbidden tree) thou wilt die the death (Gen 2:17), that is the death of the soul.
This happened immediately: man was stripped of the garment of immortality. God said nothing more than that decree nor did anything special happen after that.
God, foreseeing that Adam was to sin and desiring to forgive him, if he repented, did not say anything more than the above. But Adam refused to acknowledge his sin and did not repent even when he was accused by God.
Adam, as it were, said to God: "Thou art Thyself guilty, because the woman whom Thou gavest me has deceived me."
This very same thing I myself now suffer, wretched and miserable, when I do not desire to be humbled and say with my whole soul that I myself am guilty of my perdition, but on the contrary I say; "That person over there inspired me to do or say this: He advised me and knocked me off the Path."
Woe is my poor soul which speaks such words filled with sin!
O most shameless and irrational words of a shameless and irrational soul!
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