O COME LET US WORSHIP AND FALL DOWN BEFORE CHRIST OUR KING AND OUR GOD
Saturday May 19/June 1 ns 2024
Hieromartyr Patrick, Bishop of Proussa,
and those with him;
St. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury
Hieromartyr Patrick, Bishop of Proussa,
and those with him;
St. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury
During the reign of Julian the Apostate in Asian Brussa, Junius, the imperial deputy, brought these saints to a hot spring and asked Patrick: "Who created these curative waters if not our gods Aesculapius and others whom we worship? "St. Patrick replied: "Your gods are demons and these waters, as everything else, were created by Christ the Lord, our God. "Then the deputy asked: "And will your Christ save you if I toss you into this boiling water?" The saint replied: "If He wants. He is able to preserve me whole and unharmed, even though I desire that in these waters I become separated from this temporary life to live with Christ eternally; but let His Holy will be done on me, without which not even a hair does not fall from the head of men!
Hearing this, the deputy ordered that Patrick be tossed into the boiling water. Drops of boiling water splashed on all sides and bitterly scalded many of those present but the saint of God, on whose lips were continually in prayer, remained unharmed as though he were standing in cold water. Seeing this, the deputy became enraged out of embarrassment and ordered Patrick and his remaining three presbyters be beheaded with an ax. Then the innocent followers of Christ recited their prayers and placed their heads under the ax of the executioner. When they were beheaded, their joyful souls ascended into the illuminating kingdom of Christ to reign foreve
Acts 12:1-11 KJV
12 Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.
2 And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.
3 And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.)
4 And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.
5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.
6 And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.
7 And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.
8 And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.
9 And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.
10 When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.
11 And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.
Saint John 8:31-42 KJV
31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
33 They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
37 I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
THE EVERGETINOSAbba Mark
Brother, when you hear about the transgression of Adam and Eve, you should believe that it was indeed committed by them in their day; however, you should also see that it is now committed spiritually by you and me. For, having been regenerated through Holy Baptism and been placed in the Paradise of the Church, we have transgressed the commandment of Him Who regenerated us. For the Lord enjoined us to love all of our brethren and to regard the fruit that comes from all as good, and eat thereof with patience, as Scripture says: “Of every tree in Paradise thou mayest freely eat” (Genesis 2:16). But we, led astray by the thoughts which the serpent puts in us, regard some of our brethren as good and love them, but regard others as bad and detest them. It is precisely this distinction between good and bad that is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; that is to say, we do not put up with our neighbor’s mistakes, but ensnare each person by his shortcomings. Those who seem good we love, but those whom we consider bad we hate.
When the mind tastes the fruits of this tree, it immediately falls into those same mistakes that it condemned, thereafter realizing its own nakedness through the malicious discovery of a brother’s faults. It did not previously perceive this nakedness, because it was veiled by brotherly empathy. As a result of this denudation (peeling away), our rational faculty becomes deadened, not because God made death, but because man hated his neighbor. For “God made not death, neither hath He pleasure in the destruction of the living” (Wisdom of Solomon 1:13); nor is He moved by the passion of anger; nor does He devise anything for the purpose of taking revenge on it; nor does He alter His disposition according the worth of each man; but He created all things in wisdom (cf. Psalm 103:24) and determined that they should be regulated by spiritual laws. For this reason, He did not say to Adam, “On whatsoever day ye eat of it, I will kill you,” but, issuing a warning to him, He announced the law of Divine justice in advance: “On whatsoever day ye eat of it, ye shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17). In this way, He linked good with reward and evil with chastisement, in such a way that reward would naturally correspond to virtue and chastisement to evil, without His having to reinvent it in each case, as certain people, in their ignorance of the spiritual law, suppose.
No comments:
Post a Comment