Unable to prevail is every hymn that striveth to comprehend the multitude of Thy many tender mercies; for if we were to offer unto Thee, O Holy King, odes equal in number to the sands, we will have done nothing worthy of that which Thou hast given unto us, who cry to Thee: ALLELUIA
Tuesday August 27
September 9 ns
2025
2025
Today we glorify . . .
Saint Poimén
Holy Martyr Phanoúriosthe Newly-Revealed;
Saint Cæsarius,
Bishop of Arles
Poimen once begged the elder Paul to take him to St. Paḯsios. Seeing Poimen, Paḯsios said to Paul: "This child will save many; the hand of God is with him." In time, Poimen was tonsured a monk and attracted two of his brothers to the monastic life as well. Once his mother came to see her sons but Poimen did not permit her to enter but through the door asked her: "Do you desire more to see us here or there in eternity?" The mother withdrew with joy saying: "Since I will surely see you there, then I do not desire to see you here."
In the monastery of these three brothers, governed by Abba Anubis, Poimen's eldest brother, this was their Rule [Typikon]: at night, they spent four hours of working with their hands, four hours of sleep and four hours of reading the Psalter. During the day, from morning until noon, they spent in alternating work and prayer; from noon until Vespers they spent reading and, in the afternoon, they prepared supper for themselves the only meal in twenty-four hours and that usually consisted of some vegetables.
Concerning their life, Poimen himself speaks: "We ate that which was given to us. No one ever said: 'Give me something else or I do not want that.' In this manner, we spent our entire life in silence and peace." Poimen lived a life of mortification as an ascetic in the fifth century and died peacefully at an old age.
2 Corinthians 12:20-13:2 KJV
20 For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:
21 And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed.
13 This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.
2 I told you before, and foretell you, as if I were present, the second time; and being absent now I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that, if I come again, I will not spare.
Saint Mark 4:24-34 KJV
24 And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.
25 For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.
26 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;
27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
29 But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
30 And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it?
31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth:
32 But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.
33 And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it.
34 But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.
ON PRAYER
St. Symeon Metaphrastis
Paraphrases of the Homilies of
St. Makarios of Egypt
18 thru 20
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St. Makarios of Egypt
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18. The crown of every good endeavor and the highest of achievements is diligence in prayer. Through it God guiding us and lending a helping hand, we come to acquire the other virtues.
ATTEND: It is in prayer that the saints experience communion in the hidden energy of God's holiness and inner union with it, and their intellect itself is brought through unutterable love into the presence of the Lord. "Thou hast given gladness to my heart", wrote the psalmist (Ps. 4:7); and the Lord Himself said that 'the kingdom of heaven is within you' (cf Luke 17:21).
And what does the kingdom being within mean except that the heavenly gladness of the Spirit is clearly stamped on the virtuous soul? For already in this life, through active communion in the Spirit, the virtuous soul receives a foretaste and a prelude of the delight, joy and spiritual gladness which the saints will enjoy in the eternal light of Christ's kingdom. This is something that St Paul also affirms: "He consoles us in our afflictions, so that we can console others in every affliction through the consolation with which we ourselves have been consoled by God" (2 Cor. 1:4). And passages in the Psalms likewise hint at this active gladness and consolation of the Spirit, such as: 'My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God' (Ps. 84:2. LXX): and: 'My soul will be filled with marrow and fatness" (Ps. 63:5).
19. Just as the work of prayer is greater than other work, so it demands greater effort and attention from the person ardently devoted to it, lest without him being aware the devil deprives him of it.
ATTEND: The greater the good a person has in his care, the greater the attacks the devil launches on him; hence he must keep strict watch, so that fruits of love and humility, simplicity and goodness - and, along with them, fruits of discrimination - may grow daily from the constancy of his prayer. These will make evident his progress and increase in holiness, thus encouraging others to make similar efforts.
20. Not only does St Paul instruct us to pray without ceasing and to persist in prayer (cf. 1 Thess. 5:17; Rom. 12:12), but so also does the Lord when He says that God will vindicate those who cry out to Him day and night (cf St. Luke 18:7) and counsels us to 'watch and pray" (St. Matt. 26 : 41). We must therefore pray always and not lose heart (cf. St. Luke 18:1).
ATTEND: To put things more succinctly: he who persists in prayer has to struggle greatly and exert himself relentlessly if he is to overcome the many obstacles with which the devil tries to impede his diligence - obstacles such as sleep, listlessness, physical torpor (inactivity), distraction of thought, confusion of intellect, debility, and so on, not to mention afflictions, and also the attacks of the evil spirits that violently fight against us, opposing us and trying to prevent the soul from approaching God when it truly and ceaselessly seeks Him.
20. Not only does St Paul instruct us to pray without ceasing and to persist in prayer (cf. 1 Thess. 5:17; Rom. 12:12), but so also does the Lord when He says that God will vindicate those who cry out to Him day and night (cf St. Luke 18:7) and counsels us to 'watch and pray" (St. Matt. 26 : 41). We must therefore pray always and not lose heart (cf. St. Luke 18:1).
ATTEND: To put things more succinctly: he who persists in prayer has to struggle greatly and exert himself relentlessly if he is to overcome the many obstacles with which the devil tries to impede his diligence - obstacles such as sleep, listlessness, physical torpor (inactivity), distraction of thought, confusion of intellect, debility, and so on, not to mention afflictions, and also the attacks of the evil spirits that violently fight against us, opposing us and trying to prevent the soul from approaching God when it truly and ceaselessly seeks Him.
In wisdom hast Thou made them all
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