Isaiah 7.1-14 (6th Hour)

1U vrijeme Ahaza sina Jotama sina Ozije cara Judina doðe Resin car Sirski i Fakej sin Remalijin car Izrailjev na Jerusalim da ga biju, ali ga ne mogoše uzeti. 2I doðe glas domu Davidovu i rekoše: Sirija se složi s Jefremom. A srce Ahazovo i srce naroda njegova ustrepta kao drveæe u šumi od vjetra. 3Tada reèe Gospod Isaiji: izidi na susret Ahazu, ti i Sear-jasuv sin tvoj, nakraj jaza gornjega jezera, na put kod polja bjeljareva. 4I reci mu: èuvaj se i budi miran, ne boj se i srce tvoje neka se ne plaši od dva kraja ovijeh glavanja što se puše, od raspaljenoga gnjeva Resinova i Sirskoga i sina Remalijina. 5Što se Sirci i Jefrem i sin Remalijin dogovoriše na tvoje zlo govoreæi: 6Hajdemo na Judejsku da joj dosadimo i da je osvojimo i da postavimo u njoj carem sina Taveilova; 7Zato ovako veli Gospod Bog: neæe se to uèiniti, neæe biti. 8Jer je glava Siriji Damasak, a Damasku je glava Resin; i do šezdeset i pet godina satræe se Jefrem tako da više neæe biti narod. 9I glava je Jefremu Samarija, a Samariji je glava sin Remalijin. Ako ne vjerujete, neæete se održati. 10I još reèe Gospod Ahazu govoreæi: 11Išti znak od Gospoda Boga svojega, išti ozdo iz dubine ili ozgo s visine. 12A Ahaz reèe: neæu iskati, niti æu kušati Gospoda. 13Tada reèe Isaija: slušajte sada, dome Davidov; malo li vam je što dosaðujete ljudima, nego dosaðujete i Bogu mojemu? 14Zato æe vam sam Gospod dati znak: eto djevojka æe zatrudnjeti i rodiæe sina, i nadjenuæe mu ime Emanuilo.

Genesis 5.32-6.8 (Vespers)

32A Noju kad bi pet stotina godina, rodi Noje Sima, Hama i Jafeta.

1A kad se ljudi poèeše množiti na zemlji, i kæeri im se narodiše. 2Videæi sinovi Božji kæeri èovjeèije kako su lijepe uzimaše ih za žene koje htješe. 3A Gospod reèe: neæe se duh moj dovijeka preti s ljudima, jer su tijelo; neka im još sto i dvadeset godina. 4A bijaše tada divova na zemlji; a i poslije, kad se sinovi Božji sastajahu sa kæerima èovjeèijim, pa im one raðahu sinove; to bijahu silni ljudi, od starine na glasu. 5I Gospod videæi da je nevaljalstvo ljudsko veliko na zemlji, i da su sve misli srca njihova svagda samo zle, 6Pokaja se Gospod što je stvorio èovjeka na zemlji, i bi mu žao u srcu. 7I reèe Gospod: hoæu da istrijebim sa zemlje ljude, koje sam stvorio, od èovjeka do stoke i do sitne životinje i do ptica nebeskih; jer se kajem što sam ih stvorio. 8Ali Noje naðe milost pred Gospodom.

Proverbs 6.20-7.1 (Vespers)

20Èuvaj, sine moj, zapovijest oca svojega, i ne ostavljaj nauke matere svoje. 21Priveži ih sebi na srce zasvagda, i spuèi ih sebi oko grla. 22Kuda god poðeš, vodiæe te; kad zaspiš, èuvaæe te; kad se probudiš, razgovaraæe te; 23Jer je zapovijest žižak, i nauka je vidjelo, i put je životni karanje koje pouèava; 24Da te èuvaju od zle žene, od jezika kojim laska žena tuða. 25Ne zaželi u srcu svom ljepote njezine, i nemoj da te uhvati vjeðama svojim. 26Jer sa žene kurve spada èovjek na komad hljeba, i žena pusta lovi dragocjenu dušu. 27Hoæe li ko uzeti ognja u njedra a haljine da mu se ne upale? 28Hoæe li ko hoditi po živom ugljevlju a nogu da ne ožeže? 29Tako biva onome koji ide k ženi bližnjega svojega; neæe biti bez krivice ko je se god dotakne. 30Ne sramote lupeža koji ukrade da nasiti dušu svoju, buduæi gladan; 31Nego kad ga uhvate plati samosedmo, da sve imanje doma svojega. 32Ali ko uèini preljubu sa ženom, bezuman je, dušu svoju gubi ko tako èini; 33Muke i ruga dopada, i sramota se njegova ne može izbrisati. 34Jer je ljubavna sumnja žestoka u muža i ne štedi na dan osvete; 35Ne mari ni za kakav otkup, i ne prima ako æeš i mnogo darova davati.

1Sine, èuvaj rijeèi moje, i zapovijesti moje sahrani kod sebe.

St Benedict of Nursia, abbot (547)

His name, Benedictus, means “Blessed” in Latin. He was born in 480 in Nursia, a small town northeast of Rome. He had only rudimentary schooling: he wrote later of his fear that through book-learning he might ‘lose the great understanding of my soul.’ At an early age he fled to a monastery where he was tonsured; he then withdrew to a remote mountain, where he lived or several years in a cave, perfecting himself in prayer. His only food was some bread brought to him by Romanus, the monk who had tonsured him. When he became known in the area, he fled his cave to escape the attentions of the pious; but flight proved useless, and in time a community of monks formed around him. He was granted many spiritual gifts: he healed the sick and drove out evil spirits, raised the dead, and appeared in visions to others many miles away.

Benedict founded twelve monasteries, most famously that at Monte Cassino. Initially, each monastic house had twelve monks, to imitate the number of the Twelve Apostles. The Rule that he established for his monks was based on the works of St John Cassian and St Basil the Great, and became a standard for western monasteries. Thus he is sometimes called the first teacher of monks in the West.

Six days before his death, the Saint ordered that his grave be opened, gathered all his monks together, gave them counsel, then gave his soul back to God on the day that he had predicted. At the moment of his death, two monks in different places had the same vision: they saw a path from earth to heaven, richly adorned and lined on either side with ranks of people. At the top of the path stood a man, clothed in light and unspeakably beautiful, who told them that the path was prepared for Benedict, the beloved of God. In this way, the monks learned that their abbot had gone to his rest.

St Theognostus, Metropolitan of Kiev (1353)

He was born in Greece and succeeded St Peter of Kiev as Metropolitan of that city. Some of his enemies among his own flock denounced him to the Mongol ruler, saying that he had collected no tribute from his churches to pay to the Mongols. Summoned before the Mongol prince and asked about this, he answered ‘Christ our God bought His Church from the unbelievers with His precious Blood. For what do we pay tribute to unbelievers?’ Returning home, he governed the Church for twenty-five more years and reposed in peace in 1353.