2 Thessalonians 2.13-3.5 (Epistle)

13Noi însă, fraţi preaiubiţi de Domnul, trebuie să mulţumim totdeauna lui Dumnezeu pentru voi, căci de la început Dumnezeu v-a ales pentru mântuire, în sfinţirea Duhului şi credinţa adevărului. 14Iată la ce v-a chemat El, prin Evanghelia noastră, ca să căpătaţi slava Domnului nostru Isus Hristos. 15Aşadar, fraţilor, rămâneţi tari şi ţineţi învăţăturile pe care le-aţi primit fie prin viu grai, fie prin epistola noastră. 16Şi însuşi Domnul nostru Isus Hristos şi Dumnezeu, Tatăl nostru, care ne-a iubit şi ne-a dat prin harul Său o mângâiere veşnică şi o bună nădejde,

17să vă mângâie inimile şi să vă întărească în orice lucru şi cuvânt bun! 1Încolo, fraţilor, rugaţi-vă pentru noi ca Cuvântul Domnului să se răspândească şi să fie proslăvit, cum este la voi, 2şi să fim izbăviţi de oamenii nechibzuiţi şi răi; căci nu toţi au credinţa. 3Credincios este Domnul: El vă va întări şi vă va păzi de cel rău. 4Cu privire la voi, avem încredere în Domnul că faceţi şi veţi face ce vă poruncim. 5Domnul să vă îndrepte inimile spre dragostea lui Dumnezeu şi spre răbdarea lui Hristos!

Luke 16.1-9 (Gospel)

1Isus a mai spus ucenicilor Săi: „Un om bogat avea un ispravnic care a fost pârât la el că-i risipeşte averea. 2El l-a chemat şi i-a zis: „Ce aud eu vorbindu-se despre tine? Dă-ţi socoteala de isprăvnicia ta, pentru că nu mai poţi fi ispravnic.” 3Ispravnicul şi-a zis: „Ce am să fac dacă îmi ia stăpânul isprăvnicia? Să sap, nu pot; să cerşesc, mi-e ruşine. 4Ştiu ce am să fac, pentru ca, atunci când voi fi scos din isprăvnicie, ei să mă primească în casele lor.” 5A chemat pe fiecare din datornicii stăpânului său şi a zis celui dintâi: „Cât eşti dator stăpânului meu?” 6„O sută de măsuri de untdelemn”, a răspuns el. Şi i-a zis: „Ia-ţi zapisul şi şezi degrabă de scrie cincizeci.” 7Apoi a zis altuia: „Dar tu cât eşti dator?” „O sută de măsuri de grâu”, a răspuns el. Şi i-a zis: „Ia-ţi zapisul şi scrie optzeci.” 8Stăpânul lui a lăudat pe ispravnicul nedrept, pentru că lucrase înţelept. Căci fiii veacului acestuia, faţă de semenii lor, sunt mai înţelepţi decât fiii luminii. 9Şi Eu vă zic: faceţi-vă prieteni cu ajutorul bogăţiilor nedrepte, pentru ca atunci când veţi muri, să vă primească în corturile veşnice.

Holy Prophet Obadiah (Abdias)

Obadiah’s is the shortest prophetic book in the Old Testament. The scriptures tell us little of where or when he lived. Some believe that he is the Obadiah who served as steward of King Ahab’s household and, when Jezebel was killing the prophets, hid a hundred of them in a cave and fed them. It is said that this Obadiah later became a disciple of the Prophet Elijah (Elias). His name means “servant of God.”

Our Holy Father Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow (1867)

Born of a priestly family near Moscow in 1782, he entered seminary at a young age and soon distinguished himself for his piety and his scholarship of ancient languages. He was tonsured a monk, but was made a professor at the seminary in Moscow, where his expositions of the Faith, spoken and written, caused him to be regarded as a Father of the Church in his own time; many called him “the new Chrysostom.”

In 1817, at the age of thirty-five, he was consecrated bishop, and in only a few years rose to the rank of Metropolitan of Moscow, the highest office in the Russian Church since Peter the Great abolished the Patriarchate. He remained Metropolitan for the rest of his life. Saint Philaret seemed literally tireless in his labors for the Church: no-one knew when he slept, and his servant, no matter when he came to the Metropolitan’s quarters, would always find him working at his desk. He worked to restore moral standards among the clergy, which had fallen into laxity. Whenever he was forced to depose a cleric, he would secretly contribute to the family’s needs out of his own resources. Similarly, he used up all of his financial resources in charitable works, always taking care that his donations were kept secret. He funded the building of a large hospice for orphans and children of poor clergy families.

St Philaret gave his full support to the fifty-year project of translating the Bible into Russian, and translated several Old Testament books himself, though the project was opposed by the Tsar and by some powerful groups in the Church. He supported the work of the fathers of Optina Monastery to publish translations of the Fathers of the Church; these translations, when they appeared, contributed to a great spiritual awakening in Russia.

He reposed in peace in 1867 at the age of eighty-five.

The well-loved “Morning Prayer of Philaret of Moscow” which begins “Lord, grant me to greet the coming day in peace…” was brought into Orthodox piety by St Philaret but seems originally to have been written by Francois Fenelon, the French Quietist writer. The prayer also came to be used by the Optina Elders and is sometimes referred to as the “Morning Prayer of the Optina Elders.” The prayer appears in several similar versions.

O Lord, grant me to greet the coming day in peace. Help me in all things to rely upon Your holy will. In every hour of the day reveal Your will to me. Bless my dealings with all who surround me. Teach me to treat all that comes to me throughout the day with peace of soul, and with the firm conviction that Your will governs all. In all my deeds and words guide my thoughts and feelings. In unforseen events let me not forget that all are sent by You. Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering or embarrassing others. Give me strength to bear the fatigue of this coming day with all that it will bring. Direct my will, teach me to pray, pray You Yourself in me. Amen.

Holy Martyr Barlaam of Antioch (304)

Saint Barlaam was an old man, living in Antioch during the persecution of Diocletian and Maximian. When he confessed Christ before the Governor and refused to sacrifice to the idols, he was tortured for days: his flesh was torn by iron claws and he was stretched on the rack. When these conventional tortures failed, the Governor invented a new torment: Barlaam’s hand was stretched over an altar to the idols, and a burning coal with incense was put in his palm. The torturers reasoned that when pain forced him to drop the coal, they would be able to say that he had offered sacrifice to the gods. But the holy Barlaam held his hand steady and watched calmly as his hand was burnt up by the coal. At last his hand fell to the ground and the Martyr gave up his soul to God.

In some accounts, St Barlaam survived his torments and reposed in peace. Some have held that he came from Cappadocia rather than Antioch, but this is probably incorrect. Saint John Chrysostom once delivered a homily at St Barlaam’s tomb in Antioch on his feast day.

Our Holy Fathers Barlaam and Joasaph of India (4th c.)

“They were Indian ascetics. Joasaph was son and heir to King Abenner. By God’s providence, he was visited by the elder Barlaam, who taught him the Christian faith and baptised him. After that, the elder went off into the mountains to live in asceticism, and Joasaph remained to wrestle with many temptations in the world and to overcome them by the grace of God. Joasaph finally succeeded in bringing his father to Christ. When he had been baptised, King Abenner lived a further four years in deep repentance (for he had committed grave sins in his persecution of Christians) and then finished his earthly course and went to the better life. The young Joasaph entrusted the kingdom to his friend Barachias, and himself went off into the desert to live in asceticism for the sake of Christ. His one desire on earth was to see his spiritual father, Barlaam, once more. God, in his mercy, fulfilled his desire, and, one day, Joasaph stood before Barlaam’s cave, and called: ‘Bless me, Father!’ The elder Barlaam lived in asceticism in the desert for seventy years, living a hundred years in all. St Joasaph handed over his kingdom at the age of twenty-five and went into the desert, where he lived a further thirty-five years. They both had great love for the Lord Jesus, brought many to the true Faith and entered into the eternal joy of their Lord.” (Prologue)

They are commemorated on August 26 on the Greek calendar.