Isaiah 29.13-23 (6th Hour)

13Zato reèe Gospod: što se ovaj narod približuje ustima svojima i usnama svojim poštuje me, a srce im daleko stoji od mene, i strah kojim me se boje zapovijest je ljudska kojoj su nauèeni, 14Zato æu evo još raditi èudesno s tijem narodom, èudesno i divno, i mudrost mudrijeh njegovijeh poginuæe i razuma razumnijeh nestaæe. 15Teško onima koji duboko sakrivaju od Gospoda namjeru, koji rade u mraku i govore: ko nas vidi? i ko nas zna? 16Naopake misli vaše nijesu li kao kao lonèarski? Govori li djelo za onoga koji ga je naèinio: nije me naèinio? i lonac govori li za onoga koji ga je naèinio: ne razumije? 17Neæe li se doskora i Livan pretvoriti u polje, i polje se uzimati za šumu? 18I u taj æe dan gluhi èuti rijeèi u knjizi, i iz tame i mraka vidjeæe oèi slijepijeh. 19I krotki æe se veoma radovati u Gospodu, i ništi izmeðu ljudi veseliæe se sa sveca Izrailjeva. 20Jer nasilnika neæe biti, i nestaæe potsmjevaèa, i istrijebiæe se svi koji gledaju da èine bezakonje, 21Koji okrivljuju èovjeka za rijeè, i meæu zamku onome koji kara na vratima, i obaraju pravednoga lažju. 22Zato Gospod, koji je otkupio Avrama, ovako govori za dom Jakovljev: neæe se više Jakov postidjeti, niti æe mu lice poblijedjeti. 23Jer kad vidi usred sebe djecu svoju, djelo ruku mojih, tada æe oni svetiti ime moje, svetiæe sveca Jakovljeva i bojaæe se Boga Izrailjeva.

Genesis 12.1-7 (Vespers)

1I reèe Gospod Avramu: idi iz zemlje svoje i od roda svojega i iz doma oca svojega u zemlju koju æu ti ja pokazati. 2I uèiniæu od tebe velik narod, i blagosloviæu te, i ime tvoje proslaviæu, i ti æeš biti blagoslov. 3Blagosloviæu one koji tebe uzblagosiljaju, i prokleæu one koji tebe usproklinju; i u tebi æe biti blagoslovena sva plemena na zemlji. 4Tada poðe Avram, kao što mu kaza Gospod, i s njim poðe Lot. A bješe Avramu sedamdeset i pet godina kad poðe iz Harana. 5I uze Avram Saru ženu svoju i Lota sina brata svojega sa svijem blagom koje bjehu stekli i s dušama koje bjehu dobili u Haranu; i poðoše u zemlju Hanansku, i doðoše u nju. 6I proðe Avram tu zemlju do mjesta Sihema i do ravnice Moreške; a bijahu tada Hananeji u toj zemlji. 7I javi se Gospod Avramu i reèe: tvojemu sjemenu daæu zemlju ovu. I Avram naèini ondje žrtvenik Gospodu, koji mu se javio.

Proverbs 14.15-26 (Vespers)

15Lud vjeruje svašta, a pametan pazi na svoje korake. 16Mudar se boji i uklanja se od zla, a bezuman navire i slobodan je. 17Nagao èovjek èini bezumlje, a pakostan je èovjek mrzak. 18Ludi našljeðuje bezumlje, a razboriti vjenèava se znanjem. 19Klanjaju se zli pred dobrima i bezbožni na vratima pravednoga. 20Ubogi je mrzak i prijatelju svom, a bogati imaju mnogo prijatelja. 21Ko prezire bližnjega svojega griješi; a ko je milostiv ubogima, blago njemu. 22Koji smišljaju zlo, ne lutaju li? a milost i vjera biæe onima koji smišljaju dobro. 23U svakom trudu ima dobitka, a govor usnama samo je siromaštvo. 24Mudrima je vijenac bogatstvo njihovo, a bezumlje bezumnijeh ostaje bezumlje. 25Istinit svjedok izbavlja duše, a lažan govori prijevaru. 26U strahu je Gospodnjem jako pouzdanje, i sinovima je utoèište.

Our righteous Fathers martyred at the Monastery of St Sabbas the Sanctified (633? 796?)

The holy Monastery of St Sabbas is still in existence today, by the providence of God, though several times in its history it has been plundered and left empty. At one time it was attacked by Arab raiders. The monks considered fleeing, but their abbot, Thomas, said, ‘We have fled from the world into this wilderness for the love of Christ; it would be shameful for us now to flee from the wilderness for fear of men. If we are killed here, we shall be killed through love for Christ, for whose sake we have come here to live.’ So the monks agreed with one mind to wait their attackers unarmed. The Arabs killed some with arrows, and shut some in the cave of St Sabbas, lighting a fire at the entrance to suffocate them with smoke. The whole company of monks were thus privileged to give their lives for Christ’s sake.

Accounts of the date differ substantially: the Great Horologion says that they died during the reign of the Emperor Heraclius, when St Modestus was Patriarch of Jerusalem (632-634); the Prologue that they died in 796 during the reign of Constantine and Irene, when Elias was Patriarch of Jerusalem.

St Photine the Samaritan Woman (66)

See her commemoration on February 26.

St Cuthbert the Wonderworker, Bishop of Lindisfarne (687)

‘Saint Cuthbert was born in Britain about the year 635, and became a monk in his youth at the monastery of Melrose by the River Tweed. After many years of struggle as a true priest of Christ, in the service both of his own brethren and of the neglected Christians of isolated country villages, he became a solitary on Farne Island in 676. After eight years as a hermit, he was constrained to leave his quiet to become Bishop of Lindisfarne, in which office he served for almost two years. He returned to his hermitage two months before he reposed in peace in 687.

‘Because of the miracles he wrought both during his life and at his tomb after death, he is called the “Wonderworker of Britain.” The whole English people honoured him, and kings were both benefactors to his shrine and suppliants of his prayers. Eleven years after his death, his holy relics were revealed to be incorrupt; when his body was translated from Lindisfarne to Durham Cathedral in August of 1104, his body was still found to be untouched by decay, giving off “an odour of the sweetest fragrancy,” and “from the flexibility of its joints representing a person asleep rather than dead.” Finally, when the most impious Henry VIII desecrated his shrine, opening it to despoil it of its valuables, his body was again found incorrupt, and was buried in 1542. It is believed that after this the holy relics of Saint Cuthbert were hidden to preserve them from further desecration.’ (Great Horologion)