Lenten Fast — Wine and Oil are Allowed
9Ali od vas, ljubazni, nadamo se boljemu i što se drži spasenija, ako i govorimo tako. 10Jer Bog nije nepravedan da zaboravi djelo vaše i trud ljubavi koju pokazaste u ime njegovo, posluživši svetima i služeæi. 11Ali želimo da svaki od vas pokaže to isto staranje da se nad održi tvrdo do samoga kraja; 12Da ne budete ljenivi, nego da se ugledate na one koji vjerom i trpljenjem dobijaju obeæanja.
47Prvi je èovjek od zemlje, zemljan; drugi je èovjek Gospod s neba. 48Kakav je zemljani taki su i zemljani; i kakav je nebeski taki su i nebeski. 49I kako nosimo oblièje zemljanoga tako æemo nositi i oblièje nebeskoga. 50A ovo govorim, braæo, da tijelo i krv ne mogu naslijediti carstva Božijega, niti raspadljivost neraspadljivosti našljeðuje. 51Evo vam kazujem tajnu: jer svi neæemo pomrijeti, a svi æemo se pretvoriti, 52Ujedanput, u trenuæu oka u pošljednjoj trubi; jer æe zatrubiti i mrtvi æe ustati neraspadljivi, i mi æemo se pretvoriti. 53Jer ovo raspadljivo treba da se obuèe u neraspadljivost, i ovo smrtno da se obuèe u besmrtnost. 54A kad se ovo raspadljivo obuèe u neraspadljivost i ovo se smrtno obuèe u besmrtnost, onda æe se zbiti ona rijeè što je napisana: pobjeda proždrije smrt. 55Gdje ti je, smrti, žalac? Gdje ti je, pakle, pobjeda? 56A žalac je smrti grijeh, a sila je grijeha zakon. 57A Bogu hvala koji nam dade pobjedu kroz Gospoda našega Isusa Hrista.
31I opet iziðe Isus iz krajeva Tirskijeh i Sidonskijeh i doðe na more Galilejsko u krajeve Desetogradske. 32I dovedoše k njemu gluha i mutava, i moljahu ga da metne na nj ruku. 33I uzevši ga iz naroda nasamo metnu prste svoje u uši njegove, i pljunuvši dohvati se jezika njegova; 34I pogledavši na nebo uzdahnu, i reèe mu: Efata, to jest: otvori se. 35I odmah mu se otvoriše uši, i razdriješi se sveza jezika njegova, i govoraše lijepo. 36I zaprijeti im da nikome ne kazuju; ali što im on zabranjivaše oni još veæma razglašivahu. 37I vrlo se divljahu govoreæi: sve dobro èini; i gluhe èini da èuju i nijeme da govore.
24Zaista, zaista vam kažem: ko moju rijeè sluša i vjeruje onome koji je mene poslao, ima život vjeèni, i ne dolazi na sud, nego je prešao iz smrti u život. 25Zaista, zaista vam kažem: ide èas, i veæ je nastao, kad æe mrtvi èuti glas sina Božijega, i èuvši oživljeti. 26Jer kako što otac ima život u sebi, tako dade i sinu da ima život u sebi; 27I dade mu vlast da i sud èini, jer je sin èovjeèij. 28Ne divite se ovome, jer ide èas u koji æe svi koji su u grobovima èuti glas sina Božijega, 29I iziæi æe koji su èinili dobro u vaskrsenije života, a koji su èinili zlo u vaskrsenije suda. 30Ja ne mogu ništa èiniti sam od sebe; kako èujem onako sudim, i sud je moj pravedan; jer ne tražim volje svoje nego volju oca koji me je poslao.
These African Christians suffered during the persecution of the Church by the emperor Decius, during which a great many Christians denied the faith rather than suffer. These faithful few boldly upheld the Faith and, after many torments, were condemned to death by beheading. The went to their execution singing psalms and hymns of thanksgiving, and received the crown of martyrdom in 250.
In the early centuries of the Church, North Africa, especially the region of Carthage, was one of the centers of the Christian Faith, comparable to Asia Minor.
“In the wilderness of David-Garejeli in Georgia there were twelve monasteries, in which monks had lived the ascetic life for centuries. In 1615, Shah Abbas I invaded Georgia, laid it waste and slew innumerable Christians. One day, while out hunting at dawn on Easter Day intself, he saw the light of many candles shining in the hills. This was the monks of all twelve monasteries in procession all round the Church of the Resurrection, walking with candles in their hands. When the Shah discovered that it was monks, he asked in disbelief: ‘Isn’t the whole of Georgia put to the sword by now?’, and ordered his generals to go and slaughter the monks at once. An angel of God appeared to Abbot Arsenius, and revealed their imminent death to him, and Arsenius informed the brethren. They then all received Communion in the Holy Mysteries and prepared for death. Then the attackers arrived, hacked the abbot to pieces when he came out ahead of the others, and then killed all the rest. They all suffered with honour and were crowned with unfading wreaths in 1615. Thus ended the history of these famous monasteries, which had been like a flame of spiritual enlightenment in Georgia for more than 1,000 years. There remain just two today: St David and St John the Baptist. The King of Georgia, Archil, gathered the remains of all the martyrs and buried them. Their relics are to this day full of myrrh for the healing of those in sickness.” (Prologue)
He was born on the Peloponnese, and became Archbishop of Smyrna in 1785. He served at a time when revolutionary feeling and activity was increasing among the Greek people, and witnessed the cruel retribution that the Ottoman Turks visited on any evidence of rebellion among their subject people.
Once in Smyrna, seeing that an action he had taken was causing discord in his dioceses, he came down from the hierarchical throne during a service, prostrated himself before the faithful and asked their forgiveness.
He was elected Patriarch of Constantinople in 1797. Under the Turkokratia, the Patriarch was not only the head of the Greek churches but the secular ruler of the Greek people, bound by oath to respect the authority of the Sultan. This, combined with Gregory’s personal experience of the treatment of Greek rebels, made him a staunch opponent of revolutionary activity among his people. Still, when revolutionaries on the Peloponnese declared Greek independence from Turkey on March 25, 1821, Turkish retribution was harsh: On Pascha, April 10, after serving the Paschal Liturgy, the aged Patriarch was arrested by the Turkish authorities. He was tortured in an effort to have him reveal the names of those heading the revolution, then was offered his freedom if he would convert to Islam. Gregory answered, ‘You ask in vain: the Patriarch of Christians dies a Christian.’ He (along with other clergy and hierarchs) was hanged as a traitor on the gate of the patriarchal compound. An eyewitness, a British clergyman visiting Constantinople, wrote: ‘His body, attenuated by abstinence and emaciated by age, had not sufficient weight to cause immediate death. He continued for a long time in pain which no friendly hand dared abridge, and the darkness of night came on before his final convulsions were over.’ His body was left hanging for three days, then sold by the Turkish authorities to a Jewish mob, who mutilated the body, then weighted it about the neck with a stone and threw it into the sea. Despite this, the body was found floating at sea by a Greek merchant ship captain. When the body was identified as that of the martyred Patriarch, it was secretly taken to Odessa, where Orthodox church leaders took it under their care. Tsar Alexander I ordered a state funeral for the holy hierarch, which was celebrated on June 17 1821 in Odessa.
In 1871 the relics were returned to Greece by Tsar Alexander III. They were incorrupt, though fifty years had passed since his death. Saint Gregory was officially glorified in 1921. His relics may be venerated at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Athens.