No Fast
8Jer vam neæemo, braæo, zatajiti nevolje naše koja nam se dogodi u Aziji kad nam je bilo preteško i preko sile tako da se nijesmo nadali ni življeti; 9Nego sami u sebi osudismo da nam valja pomrijeti da se veæ ne uzdasmo u sebe nego u Boga koji podiže mrtve. 10Koji nas je od tolike smrti izbavio, i izbavlja; i u njega se uzdamo da æe nas i još izbaviti, 11S pomoæu i vaše molitve za nas; da mnogi ljudi mnogu hvalu daju Bogu za dare koji su nama dati vas radi.
13Neæu vam pak zatajiti, braæo, za one koji su umrli, da ne žalite kao i ostali koji nemaju nada. 14Jer ako vjerujemo da Isus umrije i vaskrse, tako æe Bog i one koji su umrli u Isusu dovesti s njim. 15Jer vam ovo kazujemo rijeèju Gospodnjom da mi koji živimo i ostanemo za dolazak Gospodnji, neæemo preteæi onijeh koji su pomrli. 16Jer æe sam Gospod sa zapoviješæu, s glasom aranðelovijem, i s trubom Božijom siæi s neba; i mrtvi u Hristu vaskrsnuæe najprije; 17A potom mi živi koji smo ostali, zajedno s njima biæemo uzeti u oblake na susret Gospodu na nebo, i tako æemo svagda s Gospodom biti.
1A kad svrši sve rijeèi svoje pred narodom, doðe u Kapernaum. 2U kapetana pak jednoga bijaše sluga bolestan na umoru koji mu bješe mio. 3A kad èu za Isusa, posla k njemu starješine Judejske moleæi ga da bi došao da mu iscijeli slugu. 4A oni došavši k Isusu moljahu ga lijepo govoreæi: dostojan je da mu to uèiniš; 5Jer ljubi narod naš, i naèini nam zbornicu. 6A Isus iðaše s njima. I kad veæ bijahu blizu kuæe, posla kapetan k njemu prijatelje govoreæi mu: Gospode! ne trudi se, jer nijesam dostojan da uðeš pod moju strehu; 7Zato i ne držah sebe dostojna da ti doðem, nego samo reci rijeè, i ozdraviæe sluga moj. 8Jer i ja sam èovjek pod vlasti, i imam pod sobom vojnike, pa reèem jednome: idi, i ide; i drugome: doði, i doðe; i sluzi svojemu: uèini to, i uèini. 9A kad to èu Isus, zaèudi mu se, i okrenuvši se narodu koji iðaše za njim reèe: kažem vam: ni u Izrailju tolike vjere ne naðoh. 10I vrativši se poslani naðoše bolesnoga slugu zdrava.
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.
He was born in Palestine to pagan parents who sent him to Alexandria to be educated. There he learned of the Christian faith and was baptized. Hearing of the fame of St Anthony the Great, he met the great “Father of monks,” and determined to devote himself to the ascetical life. For the rest of his life he traveled from place to place, engaging in the most austere life of solitude, prayer and fasting. But wherever he went, his holiness shone like a beacon, and he became known to the people, who flocked to him for counsel, nurture and healing. He would then flee to another place and begin again. His travels took him to Egypt, Libya, Sicily, and finally Cyprus, where he reposed at a great age. As he lay on his deathbed, he cried out ‘Go forth, O my soul. What do you fear? Go forth! Why are you disquieted within me? You have served Jesus Christ for almost seventy years and do you fear death?’ Speaking these words, he died.
The Synaxarion gives an excruciatingly thorough description of his ascetical labors, which may be instructive:
“From his sixteenth to his twentieth year, Hilarion’s shelter was a simple cabin made of bulrushes and marsh grasses. Afterwards, he built a little, low cell that looked more like a tomb than a house. He lay on the hard ground, and washed and cut his hair only once a year, on Easter day. He never washed the coat of skin that Saint Anthony gave him, and wore the same tunic until it fell to pieces. He knew all of Holy Scripture by heart and recited it aloud, standing with fear, as though God were visibly present. From his twenty-first to his twenty-seventh year, a few lentils soaked in cold water was, for three years, his daily food, and for the next three he took nothing but bread, sprinkled with salt. From his twenty-seventh to his thirtieth year, he lived on wild plants; from the age of thirty to thirty-five, on six ounces of barley bread and a few vegetables, cooked without oil. Then, falling ill and with failing eyesight, he added a little oil to his food but did not increase his allowance of bread, even though he saw his body grow weaker, and believed his death was near. At an age when others tend to decrease their austerities, he kept to this diet with redoubled fervor, like a young novice, until his death. He never ate until after sunset and relinquished his fast neither for the greatest feasts nor the gravest illnesses.”
“Saint John was from Monembasia in the Peloponnese. At that time the region was under the Turkish yoke and subject to frequent raids from Albanians who captured Christians to sell them as slaves. In the course of one such attack, John’s father was killed and the young boy and his mother were taken as captives to Larissa, where they were sold to a Turk from Thessalonica. This man, who had no son, wanted to adopt John and make him a Muslim. But nothing was able to persuade the fifteen-year-old youth: attractive promises, threatened beatings, the magic arts the Turk’s wife used to make him lose his chastity, all were in vain. John remained as immovable as a rock and preferred to starve for days on end than break the fasts of the Church. The Turk became enraged at his failure to prevail over his young slave, and ran a sword into his stomach. For two days John suffered in agony before he departed to the abode of the blessed.” (Synaxarion)