Mark 16.1-8 (2nd Matins Gospel)

1I pošto proðe subota, Marija Magdalina i Marija Jakovljeva i Solomija kupiše mirisa da doðu i da pomažu Isusa. 2I vrlo rano u prvi dan nedjelje doðoše na grob oko sunèanoga roðaja. 3I govorahu meðu sobom: ko æe nam odvaliti kamen od vrata grobnijeh? 4I pogledavši vidješe da kamen bješe odvaljen: jer bješe vrlo veliki. 5I ušavši u grob vidješe mladiæa obuèena u bijelu haljinu gdje sjedi s desne strane; i uplašiše se. 6A on im reèe: ne plašite se, Isusa tražite Nazareæanina raspetoga; usta, nije ovdje, evo mjesto gdje ga metnuše. 7Nego idite kažite uèenicima njegovijem i Petru da pred vama otide u Galileju: tamo æete ga vidjeti, kao što vam reèe. 8I izišavši pobjegoše od groba; jer ih uhvati drhat i strah; i nikom ništa ne kazaše, jer se bojahu.

1 Corinthians 8.8-9.2 (Epistle)

8Ali jelo nas ne postavlja pred Bogom: jer niti æemo biti veæi ako jedemo, ni manji ako ne jedemo. 9Ali se èuvajte da kako ova sloboda vaša ne postane spoticanje slabima. 10Jer ako tebe, koji imaš razum, vidi ko u idolskoj crkvi gdje sjediš za trpezom, neæe li njegova savjest, slaba buduæi, osloboditi se da jede idolske žrtve? 11I s tvoga razuma poginuæe slabi brat, za kojega Hristos umrije. 12Tako kad se griješite o braæu, i bijete njihovu slabu savjest, o Hrista se griješite. 13Zato ako jelo sablažnjava brata mojega, neæu jesti mesa dovijeka, da ne sablaznim brata svojega.

1Nijesam li ja apostol? Nijesam li sam svoj? Ne vidjeh li ja Isusa Hrista, Gospoda našega? Nijeste li vi djelo moje u Gospodu? 2Ako drugima i nijesam apostol, ali vama jesam, jer ste vi peèat mojega apostolstva u Gospodu.

Matthew 25.31-46 (Gospel)

31A kad doðe sin èovjeèij u slavi svojoj i svi sveti anðeli s njime, onda æe sjesti na prijestolu slave svoje. 32I sabraæe se pred njim svi narodi, i razluèiæe ih izmeðu sebe kao pastir što razluèuje ovce od jaraca. 33I postaviæe ovce s desne strane sebi, a jarce s lijeve. 34Tada æe reæi car onima što mu stoje s desne strane: hodite blagosloveni oca mojega; primite carstvo koje vam je pripravljeno od postanja svijeta. 35Jer ogladnjeh, i daste mi da jedem; ožednjeh, i napojiste me; gost bijah, i primiste me; 36Go bijah, i odjenuste me; bolestan bijah, i obiðoste me; u tamnici bijah, i doðoste k meni. 37Tada æe mu odgovoriti pravednici govoreæi: Gospode! kad te vidjesmo gladna, i nahranismo? ili žedna, i napojismo? 38Kad li te vidjesmo gosta, i primismo? ili gola, i odjenusmo? 39Kad li te vidjesmo bolesna ili u tamnici, i doðosmo k tebi? 40I odgovarajuæi car reæi æe im: zaista vam kažem: kad uèiniste jednome od ove moje najmanje braæe, meni uèiniste. 41Tada æe reæi i onima što mu stoje s lijeve strane: idite od mene prokleti u oganj vjeèni pripravljeni ðavolu i anðelima njegovijem. 42Jer ogladnjeh, i ne dadoste mi da jedem; ožednjeh, i ne napojiste me; 43Gost bijah, i ne primiste me; go bijah, i ne odjenuste me; bolestan i u tamnici bijah, i ne obiðoste me. 44Tada æe mu odgovoriti i oni govoreæi: Gospode! kad te vidjesmo gladna ili žedna, ili gosta ili gola, ili bolesna ili u tamnici, i ne poslužismo te? 45Tada æe im odgovoriti govoreæi: zaista vam kažem: kad ne uèiniste jednome od ove moje male braæe, ni meni ne uèiniste. 46I ovi æe otiæi u muku vjeènu, a pravednici u život vjeèni.

St Leo, bishop of Catania in Sicily (ca. 780)

He lived at the time of the first persecutions of the holy icons. He was born in Ravenna to a noble family, and became bishop of his native city. Soon his reputation as a true shepherd of Christ’s flock spread, and he was elected Bishop of Catania in Sicily. As is so often true even today, the city, though nominally Christian, was plagued by superstition and paganism. The holy bishop set about to turn the people away from error: by his prayers he caused a pagan temple to collapse and built a church on its site, dedicated to the Forty Maryrs of Sebaste. At that time the entire island was under the oppressive rule of a magus named Heliodorus, who used all his magical skills to oppress the people and advance himself. Though he had been taken captive by Imperial order, and condemned to death, he was always able to escape his captors by his occult skills. Saint Leo, who sought the conversion of everyone, did his best to turn the magus to Christ, but to no effect. One day Heliodorus entered the church during the Divine Liturgy, mocking the Mysteries of Christ. The Saint came out of the sanctuary and, casting his omophorion over the mocker, instantly deprived him of his demonic powers. The Prefect of Sicily ordered the magus to be burnt alive. Bishop Leo went to the stake with him, but emerged unmarked without even the smell of fire upon him, while Heliodorus was burnt to ashes.

Saint Leo’s fierceness in defense of the Faith was matched by his love and compassion for the poor and defenseless, for whom he poured himself out unceasingly with prayers, alms and visitation. By his prayers he restored sight to the blind and healed the paralyzed. After his repose, his holy relics, which exuded a fragrant myrrh, were venerated in a church that he had founded in honor of Saint Lucia.

St Bessarion the Great, wonder-worker of Egypt (466)

“An Egyptian by birth, Abba Bessarion was initiated into the angelic life by Saint Anthony the Great. He later became a disciple of Saint Macarius, the founder of Scetis (19 Jan.), and then set out to lead the life of a wanderer, borne hither and thither by Providence like a bird by the wind. All his wealth lay in the Gospel, which he always had in his hand. Living in the open air, he patiently endured all weathers, untroubled by care for a dwelling or for clothing. Fortified by the strength of the faith, he thus remained untouched by all the passions of the flesh.

“On coming to a monastery where the brethren led the common life, he would sit weeping at the gate. A brother once offered him hospitality and asked why he was distressed. ‘I cannot live under a roof, until I have regained the wealth of my house,’ he replied, meaning the heavenly inheritance lost since Adam. ‘I am afflicted, in danger of death every day, and without rest because of my huge misfortunes, which oblige me ever to travel on in order to finish my course.’

“He wandered for forty years without ever lying down to sleep, and he spent all of forty days and forty nights standing wide awake in a thorn bush. One winter’s day, he was walking through a village when he came upon a dead man. Without hesitation, he took off his own coat and covered the body. A little further on, he gave his tunic to a poor man who was shivering in the cold. An army officer, who happened to be passing, saw the naked ascetic and wanted to know who had stripped him of his clothing. ‘He did!’ replied Bessarion, holding up the Gospel Book. On another occasion, he met with a poor man and, having nothing to give him in alms, he hurried to the market in order to sell his Gospel Book. On his disciple’s asking him where the Book was, he replied cheerfully, ‘I have sold it in obedience to the words which I never cease to hear: Go, sell what you possess and give to the poor‘ (Matt. 19:21).

“Through this evangelic way of life he became a chosen vessel of Grace, and God wrought many miracles through him. One day, for example, he made sea water sweet through the sign of the Cross, to quench his disciple’s thirst. When the latter wanted to keep some for the remainder of the journey, he prevented him, saying, ‘God is here, God is everywhere!’ At another time, having stood for two weeks in prayer with hands raised to heaven, he brought about rain enough to fill a thirsty brother’s coat. Then there was the time when he stopped the sun from setting until he reached the cell of an elder whom he wished to meet; and the time when he walked across the waters of a river. Through these and many other wonders wrought by the Saint, God showed, as He did with Moses, Joshua and Elias, that He grants His servants mastery even over natural phenomena. Through the power of Christ, he raised a paralytic, drove out demons and showed himself truly to be a ‘god’ upon the earth.

“When, having reached his goal, he was at the point of regaining that dwelling in heaven which he had sought throughout his wanderings, he said to those about him, ‘The monk ought, like the cherubim, to be all eye.’

“In answer to a brother who asked what a monk living in community ought to do, he replied: ‘Keep silence and do not measure yourself.’ Indeed, this is how even in the midst of people one can obtain the grace of the great anchorites.” (Synaxarion)

Thirty-four Holy Martyrs of the Monastery of Valaam (1578)

These thirty-four venerable fathers of the Monastery of the Transfiguration at Valaam on Lake Ladoga were massacred by a party of converts to Lutheranism who besieged the monastery and attempted to make the brethren renounce the Orthodox Faith.