James 1.19-27 (Epistle)

19Ştiţi bine lucrul acesta, preaiubiţii mei fraţi! Orice om să fie grabnic la ascultare, încet la vorbire, zăbavnic la mânie; 20căci mânia omului nu lucrează neprihănirea lui Dumnezeu. 21De aceea lepădaţi orice necurăţie şi orice revărsare de răutate, şi primiţi cu blândeţe Cuvântul sădit în voi, care vă poate mântui sufletele. 22Fiţi împlinitori ai Cuvântului, nu numai ascultători, înşelându-vă singuri. 23Căci, dacă ascultă cineva Cuvântul, şi nu-l împlineşte cu fapta, seamănă cu un om care îşi priveşte faţa firească într-o oglindă, 24şi, după ce s-a privit, pleacă şi uită îndată cum era. 25Dar cine îşi va adânci privirile în legea desăvârşită, care este legea slobozeniei, şi va stărui în ea, nu ca un ascultător uituc, ci ca un împlinitor cu fapta, va fi fericit în lucrarea lui. 26Dacă crede cineva că este religios, şi nu-şi înfrânează limba, ci îşi înşală inima, religia unui astfel de om este zadarnică.

27Religia curată şi neîntinată, înaintea lui Dumnezeu, Tatăl nostru, este să cercetăm pe orfani şi pe văduve în necazurile lor şi să ne păzim neîntinaţi de lume.

Mark 10.17-27 (Gospel)

17Tocmai când era gata să pornească la drum, a alergat la El un om, care a îngenuncheat înaintea Lui şi L-a întrebat: „Bunule Învăţător, ce să fac ca să moştenesc viaţa veşnică?” 18„Pentru ce Mă numeşti bun?”, i-a zis Isus. „Nimeni nu este bun decât Unul singur: Dumnezeu. 19Cunoşti poruncile: „Să nu preacurveşti; să nu ucizi; să nu furi; să nu faci o mărturisire mincinoasă; să nu înşeli; să cinsteşti pe tatăl tău şi pe mama ta.” 20El I-a răspuns: „Învăţătorule, toate aceste lucruri le-am păzit cu grijă din tinereţea mea.” 21Isus S-a uitat ţintă la el, l-a iubit şi i-a zis: „Îţi lipseşte un lucru; du-te de vinde tot ce ai, dă la săraci, şi vei avea o comoară în cer. Apoi vino, ia-ţi crucea şi urmează-Mă.” 22Mâhnit de aceste cuvinte, omul acesta a plecat întristat de tot; căci avea multe avuţii. 23Isus S-a uitat împrejurul Lui şi a zis ucenicilor Săi: „Cât de anevoie vor intra în Împărăţia lui Dumnezeu cei ce au avuţii!” 24Ucenicii au rămas uimiţi de cuvintele Lui. Isus a luat din nou cuvântul şi le-a zis: „Fiilor, cât de anevoie este pentru cei ce se încred în bogăţii să intre în Împărăţia lui Dumnezeu! 25Mai lesne este să treacă o cămilă prin urechea unui ac, decât să intre un om bogat în Împărăţia lui Dumnezeu!” 26Ucenicii au rămas şi mai uimiţi şi au zis unii către alţii: „Cine poate atunci să fie mântuit?” 27Isus S-a uitat ţintă la ei şi le-a zis: „Lucrul acesta este cu neputinţă la oameni, dar nu la Dumnezeu; pentru că toate lucrurile sunt cu putinţă la Dumnezeu.”

Our Holy Father Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa (395)

“Saint Gregory, the younger brother of Basil the Great, illustrious in speech and a zealot for the Orthodox faith, was born in 331. His brother Basil was encouraged by their elder sister Macrina to prefer the service of God to a secular career (see July 19); Saint Gregory was moved in a similar way by his godly mother Emily, who, when Gregory was still a young man, implored him to attend a service in honour of the holy Forty Martyrs at her retreat at Annesi on the River Iris. Saint Gregory came at his mother’s bidding, but being wearied with the journey, and feeling little zeal, he fell asleep during the service. The Forty Martyrs then appeared to him in a dream, threatening him and reproaching him for his slothfulness. After this he repented and became very diligent in the service of God. He became bishop in 372, and because of his Orthodoxy he was exiled in 374 by Valens, who was on one mind with the Arians. After Valens’ death in 378 he was recalled to his throne by the Emperor Gratian. He attended the Local Council of Antioch, which sent him to visit the churches of Arabia and Palestine, which had been defiled and ravaged by Arianism. He attended the Second Ecumenical Council, which was assembled in Constantinople in 381. Having lived some sixty years and left behind many remarkable writings, he reposed about the year 395. The acts of the Seventh Ecumenical Council call him “Father of Fathers.” (Great Horologion)

Our Holy Father Theophan the Recluse (1894)

This modern-day Church Father was born in Chernavsk in central Russia. The son of a priest, he entered seminary at a young age, then completed the four-year course in theology at the Academy of Kiev. Though he distinguished himself as a student, his heart turned increasingly toward the monastic life, and he was tonsured a monk and ordained a priest upon completion of his studies. During his time at the Academy he often visited the Lavra of the Caves, and there became a spiritual child of Father Parthenius (March 25).

His desire for monastic life was not fulfilled immediately, for the Church felt need of his intellectual gifts. He served as a professor at the Theological Academy in St Petersburg, then worked for seven years in the Russian Mission to the Near East, mostly in Palestine. During this time he gained a perfect mastery of Greek and studied the works of the Church Fathers in the original languages. Returning to Russia, he was soon consecrated a bishop; but after seven years of episcopal service, he at last achieved his heart’s desire, resigning as bishop and retiring to a small monastery at Yvschen, where he spent the rest of his days.

After taking full part in the liturgical and communal life of the monastery for several years, he took up the life of a recluse in 1872. He lived in two small rooms, subsisting almost entirely on bread and tea, visited only by his confessor and the abbot of the monastery. He celebrated the Divine Liturgy every day in his cell. All of his time not taken up by inner prayer was devoted to translating the works of the Fathers into Russian and, increasingly, to writings of his own. Most importantly, he prepared a Russian-language edition of the Philokalia which had a deep impact upon Russian spiritual life.

Though he received no visitors, St Theophan entered into correspondence with many earnest Christians who sought his counsel, and so in time became the spiritual father of many believers throughout Russia. He reposed in peace in 1894.

In addition to the Philokalia, St Theophan produced (among other works): a Spiritual Psalter of selections from St Ephraim the Syrian; The Path to Salvation, an exposition of Orthodox Spirituality written in clear, plain language for those living in the world; collections of his letters to spiritual children; and Unseen Warfare, a treatise on prayer and the ascetical life. This last has an unusual history. In its original form it was written by Lorenzo Scupoli, an Italian Roman Catholic priest. St Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain, recognizing the book’s merit, produced a Greek edition in which he corrected various deviations from Orthodoxy in the original. St Theophan in turn revised the Greek edition extensively, removing some material and adding passages of his own; so that the Italian, Greek and Russian versions are in fact three substantially different books. Many of St Theophan’s works (including Unseen Warfare) are available in good English translations. They are almost unique in presenting the undiluted hesychastic spirituality of the Orthodox Church in plain, straightforward language accessible to most people.