Isaiah 41.4-14 (6th Hour)

4Ko je uradio i uèinio to? i zove naraštaje od iskona? Ja, Gospod, prvi i pošljednji, ja isti. 5Vidješe ostrva i uplašiše se, krajevi zemaljski zadrktaše, približiše se i doðoše. 6Jedan drugom pomagaše, i bratu svojemu govoraše: budi hrabar. 7Drvodjelja hrabraše zlatara; koji kleplje hrabraše onoga koji kuje na nakovnju, govoreæi: dobro je za spajanje. I pritvrðivaše klincima da se ne pomièe. 8Ali ti, Izrailju, slugo moj; Jakove, kojega izabrah, sjeme Avrama prijatelja mojega! 9Ti, kojega uzeh s krajeva zemaljskih, i izmeðu izbranijeh njezinijeh dozvah te, i rekoh ti: ti si moj sluga, ja te izabrah, i ne odbacih tebe; 10Ne boj se, jer sam ja s tobom; ne plaši se, jer sam ja Bog tvoj; ukrijepiæu te i pomoæi æu ti, i poduprijeæu te desnicom pravde svoje. 11Gle, postidjeæe se i posramiæe svi koji se ljute na tebe; biæe kao ništa i izginuæe protivnici tvoji. 12Potražiæeš suparnike svoje, ali ih neæeš naæi, biæe kao ništa, i koji vojuju na te, nestaæe ih. 13Jer ja Gospod Bog tvoj držim te za desnicu, i kažem ti: ne boj se, ja æu ti pomagati. 14Ne boj se, crviæu Jakovljev, narodiæu Izrailjev, ja æu ti pomagati, govori Gospod i izbavitelj tvoj, svetac Izrailjev.

Genesis 17.1-9 (Vespers)

1A kad Avramu bi devedeset i devet godina, javi mu se Gospod i reèe mu: ja sam Bog svemoguæi, po mojoj volji živi i budi pošten. 2I uèiniæu zavjet izmeðu sebe i tebe, i vrlo æu te umnožiti. 3A Avram pade nièice. I Gospod mu još govori i reèe: 4Od mene evo zavjet moj s tobom da æeš biti otac mnogim narodima. 5Zato se više neæeš zvati Avram, nego æe ti ime biti Avraam, jer sam te uèinio ocem mnogih naroda; 6Daæu ti porodicu vrlo veliku, i naèiniæu od tebe narode mnoge, i carevi æe izaæi od tebe. 7A postavljam zavjet svoj izmeðu sebe i tebe i sjemena tvojega nakon tebe od koljena do koljena, da je zavjet vjeèan, da sam Bog tebi i sjemenu tvojemu nakon tebe; 8I daæu tebi i sjemenu tvojemu nakon tebe zemlju u kojoj si došljak, svu zemlju Hanansku u državu vjeènu, i biæu im Bog. 9I reèe Bog Avramu: ti pak drži zavjet moj, ti i sjeme tvoje nakon tebe od koljena do koljena.

Proverbs 15.20-16.9 (LXX) (Vespers)

20Mudar je sin radost ocu, a èovjek bezuman prezire mater svoju. 21Bezumlje je radost bezumniku, a razuman èovjek hodi pravo. 22Namjere se rasipaju kad nema savjeta, a tvrdo stoje gdje je mnogo savjetnika. 23Raduje se èovjek odgovorom usta svojih, i rijeè u vrijeme kako je dobra! 24Put k životu ide gore razumnome da se saèuva od pakla ozdo. 25Gospod raskopava kuæu ponositima, a meðu udovici utvrðuje. 26Mrske su Gospodu misli zle, a besjede èistijeh mile su. 27Lakomac zatire svoju kuæu, a ko mrzi na poklone živ æe biti. 28Srce pravednikovo premišlja šta æe govoriti, a usta bezbožnièka rigaju zlo. 29Daleko je Gospod od bezbožnijeh, a molitvu pravednijeh èuje. 30Vid oèinji veseli srce, dobar glas goji kosti. 31Uho koje sluša karanje životno nastavaæe meðu mudrima. 32Ko odbacuje nastavu, ne mari za dušu svoju; a ko sluša karanje, biva razuman. 33Strah je Gospodnji nastava k mudrosti, i prije slave ide smjernost.

1Èovjek sprema srce, ali je od Gospoda što æe jezik govoriti. 2Èovjeku se svi putovi njegovi èine èisti, ali Gospod ispituje duhove. 3Ostavi na Gospoda djela svoja, i biæe tvrde namjere tvoje. 4Gospod je stvorio sve sam za se, i bezbožnika za zli dan. 5Mrzak je Gospodu ko je god ponosita srca, i neæe ostati bez kara ako æe i druge uzeti u pomoæ. 6Milošæu i istinom oèišæa se bezakonje, i strahom Gospodnjim uklanja se èovjek oda zla. 7Kad su èiji putovi mili Gospodu, miri s njim i neprijatelje njegove. 8Bolje je malo s pravdom nego mnogo dohodaka s nepravdom. 9Srce èovjeèije izmišlja sebi put, ali Gospod upravlja korake njegove.

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)