Scripture Readings
Isaiah 2.2-3 (Vespers)
2Biæe u potonja vremena gora doma Gospodnjega utvrðena uvrh gora i uzvišena iznad humova, i stjecaæe se k njoj svi narodi.
3I iæi æe mnogi narodi govoreæi: hodite da idemo na goru Gospodnju, u dom Boga Jakovljeva, i uèiæe nas svojim putovima, i hodiæemo stazama njegovijem; jer æe iz Siona izaæi zakon, i rijeè Gospodnja iz Jerusalima.
Composite 21 - Isaiah 62.10-63.3, 7-9 (Vespers)
1Thus says the Lord: Walk, go through my gates; prepare my way and make a way for my people, and cast the stones out of the way; raise up a standard for the nations. For see, the Lord has made it heard to the ends of the earth: Say to the daughter of Sion: See, your Saviour has come, and his reward is with him, and his work before his face. And he will call it a holy people, redeemed by the Lord; while you will be called a city sought after, and not forsaken. Who is this who comes from Edom, the scarlet of his garments from Bosor, thus beautiful in his apparel? He cries out with much strength. I reason of justice and judgement of salvation. Why are your garments red, and your clothing as from a trodden winepress? I am full of the trodden grape; I have trampled the winepress quite alone, and no man from the nations was with me. I have remembered the mercy of the Lord, I will recall the Lord’s virtues, the Lord’s praise for all the things with which He rewards us. The Lord is a good judge for the house of Israel; he deals with us according to his mercy and according to the multitude of his justice. And he said: Are you not my people? Children will surely not be rebellious; and he became for them salvation out of their every distress. It was not an emissary, not an Angel, but the Lord himself saved them because he loved them and spared them. He redeemed them and took them up and exalted them all the days of the age.
Composite 22 - Zechariah 14.1, 4, 8-11 (Vespers)
1Thus says the Lord: See, the day of the Lord is coming, and on that day his feet will stand upon the mount of Olives, opposite Jerusalem, where the sun rises. And on that day living water will come out from Jerusalem, half towards the first sea and half towards the last sea; in spring and in summer it shall be so; and the Lord will be for a King over all the earth; in that day there shall be one Lord, and his name, compassing all the earth and the wilderness from Gabaa as far as Remmon, south of Jerusalem; and he shall be exalted and remain on his place from the gate of Benjamin as far as the place of the first gate, as far as the gate of Gomor and as far as the tower of Anameël and as far as the tower of the corners and as far as the king’s winepresses; they shall dwell in it and there shall be no more curse and Jerusalem shall dwell confidently.
Mark 16.9-20
(Matins Gospel)
9A Isus ustavši rano u prvi dan nedjelje javi se najprije Mariji Magdalini, iz koje je istjerao sedam ðavola.
10A ona otide te javi onima što su bili s njim, koji plakahu i ridahu.
11I oni èuvši da je živ i da ga je ona vidjela ne vjerovaše.
12A potom javi se na putu dvojici od njih u drugome oblièju, kad su išli u selo.
13I oni otišavši javiše ostalima; i ni njima ne vjerovaše.
14A najposlije javi se kad njih jedanaestorica bijahu za trpezom, i prekori ih za njihovo nevjerje i tvrðu srca što ne vjerovaše onima koji su ga vidjeli da je ustao;
15I reèe im: idite po svemu svijetu i propovjedite jevanðelje svakome stvorenju.
16Koji uzvjeruje i pokrsti se, spašæe se; a ko ne vjeruje osudiæe se.
17A znaci onima koji vjeruju biæe ovi: imenom mojijem izgoniæe ðavole; govoriæe novijem jezicima;
18Uzimaæe zmije u ruke, ako i smrtno što popiju, neæe im nauditi; na bolesnike metaæe ruke, i ozdravljaæe.
19A Gospod pošto im izgovori uze se na nebo, i sjede Bogu s desne strane.
20A oni iziðoše i propovijedaše svuda, i Gospod ih potpomaga, i rijeè potvrðiva znacima koji su se potom pokazivali. Amin.
Acts 1.1-12 (Epistle)
1Prvu sam ti knjigu napisao o svemu, o Teofile, što poèe Isus i tvoriti i uèiti
2Do dana kad se uznese, pošto Duhom svetijem zapovjedi apostolima koje izabra,
3Pred kojima i po stradanju svome pokaza sebe živa mnogijem i istinitijem znacima, i javlja im se èetrdeset dana, i govori o carstvu Božijemu.
4I sabravši ih zapovjedi im da ne idu iz Jerusalima, nego da èekaju obeæanje oèino, koje èuste, reèe, od mene;
5Jer je Jovan krstio vodom, a vi æete se krstiti Duhom svetijem ne dugo posle ovijeh dana.
6A oni onda koji zajedno bijahu, pitahu ga govoreæi: Gospode! hoæeš li sad naèiniti carstvo Izrailjevo?
7A on im reèe: nije vaše znati vremena i ljeta koje otac zadrža u svojoj vlasti;
8Nego æete primiti silu kad siðe Duh sveti na vas; i biæete mi svjedoci i u Jerusalimu i po svoj Judeji i Samariji i tja do kraja zemlje.
9I ovo rekavši vidješe oni gdje se podiže i odnese ga oblak iz oèiju njihovijeh.
10I kad gledahu za njim gdje ide na nebo, gle, dva èovjeka stadoše pred njima u bijelijem haljinama,
11Koji i rekoše: ljudi Galilejci! šta stojite i gledate na nebo? Ovaj Isus koji se od vas uze na nebo tako æe doæi kao što vidjeste da ide na nebo.
12Tada se vratiše u Jerusalim s gore koja se zove Maslinska, koja je blizu Jerusalima jedan subotni dan hoda.
Luke 24.36-53 (Gospel)
36A kad oni ovo govorahu, i sam Isus stade meðu njima, i reèe im: mir vam.
37A oni se uplašiše, i poplašeni buduæi, mišljahu da vide duha.
38I reèe im: šta se plašite? I zašto takove misli ulaze u srca vaša?
39Vidite ruke moje i noge moje: ja sam glavom; opipajte me i vidite; jer duh tijela i kostiju nema kao što vidite da ja imam.
40I ovo rekavši pokaza im ruke i noge.
41A dok oni još ne vjerovahu od radosti i èuðahu se reèe im: imate li ovdje što za jelo?
42A oni mu daše komad ribe peèene, i meda u satu.
43I uzevši izjede pred njima.
44I reèe im: ovo su rijeèi koje sam vam govorio još dok sam bio s vama, da sve treba da se svrši što je za mene napisano u zakonu Mojsijevu i u prorocima i u psalmima.
45Tada im otvori um da razumiju pismo.
46I reèe im: tako je pisano, i tako je trebalo da Hristos postrada i da ustane iz mrtvijeh treæi dan;
47I da se propovijeda pokajanje u ime njegovo i oproštenje grijeha po svijem narodima poèevši od Jerusalima.
48A vi ste svjedoci ovome.
49I gle, ja æu poslati obeæanje oca svojega na vas; a vi sjedite u gradu Jerusalimskome dok se ne obuèete u silu s visine.
50I izvede ih napolje do Vitanije, i podignuvši ruke svoje blagoslovi ih.
51I kad ih blagosiljaše, otstupi od njih, i uznošaše se na nebo.
52I oni mu se pokloniše, i vratiše se u Jerusalim s velikom radošæu.
53I bijahu jednako u crkvi hvaleæi i blagosiljajuæi Boga. Amin.
Commemorations
Our Holy Father Theodore the Sanctified (368), disciple of St Pachomius the Great
He was born and raised an unbeliever, but came to faith in Christ as a young man. Not long after being baptised, he heard of Pachomius (May 15) and fled to join him in the desert. Saint Pachomius accepted Theodore as a monk and, because of his humility and obedience, came to esteem him most highly of all the brethren. Theodore’s sister joined him in the desert, taking up life in a women’s monastery and becoming its abbess. When their mother came to bring them back from the desert, she in turn was persuaded to stay in the women’s monastery as a monastic. Finally, Theodore’s brother Paphnutius also came to the monastery and was tonsured.
Once the Bishop of Panopolis asked Saint Pachomius to build a monastery for him; Pachomius entrusted Theodore to carry out the work. Some of the brethren grumbled at the authority given to Theodore, for he was younger than many of them; but St Pachomius said: ‘Theodore and I fulfill the same service for God; and he also has the authority to give orders as father.’ When St Pachomius reposed, he left St Theodore to be spiritual father to the monasteries that he had founded, a task which he faithfully fulfilled until his death at a great age.
St Nicholas Mystikos, Patriarch of Constantinople (930)
He was known for the purity and austerity of his life. When the Emperor Leo VI married a fourth time (his three previous wives having died), the Patriarch barred him from the church. The Emperor sent the Patriarch into exile and had his marriage approved by delegates of the Roman Pope. When the Emperor died, Nicholas was restored to the Patriarchal throne, and called a Council in 925, at which fourth marriages were forbidded in the Church under any circumstance. He died peacefully.
The title Mystikos was given to some high-ranking members of the Imperial council (perhaps because they met in secret). The Patriarch was a courtier with this title before he forsook the world and was tonsured a monk.
Note: From early times, the Eastern and Latin churches have differed in their views on marriage. The Latin church held, and still holds, that marriage is dissolved by death, so in theory any number of re-marriages is permissible (a view that the Emperor Leo sought to exploit). The Eastern Church has traditionally been uncomfortable with any second marriage — some of the Fathers even call the re-marriage of widows or widowers “bigamy”. Still the Eastern church tolerates re-marriage (even after divorce) as a concession for the salvation of those who cannot sustain the single state.
Blessed Musa the Maiden (5th c.)
“St Gregory the Dialogist relates of her that she was a mere nine years old when the most holy Mother of God appeared to her on two occasions, surrounded by virgins bathed in light. When Musa expressed her desire to be included in the resplendent company of the Queen of heaven, the Mother of God told her that she would come for her and take her within a month, outlining for her how she should spend those thirty days. On the twenty-fifth day, Musa took to her bed and on the thirtieth day the most pure and holy Mother again appeared to her, calling to her in a quiet voice, to which Musa replied: ‘Here I am waiting, my Lady! I’m ready!’, and she breathed forth her spirit. She passed from this life to life eternal in the fifth century.” (Prologue)
St Brendan the Voyager, abbot of Clonfert (ca. 577)
He was born around 484 at Tralee in Kerry, Ireland. He founded several monasteries in Ireland, of which the chief was Cluain Ferta Brenaind (anglicized as Clonfert) in County Galway. His missionary and pastoral travels took him on voyages to the Scottish islands, and possibly to Wales; thus in his own time he was known as ‘Brendan the Voyager.’ He reposed in peace.
Early in the ninth century, a Latin saga, Navigatio Brendani (The Voyage of Brendan) made him the hero of a Christian adventure that included voyages to unknown lands far to the west of Ireland. The account provides strong evidence that Irish voyagers visited America as early as the 8th century, before the Vikings; but whether St Brendan himself made these voyages is disputed.