1 John 3.10-20 (Epistle)

10Po tom se poznaju djeca Božija i djeca ðavolja: koji god ne tvori pravde, nije od Boga, i koji ne ljubi brata svojega. 11Jer je ovo zapovijest, koju èuste ispoèetka, da ljubimo jedan drugoga. 12Ne kao što Kain bješe od neèastivoga i zakla brata svojega. I za koji ga uzrok zakla? Jer djela njegova bijahu zla, a brata mu pravedna. 13Ne èudite se, braæo moja, ako svijet mrzi na vas. 14Mi znamo da prijeðosmo iz smrti u život, jer ljubimo braæu; jer ko ne ljubi brata ostaje u smrti. 15Svaki koji mrzi na brata svojega krvnik je ljudski; i znate da nijedan krvnik ljudski nema u sebi vjeènoga života. 16Po tom poznasmo ljubav što on za nas dušu svoju položi: mi smo dužni polagati duše za braæu. 17Koji dakle ima bogatstvo ovoga svijeta, i vidi brata svojega u nevolji i zatvori srce svoje od njega, kako ljubav Božija stoji u njemu? 18Djeèice moja! da se ne ljubimo rijeèju ni jezikom, nego djelom i istinom. 19I po tom doznajemo da smo od istine, i pred njim tješimo srca svoja. 20Jer ako nam zazire srce naše, Bog je veæi od srca našega i zna sve.

Mark 14.10-42 (Gospel)

10I Juda Iskariotski, jedan od dvanaestorice, otide ka glavarima sveštenièkijem da im ga izda. 11A oni èuvši obradovaše se, i obrekoše mu novce dati: i tražaše zgodu da ga izda. 12I u prvi dan prijesnijeh hljebova, kad klahu pashu, rekoše mu uèenici njegovi: gdje æeš da idemo da ti zgotovimo pashu da jedeš? 13I posla dvojicu od uèenika svojijeh i reèe im: idite u grad, i srešæe vas èovjek koji nosi vodu u krèagu; idite za njim, 14I gdje uðe kažite gospodaru od one kuæe: uèitelj veli: gdje je gostionica gdje æu jesti pashu s uèenicima svojijem? 15I on æe vam pokazati veliku sobu prostrtu gotovu: ondje nam zgotovite. 16I iziðoše uèenici njegovi, i doðoše u grad, i naðoše kao što im kaza, i ugotoviše pashu. 17I kad bi uveèe, doðe sa dvanaestoricom. 18I kad sjeðahu za trpezom i jeðahu reèe Isus: zaista vam kažem: jedan od vas, koji jede sa mnom, izdaæe me. 19A oni se zabrinuše, i stadoše govoriti jedan za drugijem: da ne ja? i drugi: da ne ja? 20A on odgovarajuæi reèe im: jedan od dvanaestorice koji umoèi sa mnom u zdjelu. 21Sin èovjeèij dakle ide kao što je pisano za njega; ali teško onome èovjeku koji izda sina èovjeèijega; bolje bi mu bilo da se nije rodio onaj èovjek. 22I kad jeðahu uze Isus hljeb i blagoslovivši prelomi ga, i dade im, i reèe: uzmite, jedite; ovo je tijelo moje. 23I uze èašu i davši hvalu dade im; i piše iz nje svi. 24I reèe im: ovo je krv moja novoga zavjeta koja æe se proliti za mnoge. 25Zaista vam kažem: više neæu piti od roda vinogradskoga do onoga dana kad æu ga piti novoga u carstvu Božijemu. 26I otpojavši hvalu iziðoše na goru Maslinsku. 27I reèe im Isus: svi æete se vi sablazniti o mene ovu noæ; jer je pisano: udariæu pastira i ovce æe se razbjeæi. 28Ali po vaskrseniju svojemu ja idem pred vama u Galileju. 29A Petar mu reèe: ako se i svi sablazne, ali ja neæu. 30I reèe mu Isus: zaista ti kažem: noæas dok dvaput pijetao ne zapjeva tri puta æeš me se odreæi. 31A on još veæma govoraše: da bih znao s tobom i umrijeti neæu te se odreæi. Tako i svi govorahu. 32I doðoše u selo koje se zove Getsimanija, i reèe uèenicima svojijem: sjedite ovdje dok ja idem da se pomolim Bogu. 33I uze sa sobom Petra i Jakova i Jovana, i zabrinu se i poèe tužiti. 34I reèe im: žalosna je duša moja do smrti; poèekajte ovdje, i stražite. 35I otišavši malo pade na zemlju, i moljaše se da bi ga mimoišao èas ako je moguæe. 36I govoraše: Ava oèe! sve je moguæe tebi; pronesi èašu ovu mimo mene; ali opet ne kako ja hoæu nego kako ti. 37I doðe i naðe ih gdje spavaju, i reèe Petru: Simone! Zar spavaš? Ne može li jednoga èasa postražiti? 38Stražite i molite se Bogu da ne padnete u napast; jer je duh srèan ali je tijelo slabo. 39I opet otišavši pomoli se Bogu one iste rijeèi govoreæi. 40I vrativši se naðe ih opet gdje spavaju; jer im bijahu oèi otežale; i ne znadijahu šta bi mu odgovorili. 41I doðe treæi put, i reèe im: jednako spavate i poèivate; dosta je; doðe èas; evo se predaje sin èovjeèij u ruke grješnicima. 42Ustanite da idemo; evo izdajnik se moj približi.

Our Holy Father Ephraim the Syrian (373)

He is often called “The Harp of the Holy Spirit” for the sublimity of his writings. He was born in Nisibis of Mesopotamia about the year 306. He embraced the Christian faith while young and for this was driven from his home by his father, a pagan priest. He came under the care of St James of Nisibis (January 13), who was one of the bishops at the Council of Nicaea. He took up a strictly ascetical life, renouncing all possessions and denying himself all comforts. It is said that his eyes constantly flowed with tears: tears of compunction for his own sins, or tears of joy as he contemplated the wonders of God’s grace.

He was baptized at the age of twenty and withdrew to the desert, then settled in Edessa. Once, as he was walking to the city, a harlot approached him. Pretending to accept her proposition, he took her to the city’s public square and suggested that they lie together there, in plain view. Horrified, the woman rebuked him, saying ‘Have you no shame?’ The Saint answered, ‘Poor woman, you are afraid of being watched by other people; but why are you not afraid of being seen by God, who sees everything and, on the last day, will judge all our actions and most secret thoughts?’ The woman repented and, with the Saint’s help, embarked upon a new life.

The Saint returned to the desert for a time, then to Nisibis to aid the Persian Christians, persecuted because they were seen as allies of the Romans. When Nisibis finally fell under Persian rule, St Ephraim and his spiritual father St James both settled in Edessa. At that time Edessa was troubled by the gnostic heretic Bardaisan, one of whose devices was to compose attractive hymns, which became popular and enticed many away from the truth. Taking up Bardaisan’s own weapons, St Ephraim composed a number of hymns, beautiful in word and melody, which poetically set forth the true Faith.

Hearing of the sanctity of St Basil the Great, St Ephraim traveled to Cappadocia to meet him. It is recorded that at their first meeting, St Basil greeted him: ‘Art thou the Ephraim who hath beautifully bended his neck and taken upon himself the yoke of the saving Word?’; to which St Ephraim replied, ‘I am Ephraim who hinder myself from traveling the way to heaven.’ After discoursing with the Syrian Saint for some time, St Basil cried out ‘O, if only I had thy sins!’ Basil then ordained St Ephraim to the diaconate. He would have ordained him a priest but St Ephraim, feeling unworthy, refused to be ordained, then and for the rest of his life.

The Saint returned to a life of solitude; but when a famine broke out in Edessa in 372, he came forth to rebuke the wealthy for failing to share their wealth with the poor. Some replied that they knew no one whom they could trust with their goods, so St Ephraim persuaded them to give their alms to him for distribution to the poor. A true deacon, he cared for the sick with his own hands. The following year, he reposed in peace.

St Ephraim was the first to use hymnody and song to express the teaching of the Church, and so might be called the Church’s first hymnographer. His works were probably an inspiration to St Romanos the Melodist, also a Syrian. He is said to have written more than three million lines of verse in Syriac, in addition to many homilies and treatises. Only a fraction of his work has been translated.

A beautiful selection of St Ephraim’s writings can be found in A Spiritual Psalter, a collection edited by St Theophan the Recluse, available in English.

Our Holy Father Isaac the Syrian, bishop of Nineveh (7th c.)

He was born early in the seventh century in the East. His birthplace is unclear: the Great Horologion says that he was born in eastern Arabia (present-day Qatar); the Synaxarion that he was born in Kurdistan. While still young he entered the Lavra of St Matthew with his brother, but after a few years of monastic life, having advanced far in obedience and the practice of prayer, he withdrew into the desert. His reputation for holiness reached the city of Nineveh, where the people prevailed on the hierarchy to consecrate him as their bishop in 670. Reluctantly but obediently, St Isaac took up the duties of shepherd of his flock in Nineveh. After a few months, he was called on to settle a dispute between two of the faithful, but they rejected his counsel and said ‘Leave your Gospel out of this matter!’ The holy bishop said, ‘If they are not prepared to obey Our Lord’s commandments, what need have they of me?’, and retired to live as a hermit in the mountains of Kurdistan. Later, he settled in the monastery of Raban Shapur, where he wrote his Ascetical Homilies and other jewel-like works on the spiritual life. There he reposed in peace.

The fame of St Isaac’ Homilies spread, and about one hundred years after their writing they were translated from Syriac into Greek by two monks in Palestine. In this form they spread throughout the monastic world, becoming a treasured guide to those who seek the fullness of the life of prayer. The Synaxarion says, “The book of Saint Isaac is, with the Ladder of Saint John Climacus, the indispensible guide for every Orthdox soul to journey safely toward God. Hence, not many years ago, a holy spiritual father, Jerome of Egina (d. 1966), recommended begging, if necessary, in order to be able to purchase a copy.” We are blessed to have a good translation of the Ascetical Homilies available in English.

Saint Isaac is a very unusual case of an Orthodox Saint who lived outside the canonical boundaries of the Church: he was a bishop of the “Nestorian” communion, now sometimes called the “Oriental Orthodox.” The purity of his own Orthodox faith is so clearly evident in his writings that the Church has nonetheless recognized his sanctity.