3 John 1.1-14 (Epistle)

1Od starješine Gaju ljubaznome, kojega ja ljubim vaistinu. 2Ljubazni! molim se Bogu da ti u svemu bude dobro, i da budeš zdrav, kao što je tvojoj duši dobro. 3Obradovah se vrlo kad doðoše braæa i posvjedoèiše tvoju istinu, kako ti u istini živiš. 4Nemam veæe radosti od ove da èujem moja djeca u istini da hode. 5Ljubazni! vjerno radiš što èiniš braæi i gostima, 6Koji posvjedoèiše tvoju ljubav pred crkvom; i dobro æeš uèiniti ako ih spremiš kao što treba pred Bogom. 7Jer imena njegova radi iziðoše ne primivši ništa od neznabožaca. 8Mi smo dakle dužni primati takove, da budemo pomagaèi istini. 9Ja pisah crkvi; ali Diotref, koji želi da bude najstariji meðu njima, ne prima nas. 10Zato, ako doðem, spomenuæu njegova djela koja tvori ružeæi nas zlijem rijeèima; i nije mu to dosta, nego sam braæe ne prima, i zabranjuje onima koji bi htjeli da ih primaju, i izgoni ih iz crkve. 11Ljubazni! ne ugledaj se na zlo, nego na dobro: koji dobro èini od Boga je, a koji zlo èini ne vidje Boga. 12Dimitriju svjedoèiše svi, i sama istina; a i mi svjedoèimo; i znate da je svjedoèanstvo naše istinito. 13Mnogo imadoh da pišem; ali neæu mastilom i perom da ti pišem; 14Nego se nadam da æu te skoro vidjeti, i iz usta govoriti.

Luke 19.29-40, 22.7-39 (Gospel)

29I kad se približi Vitfazi i Vitaniji kod gore koja se zvaše Maslinska, posla dva od uèenika svojijeh 30Govoreæi: idite u to selo prema vama, i kad uðete u njega naæi æete magare privezano na koje nikakav èovjek nikad nije usjedao; odriješite ga i dovedite. 31I ako vas ko upita: zašto driješite? ovako mu kažite: ono Gospodu treba. 32A kad otidoše poslani, naðoše kao što im kaza. 33A kad oni driješahu magare rekoše im gospodari od njega: zašto driješite magare? 34A oni rekoše: ono Gospodu treba. 35I dovedoše ga k Isusu, i baciše haljine svoje na magare, i posadiše Isusa. 36A kad iðaše, prostirahu haljine svoje po putu. 37A kad se približi veæ da siðe s gore Maslinske, poèe sve mnoštvo uèenika u radosti hvaliti Boga iza glasa za sva èudesa što su vidjeli, 38Govoreæi: blagosloven car koji ide u ime Gospodnje! mir na nebu i slava na visini! 39I neki fariseji iz naroda rekoše mu: uèitelju! zaprijeti uèenicima svojijem. 40I odgovarajuæi reèe im: kažem vam: ako oni uæute, kamenje æe povikati. 7A doðe dan prijesnijeh hljebova u koji trebaše klati pashu; 8I posla Petra i Jovana rekavši: idite ugotovite nam pashu da jedemo. 9A oni mu rekoše: gdje hoæeš da ugotovimo? 10A on im reèe: eto kad uðete u grad, srešæe vas èovjek koji nosi vodu u krèagu; idite za njim u kuæu u koju on uðe, 11I kažite domaæinu: uèitelj veli: gdje je gostionica gdje æu jesti pashu s uèenicima svojijem? 12I on æe vam pokazati veliku sobu prostrtu; ondje ugotovite. 13A oni otidoše i naðoše kao što im kaza; i ugotoviše pashu. 14I kad doðe èas, sjede za trpezu, i dvanaest apostola s njim. 15I reèe im: vrlo sam željeo da ovu pashu jedem s vama prije nego postradam; 16Jer vam kažem da je otsele neæu jesti dok se ne svrši u carstvu Božijemu. 17I uzevši èašu dade hvalu, i reèe: uzmite je i razdijelite meðu sobom; 18Jer vam kažem da neæu piti od roda vinogradskoga dok ne doðe carstvo Božije. 19I uzevši hljeb dade hvalu, i prelomivši ga dade im govoreæi: ovo je tijelo moje koje se daje za vas; ovo èinite za moj spomen. 20A tako i èašu po veèeri, govoreæi: ova je èaša novi zavjet mojom krvi koja se za vas proljeva. 21Ali evo ruka izdajnika mojega sa mnom je na trpezi. 22I sin èovjeèij dakle ide kao što je ureðeno; ali teško èovjeku onome koji ga izdaje! 23I oni staše tražiti meðu sobom koji bi dakle od njih bio koji æe to uèiniti. 24A posta i prepiranje meðu njima koji bi se držao meðu njima da je najveæi. 25A on im reèe: carevi narodni vladaju narodom, a koji njim upravljaju, zovu se dobrotvori. 26Ali vi nemojte tako; nego koji je najveæi meðu vama neka bude kao najmanji, i koji je starješina neka bude kao sluga. 27Jer koji je veæi, koji sjedi za trpezom ili koji služi? Nije li onaj koji sjedi za trpezom? A ja sam meðu vama kao sluga. 28A vi ste oni koji ste se održali sa mnom u mojijem napastima. 29I ja ostavljam vama carstvo kao što je otac moj meni ostavio: 30Da jedete i pijete za trpezom mojom u carstvu mojemu, i da sjedite na prijestolima i sudite nad dvanaest koljena Izrailjevijeh. 31Reèe pak Gospod: Simone! Simone! evo vas ište sotona da bi vas èinio kao pšenicu. 32A ja se molih za tebe da tvoja vjera ne prestane; i ti kadgod obrativši se utvrdi braæu svoju. 33A on mu reèe: Gospode! s tobom gotov sam i u tamnicu i na smrt iæi. 34A on reèe: kažem ti, Petre! danas neæe zapjevati pijetao dok se triput ne odreèeš da me poznaješ. 35I reèe im: kad vas poslah bez kese i bez torbe i bez obuæe, eda vam što nedostade? A oni rekoše: ništa. 36A on im reèe: ali sad koji ima kesu neka je uzme, tako i torbu; a koji nema neka proda haljinu svoju i kupi nož. 37Jer vam kažem da još i ovo treba na meni da se izvrši što stoji u pismu: i meðu zloèince metnuše ga. Jer što je pisano za mene, svršuje se. 38A oni rekoše: Gospode! evo ovdje dva noža. A on im reèe: dosta je. 39I izišavši otide po obièaju na goru Maslinsku; a za njim otidoše uèenici njegovi.

Holy and Righteous Symeon the God-receiver and the Prophetess Anna

“There is an ancient tradition that the holy, righteous elder Symeon, who came from Egypt, was one of the Seventy learned Jews chosen in the days of the Pharoah Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-246 BC) for the task of rendering the Hebrew Bible into Greek, and that to Symeon was assigned the translation of the book of the Prophet Isaiah. When he reached the famous passage where the Prophet foretells the virgin birth of Christ, saying: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (Is. 7:14), he was so perplexed that he took a penknife to erase the word ‘virgin’ in order to replace it by ‘young woman’. At that moment, an angel of God appeared and prevented him from altering the sacred text, explaining that what seemed impossible to him was, in fact, a prophecy of the coming into this world of the Son of God. To confirm the truth of this, he promised that Symeon would not see death until he had seen and touched the Messiah born of the Virgin. When, after many long years, Christ was brought into the Temple at Jerusalem by the All-Holy Mother of God, the Holy Spirit revealed to the Elder Symeon that the time of fulfilment of the promise had come. He hurried to the Temple and, taking the Child in his arms, he was able to say wholeheartedly to God: Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant depart in peace according to Thy word, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation (Luke 2:29). For indeed, the Elder Symeon was the living image of the ancient Israel of the Old Testament, which having awaited the coming of the Messiah was ready to fade away and give place to the light and truth of the Gospel. The relics of the holy and righteous Symeon were venerated at Constantinople in the church of St James, built at the time of the Emperor Justin.

“The prophetess Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, was eighty-four years old. Since the early death of her husband, she had spent her whole life in the Temple in hope of the coming of the Saviour. She is the pattern for holy widows, virgins and monks, who have freed themselves of worldly cares in order to dwell always in the Temple, offering their fasts, hymns and prayers in eager expectation of the Lord’s coming. And when, like Anna and Symeon, they have seen the indwelling Christ with the eyes of their heart and touched Him through their spiritual senses, they proclaim with joy and assurance to all mankind that the Saviour is still coming into the world: A light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of His people Israel (Luke 2:32).” (Synaxarion)

The Synaxarion notes that the tradition that St Symeon was one of the Seventy is by no means universal among the Fathers. According to some, Symeon was the son of Hillel and father of Gamaliel, St Paul’s teacher. According to others, he was a righteous and devout Jew aged 112, neither a priest nor a Pharisee.

Our Father among the Saints, Nikolai (Nicholas), Archbishop and Enlightener of Japan (1912)

Born in Russia in 1836, he became one of the great Orthodox missionaries of modern times. As a boy, he resolved to become a missionary in the far East. With the counsel and blessing of Bishop Innocent of Siberia and Alaska, he went to Japan in 1861 and joined a small Russian mission there. Though the mission’s official purpose was to minister to the Russian consular community, the consul-general who invited Hieromonk Nikolai hoped to bring the light of the Orthodox Faith to the Japanese people as well. Realizing that he could only hope to convert the Japanese people if they understood one another well, Fr Nikolai immersed himself in the study of Japanese thought, culture and language. Over the course of his life he translated most of the Bible and most of the Orthodox services into Japanese, and became a fluent speaker of the language. He encountered much resistance: Preaching of Christian doctrine was officially banned in Japan, and a Samurai once approached him with the words “Foreigners must die!” It was this same Samurai who later became his first Japanese priest. In 1880 he was elevated to Bishop of Japan. During the Russo-Japanese war he remained in Japan and labored successfully to overcome nationalist strife that might have harmed or destroyed the Church in Japan. He encouraged all his Japanese faithful to pray for the Japanese armed forces, though he explained that as a Russian he could not do so, and excluded himself from all public services for the duration of the war. He sent Russian-speaking Japanese priests to the prison camps to minister to Russian prisoners of war. At the time of his repose in 1912, after forty-eight years in Japan, St Nikolai left a Cathedral, eight churches, more than 400 chapels and meeting houses, 34 priests, 8 deacons, 115 lay catechists, and 34,110 Orthodox faithful. The Church of Japan is now an autonomous Orthodox Church under the care of the Moscow Patriarchate.