Wisdom of Solomon 3.1-9 (Vespers, St Tikhon)

Wisdom of Solomon 5.15-6.3 (Vespers, St Tikhon)

Wisdom of Solomon 4.7-15 (Vespers, St Tikhon)

John 10.1-9 (Matins Gospel, St Tikhon)

1Adevărat, adevărat vă spun că cine nu intră pe uşă în staulul oilor, ci sare pe altă parte, este un hoţ şi un tâlhar. 2Dar cine intră pe uşă este păstorul oilor. 3Portarul îi deschide, şi oile aud glasul lui; el îşi cheamă oile pe nume, şi le scoate afară din staul. 4După ce şi-a scos toate oile, merge înaintea lor; şi oile merg după el, pentru că îi cunosc glasul. 5Nu merg deloc după un străin; ci fug de el, pentru că nu cunosc glasul străinilor.” 6Isus le-a spus această pildă, dar ei n-au înţeles despre ce le vorbea. 7Isus le-a mai zis: „Adevărat, adevărat vă spun că Eu sunt Uşa oilor. 8Toţi cei ce au venit înainte de Mine sunt hoţi şi tâlhari; dar oile n-au ascultat de ei. 9Eu sunt Uşa. Dacă intră cineva prin Mine, va fi mântuit; va intra şi va ieşi şi va găsi păşune.

Acts 3.19-26 (Epistle)

19Pocăiţi-vă, dar, şi întoarceţi-vă la Dumnezeu, pentru ca să vi se şteargă păcatele, ca să vină de la Domnul vremurile de înviorare 20şi să trimită pe Cel ce a fost rânduit mai dinainte pentru voi: pe Isus Hristos, 21pe care cerul trebuie să-L primească, până la vremurile aşezării din nou a tuturor lucrurilor; despre aceste vremuri a vorbit Dumnezeu prin gura tuturor sfinţilor Săi proroci din vechime. 22În adevăr, Moise a zis părinţilor noştri: „Domnul Dumnezeul vostru vă va ridica dintre fraţii voştri un Proroc ca mine; pe El să-L ascultaţi în tot ce vă va spune. 23Şi oricine nu va asculta de Prorocul acela va fi nimicit cu desăvârşire din mijlocul norodului.” 24De asemenea toţi prorocii, de la Samuel şi ceilalţi care au urmat după el şi au vorbit, au vestit zilele acestea. 25Voi sunteţi fiii prorocilor şi ai legământului pe care l-a făcut Dumnezeu cu părinţii noştri, când a zis lui Avraam: „Toate neamurile pământului vor fi binecuvântate în sămânţa ta.”

26Dumnezeu, după ce a ridicat pe Robul Său Isus, L-a trimis mai întâi vouă, ca să vă binecuvânteze, întorcând pe fiecare din voi de la fărădelegile sale.”

Hebrews 7.26-8.2 (Epistle, St Tikhon)

26Şi tocmai un astfel de Mare Preot ne trebuia: sfânt, nevinovat, fără pată, despărţit de păcătoşi şi înălţat mai presus de ceruri, 27care n-are nevoie, ca ceilalţi mari preoţi, să aducă jertfe în fiecare zi, întâi pentru păcatele sale, şi apoi pentru păcatele norodului, căci lucrul acesta l-a făcut o dată pentru totdeauna, când S-a adus jertfă pe Sine însuşi.

28În adevăr, Legea pune mari preoţi pe nişte oameni supuşi slăbiciunii; dar cuvântul jurământului, făcut după ce a fost dată Legea, pune pe Fiul, care este desăvârşit pentru veşnicie. 1Punctul cel mai însemnat al celor spuse este că avem un Mare Preot care S-a aşezat la dreapta scaunului de domnie al Măririi, în ceruri, 2ca slujitor al Locului Preasfânt şi al adevăratului Cort, care a fost ridicat nu de un om, ci de Domnul.

John 2.1-11 (Gospel)

1A treia zi s-a făcut o nuntă în Cana din Galileea. Mama lui Isus era acolo. 2Şi la nuntă a fost chemat şi Isus cu ucenicii Lui. 3Când s-a isprăvit vinul, mama lui Isus I-a zis: „Nu mai au vin.” 4Isus i-a răspuns: „Femeie, ce am a face Eu cu tine? Nu Mi-a venit încă ceasul.” 5Mama Lui a zis slugilor: „Să faceţi orice vă va zice.” 6Şi acolo erau şase vase de piatră, puse după obiceiul de curăţare al iudeilor; şi în fiecare vas încăpeau câte două sau trei vedre. 7Isus le-a zis: „Umpleţi vasele acestea cu apă.” Şi le-au umplut până sus. 8„Scoateţi acum”, le-a zis El, „şi aduceţi nunului.” Şi i-au adus: 9Nunul, după ce a gustat apa făcută vin – el nu ştia de unde vine vinul acesta (slugile însă, care scoseseră apa, ştiau) – a chemat pe mire 10şi i-a zis: „Orice om pune la masă întâi vinul cel bun; şi, după ce oamenii au băut bine, atunci pune pe cel mai puţin bun; dar tu ai ţinut vinul cel bun până acum.” 11Acest început al semnelor Lui l-a făcut Isus în Cana din Galileea. El Şi-a arătat slava Sa, şi ucenicii Lui au crezut în El.

John 10.9-16 (Gospel, St Tikhon)

9Eu sunt Uşa. Dacă intră cineva prin Mine, va fi mântuit; va intra şi va ieşi şi va găsi păşune. 10Hoţul nu vine decât să fure, să înjunghie şi să prăpădească. Eu am venit ca oile să aibă viaţă, şi s-o aibă din belşug. 11Eu sunt Păstorul cel bun. Păstorul cel bun Îşi dă viaţa pentru oi. 12Dar cel plătit, care nu este păstor şi ale cărui oi nu sunt ale lui, când vede lupul venind, lasă oile şi fuge; şi lupul le răpeşte şi le împrăştie. 13Cel plătit fuge, pentru că este plătit şi nu-i pasă de oi. 14Eu sunt Păstorul cel bun. Eu Îmi cunosc oile Mele, şi ele Mă cunosc pe Mine, 15aşa cum Mă cunoaşte pe Mine Tatăl şi cum cunosc Eu pe Tatăl; şi Eu Îmi dau viaţa pentru oile Mele. 16Mai am şi alte oi, care nu sunt din staulul acesta; şi pe acelea trebuie să le aduc. Ele vor asculta de glasul Meu, şi va fi o turmă şi un Păstor.

Holy Martyr Calliopius, with his mother Theoclea (304)

Calliopius was the only son of a senator from Pamphylia and his wife Theoclea, who had long prayed to God for a child. The devout Theoclea reared her son in purity of life and love for God from infancy. When persecution of Christians broke out under Maximian, Theoclea put Calliopius aboard a ship bound for Pompeiopolis to save him from the persecutors. But Calliopius, as soon as he disembarked, encountered a pagan festival, where he was arrested when he refused to make sacrifice to the idols. Brought before the governor Maximus, he freely confessed that he was a Christian. For this he was cruelly tortured and thrown into prison. His mother, hearing of his torments, sold her goods and hurried to comfort him and encourage him in his martyrdom.

Calliopius was sentenced to death by crucifixion, as it happened on Holy Thursday; but the holy Theoclea bribed the officials to postpone the execution by one day, so that her son might imitate the Lord’s Crucifixion on the day that He endured it; she also prevailed upon the torturers to crucify Calliopius upside-down (like St Peter) in humility toward the Lord. When her son’s lifeless body was taken down from the cross, Theoclea cast herself upon it and died.

St George the Confessor, bishop of Mitylene (ca. 820)

The righteous George was Metropolitan of Mitylene. In his old age, a persecution was unleashed against the Church by the iconoclast Emperor Leo V (the Armenian). To further his plans, the Emperor summoned a Council of bishops which he expected to support his iconoclasm. At the Council, George and some other faithful bishops refused to follow the Emperor’s wishes, and openly stood in defense of the icons. For his stance, George was publicly humiliated, then sent into exile at Cherson on the Black Sea. There, after many years of extreme privation, the holy bishop died. By his prayers many were healed, both during his life and after his repose.

St Nilus (Nil Sorsky), abbot of Sora (1508)

St Nilus established the monastic skete (a community of monks living separately like hermits, but sharing some common life) in Russia. He took one side of a religious controversy that troubled the Russian Church’s life for many years. St Nilus and his disciples claimed that prayer and ascetic struggle are the whole purpose of monastic life, and opposed monastic ownership of property, or involvement in works such as almshouses, hospitals, and orphanages. Joseph, abbot of Volokalamsk, took up the argument on the other side, insisting that the Church and its monks should be involved in good works (and have the means to do those works) as well as in prayer. The two groups became known as the “Possessors” (Joseph’s side) and the “Non-Possessors” (Nilus’ side). Each group had reason to be troubled by the other’s extremes: Monasteries owned huge amounts of land, kept serfs, and were subject to corruption by involvement in finance; at the same time, the Church formed most of the ‘welfare’ system of Russia, and the Non-possessors did not suggest how the poor were to be tended, or orphans cared for, without the monasteries’ charity. Many of the Non-possessors tended toward a non-Russian and almost un-Orthodox puritanism, condemning beautiful churches and icons as diversions from true spirituality.

The Possessors (not surprisingly) were favored by the Tsarist government, and eventually won out. The artificial division of the Church into mystical and practical ‘parties,’ and the victory of one of the parties, led to a period of stagnation in the Russian church that was only corrected two hundred years later, when a great renewal of religious life, characterized by such holy Fathers as St Paisios Velichkovsky and St Seraphim of Sarov, restored the fullness and balance of Orthodox life to the Russian church.

An indication of the fullness of Orthodoxy: the Church has glorified not only St Nilus but his opponent St Joseph of Volokalamsk, who is commemorated on Sept. 9.

Saint Savvas the New of Kalymnos (1948) (March 25 OC)

He was born in Thrace to a poor family. Early in life he desired to become a monk and, failing to get his parents’ consent, left secretly for Mt Athos. After several years there, he traveled to Palestine, where he entered the Monastery of St George the Chozebite. In 1903 he was ordained to the priesthood. From 1907–1916 he lived in severe asceticism as a hermit on the banks of the Jordan. After living in several monasteries in Greece, he served with St Nektarios of Aegina for the last year of the Saint’s life (he reposed in 1920). After six more years on Aegina, Fr Savvas moved to the island of Kalymnos, where he spent the remainder of his life. He lived in quietness and asceticism, acquiring a reputation throughout the island as a confessor and spiritual father. He slept only a few hours each night, and gave away any money that came to him the same day, since he believed that it was wrong for a monk to have money in his cell after nightfall.

Saint Savvas reposed on the Old Calendar feast of the Annunciation in 1948. Innumerable miracles and healings have been wrought through his intercession. A striking example occurred in 1957: A group of young islanders were talking about the Saint, and one of them, who doubted his sanctity, said ‘If this lamp breaks I’ll believe.’ At that moment the lamp shattered spontaneously.

The following account is from Mother Nectaria McLees’ Evlogeite! A pilgrim’s guide to Greece: ‘His last words of counsel to his nuns were, “…love… is the bond of perfection,” and to the abbess he said, “Love, love, love (Agapa, agapa, agapa).” Then he clapped his hands six times, saying “The Lord, the Lord, the Lord…”

‘In 1957 his relics were uncovered in the presence of Metropolitan Isidoros of Kalymnos, who described them as “the bones being perfectly joined, and the vestments intact.” When the sepulchre was opened a divine and otherworldly fragrance covered the area, even to the outskirts of town far below. In 1961, an iconographer of the Skete of Kapsokalyvia on Mount Athos painted an icon of St. Savvas at Abbess Philothei’s request. The icon arrived by ferry, and as it was being transferred from the post office to the customs house where the nuns would pick it up, the convent bell began ringing by itself and continued until the icon was brought to the monastery.’

St Justin (Popovic) of Chelije in Serbia (1979) (March 25 OC)

He was born on the Feast of the Annunciation 1894, in Vranje, South Serbia, to a family whose seven previous generations had been headed by priests (Popovich means ‘family or son of a priest’ in Serbian). He began reading the scriptures at a young age, and as an adult carried a New Testament with him, reading three chapters every day. He studied at the Seminary of St Sava in Belgrade while St Nikolai Velimirovic (March 18) was on the faculty. In 1914, Blagoje (as he was called before his tonsure) completed the nine-year seminary program. He desired to become a monk, but postponed entry into the monastic ranks due to the outbreak of war and the poor health of his parents. He spent the war caring for his parents and serving as a student nurse.

In 1915 he was tonsured a monk under the name Justin, after St Justin the Philosopher. Shortly thereafter he traveled to Petrograd to study at the seminary; there he acquired a deep, first-hand knowledge of the Russian ascetical tradition and a lifelong love of Russian spirituality, especially that of the common people. He then attended Oxford University from 1916 to 1919, writing a doctoral dissertation which was rejected. After a brief return to Belgrade, he entered the Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Athens. As in Russia, he used his time there not merely to study but to drink in the Orthodox spirituality of the Greek people. He was ordained to the diaconate while in Greece, then to the priesthood after returning to Belgrade in 1922. He wept ‘as a newborn babe’ throughout his ordination service. One of his first labors as a priest was to translate the Divine Liturgy into modern Serbian. During this period he came to know Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky (later first hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad) and St John Maximovich, both of whom were living in Serbia as exiles from the Russian Revolution.

Father Justin’s preaching, writing and spiritual counsel became known throughout his country. In 1931 he was sent to Czechoslovakia to help in reorganizing the Church there (then under the jurisdiction of the Serbian Church), which was greatly tried and weakened by Uniatism. Realizing the people’s crying need a clear exposition of the Faith in their own language, he began in 1932 his three-volume Dogmas of the Orthodox Church. The first volume was so well-received that Fr Justin was made Professor of Dogmatics at the Seminary of St Sava, where he remained, completing the Dogmas and several other books, until the end of World War II. The new atheistic Communist regime then banned him from the university system, and Fr Justin lived from that time on in various Serbian monasteries.

In 1948 he entered Chelije Monastery, where he remained until his repose in 1979. He became Archimandrite and spiritual head of the Monastery. It was during this period that he emerged as a great light of Orthodoxy: pious believers from all parts of Yugoslavia, from Greece, and from all over the world traveled to Chelije to hear the holy Justin’s preaching and seek his counsel.

Saint Justin reposed in peace in 1979 at the age of 85, on the Feast of the Annunciation — the date of his birth. Since his repose, many miracles have been witnessed at his grave: healings, flashes of unearthly light from his tomb, and conversions of unbelievers by his prayers. His many writings are increasingly recognized as a fount of pure Orthodox teaching in the midst of our dark time.

Note: St Justin is commemorated on the anniversary of his repose, so his commemoration only coincides with the Feast of the Annunciation on the Old Calendar.