2 Timothy 3.1-9 (Epistle)

1Să ştii că în zilele din urmă vor fi vremuri grele. 2Căci oamenii vor fi iubitori de sine, iubitori de bani, lăudăroşi, trufaşi, hulitori, neascultători de părinţi, nemulţumitori, fără evlavie, 3fără dragoste firească, neînduplecaţi, clevetitori, neînfrânaţi, neîmblânziţi, neiubitori de bine, 4vânzători, obraznici, îngâmfaţi; iubitori mai mult de plăceri decât iubitori de Dumnezeu; 5având doar o formă de evlavie, dar tăgăduindu-i puterea. Depărtează-te de oamenii aceştia. 6Sunt printre ei unii care se vâră prin case şi momesc pe femeile uşuratice, îngreuiate de păcate şi frământate de felurite pofte, 7care învaţă întotdeauna, şi nu pot ajunge niciodată la deplina cunoştinţă a adevărului. 8După cum Iane şi Iambre s-au împotrivit lui Moise, tot aşa şi oamenii aceştia se împotrivesc adevărului, ca unii care sunt stricaţi la minte şi osândiţi în ce priveşte credinţa. 9Dar nu vor mai înainta; căci nebunia lor va fi arătată tuturor, cum a fost arătată şi a celor doi oameni.

Luke 20.46-21.4 (Gospel)

46„Păziţi-vă de cărturari, cărora le place să se plimbe în haine lungi şi să le facă lumea plecăciuni prin pieţe; ei umblă după scaunele dintâi în sinagogi şi după locurile dintâi la ospeţe;

47şi casele văduvelor le mănâncă, în timp ce, de ochii lumii, fac rugăciuni lungi. De aceea vor lua o mai mare osândă.” 1Isus Şi-a ridicat ochii şi a văzut pe nişte bogaţi care îşi aruncau darurile în vistierie. 2A văzut şi pe o văduvă săracă, aruncând acolo doi bănuţi. 3Şi a zis: „Adevărat vă spun că această văduvă săracă a aruncat mai mult decât toţi ceilalţi; 4căci toţi aceştia au aruncat la daruri din prisosul lor; dar ea a aruncat, din sărăcia ei, tot ce avea ca să trăiască.”

Our Holy Father Auxentius (470)

He was of Persian origin, born in Syria. As a young man, he distinguished himself as a member of the court of the Emperor Theodosius the Younger. Seeing the vanity of the world’s honors and pleasures, he became a monk in Constantinople; but when the people began to praise his holiness, he fled to Mount Oxeia near Chalcedon, which later became known as Auxentius’ Mountain. There he built a small hut and lived in reclusion; but in time he was discovered by some shepherds, and the faithful began to come in increasing numbers for his teaching, blessing, prayers and healing. He performed countless miracles, but such was his humility that he always sought to avoid their being attributed to him. When he was asked to pray for someone’s healing, he would try to refuse, saying “I too am a sinful man.” But, when he was prevailed on by the pleas of the people, he would call on all of them to pray together for the healing; or he would remind them that God would give according to their faith; or he would say to the sick person “The Lord Jesus Christ heals you.” When the Emperor Marcian summoned the Fourth Ecumenical Council to Chalcedon, he ordered that the hermit join the assembly of holy Fathers. Auxentius refused, saying that doctrinal teaching was the province of bishops, not monks. The Emperor’s envoys took him by force. He was greeted with honor by the Emperor, and affirmed all the decisions of the Council.

He never returned to Mount Oxeia, but settled in an even wilder and more remote spot on Mount Skopa, which later came to be called Mount St Auxentius. His disciples built him a tiny wooden hut with one small window through which he could converse with his steady stream of visitors. He reposed in peace in 470. A great crowd gathered for his funeral, and his holy relics were taken into the care of a women’s monastery whose spiritual Father he had been.

Mount St Auxentius soon became a center of hesychastic life, with seven monasteries.

Saint Cyril, Equal to the Apostles and Enlightener of the Slavs (869)

See the joint commemoration of Sts Cyril and Methodius on May 11.

Venerable Maron the Hermit of Syria (ca. 423)

This ascetic and wonderworker was a friend of St John Chrysostom. Read his life here.