Isaiah 45.11-17 (6th Hour)

11Ovako veli Gospod svetac Izrailjev i tvorac njegov: pitajte me što æe biti; za sinove moje i za djelo ruku mojih nareðujte mi. 12Ja sam naèinio zemlju i èovjeka na njoj stvorio, ja sam razapeo nebesa svojim rukama, i svoj vojsci njihovoj dao zapovijest. 13Ja ga podigoh u pravdi, i sve putove njegove poravniæu; on æe sazidati moj grad i roblje moje otpustiæe, ne za novce ni za darove, veli Gospod nad vojskama. 14Ovako veli Gospod: trud Misirski i trgovina Etiopska i Savaca ljudi visoka rasta doæi æe k tebi i biti tvoja; za tobom æe pristati, u okovima æe iæi, i tebi æe se klanjati, tebi æe se moliti govoreæi: doista, Bog je u tebi, i nema drugoga Boga. 15Da, ti si Bog, koji se kriješ, Bog Izrailjev, spasitelj. 16Oni æe se svi postidjeti i posramiti, otiæi æe sa sramotom svikoliki koji grade likove. 17A Izrailja æe spasti Gospod spasenjem vjeènijem, neæete se postidjeti niti æete se osramotiti dovijeka.

Genesis 22.1-18 (Vespers)

1Poslije toga šæaše Bog okušati Avrama, pa mu reèe: Avrame! A on odgovori: evo me. 2I reèe mu Bog: uzmi sada sina svojega, jedinca svojega miloga, Isaka, pa idi u zemlju Moriju, i spali ga na žrtvu tamo na brdu gdje æu ti kazati. 3I sjutradan rano ustavši Avram osamari magarca svojega, i uze sa sobom dva momka i Isaka sina svojega; i nacijepavši drva za žrtvu podiže se i poðe na mjesto koje mu kaza Bog. 4Treæi dan podigavši oèi svoje Avram ugleda mjesto izdaleka. 5I reèe Avram momcima svojim: ostanite vi ovdje s magarcem, a ja i dijete idemo onamo, pa kad se pomolimo Bogu, vratiæemo se k vama. 6I uzevši Avram drva za žrtvu naprti Isaku sinu svojemu, a sam uze u svoje ruke ognja i nož; pa otidoše obojica zajedno. 7Tada reèe Isak Avramu ocu svojemu: oèe! A on reèe: što, sine! I reèe Isak: eto ognja i drva, a gdje je jagnje za žrtvu? 8A Avram odgovori: Bog æe se, sinko, postarati za jagnje sebi na žrtvu. I iðahu obojica zajedno. 9A kad doðoše na mjesto koje mu Bog kaza, Avram naèini ondje žrtvenik, i metnu drva na nj, i svezavši Isaka sina svojega metnu ga na žrtvenik vrh drva; 10I izmahnu Avram rukom svojom i uze nož da zakolje sina svojega. 11Ali anðeo Gospodnji viknu ga s neba, i reèe: Avrame! Avrame! A on reèe: evo me. 12A anðeo reèe: ne diži ruke svoje na dijete, i ne èini mu ništa; jer sada poznah da se bojiš Boga, kad nijesi požalio sina svojega, jedinca svojega, mene radi. 13I Avram podigavši oèi svoje pogleda; i gle, ovan iza njega zapleo se u èesti rogovima; i otišavši Avram uze ovna i spali ga na žrtvu mjesto sina svojega. 14I nazva Avram ono mjesto: Gospod æe se postarati. Zato se i danas kaže: na brdu, gdje æe se Gospod postarati. 15I anðeo Gospodnji opet viknu s neba Avrama. 16I reèe: sobom se zakleh, veli Gospod: kad si tako uèinio, i nijesi požalio sina svojega, jedinca svojega, 17Zaista æu te blagosloviti i sjeme tvoje veoma umnožiti, da ga bude kao zvijezda na nebu i kao pijeska na brijegu morskom; i naslijediæe sjeme tvoje vrata neprijatelja svojih. 18I blagosloviæe se u sjemenu tvojem svi narodi na zemlji, kad si poslušao glas moj.

Proverbs 17.17-18.5 (Vespers)

17U svako doba ljubi prijatelj, i brat postaje u nevolji. 18Èovjek bezuman daje ruku i jamèi se za prijatelja svojega. 19Ko miluje svaðu, miluje grijeh; ko podiže uvis vrata svoja, traži pogibao. 20Ko je opaka srca, neæe naæi dobra; i ko dvolièi jezikom, pašæe u zlo. 21Ko rodi bezumna, na žalost mu je, niti æe se radovati otac luda. 22Srce veselo pomaže kao lijek, a duh žalostan suši kosti. 23Bezbožnik prima poklon iz njedara da prevrati putove pravdi. 24Razumnomu je na licu mudrost, a oèi bezumniku vrljaju nakraj zemlje. 25Žalost je ocu svojemu sin bezuman, i jad roditeljci svojoj. 26Nije dobro globiti pravednika, ni da knezovi biju koga što je radio pravo. 27Usteže rijeèi svoje èovjek koji zna, i tiha je duha èovjek razuman. 28I bezuman kad muèi, misli se da je mudar, i razuman, kad stiskuje usne svoje.

1Èovjek samovoljan traži što je njemu milo i miješa se u svašta. 2Bezumniku nije mio razum nego da se javlja srce njegovo. 3Kad doðe bezbožnik, doðe i rug, i prijekor sa sramotom. 4Rijeèi su iz usta èovjeèijih duboka voda, izvor je mudrosti potok koji se ražljeva. 5Nije dobro gledati bezbožniku ko je, da se uèini krivo pravomu na sudu.

Our Holy Father Nicetas the Confessor (824)

He was born in Caesarea of Bithynia. His widowed father became a monk, leaving Nicetas to the care of his grandmother. Nicetas himself, when he was grown, entered a monastery in Midikion, on the Sea of Marmara. After seven years of monastic life he was ordained hieromonk by Patriarch Tarasios. When Nikephoros, the abbot of the monastery, died, the brethren chose Nicetas as their new abbot.

When Leo the Armenian became Emperor, he revived the iconoclast heresy, even though it had been put down under the Empress Irene and condemned by an Ecumenical Council. The Emperor deposed and exiled the holy Patriarch Nicephoros, putting a heretic in his place. Nicetas, because he was known for his holiness and steadfast reverence for the holy icons, was imprisoned and tortured, but did not waver in his defense of Orthodoxy. Nicetas was taken from prison to prison, torture to torture, and exiled twice, until at last Leo the Armenian died and the Orthodox Emperor Michael came to the throne and freed all those imprisoned for Orthodoxy.

Once freed, Nicetas retired to a secluded hermitage near Constantinople, where he passed the remainder of his life in prayer and thanksgiving. When he died, his body was taken back to his monastery; during the journey, many of the sick who touched his holy body were healed.

Saint Joseph the Hymnographer (886)

“Saint Joseph was from Sicily, the son of Plotinus and Agatha. Because Sicily had been subjugated by the Moslems, he departed thence and, passing from place to place, came with Saint Gregory of Decapolis (see Nov. 20) to Constantinople, where he endured bitter afflictions because of his pious zeal. Travelling to Rome, he was captured by Arab pirates and taken to Crete, whence he later returned to Constantinople. He became an excellent hymnographer and reposed in holiness shortly after 886 (according to some, it was in 883). The melismatic canons of the Menaion are primarily the work of this Joseph; they bear his name in the acrostic of the Ninth Ode. He also composed most of the sacred book known as the Paracletike, which complements the Octoechos. For this reason, Joseph is called par excellence the Hymnographer.” (Great Horologion)

The “bitter afflictions” which St Joseph suffered were probably due (judging from his dates) to his veneration of the holy icons.

Note: In the Slavic calendar he is commemorated on April 4.

Saint Seraphim of Vyritsa (1949) (March 21 OC)

Born in 1866, he married and had three children. In 1920, at the age of 54, he and his wife quietly separated and each entered monastic life. Eventually he became the spiritual father of the St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg, where, as a clairvoyant staretz, he also confessed thousands of laity. He said, “I am the storage room where people’s afflictions gather.” In imitation of his patron saint, he prayed for a thousand nights on a rock before an icon of St. Seraphim of Sarov. He reposed in the Lord in 1949 and the Church of Russia glorified him in August of 2000. Thus his whole life as a monk was spent under Communist persecution.