Isaiah 1.1-20 (6th Hour)

1Utvara Isaije sina Amosova, koju vidje za Judu i za Jerusalim za vremena Ozije, Joatana, Ahaza i Jezekije, careva Judinijeh. 2Èujte, nebesa, i slušaj, zemljo; jer Gospod govori: sinove odgojih i podigoh, a oni se odvrgoše mene. 3Vo poznaje gospodara svojega i magarac jasle gospodara svojega, a Izrailj ne poznaje, narod moj ne razumije. 4Da grješna naroda! naroda ogrezla u bezakonju! sjemena zlikovaèkoga, sinova pokvarenijeh! ostaviše Gospoda, prezreše sveca Izrailjeva, otstupiše natrag. 5Što biste još bili bijeni kad se sve više odmeæete? Sva je glava bolesna i sve srce iznemoglo. 6Od pete do glave nema ništa zdrava, nego uboj i modrice i rane gnojave, ni iscijeðene ni zavijene ni uljem zablažene. 7Zemlja je vaša pusta, gradovi vaši ognjem popaljeni; vaše njive jedu tuðini na vaše oèi, i pustoš je kao što opustošavaju tuðini. 8I osta kæi Sionska kao koliba u vinogradu, kao sjenica u gradini od krastavaca, kao grad opkoljen. 9Da nam Gospod nad vojskama nije ostavio malo ostatka, bili bismo kao Sodom, izjednaèili bismo se s Gomorom. 10Èujte rijeè Gospodnju, knezovi Sodomski, poslušajte zakon Boga našega, narode Gomorski! 11Što æe mi mnoštvo žrtava vaših? veli Gospod. Sit sam žrtava paljenica od ovnova i pretiline od gojene stoke, i ne marim za krv junèiju i jagnjeæu i jareæu. 12Kad dolazite da se pokažete preda mnom, ko ište to od vas, da gazite po mom trijemu? 13Ne prinosite više žrtve zaludne; na kad gadim se; a o mladinama i subotama i o sazivanju skupštine ne mogu podnositi bezakonja i svetkovine. 14Na mladine vaše i na praznike vaše mrzi duša moja, dosadiše mi, dodija mi podnositi. 15Zato kad širite ruke svoje, zaklanjam oèi svoje od vas; i kad množite molitve, ne slušam; ruke su vaše pune krvi. 16Umijte se, oèistite se, uklonite zloæu djela svojih ispred oèiju mojih, prestanite zlo èiniti. 17Uèite se dobro èiniti, tražite pravdu, ispravljajte potlaèenoga, dajite pravicu siroti, branite udovicu. 18Tada doðite, veli Gospod, pa æemo se suditi: ako grijesi vaši budu kao skerlet, postaæe bijeli kao snijeg; ako budu crveni kao crvac, postaæe kao vuna. 19Ako hoæete slušati, dobra zemaljska ješæete. 20Ako li neæete, nego budete nepokorni, maè æe vas pojesti, jer usta Gospodnja rekoše.

Genesis 1.1-13 (Vespers)

1U poèetku stvori Bog nebo i zemlju. 2A zemlja bješe bez oblièja i pusta, i bješe tama nad bezdanom; i duh Božji dizaše se nad vodom. 3I reèe Bog: neka bude svjetlost. I bi svjetlost. 4I vidje Bog svjetlost da je dobra; i rastavi Bog svjetlost od tame. 5I svjetlost nazva Bog dan, a tamu nazva noæ. I bi veèe i bi jutro, dan prvi. 6Potom reèe Bog: neka bude svod posred vode, da rastavlja vodu od vode. 7I stvori Bog svod, i rastavi vodu pod svodom od vode nad svodom; i bi tako. 8A svod nazva Bog nebo. I bi veèe i bi jutro, dan drugi. 9Potom reèe Bog: neka se sabere voda što je pod nebom na jedno mjesto, i neka se pokaže suho. I bi tako. 10I suho nazva Bog zemlja, a zborišta vodena nazva mora; i vidje Bog da je dobro. 11Opet reèe Bog: neka pusti zemlja iz sebe travu, bilje, što nosi sjeme, i drvo rodno, koje raða rod po svojim vrstama, u kojem æe biti sjeme njegovo na zemlji. I bi tako. 12I pusti zemlja iz sebe travu, bilje, što nosi sjeme po svojim vrstama, i drvo, koje raða rod, u kojem je sjeme njegovo po njegovijem vrstama. I vidje Bog da je dobro. 13I bi veèe i bi jutro, dan treæi.

Proverbs 1.1-20 (Vespers)

1Prièe Solomuna sina Davidova, cara Izrailjeva, 2Da se poznaje mudrost i nastava, da se razumiju rijeèi razumne, 3Da se prima nastava u razumu, u pravdi, u sudu i u svemu što je pravo, 4Da se daje ludima razboritost, mladiæima znanje i pomnjivost. 5Mudar æe slušati i više æe znati, i razuman æe steæi mudrost, 6Da razumije prièe i znaèenje, rijeèi mudrijeh ljudi i zagonetke njihove. 7Poèetak je mudrosti strah Gospodnji; ludi preziru mudrost i nastavu. 8Slušaj, sine, nastavu oca svojega, i ne ostavljaj nauke matere svoje. 9Jer æe biti vijenac od milina oko glave tvoje, i grivna na grlu tvom. 10Sine moj, ako bi te mamili grješnici, ne pristaj; 11Ako bi rekli: hodi s nama da vrebamo krv, da zasjedamo pravome ni za što; 12Proždrijeæemo ih kao grob žive, i svekolike kao one koji slaze u jamu; 13Svakojakoga blaga dobiæemo, napuniæemo kuæe svoje plijena; 14Bacaæeš ždrijeb svoj s nama; jedan æe nam tobolac biti svjema; 15Sine moj, ne idi na put s njima, èuvaj nogu svoju od staze njihove. 16Jer nogama svojim trèe na zlo i hite da proljevaju krv. 17Jer se uzalud razapinje mreža na oèi svakoj ptici; 18A oni vrebaju svoju krv i zasjedaju svojoj duši. 19Taki su putovi svijeh lakomijeh na dobitak, koji uzima dušu svojim gospodarima. 20Premudrost vièe na polju, na ulicama pušta glas svoj;

Holy Apostle Onesimos (ca. 109)

He was a Phrygian by birth, a slave of Philemon, to whom the Apostle Paul addressed his epistle. Onesimos escaped from Philemon and fled to Rome, where he was converted to the Faith by St Paul. St Paul sent him back to his master, who at St Paul’s urging gave him his freedom. He served the Church for many years before dying a martyr, beaten to death with clubs.

Saint Onesimos is also commemorated on November 22, with Sts Philemon, Archippus and Aphia; and on January 4 at the Synaxis of the Seventy Disciples.

Our Venerable Father Dalmatius of Siberia (1697)

Saint Dalmatius is venerated as a pioneer of the movement that took many ascetics to dwell in the wilderness of Siberia, establishing a new company of Desert Fathers and causing the Russian Far North to be called the ‘Northern Thebaid.’ He was born in Tobolsk and reared in piety by his family, recently-converted Tatars. When grown, he entered the imperial army as a Cossack and served with such distinction that the Tsar awarded him a noble title. He married and lived in Tobolsk in comfort and prosperity. One day — after the destruction of Tobolsk in a great fire in 1643 — struck by a realization of the vanity of worldly things, he left family, wealth and property and went to a monastery in the Ural Mountains, taking with him only an icon of the Dormition of the Theotokos.

He was tonsured a monk with the name of Dalmatius, and devoted himself to prayer and ascesis with such fervor that, a short time later, the brethren elected him Abbot. Fearing pride and fleeing honor, Dalmatius fled with his icon of the Theotokos to a remote cave, where he lived a life of silence and continual prayer. His presence did not long remain secret in that sparsely-settled region, and soon Christians were coming from far and wide to ask his prayer and counsel; many pagans came to him for holy Baptism. Soon his habitation became too small for those who had chosen to stay as his disciples, and the Saint received a blessing from the Bishop of Tobolsk to build a wooden chapel and some cells. This was the beginning of the great Monastery of the Dormition (also called the Monastery of St Dalmatius).

Over the years the brethren endured many tribulations. Once the Tatar Prince of the region, provoked by false rumors, planned to destroy the monastery and kill all the monks. The night before the attack, the holy Mother of God appeared to the prince in resplendent clothes, holding a flaming sword in one hand and a scourge in the other. She forbade the Prince to harm the monastery or the brethren, and commanded him to give them a permanent concession over the region. Convinced by this vision, the Prince made peace with the monks and became the Monastery’s protector, though he was a Muslim.

In the succeeding years the Monastery was repeatedly burned down by the fierce pagan tribes which inhabited the area; once all the monks except St Dalmatius himself were butchered, but always the monastery was rebuilt. The Saint reposed in peace in 1697, and was succeeded as abbot by his own son Isaac, who built a stone shrine at the Monastery to house the relics of the Saint and the icon of the Mother of God which he had kept with him throughout his monastic life.

Our Venerable Father Anthimos of Chios (1960)

He was born in 1869 to devout peasants on Chios; he left elementary school early to become a shoemender. At the age of nineteen he visited a monastery (founded by the monk Pachomios, who had been the spiritual counsellor of St Nektarios); he was so moved by the monks’ ‘angelic life’ that on returning home he built himself a small hut and dwelt in it. His only ‘help’ in his spiritual contests was an icon of the Mother of God, which soon began to work miracles, drawing many to his hermitage. After a time he retired to a monastery where he was tonsured under the name Anthimos. He fell ill there, and his abbot sent him home to his parents for the sake of his health. At home, despite the fact that he was caring for his aged parents and practicing his shoemender’s trade, he continued to live as a monk, spending nights on end in prayer and sometimes living only on bread and water for extended periods.

Increasing numbers of visitors came to his hermitage and wonder-working icon of the Theotokos, and in 1910 he received the Great Schema. The people of Chios wanted him to be ordained to the priesthood, but his bishop refused due to the Saint’s lack of education. At the prompting of Anthimos’ godfather, the Bishop of Smyrna ordained him instead. After a pilgrimage to Mt Athos, he returned to Chios, where he became chaplain to a leper hospital. Soon the hospital, which had fallen into corruption, became a spiritual center, as much like a monastery as a hospital. Saint Anthimos tended many of the sickest with his own hands, working many miracles of healing; some of his recovered patients became monks or nuns.

With the notorious ‘Exchange of Populations’ of 1922-1924, refugees poured into Chios, many of them destitute nuns and girls. In response to a vision of the Mother of God, St Anthimos built a monastery, which opened with thirty nuns and grew rapidly, despite the opposition of many who said that setting up such a community was out of date (in 1924!). The monastery soon housed eighty nuns and was known througout Greece as a model of monastic life. Father Anthimos served as priest to the nuns, and continued to receive the many faithful — often sixty or seventy per day — who came to him for prayer or counsel. He carried on this ministry for more than thirty years, working many miracles of healing. When he was too old to work with his hands, he retired to his cell and prayed that he be enabled to serve his neighbor until his last breath. He reposed in peace at the age of ninety-one, mourned and revered by the whole island of Chios.