Isaiah 37.33-38.6 (6th Hour)

33Zato ovako veli Gospod za cara Asirskoga: neæe uæi u ovaj grad, niti æe baciti amo strijele, neæe se primaæi k njemu sa štitom, niti æe iskopati opkopa oko njega. 34Vratiæe se putem kojim je došao, a u grad ovaj neæe uæi, veli Gospod. 35Jer æu braniti taj grad i saèuvaæu ga sebe radi i radi Davida sluge svojega. 36Tada izide anðeo Gospodnji i pobi u okolu Asirskom sto i osamdeset i pet tisuæa; i kad ustaše ujutru, a to sve sami mrtvaci. 37Te se podiže Senahirim car Asirski, i otide, i vrativši se osta u Nineviji. 38I kad se klanjaše u domu Nisroka boga svojega, Adrameleh i Sarasar sinovi njegovi ubiše ga maèem, a sami pobjegoše u zemlju Araratsku, i na njegovo se mjesto zacari Esaradon sin njegov.

1U to vrijeme razbolje se Jezekija na smrt; i doðe k njemu prorok Isaija sin Amosov i reèe mu: ovako veli Gospod: naredi za kuæu svoju, jer æeš umrijeti i neæeš ostati živ. 2A Jezekija se okrete licem k zidu, i pomoli se Gospodu, 3I reèe: oh, Gospode, opomeni se da sam jednako hodio pred tobom vjerno i s cijelijem srcem, i tvorio što je tebi ugodno. I plaka Jezekija veoma. 4Tada doðe rijeè Gospodnja Isaiji govoreæi: 5Idi i reci Jezekiji: ovako veli Gospod Bog Davida oca tvojega: èuo sam molitvu tvoju, i vidio sam suze tvoje, evo dodaæu ti vijeku petnaest godina. 6I izbaviæu tebe i ovaj grad iz ruku cara Asirskoga, i braniæu ovaj grad.

Genesis 13.12-18 (Vespers)

12Avram življaše u zemlji Hananskoj, a Lot življaše po gradovima u onoj ravnici premještajuæi svoje šatore do Sodoma. 13A ljudi u Sodomu bijahu nevaljali, i griješahu Gospodu veoma. 14A Gospod reèe Avramu, pošto se Lot odijeli od njega: podigni sada oèi svoje, pa pogledaj s mjesta gdje si na sjever i na jug i na istok i na zapad. 15Jer svu zemlju što vidiš tebi æu dati i sjemenu tvojemu dovijeka. 16I uèiniæu da sjemena tvojega bude kao praha na zemlji; ako ko uzmože izbrojiti prah na zemlji, moæi æe izbrojiti i sjeme tvoje. 17Ustani, i prolazi tu zemlju u dužinu i u širinu; jer æu je tebi dati. 18I Avram diže šatore, i doðe i naseli se u ravnici Mamrijskoj, koja je kod Hevrona, i ondje naèini žrtvenik Gospodu.

Proverbs 14.27-15.4 (Vespers)

27Strah je Gospodnji izvor životu da se èovjek saèuva od prugala smrtnijeh. 28U mnoštvu je naroda slava caru; a kad nestaje naroda, propast je vladaocu. 29Ko je spor na gnjev, velika je razuma; a ko je nagao pokazuje ludost. 30Život je tijelu srce zdravo, a zavist je trulež u kostima. 31Ko èini krivo ubogome, sramoti stvoritelja njegova; a poštuje ga ko je milostiv siromahu. 32Za zlo svoje povrgnuæe se bezbožnik, a pravednik nada se i na smrti. 33Mudrost poèiva u srcu razumna èovjeka, a što je u bezumnima poznaje se. 34Pravda podiže narod, a grijeh je sramota narodima. 35Mio je caru razuman sluga, ali na sramotna gnjevi se.

1Odgovor blag utišava gnjev, a rijeè prijeka podiže srdnju. 2Jezik mudrijeh ljudi ukrašava znanje, a usta bezumnijeh prosipaju bezumlje. 3Oèi su Gospodnje na svakom mjestu gledajuæi zle i dobre. 4Zdrav je jezik drvo životno, a opaèina s njega kršenje od vjetra.

St Benedict of Nursia, abbot (547)

His name, Benedictus, means “Blessed” in Latin. He was born in 480 in Nursia, a small town northeast of Rome. He had only rudimentary schooling: he wrote later of his fear that through book-learning he might ‘lose the great understanding of my soul.’ At an early age he fled to a monastery where he was tonsured; he then withdrew to a remote mountain, where he lived or several years in a cave, perfecting himself in prayer. His only food was some bread brought to him by Romanus, the monk who had tonsured him. When he became known in the area, he fled his cave to escape the attentions of the pious; but flight proved useless, and in time a community of monks formed around him. He was granted many spiritual gifts: he healed the sick and drove out evil spirits, raised the dead, and appeared in visions to others many miles away.

Benedict founded twelve monasteries, most famously that at Monte Cassino. Initially, each monastic house had twelve monks, to imitate the number of the Twelve Apostles. The Rule that he established for his monks was based on the works of St John Cassian and St Basil the Great, and became a standard for western monasteries. Thus he is sometimes called the first teacher of monks in the West.

Six days before his death, the Saint ordered that his grave be opened, gathered all his monks together, gave them counsel, then gave his soul back to God on the day that he had predicted. At the moment of his death, two monks in different places had the same vision: they saw a path from earth to heaven, richly adorned and lined on either side with ranks of people. At the top of the path stood a man, clothed in light and unspeakably beautiful, who told them that the path was prepared for Benedict, the beloved of God. In this way, the monks learned that their abbot had gone to his rest.

St Theognostus, Metropolitan of Kiev (1353)

He was born in Greece and succeeded St Peter of Kiev as Metropolitan of that city. Some of his enemies among his own flock denounced him to the Mongol ruler, saying that he had collected no tribute from his churches to pay to the Mongols. Summoned before the Mongol prince and asked about this, he answered ‘Christ our God bought His Church from the unbelievers with His precious Blood. For what do we pay tribute to unbelievers?’ Returning home, he governed the Church for twenty-five more years and reposed in peace in 1353.