Daily Reading:

Thursday July 7th/20th

Sixth Week after Pentecost

HOLY AND GREAT VIRGIN MARTYR CYRIACA
ST ILLTYD OF WALES, ABBOT

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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit:

Illumine my heart, O Master who lovest mankind, with the pure light of Thy divine knowledge. Open Thou the eyes of my mind to the understanding of Thy Gospel teachings. Implant also in me a love for Thy blessed commandments. Grant me the grace to overcome all my carnal desires, so that I may enter more completely into a spiritual manner of living, both thinking and doing such things as are well pleasing to Thee. For Thou art the illumination of our souls and bodies, O Christ our God, and unto Thee do we ascribe glory, together with Thine all-holy, good and life-creating Spirit; now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

O Lord Jesus Christ, open Thou the eyes of my heart, that I may hear Thy word and understand and do Thy will, for I am a sojourner upon the earth. Hide not Thy commandments from me, but open mine eyes, that I may perceive the wonders of Thy law. Speak unto me the hidden and secret things of Thy wisdom. On Thee do I set my hope, O my God, that Thou shalt enlighten my mind and understanding with the light of Thy knowledge, not only to cherish those things which are written, but to do them; that in reading the lives and sayings of the Saints I may not sin, but that such may serve for my restoration, enlightenment and sanctification, for the salvation of my soul, and the inheritance of life everlasting. For Thou art the enlightenment of those who lie in darkness, and from Thee cometh every good deed and every gift. Amen.

By the intercessions of Thine All-immaculate Mother and of all Thy Saints, Lord Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen

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Thursday
LITURGY
1 Corinthians 3:18-23

Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are your's; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are your's; And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.

Matthew 13:36-43

Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

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HOLY AND GREAT VIRGIN MARTYR CYRIACA
ST ILLTYD OF WALES, ABBOT

Troparion of St Cyriaca Tone 5
O Virgin Martyr Cyriaca,/ thou wast a worthy sacrifice/ when thou didst offer thy pure soul to God;/ wherefore Christ has glorified thee,/ and through thee pours forth graces/ abundantly on all the faithful,/ for He is the merciful Lover of mankind.

Troparion of St Illtyd Tone 6
O wise Illtyd, thou wast noble by birth and noble in mind/ and didst train many saints in the way of holiness./ Pray to Christ our God to raise up saints in our days/ to His glory and for our salvation.

Kontakion of St Cyriaca Tone 2
The Martyr of Christ now calls us together to celebrate her contests and struggles./ For she vanquished the invisible enemy/ and mastered both her mind and her passions .

It should be known that the Antichrist is bound to come.

First, therefore, it is necessary that the Gospel should be preached among all nations: And then shall that wicked one be revealed, even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, whom the Lord shall consume with the word of His mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming. The devil himself, therefore does not become man in the way that the Lord was made man. God forbid! but he becomes man as the offspring of fornication and receiveth all the energy of Satan. For God, foreknowing the strangeness of the choice that he would make, allows the devil to take up his abode in him.

He is, therefore, as we said, the offspring of fornication and is nurtured in secret, and on a sudden he rises up and rebels and assumes rule. And in the beginning of his rule, or rather tyranny, he assumes the role of sanctity. But when he becomes master he persecutes the Church of God and displays all his wickedness. But he will come with signs and lying wonders, fictitious and not real, and he will deceive and lead away from the living God those whose mind rests on an unsound and unstable foundation, so that even the elect shall, if it be possible, be made to stumble.

But the Thesbite shall be sent and shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, that is, the synagogue to our Lord Jesus Christ and the preaching of the apostles: and they will be destroyed by him. And the Lord shall come out of heaven, just as the holy apostles beheld Him going into heaven perfect God and perfect man, with glory and power, and will destroy the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction, with the breath of His mouth. Let no one, therefore, look for the Lord to come from earth, but out of Heaven, as He himself has made sure.



St John Damascene

An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, BOOK IV CHAPTER XXVI

On Reading the Holy Fathers:

Appropriate to yourself the thoughts and the spirit of the Holy Fathers by reading their writings. The Holy Fathers attained the goal: salvation. And you will attain this goal by the natural course of things. As one who is of one thought and one soul with the Holy Fathers, you will be saved.

Heaven received into its blessed bosom the Holy Fathers. By this it has borne witness that the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the Holy Fathers are well-pleasing to it. The Holy Fathers set forth their thoughts, their heart, the image of their activity in their writings. This means: what a true guidance to heaven, which is borne witness to by heaven itself, are the writings of the Fathers.

Blessed Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov

"On Reading the Holy Fathers,", "Living Orthodoxy" (Vol. XVII, No. 2, March-April 1995), St. John of Kronstadt Press, Liberty, Tennessee, 37095

The Teaching Of The Holy Fathers Concerning the Narrow Way

'God very often permits people to be tempted, and lets much evil assail them from all sides. He lets their body be afflicted, as in the case of Job; He brings them into poverty, causes them to be ostracized and shunned and strikes them in the matter of their possessions. Only their soul suffers no harm. When walking in the way of the righteous, it is impossible not to meet with trouble, or that the body should not suffer pain and weakness and should not remain immutable, if we want to live in virtue. But the person who lives pleasing his own will, giving way to jealousy or anything else that is harmful to him, is already condemned. But if anyone is walking in the way of justice and righteousness, and is travelling to God with many others like himself, and something of the kind happens to him, he should not turn away from the trial that has come to him, but should receive it with joy, without question, and should thank God for sending him this good gift, that he has been granted to fall into temptation for God's sake and has become a partaker of the sufferings borne by the Prophets, Apostles and other Saints who endured afflictions for the sake of the way of God, whether the afflictions come from men or devils or from the body---for it is impossible for them to come or be sent without God's permission---and let it be to him an occasion for sanctification. Just as it is impossible for God to give grace to a person who wants to be united to Him otherwise than by enduring trails for the truth, so too it is impossible for a person without the gift of Christ to make himself capable of this greatness, namely of enduring trial for the divine gift and rejoicing over the trials that have come to him. Saint Paul bears witness to this. So great is this work--to suffer for one's hope in God---that the Apostle frankly calls it a gift. This is from God, he says, that you have been given the privilege not only of believing in Him (in Christ), but also of suffering for Him. As also Saint Peter wrote in his epistle: Even if you do suffer for what is right, blessed are you, because it gives you a share in Christ's sufferings. And so you should not rejoice when you live in full enjoyment and pleasure, and you should not lose courage when in trouble and consider your position far from the way of God. The way of God from the beginning of time and from the creation of the human race has been the way of the cross and death. How did you get your idea that everything is just the opposite? You must realize that you are outside the way of God, that you are far from Him, that you do not wish to walk in the steps of the Saints, but want to make some special way for yourself and travel by it without sufferings. The way of God is a daily cross. No one has climbed to heaven by living a life of pleasure.'



by Bishop Ignatius (Brianchaninov).
Excerpt from: The Arena, Chapter 30, pg 107-108.