HOLY PROPHET SAMUEL
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ST OSWIN, KING AND MARTYR
Troparion of the Feast Tone 1
In giving birth thou didst preserve thy virginity;/ in falling asleep thou didst not forsake the world, O Theotokos./ Thou wast translated to life, O Mother of Life,/ and by your prayers you deliver our souls from death.
Troparion of the Prophet Samuel Tone 4
Thou didst blossom as a scion of righteousness from a barren mother, O great Prophet Samuel./ Thou didst reveal beforehand the blessings we should receive;/ from childhood thou didst serve the Lord in the priestly office./ As a prophet thou anointedst kings;/ ever remember those who acclaim thee.
Troparion of St Oswin Tone 1
Courtesy and humility shone from thee,/ O radiant Martyr Oswin./ Trained by St Aidan as a Christian ruler,/ thou didst illumine northern Britian./ Glory to Him Who has strengthened thee; glory to Him Who has crowned thee;/ glory to Him Who through thee works healings for all.
Kontakion of the Feast Tone 2
Neither the tomb nor death could hold the Theotokos,/ who is sleepless in her intercessions and an unchanging hope in her mediations./ For as the Mother of Life she was transferred to life/ by Him Who dwelt in her ever-virgin womb.
Kontakion of the Prophet Samuel Tone 8
Thou wast a precious gift to God before thy conception;/ thou didst serve Him from infancy like an angel/ and wast granted to foretell future events, wherefore we cry to thee: / Rejoice, O Samuel, thou Prophet of God and great high priest.
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THE HOLY PROPHET SAMUEL
Samuel was the fifteenth and last judge of Israel. He lived eleven hundred years before Christ. Samuel was born of the tribe of Levi of the parents Elkanah and Hannah in a place called Ramatha or Arimathea where the noble Joseph was born [Joseph of Arimathea]. The barren Hannah besought Samuel from God through weeping and dedicated him to God when he was three years of age. Living in Shiloh near the Ark of the Covenant, Samuel, in his twelfth year, had a true revelation from God concerning the punishments which were pending before the house of the high priest Eli because of the immorality of his sons Hophni and Phineas. That revelation soon materialized: the Philistines defeated the Israelites, slew both of Eli's sons and captured the Ark of the Covenant. When the messenger informed Eli of this tragedy, he fell dead to the ground and expired in the ninety-eighth year of his life. The same thing occurred to his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phineas. From then on and for twenty years the Israelites were the slaves of the Philistines. After this period of time, God sent Samuel to the people to preach repentance if they wished to be saved from their enemies. The people repented and rejected the foreign idols that they served and recognized Samuel as a prophet, priest and judge. Then Samuel set out with an army against the Philistines and with God's help confused and defeated them and liberated the land and the people. After that, Samuel peacefully judged his people until old age. Seeing him in old age, the people asked him to install a king for them in his place. In vain Samuel tried to turn the people away from this, saying to them that God is their only King but the people stood by their demands. Even though this demand was not pleasing to God, God commanded Samuel to annoint Saul, the son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin, as their king. Saul reigned for a short time only and God rejected Saul because of his impudence and disobedience and then commanded Samuel to annoint Jesse's son David as king in Saul's place. Before his death, Samuel gathered the entire people and bid them farewell. When Samuel died all of Israel mourned for him and they buried him honorably in his house at Ramatha.
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HYMN OF PRAISE
THE HOLY PROPHET SAMUEL
Samuel the righteous, servant of the Living God,
Of his people, beloved judge,
He respected God; God above all,
The will of God, for him, was a commandment,
By the will of God, the will of the people he corrected
And for the people's sins, before God repented.
Priest and prophet and a righteous judge,
In three ways, Samuel glorified God.
With his every word, with his every deed,
Through labor and prayer and sacrifices and food
With his entire being, God he served,
To the rulers of the world, this example he offered:
For his people, no one is going to do good,
One who from the law of God departs
Who, to himself and to the people listen and not God,
Into the depth of the bottomless abyss will fall.
As Saul fell and others with him
All accomplices of the sin of the people.
Only a slave of God can a ruler be
And benefit his people eternally
This Samuel teaches in deeds and in words,
Throughout the many centuries, this teaching echoes.
The Prologue From Ochrid -
of St. Nikolai (Velimirovic) Bishop of Zicha
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