Daily Reading:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit:
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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Monday
LITURGY
1 Timothy 1:1-7
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope; Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.
Luke 14:12-15
Then said He also to him that bade Him, "When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto Him, "Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God! "
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ST NEKTARIOS OF PENTAPOLIS
HOLY MARTYRS ONESIPHORUS AND PORPHYRIUS
ST BENEN
ST PABO
Troparion of St Nektarios Tone 1
Let us the faithful honour Nektarios,/ offspring of Silyvria and guardian of Aegina,/ who has appeared in latter years, a true friend of virtue, as a God-filled servant of Christ./ For he dispenses all manner of healing to those who with reverence cry out:/Glory to Christ Who has glorified thee; glory to Him Who has worked wonders in thee:/ glory to Him who through thee has wrought healing for all.
Troparion of Ss Onesiphorus and Porphyrius Tone 3
You sought the delights of heaven/ and became martyrs of the Lord,/ O renowned Onesiphorus and Porphyrius./ Wherefore you drove God's golden chariot on the heavenly course./ O divine Martyrs, entreat Christ our God to grant us His great mercy.
Troparion of St Benen Tone 1
O best loved disciple and successor of Ireland's Enlightener,/ thy God-blessed witness for our saving faith is sorely needed,/ most reverend Hierarch Benen. Entreat Christ our God that He will raise up new disciples/ to bring thy native land out of this present ''Dark Age''/ and restore it to the True Light of Orthodoxy/ for the salvation of men's souls.
Troparion of St Pabo Tone 8
Revered "Pillar of Northern Britain" and Light of Monastics, O Father Pabo,/ leaving thy family and homeland, thou didst inspire us, O holy one,/ to respect the monastic virtues which attain to the salvation of souls.
Kontakion of St Nektarios Tone 8
Let us sing praises with gladness of heart to the newly shining star of Orthodoxy,/ to the newly-built bastion of the Church./ For being glorified by the power of the Spirit, he pours out the immortal grace of healing/ to those who cry out: Father Nektarios, rejoice!
Kontakion of Ss Onesiphorus and Porphyrius Tone 2
The glorious martyrs Onesiphorus and Porphyrius together contested valiantly./ They humbled the enemy's arrogance to the earth/ and shone with the grace of the uncreated Trinity./ Together with the Angels they now intercede for us all.
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Our Holy Father John the Dwarf (Kolobos)
He is counted among the greatest of the Egyptian ascetics. 'Kolobos' means 'little' or 'dwarf, for he was little of stature. He came to Scetis with his brother Daniel, and, with surpassing zeal, gave himself to asceticism, such that his brother had to urge him to moderation. He was a disciple of St Pambo, and later the teacher of St Arsenius the Great. One of his fellow-disciples with St Pambo was St Paisius the Great. One day, when he was in conversation with St Paisius about what sort of asceticism to adopt, an angel of God appeared to them, and ordered John to stay where he was and gather companions, and Paisius to go into the desert and live as a solitary. To test John's obedience, Pambo ordered him to water a dry stick that he had stuck in the ground until it bore leaves. With no hesitation or doubt, John watered this dry stick for three whole years, from day to day, until, by God's power, it put forth leaves and bore fruit.
Then Pambo gathered the fruits from this tree, took them to the church and shared them out among the brethren, saying: 'Come and taste of the fruits of obedience!' John the Dwarf had many disciples, and some of his wise sayings have been preserved. He entered peacefully into rest and the joy of his Lord early in the fifth century.
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Our Holy Mother Matrona of Constantinople.
She was from Perga in Pamphylia. Quickly finding marriage to Dometian, a Constantinopolitan nobleman, unbearable, she fled, dressed herself in men's clothing and, under the name of Babylas, went to the monastery of St Bassian in Constantinople. As her husband searched for her unremittingly, she was forced to move constantly from place to place: Emesa, Sinai, Jerusalem, Beirut, finally returning to Constantinople. She received the monastic habit at the age of twenty-five, and lived in asceticism for seventy-five years. Living a hundred years in all, she died peacefully as abbess of a monastery in Constantinople, and entered into the joy of her Lord in the year 492.
The Prologue From Ochrid -
of St. Nikolai (Velimirovic) Bishop of Zhicha
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