Daily
Prayer
Before Reading the Holy Scriptures
Make
to shine in our hearts, O Master who lovest man, the incorrupt light of Thy
divine knowledge, and open the eyes of our mind to the comprehension of the
preaching of Thy Gospel. Implant also in us the fear of Thy blessed
commandments that, trampling down all carnal desires, we may pursue a spiritual
way of life, both thinking and doing all things well-pleasing unto Thee. For
Thou art the enlightenment of our souls and bodies, O Christ God, and unto Thee
do we send up glory, together with Thy Father, who is without beginning, and
Thine all-holy, and good, and life-creating Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages
of ages.
Saints
of the Day
Commemorated
Today
St.
Spyridon (Spiridon) the Wonderworker of Tremithon. St. Herman of
O
Holy God-Pleasers, Pray to God for Us!
Prologue
from Ochrid
1. St Spiridon the Wonderworker,
Bishop of Tremithus.
The
He was chosen for his devotion as
Bishop of Tremithus, and even as a bishop did not change his simple style of
life, taking charge of his cattle himself and tilling his own land. He consumed
very little of his own produce, giving the greater part to the poor. He
performed great wonders by God's power, making rain fall in a drought, stopping
the course of a river, raising several of the dead, healing the Emperor
Constans of a grave sickness, seeing and hearing angels, foreseeing future
events and penetrating the secrets of the human heart. He turned many to the
true Faith, and did much else.
He was present at the first Ecumenical
Council in
He glorified God with many
miracles, and was of great aid both to individuals and to the whole
2. The Hieromartyr Alexander,
Bishop of
He was at first bishop in
3. The Holy Martyr Synesius.
He boldly preached the truth of
Christ as a young reader in
Daily
Scripture
Hebrews 3:5-11
3:5 And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant,
for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; 3:6 But Christ
as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence
and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. 3:7 Wherefore
(as the Holy Ghost saith, Today if ye will hear his voice, 3:8 Harden not
your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
3:9 When your
fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. 3:10 Wherefore
I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their
heart; and they have not known my ways. 3:11 So I
sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) 3:12 Take
heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in
departing from the living God.
Luke
20:27-44
20:27 Then came to him certain of the Sadducees, which deny that there
is any resurrection; and they asked him, 20:28 Saying,
Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any man’s brother die, having a wife, and he
die without children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed
unto his brother. 20:29 There
were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died without
children. 20:30 And the
second took her to wife, and he died childless. 20:31 And the
third took her; and in like manner the seven also: and they left no children,
and died. 20:32 Last of
all the woman died also. 20:33 Therefore
in the resurrection whose wife of them is she? for seven had her to wife. 20:34 And
Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world
marry, and are given in marriage: 20:35 But they
which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from
the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: 20:36 Neither
can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children
of God, being the children of the resurrection. 20:37 Now that
the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord
the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 20:38 For he
is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.
20:39 Then certain of the scribes answering
said, Master, thou hast well said. 20:40 And
after that they durst not ask him any question at all. 20:41 And
he said unto them, How say they that Christ is David’s
son? 20:42 And
David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou
on my right hand, 20:43 Till I
make thine enemies thy footstool. 20:44 David
therefore calleth him Lord, how is he then his son?
Commemorated on December 12
Saint Spyridon of Tremithus was born towards the end of the
third century on the
After the death of his wife, during the reign of Constantine the Great
(306-337), he was made Bishop of Tremithus,
According to the witness of Church historians, St Spyridon participated in the
sessions of the First Ecumenical Council in the year 325. At the Council, the
saint entered into a dispute with a Greek philosopher who was defending the
Arian heresy. The power of St Spyridon's plain, direct speech showed everyone
the importance of human wisdom before God's Wisdom: "Listen, philosopher,
to what I tell you.
There is
one God Who created man from dust. He has ordered all things, both visible and
invisible, by His Word and His Spirit. The Word is the Son of God, Who came
down upon the earth on account of our sins. He was born of a Virgin, He lived
among men, and suffered and died for our salvation, and then He arose from the
dead, and He has resurrected the human race with Him. We believe that He is one
in essence (consubstantial) with the Father, and equal to Him in authority and
honor. We believe this without any sly rationalizations, for it is impossible
to grasp this mystery by human reason."
As a result of their discussion, the opponent of Christianity became the
saint's zealous defender and later received holy Baptism. After his
conversation with St Spyridon, the philosopher turned to his companions and
said, "Listen! Until now my rivals have presented their arguments, and I
was able to refute their proofs with other proofs. But instead of proofs from
reason, the words of this Elder are filled with some sort of special power, and
no one can refute them, since it is impossible for man to oppose God. If any of
you thinks as I do now, let him believe in Christ and join me in following this
man, for God Himself speaks through his lips."
At this Council, St Spyridon displayed the unity of the Holy Trinity in
a remarkable way. He took a brick in his hand and squeezed it. At that instant
fire shot up from it, water dripped on the ground, and only dust remained in
the hands of the wonderworker. "There was only one brick," St
Spyridon said, "but it was composed of three elements. In the Holy Trinity
there are three Persons, but only one God."
The saint cared for his flock with great love. Through his prayer,
drought was replaced by abundant rains, and incessant rains were replaced by
fair weather. Through his prayers the sick were healed and demons cast out.
A woman once came up to him with a dead child in her arms, imploring the
intercession of the saint. He prayed, and the infant was restored to life. The
mother, overcome with joy, collapsed lifeless. Through the prayer of the saint
of God the mother was restored to life.
Another time, hastening to save his friend, who had been falsely accused
and sentenced to death, the saint was hindered on his way by the unanticipated
flooding of a stream. The saint commanded the water: "Halt! For the Lord
of all the world commands that you permit me to cross so that a man may be
saved." The will of the saint was fulfilled, and he crossed over happily
to the other shore. The judge, apprised of the miracle that had occurred,
received St Spyridon with esteem and set his friend free.
Similar instances are known from the life of the saint. Once, he went
into an empty church, and ordered that the lampadas and candles be lit, and
then he began the service. When he said, "Peace be unto all," both he
and the deacon heard from above the resounding of "a great multitude of
voices saying, "And with thy spirit." This choir was majestic and
more sweetly melodious than any human choir.
To each
petition of the litanies, the invisible choir sang, "Lord, have
mercy." Attracted by the church singing, the people who lived nearby
hastened towards it. As they got closer and closer to the church, the wondrous
singing filled their ears and gladdened their hearts. But when they entered
into the church, they saw no one but the bishop and several church servers, and
they no longer heard the singing which had greatly astonished them."
St Simeon Metaphrastes (November 9), the author of his Life, likened St
Spyridon to the Patriarch Abraham in his hospitality. Sozomen, in his CHURCH
HISTORY, offers an amazing example from the life of the saint of how he
received strangers. One time, at the start of the Forty-day Fast, a stranger
knocked at his door. Seeing that the traveller was very exhausted, St Spyridon
said to his daughter, "
But since
it was Lent there were none of the necessary provisions, for the saint
"partook of food only on certain days, and on other days he went without
food." His daughter replied that there was no bread or flour in the house.
Then St Spyridon, apologizing to his guest, ordered his daughter to cook a
salted ham from their larder. After seating the stranger at table, he began to
eat, urging that man to do the same. When the latter refused, calling himself a
Christian, the saint rejoined, "It is not proper to refuse this, for the
Word of God proclaims, "Unto the pure all things are pure" (Titus
1:15).
Another historical detail reported by Sozomen, was characteristic of the
saint. It was his custom to distribute one part of the gathered harvest to the
destitute, and another portion to those having need while in debt. He did not
take a portion for himself, but simply showed them the entrance to his
storeroom, where each could take as much as was needed, and could later pay it
back in the same way, without records or accountings.
There is also the tale by Socrates Scholasticus about how robbers
planned to steal the sheep of St Spyridon. They broke into the sheepfold at
night, but here they found themselves all tied up by some invisible power. When
morning came the saint went to his flock, and seeing the tied-up robbers, he
prayed and released them. For a long while he advised them to leave their path
of iniquity and earn their livelihood by respectable work. Then he made them a
gift of a sheep and sending them off, the saint said kindly, "Take this
for your trouble, so that you did not spend a sleepless night in vain."
All the Lives of the saint speak of the amazing simplicity and the gift
of wonderworking granted him by God. Through a word of the saint the dead were
awakened, the elements of nature tamed, the idols smashed. At one point, a
Council had been convened at
Through the
prayers of the Fathers of the Council all the idols fell down except one, which
was very much revered. It was revealed to the Patriarch in a vision that this
idol had to be shattered by St Spyridon of Tremithus. Invited by the Council,
the saint set sail on a ship, and at the moment the ship touched shore and the
saint stepped out on land, the idol in
St Spyridon lived his earthly life in righteousness and sanctity, and
prayerfully surrendered his soul to the Lord. His relics repose on the
LUCH 2006