συνοδικός
November 14 / November 1
2018 (7527)
HOLY WONDERWORKERS AND UNMERCENARIES COSMAS AND DAMIAN AND THEIR MOTHER ST THEODOTA (3RD C.). HIEROMARTYRS JOHN THE BISHOP AND JAMES THE PRESBYTER, OF PERSIA (345). MARTYRS CYRENIA AND JULIANA (305). MARTYR HERMENINGILDA THE GOTH (586). MARTYRS CAESARIUS, DACIUS, SABBAS, SABINIAN, AGRIPPA, ADRIAN, AND THOMAS AT DAMASCUS (7TH C.)
The Month of November in the Orthodox Church
November is the eleventh and penultimate month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars, the fourth and last of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the fifth and last of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. November was the ninth month of the ancient Roman calendar. November retained its name (from the Latin novem meaning "nine") when January and February were added to the Roman calendar. November is a month of late spring in the Southern hemisphere and late autumn in the Northern hemisphere.
The month of November in the Orthodox Church is full of major events and great saints. In this month the forty-day Nativity Fast begins leading us to Christmas, and a Great Feast of the Mother of God is celebrated that focuses on her Entrance into the Temple. Among the many great and beloved Saints we celebrate this month are Kosmas and Damian the Unmercenaries (Nov. 1), the Archangels Michael and Gabriel (Nov. 8), Nektarios the Wonderworker (Nov. 9), Menas the Great Martyr (Nov. 11), John Chrysostom (Nov. 13), Philip the Apostle (Nov. 14), Matthew the Apostle (Nov. 16), Katherine of Alexandria (Nov. 25) and Andrew the Apostle (Nov. 30).
The first great festival of the month of November takes place on the 8th when the Archangels Michael and Gabriel are celebrated. These Archangels are highly honored in the Orthodox Church, with numerous churches dedicated to them throughout the world, having played a major role in the history of our salvation. Traditionally, the most pious of Orthodox Christians would even keep a fast from November 1st to the 8th in their honor and in imitation of their angelic life. Though the Archangels Michael and Gabriel are primarily honored on this day, with them the Church honors all the nine Angelic Orders.
The second major event in the month of November falls on the 15th, when the forty-day Nativity Fast begins. Though this fast is not as strict as Great Lent, and throughout the history of the Church various lengths were given to it, in the year 1156 it was established as a forty-day fast by Patriarch Lukas of Constantinople. Remnants of the shorter seven-day fast still remain as a rule for this fast, since after December 17th fish is no longer permitted. Also, hymns in anticipation of Christmas do not begin until the Apodosis of the Entrance of the Theotokos on November 25th.
Which leads us to the last major event of November, which is numbered among the Twelve Major Feasts of the Ecclesiastical Year - the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple on November 21st. We remember on this day when the Virgin Mary was a young girl, she was brought by her parents Joachim and Anna to be dedicated to the service of the temple, and was received by the High Priest Zechariah, who brought her prophetically into the Holy of Holies, in anticipation of becoming herself the Holy of Holies who contained within her womb the Lord himself. This feast contains some of the most beautiful hymns of the Church, and is celebrated for five days until the Apodosis.
November is a month of many festivals in the Orthodox Church, allowing us to daily reflect on the meaning of our salvation, especially as we prepare to celebrate the Nativity of the Lord next month.
ALL SAINTS DAY
Instituted to honour all the saints, known and unknown. It owes its origin in the Western Church to the dedication of the Roman Pantheon in honuor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the martyrs by Pope Saint Boniface IV in 609, the anniversary of which was celebrated at Rome on 13 May. Pope Saint Gregory III consecrated a chapel in the Vatican basilica in honor of All Saints, designating 1 November as their feast. Pope Gregory IV extended its observance to the whole Church. It has a vigil and octave, and is a holy day of obligation; the eve is popularly celebrated as Hallowe'en.
The Church day by day gives special veneration to one or more of the holy men and women who have helped to establish it by their blood, develop it by their labors, or edify it by their virtues. But, in addition to those whom the Church honors by special designation or has inscribed in her calendar, how many martyrs are there whose names are not recorded! How many humble virgins and holy penitents! How many unknown anchorites and monks, Christian fathers and mothers, young children snatched away in their innocence! How many courageous Christians, whose merits are known only to God and His heavenly court! Should we forget those who remember us in their intercession? Are not some among them our ancestors? members of our immediate family? our friends and fellow-Christians, with whom we have lived in daily companionship? In fact, all of Heaven is but one family — Our Lord's, as He Himself said: Who is My mother and who are My brethren? And stretching forth His hand towards His disciples, He said, Behold My mother and My brethren! For whoever does the Will of My Father in heaven, is My brother and sister and mother. Today we have the opportunity to thank God, if at other times we forget, for their aid and their love. And today we adore Him with them, for the grace which raised them to their present joy. The Church requires this homage of us, by making this day a holy day of obligation for all. Our place, too, is awaiting us in this home of eternal light, peace and love, if we persevere to the end in the fulfillment of God's holy Will.
Cf. Wisdom 4:1 Let us be solicitous to render ourselves worthy of that chaste generation, so beautiful amid the glory where it dwells.
Synaxis of the Holy ANARGYROI (i.o. Unmercenaries Healers) 圣显行灵迹者及轻财之灵医
• Martyresses CYRENIA (Cyriena, Kyriaina or Cyriaena) 基里埃纳 of Tarsus and JULIANA (Juliane) 犹利亚纳 of Rosa (305) at Tarsus in Cilicia arrested for confessing the Christian faith under the governor of Cilicia, Marcian, during the reign of the emperor Maximian Galerius. They led Saint Kyriena, stripped and with shorn head, around Tarsus for ridicule, and then together with Saint Juliania they went to the city of Rosa, where they gave them over to burning
Οἱ Ἁγίες Κυριαίνα καὶ Ἰουλιανὴ οἱ Μάρτυρες
• Holy Wonderworkers and Unmercenaries COSMAS 科斯玛 and DAMIAN 达弥安 of Mesopotamiaof Asia Minor (350) and their Holy Venerabless mother THEODOTIA (also Theodata, Theodotia or Theodote) 德奥多塔 (324)
Οἱ Ἅγιοι Κοσμᾶς καὶ Δαμιανός οἱ Ἀνάργυροι καὶ Θαυματουργοί
Freely ye have received, freely give (Matthew 10:8) 爾以不費受、施人亦毋索費.
Three pairs of Unmercenary Physicians (Anargyri) named Cosmas and Damian are commemorated (today, on October 17, and on July 1); The 2 commemorated today lived near Ephesus in Asia. They were of noble birth and well-educated in all the branches of higher learning; but they turned away from worldly knowledge to practice medicine without charge for anyone who sought their help, caring for the rich as well as poor, and even for animals. They used none of the secular tools of medicine, but relied only on the Name of Christ, by which they were enabled to perform countless healings. They were called "Anargyres" i.o. Unmercenaries, because they refused to accept any return for their services.
• Hieromartyrs JOHN 约翰 the Bishop and JAMES 雅各司 the Zealot the Presbyter, of Persia (345) for their zealous sermon on Christ, were beheaded in Persia during the reign of Shapur II in the 4th Century
Οἱ Ἅγιοι Ἰωάννης καὶ Ἰάκωβος οἱ Ἱερομάρτυρες
• GWENFYL (Gwenfael) and CALLWEN at Llanddewi Brefi in Cardiganshire and Defynog in Brecknockshire (5th c.)
• Beheaded Martyrs CAESARIUS 凯撒里, DACIUS 达基, with SABBAS 萨瓦, SABINIAN 萨维尼安, AGRIPPA 阿格里帕, ADRIAN 阿德里安, and THOMAS 托玛斯 (635) suffered for Christ in Damascus during its capture by the Mohammedans
Οἱ Ἅγιοι Καισάρειος, Δάσιος οἱ Μάρτυρες καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῶν
Σάββας, Σαβινιανός, Ἀγρίππας, Ἀδριανὸς καὶ Θωμᾶς τὸ νήπιο
• Hieromartyrs CAESARIUS a deacon, and JULIAN a priest, in Terracina, and Martyrs FELIX, and EUSEBIUS
• MM CYPRIAN and JULIANE by fire
Οἱ Ἅγιοι Κυπριανὸς καὶ Ἰουλιανὴ οἱ Μάρτυρες
• DAVID the Great Komnenos and Last Emperor of Trebizond (1463) executed in Constantinople by sword together with his sons BASIL, GEORGE and MANUEL and his nephew ALEXIOS
• Venerables Martyrs JAMES 雅科弗 of Castoria a monk of Docheiariou monastery on Mt Athos (1520) suffered for the Faith at the hands of the Turks in Jedrene, with his disciples JAMES 雅科弗 the Deacon, and DIONYSIUS 迪奥尼西 of Mt Athos
Ὁ Ἅγιος Ἰάκωβος ὁ νέος Ὁσιομάρτυρας καὶ οἱ δύο μαθητές του Ἰάκωβος ὁ Διάκονος καὶ Διονύσιος ὁ Μοναχὸς
O holy and venerable James, martyr of Christ! Help me, a traveller and stranger in a strange land! Through his prayers and the prayers of them that suffered with him may we be accounted worthy of the eternal blessings of the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen.
• Hieromartyr ALEXANDER Smirnov, presbiter, priest (1875-1918)
• Hieromartyr THEODORE Remizov, presbiter, priest (1918)
• Hieromartyr Priest BASIL Luzgin (1918)
• Hieromartyr ALEXANDER Shalay, presbiter, archpriest (1879-1937) at Belorussia
• Hieromartyr DIMITRIUS Ovechkin, presbiter, Priest of Perm (1877-1937)
• Martyress ELIZABETH Samovskaya (1860-1937) at Nizhegorodsk prison
• Martyr PETER Ignatov (1904-1941) at Norilsk KZ
• Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of the Zaporizhia Eparchy (1937) in Ukraine: Hieromartyr SERGIUS Zverev, Archbishop of Elets and Melitopol • Hieroconfessor ALEXANDER Ilyenkiv • Hieroconfessor Protopresbyter DIMITRIUS Ihnatenko • Hieroconfessor Protopresbyter VICTOR Kiraniv • Hieroconfessor Protopresbyter MICHAEL Bohoslovsky • Hieromartyr Priest MATTHEW Alexandriv • Hieromartyr Priest MICHAEL Shafaniv, and his Presbytera St SOFIA • Hieroconfessor Priest ALEXIUS Usenko • Martyr STEFAN Nalyvayko
• AMABILIS (475) a priest in Tiom in Auvergne in France. He protects against fire and snakes
• Hosiosmartyr AUSTREMONIUS (Stremoine) (3rd c.) Preaching in Auvergne in France, he became the 1st Bishop of Clermont-Ferrand
May have been the first bishop of Clermont, France. Contemporary of the three bishops of Aquitaine who attended the Council of Arles in 314.
• BEGHA (Begga, Begh or Begu), Nun in Northumbria at Hacanes (Hackness) (now Yorkshire) near Whitby (660)
• Martyr BENIGNUS Apostle of Burgundy (160/272) venerated in Dijon in France from early times, over whose tomb the Cathedral of St Benignus was built
Missionary to the areas of Marseilles, Autun, and Dijon in France, sent by Saint Polycarp of Smyrna. Martyred in the persecutions of Marcus Aurelius. The people of Tours, France reverenced the grave of Benignus, but the local bishop wished to put a stop to the cult, believing the tomb to be that of a heathen who had been mistakenly identified as Benignus; he started demolition, received a vision explaining his error, and instead built a basilica over the restored sarcophagus.
• Sainted BOSO of Merseburg, Enlighteneer of faith in the Wendish North Slavs, 1st bishop of Merseburg (970)
• Translation of the relics of Hieromartyr BONIFACE Archbishop of Mainz, Enlightener of Germany (755)
• CADFAN of Wales (6th c.) born in Brittany, he went to Wales and founded several monasteries. His name is mainly linked with Towyn in Gwynedd and Bardsey Island
Sixth-century monk. Spiritual teacher of Sadwen of Wales. Emigrated from Brittany to Wales where he founded several monasteries. First abbot of Bardsey Abbey in Wales. Llangadfan, Montgomeryshire, Wales is named in his honour.
• CAOMH (Caoimhe) of Killinchy
• CAESARIUS (627) Bishop of Clermont in France
• CAILLIN (7th c.) a disciple of St Aidan of Ferns in Ireland
• CEITHO of Wales (6th c.) of 5 saint brothers, in Wales. A church in Pumpsant was dedicated to them. The church in Llangeith in Dyfed was founded by St Ceitho
• CLEDWYN (Clydwyn) of Wales (5th c.) Patron saint of Llangedwyn in Clwyd in Wales
Eldest son of Saint Brychan of Brycheiniog, and ruler of part of Brychan's kingdom.
• CLYDAI (Cymarth), Virgin of Pembrokeshire, Pat. of Cludai in Emlyn, Wales (5th c.)
• Blessed COSMAS 科斯玛 of Verkhoturye (1704)
• Venerable DAVID 达维德 of Euboea (Evia) (1600)
Ὁ Ὅσιος Δαβὶδ ὁ ἐν Εὐβοίᾳ
• DEBORAH the Prophetess
Also known as Deborah the Judge, Deborah the Matriarch, Debbora. Old Testament prophetess and judge. Married to Lapidoth. See the passage below from Judges that talks about her.
• DINGAD of Wales (5th c.) a hermit in Llandingad, i.e. Llandovery in Dyfed in Wales
Fifth century son of the chieftain Saint Brychan of Brecknock. Hermit in Llandovery, Dyfed, Wales.
• Righteous Mother DIETBURG (Dieburg, Dietbirg) of Augsburg (924)
• Virginal female FINNTINA of Cluain Guithbhinn
• FIONNTAINE (Fionntina) of Rathcore, Co. Meath
• FLORIBERT (Florbert) (660) Abbot of monasteries in Ghent, Mont-Blandin and Saint-Bavon in Belgium
Abbot of monasteries in Ghent, Mont-Blandin and Saint-Bavon in Belgium. Worked with Saint Amandus.
• GENESIUS (679) a monk at Fontenelle in France, he became chaplain at the palace of Queen Bathild and in 658 Bishop of Lyons. He reposed at the convent of Chelles near Paris
Benedictine monk. Abbot of Fontenelle. Part of the court and camp of King Clovis II. Chief almoner to Queen Saint Bathildis. Succeeded Saint Chamond as bishop and archbishop of Lyons, France in 657. Chartered the Abbey of Corbie, France. Chartered the Convent of the Blessed Virgin founded by Ebroin, mayor of the palace, and his wife Leutrude. In a conflict between Ebroin and Saint Leger, Bishop of Autun, Genesius took the bishop's side and was attacked by an armed band sent by Ebroin to expel him from Lyons. Genesius gathered his own forces and defended his city.
• GWYTHIAN of Cornwall
• GERMANUS of Montfort (906-1000) born in Montfort in France, he became a monk at the monastery of Savigny. He reposed as a hermit
Studied at Paris, France. Priest. Benedictine monk at Savigny, France. Prior of the monastery at Talloires, France. Spent the last years of his life as a hermit.
• Martyr HAROLD VI King of Dacia (Denmark), England, and Norway (980) founder of the Holy Trinity church at Roschilde
First Christian king of Denmark. When he tried to bring his pagan people to the faith they revolted and killed him. Martyr.
• New Hosiosmartyress HELEN (Elene) 艾莱尼 Bekiaris of Sinope (Sinopi) in Pontus of Asia Minor (present day Sinop in Turkey) (18th c.)
Ἡ Ἁγία Ἑλένη ἡ Παρθενομάρτυς ἐκ Σινώπης
Through the holy intercessions of the Holy Virgin Martyr Helen of Sinope, Pontos, O Christ God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen!
• Holy Martyr HERMENEGILD 埃尔密宁格尔铎 the Heir (586) Prince of the Goths of Spain
Hermenegild was the son of the Gothic King Leovigild who adhered to the Arian heresy. However, Hermenegild did not turn away from Orthodoxy in spite of all the flatteries and threats of his cruel heretical father. His father cast him into prison and, early on Pascha, sent a heretical bishop to administer Communion to him. But the God-pleaser refused to receive Communion at the hands of a heretic, and the heretical bishop informed the king about this. The king became angry and ordered the executioner to behead Hermenegild in the year 586. Leovigild later repented that he had killed his son; he renounced his heresy and returned to Orthodoxy.
• Repose of Elder HILARION of Valaam and Sarov (1841)
• Sainted LEANDROS of Sebilla, archbishop (596)
• LICINIUS (Lesin, Lezin, Lucinius) (616) of noble origin, he became a monk and was chosen Bishop of Angers in France in 586 and consecrated by St Gregory of Tours
Born to the French nobility. Count of Anjou. He gave up the title and worldly life to become a monk. Bishop of Angers, France, ordained by Saint Gregory of Tours. • VM LUMBROSA de Cea, Virgin in Sahagún (León), Spain (9th c.)
• Righteous Deacon MEIMELPH of Minden (9th c.)
• MAGNUS (Magno) of Milan (525) Archbishop of Milan, Italy from c.520 to 525
• Sainted MARCELLUS (Marceau) (396-436) Bishop of Paris in France, he was buried in the old Christian cemetery outside the walls of the city, which is now the suburb of Saint-Marceau
Ninth bishop of Paris, France. Chaired the Council of Paris in 360 - 361 which recognized the edicts of the Council of Nicaea in 325. Supported Saint Genevieve. Legend says that there was a dragon in Paris which was devouring women of "ill repute"; Marcel defeated it by striking it with his bishop's crozier.
• Virgin Martyress MARY the Slave of Rome (301)
God, whom I serve, is with me; and I fear not your torments, which can only take away a life which I desire to lay down for Jesus Christ.
Saint Mary was a slave girl in the household of a Roman patrician, Senator Tertullus. Mary, a cradle Catholic, prayed constantly and fasted frequently, especially during pagan festivals, which displeased her superstitious mistress. Her master, however, highly valued her fidelity to duty. When Diocletian issued his edicts against Christians, Tertullus repeatedly tried to convince Mary to renounce her faith, including whipping her unmercifully then locking her in a dark cellar for 30 days with nothing but bread and water. Nothing could shake her constancy. In the meantime, judgement had been rendered against Tertullus for having hidden a Christian and she had to be surrendered. The mob hearing her modest confession before the judge demanded that Mary be burned to death. She responded: "God, whom I serve, is with me; and I do not fear your torments, which can only take away a life which I desire to lay down for Jesus Christ." She was then tortured until the crowd begged for her release. The judge gave her into the custody of a soldier from whom she escaped into the mountains, where she died a happy death. She is venerated as a martyr because of her suffering during the persecution of Diocletian.
• MATHURIN (Maturinus) Confessor, French exorcist and missionary, Apostle and Patron of Gâtinais (300) born near Sens in France, he was converted and ordained by Polycarp, bishop of that city. In his turn he converted his own parents and successfully enlightened his native region
Raised a pagan; his father was even commissioned to persecute Christians by emperor Maximian. Mathurin converted at age 12. Priest at age 20, ordained by Saint Polycarp. Zealous evangelist in his region, even converting his parents. Noted exorcist, even healing Theodora, the daughter of the emperor; his ministry of dealing with the possessed led to his tradition of patronage of the mentally ill.
• PABIALI of Wales (5/6th c.) Patron-saint of Partypallai in Wales
Some sources say he was a prince, but no solid information has survived.
• PROKOPIOS
• RACHEL the Matriarch (17-18th c. BC) buried in Bethlehem
Old Testament Jewish Matriarch. Wife of the Patriach Jacob. She spent a lengthy marriage in shame over her sterility, considered a sign of God's disfavor. However, late in life she had two sons, Joseph, he of the many-coloured coat, and Benjamin.
Then God remembered Rachel; he heard her prayer and made her fruitful. She conceived and bore a son, and she said, "God has removed my disgrace." So she named him Joseph, meaning, "May the LORD add another son to this one for me!" - Genesis 30.23
• SEVERINUS (699) a monk who lived as a hermit in Tivoli in Italy. His relics are in the church of St Laurence in Tivoli
• THEODORE
• Martyress THEOLEPTE
Ἡ Ἁγία Θεολήπτη
• VIGOR (537) a disciple of St Vedast who became Bishop of Bayeux in France. Before this he had been a hermit, then a priest. He resolutely opposed paganism
Studied at Arras, France. Spiritual student of Saint Vedast of Arras. He studied for the priesthood, but found the vocation so overwhelming that he ran from it for a while. He eventually realized his vocation and was ordained. Preacher and missionary. Bishop of Bayeux, France in 513, he continued his missionary work, bringing people to the faith, building churches and monasteries.
SOLEMNITY OF ALL SAINTS
'Be holy as I am holy,' says the Lord. As Christians we are all called to holiness because we are His children. Every Christian should be a saint. Indeed, for a Christian to live in a state of sin is a monstrous contradiction. It has recently been claimed that the decline in the veneration of saints and in pilgrimages to holy places is spiritually beneficial for Christians, so that their attention will be turned exclusively towards Jesus. There is, however, a danger to the faith in attempting to become too intellectual and sophisticated, and thereby becoming too cold, methodical, and rational. In the face of the divine mysteries and matters that are beyond human comprehension our minds should be kept open. The saints are like so many little mirrors in which Jesus Christ sees Himself. In His apostles He sees His zeal and love for the salvation of souls; in the martyrs He sees His constancy, suffering, and painful death; in the hermits He sees His obscure and hidden life; in the virgins He sees His spotless purity; and in all the saints He sees His unbounded charity. And when we honor the virtues of the saints, we are but worshipping the virtues of Jesus Christ. We render God a worship of adoration and dependence with faith, hope, love, and a profound humbling of our souls before His supreme Majesty. We honor the saints with a feeling of respect and veneration for the favors God granted them, for the virtues they practiced, and for the glory with which God has crowned them in heaven. We commend ourselves to their prayers. It is a most precious grace that God should have destined the saints to be our protectors and our friends. The honor we give them is less a glory for them than a help to us, and that we may call upon them with full confidence because they know how greatly we are exposed to dangers on earth, for they remember the perils that they themselves had to face during their lifetimes. The friendship that binds us to all the saints, and which is encouraged and commemorated by the feast-days of the Church, is not the invention of a handful of bigots or a commercial stunt manufactured by merchants of religious medallions. The communion of saints answers a definite need, and insofar as we neglect any one of the forms of spiritual life we are cutting ourselves off from a source of divine grace and making ourselves just a little blinder than we are already. We too can be saints and we must all strive to become so. The saints were mortals like us, weak and subject to the passions, as we are. We have the same help, the same means of grace, the same sacraments, but we must be like them and renounce the pleasures of the world, shunning the evils of the world as much as we can and remaining faithful to grace. We must take the saints as our models or be damned, that we must live either for heaven or for hell. There is no middle way.
The Church has celebrated some feast in honor of the saints from the period of primitive Christianity. There is tentative evidence of the celebration to honor all the martyrs in the writings of Tertullian (died 223) and Gregory of Nyssa (died 395). It was definitely observed at the time of Saint Ephraem (died 373), who in the Nisibene Hymnus mentions a feast kept in honor of "the martyrs of all the earth" on May 13. It should be noted that on May 13, c. 609, Saint Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon of Rome in honor of our Lady and all martyrs ― another instance of something pagan baptized by Christianity for a new purpose dedicated to God. The Venerable Bede says that the pope designed that "the memory of all the saints might in future be honored in the place which had formerly been devoted to the worship, not of gods, but of demons." By 411 as indicated in the Syriac Short Martyrology, throughout the Syrian Church the Friday in the Octave of Easter was celebrated as the feast of "all the martyrs." Since at least the time of Saint John Chrysostom (died 407), the Byzantine churches have kept a feast of all the martyrs on the Sunday after Pentecost (Chrysostom, A panegyric of all the martyrs that have suffered throughout the world). We are not quite sure how November 1 came to be commemorated in honor of all the saints in the West. We do know that by AD 800, Blessed Alcuin was in the habit of keeping the solemnitas sanctissima of All Saints on November 1, preceded by a three-day fast. His friend Bishop Arno of Salzburg had presided over a synod in Bavaria (Germany) which included that day in its list of holy days (Walsh). Why has the Church included such a day in its calendar? To honor all the saints ― known and unknown to us ― reigning together in glory; to give thanks to God for the graces with which He crowns all the elect; to excite ourselves to humble imitation of their virtues; to implore the Divine Mercy through the help of these intercessors; and to repair any failures in not having properly honored God in His saints on their individual feast days. It is our interest to honor the memory of the saints, not theirs. Would you know how it is our interest? from the remembrance of them I feel, I confess, a triple vehement desire kindled in my breast ― of their company, of their bliss, and of their intercession. First, of their company. To think of the saints is in some measure to see them. Thus we are in part, and this the better part of ourselves, in the land of the living, provided our affection goes along with our thoughts or remembrance: yet not as they are. The saints are there present, and in their persons; we are there only in affection and desires. Ah! when shall we join our fathers? when shall we be made the fellow-citizens of the blessed spirits, of the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, and virgins? when shall we be mixed in the choir of the saints? The remembrance of each one among the saints is, as it were, a new spark, or rather torch, which sets our souls more vehemently on fire, and makes us ardently sigh to behold and embrace them, so that we seem to ourselves even now to be amongst them. And from this distant place of banishment we dart our affections sometimes towards the whole assembly, sometimes towards this, and sometimes that happy spirit. What sloth is it that we do not launch our souls into the midst of those happy troops, and burst hence by continual sighs! The church of the first-born waits for us; yet we loiter. The saints earnestly long for our arrival; yet we despise them. Let us with all the ardor of our souls prevent those who are expecting us; let us hasten to those who are waiting for us. Secondly, we can mention the desire of their bliss; and, lastly, the succor of their intercession, and add: "Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you, my friends. You know our danger, our frail mould, our ignorance, and the snares of our enemies; you know our weakness, and the fury of their assaults. For I speak to you who have been under the like temptation; who have overcome the like assaults; have escaped the like snares; and have learned compassion from what you yourselves have suffered. ― We are members of the same Head. ― Your glory is not to be consummated without us." He who was powerful on earth is more powerful in heaven, where he stands before the face of his Lord. And if he had compassion on sinners, and prayed for them while he lived on earth, he now prays to the Father for us so much the more earnestly as he more truly knows our extreme necessities and miseries; his blessed country has not changed, but increased his charity. Though now impassible, he is not a stranger to compassion: by standing before the throne of mercy, he has put on the tender bowels of mercy.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
愿上帝怜恤我罪人
O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
for the sake of the prayers
of Thy most pure Mother,
our holy and God-bearing fathers and all the saints, have mercy on us.
Amen.
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Blessed be God.
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