• συνοδικός • December 16 / December 3 • Nativity Fast •

συνοδικός

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December 16 / December 3
2018 (7527)
PROPHET ZEPHANIAH (SOPHONIAS) (635 B.C.). VEN THEODULUS, EPARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE (440). VEN JOHN THE SILENT OF ST SABBAS’ MONASTERY (558). HIEROMARTYR THEODORE, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA (606)
Nativity (St Philip's) Fast

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• The blood-gusher PAKHROMSKAJA Icon of Theotokos (of Pakhra at Moskow) (1472)
● • MM CLAUDIUS the Tribune; HILARIA (Hilara or Hillaire) his wife; their sons JASON (Iason) and MAURUS (Maris, Mavros or Mauros); and 70 soldiers; at Rome (3rd c.)
• Martyrs CLAUDIUS, CRISPIN, MAGINA, JOHN and STEPHEN in North Africa
• BHERAN (Verand, Veran or Veranus) and his 3 sisters and 5 brothers, Hermits on the Marne (6th c.)
• Martyrs AGAPIUS, SELEUCUS, and MAMAS (Mamant), INDUS (Indes, Indis), DOMNA, GLYCERIUS, and 40 Martyrs, in Sofianá by sword
Οἱ Ἅγιοι Ἀγάπιος, Σελεῦκος, Μάμας, Ἰνδῆς, Δόμνα, Γλυκέριος καὶ 40 Μάρτυρες ἐν Σοφιαναῖς
• Martyr BARISIAS and Martyress MELANA
● NEW MARTYRS AND CONFESSORS in the 20th century
• Hieromartyr ANDREW Kosovkij, presbiter, archpriest, of Crimea(1878-1920) day of martyrdom, shoted in Theodosia of Crimea
• Venerabless PARASCEVA Rodimtseva, Abbess of Toplovsk Convent in Simferopol (1849-1928)
• New Hieromartyr NICHOLAS Jershov, presbiter, Priest of Yaroslavl-Rostov (1888-1937) day of death in prison of Yaroslavl’
• Day of death Confessor JEGOR (George) Sedov, church warden in Tutajev of Yaroslavl’ (1883-1960) spiritual son, trustee and helper of Bishop Athanasij Sakharov
• Commemoration of Nun RAFAILA (Nina Chernetskaja, nun Seraphima) of Zhytomir (2005) Foundress and 1st Abbess of St Anastasia the Roman Convent
● • ABBO (860) a monk and Abbot of St Germain in Auxerre in France. He became Bishop of Auxerre in 857
• M AGRICOLA of Pannonia
• New Martyr ANGELIS of Chios (1813) formerly a Physican of Argos, Fool for Christ
Ὁ Ἅγιος Ἀγγελὴς ὁ Νεομάρτυρας γιατρὸς ἀπὸ τὸ Ἄργος
• ATTALA (Attalia) niece of St Ottilia, she became a nun and Abbess of St Stephen’s at Strasbourg, France (697-741)
• BIRINUS Apostle of Wessex (650) born in Lombardy in Italy, he was consecrated Bishop in Genoa and sent to England. Here he converted Cynegils, King of Wessex, and was given Dorchester in Oxfordshire as his see
• M CASSIAN (298) a court recorder, Cassian was taking down the Acts of the proceedings at the trial of St Marcellus at Tangier in North Africa. Indignant at the injustice done to the martyr, he threw down his pen and declared himself to be Orthodox. He was arrested and a few weeks later he too suffered martyrdom
• Monkmartyr COSMAS of St Anne Skete, Mt Athos (1760) executed in Constantinople on December 3, when he refused to convert to Islam
• ELOQUIUS (Eloque) (660) Disciple and Successor of St Fursey as Abbot of Lagny in France
• Righteous EMMA von Lesum, today Burglesum in Bremen (1038)
• ETHERNAN born in Scotland, he became a bishop in Ireland, returning to preach the Gospel in Scotland
• New Hieromartyr GABRIEL II of Constantinople, previously Bishop of Ganos, at Prusa (1659)
Ὁ Ἅγιος Γαβριὴλ ὁ Ἱερομάρτυρας Πατριάρχης Κωνσταντινουπόλεως
• Venarable Archimandrite GEORGE of Cernica and Caldarushani, Romania (1730-1806) a disciple of St Paisius Velichkovsky (Nov 15)
• Martyress GLYCERIA
• Bishop ILARION Hrihorovish, Native of Chernigov, Monk of the Kiev-Bratsky Monastery (1759)
• Sainted bishop JOHN the Silent (the Hesychast), of the Monastery of St Sava the Sanctified near Jerusalem, Bishop of Colonia (558)
Ὁ Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Ἡσυχαστής, Ἐπίσκοπος Κολωνίας
God hears the prayers of the righteous and fulfills them, sometimes immediately and completely, and at other times only later, at the appropriate time and according to the needs of the Church. In other words, in fulfilling the prayers of the righteous man, God has in mind either the man's salvation or the good of the whole Church. St John the Silent prayed to God to reveal to him how the soul separates from the body at death. While still at prayer, he was taken outside himself and had the following vision: A good man died in front of a church in Bethlehem, and angels took his soul from his body and carried it to heaven with sweet singing. Coming to himself out of his ecstasy, John immediately set out on the road from the Monastery of St Sava the Sanctified to Bethlehem. When he reached Bethlehem, he saw the dead body of the man exactly as he had seen it in his vision.
When the great St Sava the Sanctified died, John grieved and wept. Sava appeared to him in a vision and said: "Do not grieve, Father John, for even though I am separated from you in the body, nevertheless I am with you in the spirit." Then John begged him: "Father, pray to the Lord to take me with you." To this Sava replied: "For now, this cannot be. A great trial has yet to befall the Lavra, and God wants you to remain in the body to comfort and strengthen the faithful against the heretics." At first, John did not know what kind of heretics the holy father had spoken of, but he found out later, when the heresy of Origen began to shake the Church of God.
• LUCIUS (200) a noble (king or chieftain) in Britain. According to tradition, he asked that missionaries be sent to Britain and they founded the dioceses of London and Llandaff
• Abbot MACCOIGE (Mac-óige) of Lis-mór-Mochuda (Lismore)
• MIROCLES (318) Archbishop of Milan in Italy, he helped develop the Ambrosian liturgy and church singing
• MOSES the Steward, confessor
• Monk NEOPHYTES
• Venerable Abbot SAVA of Zvenigorod and Storozhev, Wonderworker (1407) a disciple of St Sergius of Radonezh
• Righteous Presbiter and Hermit SOLA (Sol, Solus, Suolo) of Fulda (794) a monk and priest from England who followed St Boniface to Germany and lived as a hermit first near Fulda later near Eichstätt. Finally he settled on a piece of land where he founded the monastery called Solnhofen as a dependency of Fulda
• Hieromartyr THEODORE Archbishop of Alexandria (606) ridiculed and tortured by the pagans. They placed a crown of thorns on his head and finally beheaded him for his Faith
Ὁ Ἅγιος Θεόδωρος ὁ Ἱερομόναχος Ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Ἀλεξανδρείας
Following the death of Patriarch Theodore, the throne of Alexandria remained vacant until 611, when Saint John the Merciful came to occupy the throne.
• Venerable eparch THEODULUS, withdrew from Constantinople to a pillar near Ephesus (440)
Ὁ Ὅσιος Θεόδουλος ὁ ἀπὸ Ἐπάρχων
Theodulus was an eminent patrician at the court of Theodosius the Great. After the death of his wife, he renounced the vanity of the world and withdrew from Constantinople to a pillar near Ephesus, where he lived a life of asceticism for thirty years.
• Venerable monk THEODULUS the Cyprian, Fool for Christ
Ὁ Ὅσιος Θεόδουλος ὁ Κύπριος
• Archimandrite THEOPHANES of Novoezersk Monastery in Novgorod (1832)
• VERANUS of Ireland (8th c.) brother of St Gibrian, St Helan, St Tressan, St Abran, St Petran, St Germain, St Promptia, St Franca, and St Possena. Spiritual student of St Remigus and St Gibrian. Hermit on the River Marne
• Holy Prophet ZEPHANIAH (Sophonias) of 12 Minor prophets (635-605 B.C.)
Ὁ Προφήτης Σοφονίας
His name means "The Lord Protects" or "The Lord's watch-post."
Saint Sophonia prophesied around the end of the 7th century B.C., concerning Jerusalem, the end of Israel, the conversion and salvation of the Gentiles, the rejection of the ungodly, the glorification of the Just, and the general judgment of every creature.

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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.