συνοδικός
December 30 / December 17
2018 (7527)
HOLY PROPHET DANIEL (600 B.C.) AND THE THREE HOLY YOUTHS: ANANIAS, AZARIAS, AND MISAEL. ST. DANIEL THE CONFESSOR (IN SCHEMA STEPHEN) (10TH C.)
Nativity (St Philip's) Fast
THE SUNDAY OF THE HOLY FOREFATHERS // DEC 11-17 //
These are the ancestors of Christ according to the flesh, who lived before the Law and under the Law, especially the Patriarch Abraham, to whom God said, “In thy seed shall all of the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:3, 22:18).
Rose window in Basilica of St Denis, France, depicting the ancestors of Jesus from Jesse.
• Holy Prophet DANIEL 但以理 thrown into a lions' den; and the 3 Holy Youths of Babylon: ANANIAS 阿纳尼雅, AZARIAS阿匝里雅 and MISAEL 弥萨伊尔 thrown into the white-hot furnace (600 B.C.) remaining intact in the middle of the flames, they glorified God by the beautiful hymn that the liturgy has inserted into the 7th and 8th Odes of the stichologia
Ὁ Προφήτης Δανιὴλ καὶ τὰ τρία παιδιὰ Ἀνανίας, Ἀζαρίας καὶ Μισαὴλ
According to tradition, these 4 God-pleasers arose at the time of the death of the Lord Christ, appeared to many and again fell asleep. Their captors also gave them Babylonian names, by which they are also called: Shadrach, Abed-nego, and Meshak, respectively. Daniel is numbered among the 4 great prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel). Daniel was given the Babylonian name Belteshazzar.
• Hieromartyrs PATERMUTHIUS 帕特尔穆提, COPRIUS 科普里 and Martyr ALEXANDER 亚历山大 the Soldier of Egypt (361)
Οἱ Ἅγιοι Πατερμούθιος, Κόπρις καὶ Ἀλέξανδρος οἱ Ὁσιομάρτυρες
• MM THECLA (Teckla) at Antione or Ansena (Al-Hamra in Cahira) and her brother ISA (Isaias, Isi or Esi Paisi), at Alexandria (3-4th c.)
• GM BARBARA (Varvara) and M JULIANA (Juliane, Julia or Gillian) at Heliopolis in Syria (present day Baalbek in Lebanon) (3-4th c.)
• 60 Martyrs of Eleutheropolis (Beit Jibrin), Palestine (638) ABRAHAM, CALAOICUS, CIRIACUS, CONÓN, EPIFANIUS, EUGENE, FLORIAN, GEORGE (9 with this name), JOHN (10 with this name), MARINO, MARMISES, MUSELIO, PAUL (3 with this name), PAULINO, PHILOXENUS, PHOTINO, STEPHEN (2 with this name), TEODOSIO, TEOPENTO, THEODORE (5 with this name), THOMAS and ZITAS (2 with this name)
Approximately 60 Christian soldiers in the imperial Roman army of emperor Heraclius; they were murdered as a group for their faith by invading Saracen Muslims. We know little more than the names of some of them.
• ATHANASIUS 阿塔纳西, NICHOLAS 尼科拉, and ANTHONY 安托尼 disciples of Athanasius the Athonite and founders of Vatopedi monastery, Mt Athos (10th c.)
• Venerable Hosiosmartyrs PAISIUS 帕伊西 abbot igumen of the Annunciation monastery in Travna near Èaèak in Serbia, and his companion and deacon HABAKKUK 阿瓦库穆, and those more than 100 Serbians with them (1814) at Belgrade
• Hieromartyr ALEXANDER Savelov, presbiter, priest (1918) day of martyrdom, shoted and cuted by sabers at Perm region
• Hieromartyr NICHOLAS Bel’tükov, presbiter, archpriest (1918) day of martyrdom, shoted and cuted by sabers at Perm region
• Hieromartyr SERGIUS Florinskij, presbiter, archpriest (1873-1918) day of martyrdom, shoted in Palermo forest and graved at city cemetery in Rakver of Eesti (Estonia)
• Hieromartyr PETR Pokrovskij, presbiter, priest (1872-1937) day of martyrdom, shoted at Pavlodar region of South Kazakhstan
• Hieromartyr IOANN Zeml’anoj, presbiter, priest (1867-1937) day of martyrdom, shoted at Pavlodar region of South Kazakhstan
• Repose of Hieroschemamonk DANIEL (Sandu Tudor), poet of Romania (1962)
• Repose of lay elder PANAGIS of Ilami, Cyprus (1989)
Ὁ Ἅγιος Ἴακχος ὁ Μάρτυρας
• BEGGA (Beggha, Bee or Bees), Matr., W., Fndr. of Andenne Monastery on the Meuse, Belgium (698)
Daughter of St Pepin of Landen and St Ida and sister of 2 other saints. She married Angisilus (Ansegis), son of St Arnulf of Metz. After her husband's death St Begga founded a convent in Andenne on the Meuse in Belgium where she was abbess.
• BEES (Bee, Begha or Begga), Abs. of Killbees (Kilbeg), Scotland (7th c.)
• BRIEUC (Brioch, Briach, Sant Brieg in Breton) of Brittany (627) born in Ireland, he became a monk in Wales with St Tudwal, whom he accompanied to Brittany. He built a monastery in Guingamp and reposed in Bourbiac
Born to the Irish nobility. Monk in Wales. Friend and evangelist with Saint Tudwal. Priest. He founded a monastery in Guingamp, Brittany, France, and served as its first abbot. Pilgrim to Rome.
• CRUNNMAEL of Iona
• Venerable Hieroconfessor DANIEL (Dunale) 但以理 (received the great schema with the name Stephen 斯特梵) a nobleman and governor of the island of Nivertum near Cadiz in Spain (956) mistreated by the Saracens, who forced him to shave off his beard, he withdrew to Egypt, where he endured much suffering for his refusal to accept Islam, and finally died for the name of Christ, perished as a martyr under the Saracens
Ὁ Ὅσιος Στέφανος ὁ Ὁμολογητής
• Sainted DIONYSIUS 迪奥尼西 of Zakynthos, archbishop of Aegina (1622)
Ὁ Ἅγιος Διονύσιος ὁ Θαυματουργός ὁ ἐκ Ζακύνθου, Ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Αἰγίνης
He excelled above all in love of neighbour and in meekness. One day the murderer of the Saint's own brother, fleeing the law and the members of his victim's family, arrived at the monastery and begged Dionysius for asylum, little knowing to whom he was speaking. On gathering the reason for his flight and that his own brother was the victim, the man of God resisted with all his strength his natural grief and the temptation to avenge the crime. Imitating Christ, who pardoned his enemies and prayed for his persecutors, he received the fugitive with compassion, comforted him, exhorted him to repent and hid him in an out-of-the-way cell. When his pursuing kinsmen reached the monastery with the dreadful news, the Saint did not reveal that he knew it already, but did his best with words of peace to allay the wrath of his relatives and their desire for vengeance. As soon as they moved off, he let out the murderer (who was amazed and terror-struck before such superhuman goodness) and having provided him with victuals and money for his journey, he sent him away to work freely at the salvation of his soul.
• DONELLA (Donela or Donell)
• EIGIL (Aeigilus) (822) a monk at Fulda in Germany, he became Abbot there in 817 • Repose of Venerable Elder HADJI GEORGE of Mt Athos (1886)
• JOHN Bishop of Sardia (9th c.)
• VM JOLENDIS (Yolendis or Yolaine) at Pleine-Selve, Diocese of Soissons (4th c.)
• JUDICÄEL (Gaël, Gaëlle, Gicquel, Giguel, Giquel, Iudicael, Iudicallus, Jekel, Jezek, Jezekael, Jezekel, Jikael, Jikel, Jude, Judhael, Judhaël, Judhel, Judiakel, Judicaël, Juhel, Juzel, Jézéquel) (658/698) King of Brittany, much loved by his people. After a victorious reign he abdicated and spent the last 20 years of his life in the monastery of Gäel near Vannes
• LAZARUS of Bethany also known as Lazarus of the Four Days or Lazarus the Resurrected
The brother of Saint Martha and Saint Mary of Bethany. He was the man whom Jesus raised from the dead after having been dead and in his tomb for four days. The Bible does not trace his history after the miracle, but tradition says he became a missionary to Gaul, the first bishop of Marseilles, France, and a martyr in the persecutions of Domitian. Died beheaded in the 1st century in a cave near Marseilles, France.
• MAXENTIOLUS (Mezenceul) (5th c.) a disciple of St Martin of Tours in France, he founded Our Lady of Cunault
• MISAEL 弥撒伊尔 of Abalatsk, hieromonk (1797)
• New Martyr NICETAS 尼基塔 of Nyssa (1300)
Ὁ Ἅγιος Νικήτας ὁ Νέος
• OLYMPIAS (Olympia or Olympiada) of Constantinople, Deaconess (408)
Born to a wealthy Constantinople noble family. Orphaned as a child. Married to Nebridius, prefect of Constantinople. Widowed, she refused several offers of marriage, and devoted herself to the Church. Deaconess. She led a non-cloistered group of prayerful women in her home, and devoted herself to charity. She built a hospital and orphanage, sheltered monks expelled from Nitria, and gave away so much of her wealth that her friend, Saint John Chrysostom, told her she was over-doing. In 404, due to her support of Saint John, she was persecuted, her community disbanded, her house seized and sold, and she spent the rest of her days in exile in Nicomedia.
• Venerable STURMIUS (Sturm, Sturmi) 斯图尔穆 Abbot in Fulda (779)
As a child he was entrusted to St Boniface and brought up in the monastery of Fritzlar in Germany. Ordained, he was sent to enlighten the Saxons. He went to find a suitable site for a monastery in central Germany and chose Fulda. Sturm then went to Montecassino and on his return became Abbot of Fulda. Dearly loved by his monks, Sturm is considered as second only to Boniface as Apostle of Germany.
• TETTA (Thetta) Abbess of double monastery of Wimborne, Dorset (745-772) prepared many religious, who answered the call of Saint Boniface (f.d. June 5) for helpers in the mission field
• TYDECHO (Dudec, Thudec, Thudoc, Tudec, Tudes, Tudoc) of Merionethshire (6th c.) Brother of St Cadfan in Wales. He and his sister lived in Gwynedd. Several churches are dedicated to him
THE SUNDAY OF THE HOLY FOREFATHERS
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
'Many are called but few are chosen'. So says Christ in today's Gospel. If we think of the knowledge of God conserved among different peoples in the world before Christ, these words have a special significance.
Some peoples conserved a dim memory of events of the human past. In Australia the Aborigenes kept a vague memory of how God created the world perfect, which they call the 'Dreamtime'.
All over the world, from Asia to South America, some 120 different peoples and cultures have kept the memory of a great, universal flood, which is known to us in detail through Noah.
In India the Hindus long ago kept an intuition of a Trinitarian God, but among them their knowledge of God became so twisted that their trinity is a trinity of destructive gods.
Other peoples fell even further and began worshipping stones and trees, rivers and mountains, mistaking creation for the Creator. For instance, in this country, thousands of years before Christ, the 'cleverest' people, not unlike some today, worshipped the stars, as we can see from the great astronomical monument that they built and called Stonehenge. At that time in Egypt too the cleverest people built huge Pyramids to worship the Sun, and through which they believed that their leaders, the Pharoahs, would become stars.
Other peoples altogether gave up on ever knowing God and declared that the way ahead consisted in following the wisest men of their cultures, Buddha in India, or Confucius in China.
In Ancient Greece, the wisest men declared that men could never know God unless God first revealed Himself to man and in Athens they set up an altar to 'the Unknown God'.
Many were called but few were chosen, for among all these peoples and cultures, there were representatives of one people who conserved the true history of mankind. This people were the Jews, the ancient Hebrews, the chosen people, and today we commemorate all the righteous among them, our forefathers and foremothers in the Faith. From Adam and Eve on, there were among that people righteous and holy men and women. In their lives they prefigured the life of Christ and foresaw Christ.
ABEL, who was murdered by his brother Cain, is a prefiguration of Christ, who was also murdered by men.
MELCHIZEDEK the priest is the prefiguration of Christ the High Priest.
ENOCH and ELIJAH, who were taken up to heaven, prefigure Christ Who was also taken up to heaven.
NOAH, whose family alone survived the Flood, is a prefiguration of the baptism of purification given to us by Christ.
JOB the long-suffering prefigures the longsuffering of Christ.
ABRAHAM, who was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac, prefigures the sacrifice that God the Father made with His Son.
JACOB prefigures Christ, for he saw the ladder that connects earth to heaven, enabling heaven to come down to earth and earth to rise up to heaven.
JOSEPH, who was betrayed by his twelve brothers, prefigures Christ who was betrayed by His disciples.
MOSES, the leader of his people, who was given the great revelation of the Ten Commandments, unsurpassed until Christ gave us the Beatitudes, prefigures Christ, for Moses saw the burning bush unconsumed, which is the Virgin's womb, which was unconsumed by the fire of Christ.
JOSHUA, whose name is the same as Christ's, that is Jesus, the Saviour, prefigures Jesus the Deliverer of His people.
DAVID, related by blood to Christ, saw Christ in the Psalms which he wrote down. SOLOMON expressed the Wisdom of God in his Books of Wisdom.
The Prophet DANIEL saw the Holy Trinity through the Three Holy Youths in the furnace of Babylon.
The Prophet ISAIAH saw Christ the suffering Servant.
The Prophet JONAH prefigures the three-day burial of Christ through his three-day stay in the belly of the whale.
All these holy forefathers together with our holy foremothers, SARAH, REBECCA, RUTH, DEBORAH and many, many more, whose icons are all on the back wall of our church, which is devoted to the righteous of the Old Testament, all these we commemorate today. All these are in fact our spiritual family, for they saw, long before we were born, the One Whom we confess, Christ our true God Who is Risen from the dead.
Let us in these last few days before the celebration of the Birth of the Saviour on earth, read one, or at least one part, of their writings, for example, in the Book of Genesis, the Book of Exodus, the Book of Proverbs, or simply the Psalms, and let us renew our links with our ancestors in the Orthodox Faith.
Holy Forefathers and Foremothers of Christ, pray to God for us!
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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