συνοδικός
April 12 / March 30
2018 (7526)
Bright Week • Διακαινήσιμος Ἑβδομάς
Bright Thursday (2018)
On Bright Thursday the Gospel reading is John 3:1-15, which mentions the Pharisee Nicodemus who came by night to speak to Christ. The Lord told him that a man could not see the Kingdom of God unless he were born again. Nicodemus, taking Him much too literally, could not understand how such a thing was possible. The Savior then clarified His words, saying that one must be born “of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5), referring to Baptism. Nicodemus, however, still found it difficult to understand Him. The Lord said, “If I have told you of earthly things, and you believe not, how shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things?” (John 3:12). The reading from Acts 2:38-41 also speaks of Baptism. Saint Peter told the crowd, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you... and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). The main focus of today’s readings is on Baptism, but they also point to other things. We are to raise our mind and understanding from earthly to heavenly things, and to seek the gift of the Holy Spirit.
• The Meeting of the Mother of God and Saint Elizabeth
The Meeting of the Most Holy Theotokos and Saint Elizabeth. The establishment of this Feast and the composition of the Service are the work of Archimandrite Antonin Kapustin (1894), head of the Russian Orthodox Mission in Jerusalem. The Gorneye Convent in Jerusalem, built on the site of the Meeting of the Theotokos and Saint Elizabeth, celebrates this Feast on March 30. If March 30 should fall between Lazarus Saturday and Pascha, however, the Feast is transferred to Bright Friday.
• Panagia KAMARIOTISSA in Samothraki // BRIGHT THURSDAY //
In the village of Kamariotissa in Samothraki (Samothrace), at the port of the island in the Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos, is found the icon of Panagia Kamariotissa. It is honored and celebrated annually on the Thursday of Bright Week. The icon was discovered some time during the days of Iconoclasm on the island on the Thursday of Bright Week that year. It is estimated to have been found in the first or second decade of the ninth century. One morning some fishermen were gathered in the cove in the northwest of the island where there is the current port, and as they engaged in arranging the nets they saw on the horizon a bright light without seeing anything floating in the sea. As time passed the light became more intense, and with their growing curiosity and surprise, as they could not explain what the light was they were seeing, it gradually approached them. It finally occurred to the fisherman to take their boats out to solve the mystery of the light. In one boat there were two men and in the other a man rowed to the light by himself, which was about a half mile away. They followed each other at a short distance. When they reached approximately a hundred fathoms from land they stopped rowing awaiting for the light to approach them. And this is what happened. The illuminated object came to them and stopped in between the two boats. As they looked closely they saw a sealed canister. The boat with two fishermen took the canister, with one fisherman holding it while the other led them to shore. The other boat followed, full of suspense. They reached shore, tied their boats, and gathered around the canister curious what treasure it contained. Indeed they found a priceless treasure, when they saw that it contained an icon of the Theotokos holding the child Jesus in her arms. It bore the name "Panagia Kamariotissa". Great awe and joy seized the fishermen. They glorified the Mother of God and the All-Good God. After venerating the icon they brought it in the middle of the night to their poor homes. The three boatmen revealed to everyone the circumstance of the discovery, and everyone considered it a miracle. They even related how when their boats stopped in the middle of the sea, it was because their hands became paralyzed and they could not row anymore. The names of the three fishermen, according to tradition, are Paul and his younger brother Raxi, the latter of the two being the one who carried the canister to shore; the third was named Lambros. That afternoon during lunch they discussed where to house the icon. Instead of it being kept in one of their homes, they decided instead to build a small church forty steps above the area where they found it, since there were ruins of an old church there already. They named it Panagia Kamariotissa and its celebration was done annually on the Thursday of Bright Week. Since then all the people of the island began celebrating "the feast of Kamariotissa". These fishermen together with the help of others on the island, despite their daily occupations, made it a point to always keep an oil lamp burning before this miraculous icon. In turn many miracles over the centuries have occurred for the inhabitants of the island. The Theotokos has truly become the protectress of the island.
The Holy Apostles Sosthenes, Apollos, Cephas, Caesar and Epaphroditus of the Seventy. Saint Sosthenes was head of the Corinthian synagogue before his conversion. The Apostle Paul converted him to Christianity and made him his helper in his work. In addressing the Corinthian church, Saint Paul sent greetings from both of them: "Paul, by the will of God called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, and brother Sosthenes..." (1 Cor.1:1). Afterwards, Saint Sosthenes was made bishop at Colophon (Asia Minor). These holy apostles are also commemorated on December 8 and the Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles on January 4.
• MM EULALIA, VICTOR and others at Asta
• VMM at Byzantium (251)
• MM DOMNINUS, PHILOCALUS, ACHAICUS, PALOTINUS suffered martyrdom at Thessalonica (304) under Maximian Herculius
• MM VICTOR & Companions about 10 others (286/305)
• MM at Constantinople slain by Macedonius the Heresiarch (351)
• Repose of Righteous MATRONA (also Matronushka the Barefoot, schemanun Mary) Mylnikova, Eldress of St Petersburg (1814-1911) Fool for Christ
• Hosiosmartyress Righteous nun Mother MARIA 玛利亚 (Elisabeth Pilenko and Kuzmina-Karavajeva, Mary Skobtsova) of Paris, who suffered at Ravensbrück concentration camp, Germany (1891-1945) noblewoman, poet, nun, and member of the French Resistance during World War II
• Hieromartyr BENJAMIN the Deacon (424) of Persia
• CLINIUS of Pontecorvo (5th c.) a Greek monk at Montecassino in Italy. He became Abbot of St Peter's near Pontecorvo, where his relics were venerated
He was the superior of the daughter-house of Santo-Pietro-della-Foresta, near Pontecorvo, where he is venerated as patron.
• COLMAN Son of Ronan
• Translation of the relics of the Martyr King EDMUND of East Anglia (870)
King of East Anglia, born about 840; died at Hoxne, Suffolk, 20 November, 870. The earliest and most reliable accounts represent St Edmund as descended from the preceding kings of East Anglia, though, according to later legends, he was born at Nuremberg (Germany), son to an otherwise unknown King Alcmund of Saxony. Though only about fifteen years old when crowned in 855, Edmund showed himself a model ruler from the first, anxious to treat all with equal justice, and closing his ears to flatterers and untrustworthy informers. In his eagerness for prayer he retired for a year to his royal tower at Hunstanton and learned the whole Psalter by heart, in order that he might afterwards recite it regularly. In 870 he bravely repulsed the two Danish chiefs Hinguar and Hubba who had invaded his dominions. They soon returned with overwhelming numbers, and pressed terms upon him which as a Christian he felt bound to refuse. In his desire to avert a fruitless massacre, he disbanded his troops and himself retired towards Framlingham; on the way he fell into the hands of the invaders. Having loaded him with chains, his captors conducted him to Hinguar, whose impious demands he again rejected, declaring his religion dearer to him than his life. His martyrdom took place in 870 at Hoxne in Suffolk. After beating him with cudgels, the Danes tied him to a tree, and cruelly tore his flesh with whips. Throughout these tortures Edmund continued to call upon the name of Jesus, until at last, exasperated by his constancy, his enemies began to discharge arrows at him. This cruel sport was continued until his body had the appearance of a porcupine, when Hinguar commanded his head to be struck off. From his first burial-place at Hoxne his relics were removed in the tenth century to Beodricsworth, since called St Edmundsbury, where arose the famous abbey of that name.
• EUBULA (also Euboule or Euboula) 艾弗福利 of Nicomedia, mother of St Panteleimon (304)
Saint Euboula lived during the reign of Emperor Maximian (286-305), and was from the city of Nicomedia (currently called Izmit, in northern Turkey near the Black Sea). She was the wife of a Greek pagan named Eustorgios, while she was from a family of Christians. Saint Panteleimon was born to her, and she raised him to love God. She reposed in peace, and today her marble tomb is located in the Cave of the Magi under the Monastery of Saint Theodosios the Cenobiarch to the east of Bethlehem, along with the tombs of 35 other renowned Saints.
• FERGUS of Downpatrick (6th c.) Bishop of Downpatrick in Ireland
• VM JARIA of Nisibis (Sibapolis) in Mesopotamia (305)
• Prophet 先知 JOAD 约阿德 (I Kings 13:11) (10th c. B.C.) who dwelt in Bethel
• Prophet JOEL (800 B.C.) // OCT 19 //
Ὁ Ἅγιος Ἰωὴλ ὁ Προφήτης
• JOHN 约翰 the Hermit of Cilicia (4th c.)
Ὁ Ὅσιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Ἀσκητὴς
• JOHN of the Well, from Kybistra (now Eregli) in Central Asia Minor
• JOHN 约翰 the Silent (John Hesychastes) Bishop of Colonia (Taxara) in Armenia, and later a monk of St Sabbas Monastery (558) // DEC 3 //
Saint John the Silent Bishop of the city of Colonia, was a model of a good Christian life for his flock. Persecuted by the governor, he was deprived of the archbishop’s cathedra and went to the monastery of Saint Sava the Sanctified, where he was glorified in ascetic deeds of silence, prayer, and desert-dwelling. The monk died at age 104.
• JOHN 约翰 Climacus 天梯 of Sinai, author of "The Ladder of Divine Ascent" (649)
Ὁ Ὅσιος Ἰωάννης τῆς Κλίμακος
约安•克里马库斯是《天梯》的作者。约安在16岁那年来到西奈山修行，并留在那里。起初，约安作为初学修士听从指导，继而隐居起来，最后约安成为西奈山修道院院长，直到公元563年80岁高龄之际离世为止。约安的传记作者达尼伊尔修士这样描述约安：“他的身体登上了西奈山高处，而他的灵魂却登上了天国的高度。”约安听从他精神导师马尔蒂里乌斯的指导长达19年的时间。西奈的阿纳斯塔西看到年轻的约安之后预言说，他将会成为西奈山修道院院长。在约安的精神导师离世之后，约安隐退到了山洞中，在那里过着艰苦的修行生活长达20年的时间。有一天，他的弟子摩伊息斯在一块巨石下睡着了。在庵室中祷告的约安看到他的弟子正处在危险之中，就为他向上帝祷告。后来，当摩伊息斯返回的时候，双膝跪倒在地，感谢他的精神导师拯救了他脱离死亡。摩伊息斯讲述了在梦中约安喊他，于是他站了起来，就在那时候，那块巨石倒塌了下来。如果他不起来，那块巨石会将他砸得粉碎。在众兄弟的坚持下，约安才同意担任修道院院长职务，用热情和爱心为众人的拯救进行指导。约安从别人那里听说，有人指控他说得太多。约安并不同意这种观点，不管怎样，约安整年都保持缄默，直到众兄弟们请求他继续教导他们上帝赋予他的智慧。还有一次，当600名朝圣者来到西奈山修道院时，大家都看到了一个身着犹太服装的活泼的年轻人在桌子旁边服侍，并指派其他仆人工作。突然这个年轻人消失了。大家看到这个情况后开始询问这是怎么回事，约安回答说：“不要再寻找他了，因为他是先知摩伊息斯代替我服务。”在山洞里保持缄默的那段时间里，约安书写了很多有价值的书，其中最具有价值的就是《天梯》。这本书至今仍有很多读者。在这本书中，约安描述了灵魂升向上帝的途径，如同一个梯子一样。在约安离世之前，他任命了他的亲兄弟格奥尔吉为修道院院长。格奥尔吉为他兄长的离世感到非常难过。当时约安对格奥尔吉说，如果他（约安）在另一个世界中能够在上帝面前是有价值的，那么，他将会向上帝祷告，他（格奥尔吉）在同一年也将会被接回天家。事情果真是这样，格奥尔吉同他的兄长一样成功地成为天国世界的一员。
At the age of sixteen Saint John Climacus entered the monastery of Sinai where he had Anastasius, the future Patriarch of Antioch, for a teacher. Nineteen years later he entered the stage of contemplative life called Hesychasm. After forty years in this life, he became hegumen of the holy mountain of Sinai. Some years later he withdrew again into solitude. He composed a treatise on the virtues in thirty chapters, each chapter containing the exposition of a virtue. Starting with practical virtues, to arrive at theoretical or mystical virtues, this study made man climb up by so many degrees to the celestial heights. Thus the book has been called "Climax" or the "Ladder of Virtues." Saint John Climacus died around 649.
• 约翰 JOHN II patriarch of Jerusalem (5th c.)
Ὁ Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης Πατριάρχης Ἱεροσολύμων
• MAMERTINUS (462) a monk and then Abbot of Sts Cosmas and Damian in Auxerre in France
Saint Mamertinus was a convert of Saint Germanus. He became a monk, and later abbot, of the monastery of Saints Cosmas and Damian in Auxerre, France. In art, he is depicted lying in a cave surrounded by serpents or exhorting monks, lying on a mat in his cell before his death.
• Holy New Martyr MICHAEL the Breadseller (Michael the Mauroudis) of Granitsa (1547) // MAR 21 // BRIGHT THURSDAY //
• MOCHUA of Balla
• Virgin OSBURGA (also Osburgh) 奥斯布尔伽 (1015-1018) 1st Abbess of the convent founded by King Canute in Coventry in England
• PASTOR (6th c.) Bishop of Orleans in France
• PATTO (Pacificus) (788) perhaps born in Ireland, he went to Saxony, became abbot of a monastery there and finally became Bishop of Werden in Germany
• M PERSIDES
• M QUIRINUS (Cirino) (117) the jailer of Pope Alexander I, by whom he was converted with his daughter St Balbina. Shortly afterwards he was martyred in Rome under Hadrian
He is highly venerated in Germany, Switzerland, and Bardia a Settimo in Tuscany, Italy. Saint Quirinus is invoked against earache, epilepsy, foot and bone troubles, fistula, gout, and lameness.
• REGULUS (Rieul) (260) by tradition a Greek, he is honoured as the 1st Bishop of Senlis in France. A tradition connects him with Arles where many Greeks lived
St Regulus, or Rieul, who, having converted the country of Senlis to the faith, about the same time that St Dionysius preached in France, was made first bishop of Senlis, and died in peace in the midst of his flock.
• Abbot REGULUS (Riaghail or Rule of Saint Andrews) of Scotland (4/6th c.)
• ROSWINDA Abbess of Liesborn, Diocese of Münster, Westphalia (815) Germany
• Bishop SAVA (Sabbas)
• SOPHRONIUS 索弗若尼 Bishop of Irkutsk and All Siberia (1771)
Ὁ Ἅγιος Σωφρόνιος Ἐπίσκοπος Ἰρκούτσκ καὶ πάσης Σιβηρίας
• TOLA of Disert Tola (733) Abbot and Bishop of Disert Tola in Meath in Ireland
• Hieromartyr ZACHARIAS 匝哈利亚 Metropolitan of Corinth (1684)
Ὁ Ἅγιος Ζαχαρίας ὁ Ἱερομάρτυρας Ἐπίσκοπος Κορίνθου
• ZOSIMAS 佐西玛 bishop of Syracuse (662)
Saint Zosimus, Bishop of Syracuse, was born in answer to the fervent prayers of his parents, who were childless for a long time. When their son reached the age of seven, his parents sent him to a monastery to be educated. When the holy ascetic became an adult, he received monastic tonsure, and governed the monastery for forty years. Pope Theodore (641-649) consecrated him Bishop of Syracuse. Saint Zosimus was distinguished by his charity and lack of avarice, and led his flock by word and by example. Toward the end of his life Saint Zosimus fell grievously ill, but endured his suffering with magnanimity and humility. He died in the year 662, after he had led his flock for thirteen years. Later, many of the sick received healing by merely touching his tomb.
• Memorial to a Monk Who Joyfully Died And Who Never Judged Anyone In His Life 纪念一位欣然地死亡并且从不论断别人的修士
This monk died joyfully because he had never in his life condemned anyone. He was lazy, careless, disinclined to prayer, but throughout his entire life he had never judged anyone. And when he lay dying, he was full of joy. The brethren asked him how he could die so joyfully with all his sins, and he replied: I have just seen the angels, and they showed me a page with all my many sins. I said to them: The Lord said: Judge not, that ye be not judged. I have never judged anyone and I hope in the mercy of God, that He will not judge me. And the angels tore up the sheet of paper.' Hearing this, the monks wondered at it and learned from it.
这位修士既懒惰、粗心大意，又不注重祷告生活，但是在他的一生中从来没有论断过别人。当他临终时，却表现得异常欢喜。当别的兄弟问他：你一生罪孽深重，在临终时为何这么高兴呢？他回答说：“我看到了天使长，他向我展示了一张纸，上面写着我的无数的罪状。我对天使们说，我们的主曾经说过：你们不要论人，就不被论断。你们不要定人的罪，就不被定罪（路喀福音／路加6：37）。我从来没有判断过别人，我希望在上帝的怜悯之下，他也不会审判我。"天使们于是将那张纸撕毁。听到这之后，大家都感到吃惊，但是却从中学到了真谛。
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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