συνοδικός
April 14 / April 1
2019 (7527)
VEN. MARY THE EGYPTIAN (522). MARTYRS GERONCIUS AND BASILIDES (3RD C.). RIGHTEOUS ACHAZ. VEN. MACARIUS, ABBOT OF PELECETE (840). VEN. GERONTIUS, YOUTH, CANONARCH OF THE KYIV CAVES (14TH C.)
Μεγάλη Τεσσαρακοστή • GREAT 40 DAYS • Μεγάλη Νηστεία • GREAT FAST
DAY 35. Fifth Sunday of the Great Lent: VENERABLE MARY OF EGYPT
Ε' Κυριακὴ τῶν Νηστειῶν Ὁσίας Μαρίας τῆς Αἰγυπτίας
A Church that makes great saints out of former prostitutes, murderers, and adulterers is both realistic about the corruption of our lives and optimistic that there is hope for every one of us to set things right and live faithfully because of the mercy of Jesus Christ. As we stand near the end of Great Lent, we have all learned at least something about our spiritual state. Perhaps we have wrestled with our passions and they have gotten the better of us. Perhaps we have not even tried to pray, fast or otherwise deny ourselves, or become more generous to the needy. Maybe we have not really pursued forgiveness, reconciliation, and repentance. Regardless, it should be clear to us all by now that we need healing and strength beyond our own power, for we are all weak, sick, and so easily distracted. To recognize that is no shame, but simply the lesson learned by all the great sinners who have come to their senses and begun the journey home. Before we begin the journey to the cross on Palm Sunday, there is still time to examine our souls with brutal honesty, confess and repent, and take the steps we can to follow in the way of Jesus Christ. He made holy people out of prostitutes and power-mongers and He will do the same with us, if we will only repent with courageous honesty and humility. Yes, there is hope even for you and me through humble repentance that opens us to the mercy of the Lord.
Synaxis of the Venerables and Hosiosmartyrs of The ZVERINETS CAVES Monastery in Kiev // 5TH SUNDAY OF THE GREAT LENT //
Kiev boasts a wealth of wonderful ancient monasteries, yet the most mysterious of them is the Zverinets Monastery of the Archangel Michael of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (the UOC-MP), located in the capital’s Pechersky district, to the south of the Kiev Caves Lavra. The monastery derives its Russian name ("Zverinetsky") from either the word "zveri" (meaning "animals") or "zverinets" (meaning "a menagerie"). According to one version, the place was named after the local animal hunting that was once very popular in the thick forests of the area, which had a great variety of animals centuries ago. The "Tale of Bygone Years" (composed in the 12th century by Monk Nestor in Kiev) reads: There were a great forest and pine woods near the city (that is, Kiev), and people would hunt beasts there…
The Synaxis of Saints of Zverinets Caves individual days of celebration in addition to this general commemoration:
• Venerable MARKIAN (1045) Abbot of Zverinets Cave Monastery in Kiev // OCT 25 //
• Sainted LEONTIUS the Bishop and Wonderworker of Rostov (1073) // MAY 23 //
• Sainted MIKHAIL bishop of Your’jevo (1073) Abbot of Zverinets Cave Monastery in Kiev // SEP 6 //
• Venerable IONA (1074) Abbot of Zverinets Cave Monastery in Kiev // MAR 11 //
• Venerable MANUIL (1087) Abbot of Zverinets Cave Monastery in Kiev // JUN 17 //
• Venerable CLEMENCE (1092) Abbot of Zverinets Cave Monastery in Kiev // NOV 25 //
• Venerable THEODOR Kalika (caligae, calicae; καλίγιον) (1096) of Zverinets Cave Monastery in Kiev // FEB 17 //
• Venerable ANDRONIK the Grave Digger (1096) Hermit of Zverinets Cave Monastery in Kiev // MAY 17 //
• Venerable IOANN (1096) of Zverinets Cave Monastery in Kiev // JUN 24 //
• Hosiosmartyrs of Zverinets Caves murdered by cumans (1097) // JUL 20 //
The Cumans (Polovtsi) were a Turkic:116 nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. After the Mongol invasion (1237), many sought asylum in Hungary, as many Cumans had settled in Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey before the invasion. The Cumans initially managed to defeat the Great Prince Vladimir Monomakh of Kievan Rus’ in 1093 at the Battle of the Stugna River, but they were defeated later by the combined forces of Rus principalities led by Monomakh and were forced out of the Rus’ borders to the Caucasus. In these battles some Pecheneg and Oghuz groups were liberated from the Cumans and incorporated into the Rus’ border-guard system. Khan Boniak launched invasions on Kiev in 1096, 1097, 1105, and 1107. In 1096, Boniak attacked Kiev and burned down the princely palace in Berestove; he also plundered the Kievan Cave Monastery. Boniak was defeated near Lubny in 1107 by the forces of the Kievan Rus’ princes. The Cumans led by Boniak crushed the Hungarian army led by Coloman in 1099 and seized the royal treasury. In 1109, Monomakh launched another raid against the Cumans and captured "1000 tents". In 1111, 1113, and 1116, further raids were launched against the Cumans and resulted in the liberation and incorporation of more Pecheneg and Oghuz tribes.
• Sainted MINAS Bishop of Polotsk (1116) // JUN 20 //
• Sainted LASARUS Bishop of Perejaslavl’ (1117) Abbot of Zverinets Cave Monastery and Vydubichi in Kiev // SEP 6 //
• Hieromartyr PHILARET Kochubey (1933) Archmandrite of Zverinets Cave Monastery // DEC 1 //
• New Hieromartyr IOASAF (duke Vladimir Zhevakhov or Dzavakhishvili) of Kiev, refounder of Zverinets Cave Monastery, bishop of Mogilev, also of Russia and Minsk (1874-1937) day of martyrdom in Kursk // NOV 21 //
Prince Vladimir Davidovich Zhevakhov was so fascinated by the Zverinets Caves that he couldn't leave them. The prince became the caves' benefactor and patron and a churchwarden of the church above the caves. It was with his funds that the land above the caves was taken on lease and archeological excavations were carried out. Thanks to his patronage, theft of the caves' relics was brought to a halt. Later, over the period of the Revolution and the Civil War, Prince Vladimir Davidovich Zhevakhov together with his twin brother Nicholas hid from the Bolsheviks in these caves and labored as hard as any of the skete monks. gumen Valentin and Prince Zhevakhov at the entrance to the caves at the beginning of the excavation work in 1912. It was perhaps through the prayers of the Zverinets saints of the old times that a brilliant lawyer, honorary justice of the peace and Senior Adviser of the Kiev Governorate Administration Prince Zhevakhov received his monastic tonsure in these caves and became the meek Monk Joasaph—he was given this monastic name in honor of his ancestor, St Joasaph of Belgorod. Monk Joasaph (Zhevakhov) was ordained a hierodeacon, then a hieromonk, and, lastly, consecrated a bishop. Shortly before its closure, the Zverinets Skete had about forty monks. In 1933, godless people murdered the abbot of the skete, Archimandrite Philaret (Kochubey), and a year later the skete was dissolved and the church blown up.
It is generally believed that the caves were settled by monks during the 10-11th centuries, during the Christianization of Kievan Rus’. Some time after its founding, the greater part of the brethren moved to the above-ground Vydubichi Monastery, and the caves were later brought to ruin by nomadic raids; the underground monastery was never restored, and was abandoned. At the end of the 19th century, the caves were rediscovered, and in 1913 the monastery was partially reopened as the Nativity of the Mother of God Skete, a metochion of the Kiev Caves Lavra on the Zverinets Caves. Not long before the monastery was closed in the 1920s, the brethren had grown to 40 monks. After the period of Soviet desolation, the Zverinets Caves were once again opened and cleared of debris, thanks to the efforts of the Kiev History Museum and the brethren of Holy Trinity-St. Jonah Monastery. In 1997, the Nativity of the Mother of God Skete was reopened in the Zverinets Caves and, in 2009, Holy Archangel Michael Monastery was founded above the caves.
Οἱ Ἅγιοι Ἑρμῆς καὶ Θεοδώρα οἱ Μάρτυρες
The sister of St Hermes (August 28) whom she helped in prison and under torture. She was herself martyred some months later. Brother and sister were buried side by side.
• Martyrs ALEXANDER, DIONYSIUS, INGENIANI, PANTEROS (PANTAINOS), PARTHENIOS and SATURNINUS
Οἱ Ἅγιοι Ἀλέξανδρος, Διονύσιος, Ἰνγενιανή, Πάντερος ἢ Πάνταινος, Παρθένιος καὶ Σατουρνίνος οἱ Μάρτυρες
• Martyrs GERONTIUS 格隆提 and BASILIDES 瓦西利迪 (3rd c.) beheaded by the sword
Οἱ Ἅγιοι Βασιλείδης καὶ Γερόντιος οἱ Μάρτυρες
• Welsh missionaries CAIDOC and FRICOR (Adrian) (7th c.)
Born in Ireland, they preached Christ in the country of the Morini in the north of France. Their relics are still venerated in the parish church of Saint Riquier near Amiens.
• Translation (1052) of relics of MM CANTIUS (Cantianorus), CANTIANUS and Martyress CANTIANILLA of Rome suffered in in Aquileia of Italy (290/304)
• MM QUINTIAN and IRENAEUS of Armenian
• MM VICTOR and STEPHEN of Egypt
• Our venerable father Elder BARSANUPHIUS (Pavel Plikhankov) of Optina (1845-1913)
Ὁ Ὅσιος Βαρσανούφιος τῆς Ὄπτινα
Elder Barsanuphius (1845–1913), a disciple of Elder Anatole (Zertsalov) and Elder Nektary, was a highly cultured man and a successful colonel before entering the monastic life at a relatively late age. Due to his purity of heart and spiritual sobriety, he was transformed by God into a grace-filled Elder virtually overnight. The period before the first World War and the Russian Revolution was a complex one. The world was seething in unprecedented passions, and one could clearly sense the approach of darkness. With a sympathetic soul Elder Barsanuphius attended to the world, and the Lord parted a curtain before him, showing him the horrors of the future.
• Hieromartyr JOACHIM Levitsky, of Kyiv, Archbishop of Nizhny Novgorod, crucified upside down at Sevastopol (1921)
• Martyr MICHAEL (Misha) Fool for Christ (1931)
• Hieromartyr SERGIUS 塞尔吉 Zavarin, presbiter, priest of Yaroslavl-Rostov (1885-1938) day of death in Siberian KZ
• Hosiosmartyr Schemabishop MACARIUS 玛喀里 of St Macarius the Roman Monastery, near Lezna (1944)
Ὁ Ὅσιος Μακάριος ὁ Ἱερομάρτυρας ὁ Νέος
Ὁ Ἅγιος Ἀβραάμιος ὁ Νεομάρτυρας ἐκ Βουλγαρίας
• Righteous ACHAZ 阿哈次
Ὁ Ὅσιος Ἄχαζ ὁ Δίκαιος
• BERHARD (644) a saintly Bishop who had a great affection for St Valéry and who tried to have him buried in his cathedral in Amiens
• CAIDOC (Cadoc, Cadou, Caidocus, Caidos) (630) Apostle of Picardy
Monk. Spiritual student of Saint Columba of Iona. Missionary to the Picardy region of northern France in 622 where he worked with Saint Fricor. They converted many, including Saint Richarius of Celles who then protected them from local pagans.
• CELLACH (Cellach mac Congaile, Ceilach, Keilach, Kelly) Archbishop of Armagh in Ireland, previously the Abbot of Iona in Scotland and founder of the Monastery of Kells (815)
• DODOLINUS of Vienne, Bishop of Vienne in the Dauphiné in France (7th c.)
• EULOGIUS (Eulogius the Prophet) 愚艾弗罗吉 of Salosi, Georgia, Fool for Christ (12-13th c.)
Ὁ Ὅσιος Εὐλόγιος ὁ διὰ Χριστὸν Σαλός
During the Liturgy at Odzrkhe Monastery a miracle occurred: endowed by God with the gift of prophecy, Saint Eulogius the Fool for-Christ fell to his knees, lifted his hands to the heavens and cried out: "Glory to God! Almighty Christ!...Do not fear the Persians, but rather depart in peace, for the mercy of God has descended upon the house of Tamar!" Eulogius’s words were clearly a divine revelation. Saint John of Shavta turned to Queen Tamar, rejoicing, "Your Highness! The Almighty has made known to us our victory in the war from the lips of a fool-for-Christ!" Eulogius confided his secret to Saint John: disguised as a fool, he had been concealing his God-given gift. But now it seemed that the gift would become apparent to all, so Eulogius quickly disappeared out of sight to escape the people’s attention. Saint John of Shavta composed his "Hymns to the Theotokos of Vardzia" in thanksgiving for Georgia’s victory in the Battle of Basiani. He is also recognized as the composer of "Abdul-Messiah" (Abdul-Messiah: servant of Christ) a famous ode to the holy queen Tamar.
• Venerable EUTHYMIUS 艾弗提弥 the Wonderworker, Archimandrite of Suzdal (1404)
Ὁ Ὅσιος Εὐθύμιος ὁ Θαυματουργός
• FRICOR (Adrian, Frechor, Frechorius, Frichor, Fricoraeus) (630) Apostle of Picardy
Monk. Spiritual student of Saint Columba of Iona. Missionary to the Picardy region of northern France in 622 where he worked with Saint Caidoc. They converted many, including Saint Richarius of Celles who then protected them from local pagans.
• GERONTIUS 格隆提 the Canonarch of Kiev Caves, from the Pechersk Lavra (Monastery of the Caves) in Kiev (14th c.) Ukraine. The Relics are kept at St Theodosy Far Caves of the Lavra
Ὁ Ὅσιος Γερόντιος ὁ Κανονάρχης
The Monk Gerontii asceticised during the 14th Century. He was a monk of the Kievo-Pechersk monastery and fulfilled the obedience of canonarch (arranger of church-canon song). He spent all his life at the monastery, in ascetic deeds of abstinence, obedience and prayer. The Monk Gerontii was buried in the Farther Caves. His memory is celebrated also together with the Sobor-Assemblage of the Monks of the Farther Caves, on 28 August.
• JOHN (John of Black Mountain) 约翰 Shavteli, of Salosi, Georgia (12-13th c.) great Georgian hymnographer, philosopher, and orator
Ὁ Ὅσιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Φιλόσοφος ἐκ Γεωργίας
• JOHN IV (853) bishop of Naples
• LEUCONUS (666) the 18th bishop of Troyes, who founded Notre-Dame-des-Nonnains
• MAKARIOS 玛喀里 of Pelekete, Abbot of Pelekete Monastery (820)
Ὁ Ὅσιος Μακάριος ἡγούμενος τῆς μονῆς Πελεκητῆς
Macarius was ordained by Patriarch Tarasius of Constantinople, was imprisoned and tortured for his opposition to the iconoclasm proclaimed by Emperor Leo the Armenian, and was released by Leo's successor, Emperor Michael the Stammerer. When he refused Michael's demands that he support the iconoclastic heresy, he was exiled to the island of Aphusia off the coast of Bithynia and died there.
• Blessed MARCELLA (Marcelle) of Auvergne, Shepherdess and Solitary
Born to a farm family, Marcelle was a pious 10th century goatherd. We know nothing else about her, but the Benedictines in Chauriat who knew her, built a church in her honour in 976.
• Venerabless MARY of Egypt (421) // 5TH SUNDAY OF THE GREAT LENT // APR 1 //
Ἡ Ὁσία Μαρία ἡ Αἰγυπτία
埃及人圣马利
Holy Mother Mary, pray to God for us! Amen.
耶路撒冷牧首圣改为索弗若尼书写了有关这位圣人的事迹：有一年在大斋期期间，一位司祭修士佐西玛长老前往约旦外围的旷野，准备呆上20天的时间。突然，他看见了一个人影，那人看起来苍白、赤身裸体，且头发雪白，并要逃避开佐西玛的视线。这位长老拔腿就追，跑了很长时间才追上。这时，此人蹲伏在溪流中大声喊：“佐西玛圣父，看在上帝的份上请原谅我。我不能见你，因为我是一个女人，我赤身裸体。”佐西玛听到这之后脱下他的外衣送给这个妇女。佐西玛长老非常害怕，因为这妇人喊着他的名字，而他却不认识这个妇人。在长老的再三请求之下，这个妇人讲述了她的故事。这个妇人出生于埃及，在12岁那年她在亚历山大里亚过着一种放荡不羁的生活，就这样过去了17年的时间。有一天，她抵挡不住欲望之火，于是乘坐一个船前往耶路撒冷。在抵达圣城之后，她打算进入教堂，以便敬拜神圣的十字架，但是一股无形的力量在阻止她进入教堂。她感到非常恐惧，她注视着前庭的上帝之母圣像，并开始祷告，以便能够让她进入教堂敬拜荣耀的十字架，并对自己过去自己的罪过和不洁净进行忏悔，同时许诺，她将会按照圣母的指引行事。之后她被允许进入教堂。在敬拜完十字架后，她来到了前庭的圣母像前对圣母表示感谢。就在那时，她听到了一个声音说：“如果你跨越约旦河，你将会找到真正的平安！”于是她买了三条面包开始向约旦河前行，同一天晚上她抵达了约旦河。第二天她在圣约安修道院领取了圣体血，并穿越了约旦河。她留在旷野中48年的时间，期间忍受了巨大的痛苦、恐惧，并同欲望进行争斗，如同与野兽争斗一样。她以植物为食。当她站立着进行祷告的时候，佐西玛看到了她悬浮在空中。她请求佐西玛一年后来约旦河岸带给她圣体血。第二年，佐西玛在晚间来到了约旦河岸，带来了圣体血。他感到奇怪：这位圣人如何会穿越约旦河？就在这时，借着月光，他看到了她走近约旦河，对着约旦河作了十字之后就从河面上走过来，如同走在干的陆地上一样。佐西玛在给了她圣体血之后，她开始请求他一年之后再来他们当初见面的那个溪流。佐西玛如期前往，这次他看到的是她已死亡的尸体躺在河流旁。在尸首上方的沙地上有一个纸条，上面写道：“圣父佐西玛，请将谦卑的马利的尸体埋葬于此地，让尘土归于尘土。鄙人于4月1日领取过圣体血之后死亡，这也正是主耶稣基督为拯救我们而忍受磨难的那一夜晚。”从这个纸条，佐西玛第一次知道了她的名字，使人感到震惊的是，她领取圣体血已经是一年前的事情了，那时她来到了佐西玛渡过20天旅行的那个溪流。这样，佐西玛埋葬了马利的尸体。当他返回到修道院之后向众人讲述了马利的生活和他亲眼看见的她的奇迹。由此，主知道怎样荣耀悔罪的罪人。在大斋期的第5个星期天也是圣马利的纪念日。在大斋期期间，教会将她作为典范，以激励每一个愿意悔改的人。圣马利大约于公元530年离世。
Beautiful, spoiled, cynical, disenchanted, rich child who was the center of her family's pride, and who repaid them by running away at age 12. She ran to Alexandria, Egypt where she worked as a dancer, singer, and prostitute for 17 years. Around age 30, Mary took ship on a pilgrimage to Palestine, hoping to ply her trade among the pilgrims, and then in Jerusalem. On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross she moved with the crowds to the church, looking for customers. At the church door she found herself invisibliy repelled, unable to open the door; she was overcome with remorse for her life and exclusion from the Church. She repented, and asked for Our Lady‘s guidance; a voice told that to find rest, she should cross the Jordan River. The next day Mary crossed the river, wandered into the desert, and took up the life of a hermit for nearly 50 years as penance. She lived on herbs, berries, and whatever came to hand. She met Saint Zosimus of Palestine. She once told him to come back exactly one year from that day; when he did, he found she had died. With the help of a lion, Zosimus dug her grave; he later wrote a biography of her, and her life was a popular story in the Middle Ages.
• MELITO 麦利顿 of Sardis, Bishop of Sardis (177)
圣梅勒蒂昂，小亚细亚萨尔蒂斯的主教
The Lord, though he was God, became man. He suffered for the sake of whose who suffer, he was bound for those in bonds, condemned for the guilty, buried for those who lie in the grave; but he rose from the dead, and cried aloud: "Who will contend with me? Let him confront me." I have freed the condemned, brought the dead back to life, raised men from their graves. Who has anything to say against me? I, he said, am the Christ; I have destroyed death, triumphed over the enemy, trampled hell underfoot, bound the strong one, and taken men up to the heights of heaven: I am the Christ. Come, then, all you nations of men, receive forgiveness for the sins that defile you. I am your forgiveness. I am the Passover that brings salvation. I am the lamb who was immolated for you. I am your ransom, you life, your resurrection, you light, I am your salvation and your king. I will bring you to the heights of heaven. With my own right hand I will raise you up, and I will show you the eternal Father. - from a letter by Saint Melito of Sardis
Born as a son,
led forth as a lamb,
sacrificed as a sheep,
buried as a man,
he rose from the dead as a God,
for he was by nature God and man.
He is all things:
he judges, and so he is Law;
he teaches, and so he is Wisdom;
he saves, and so he is Grace;
he begets, and so he is Father;
he is begotten, and so he is Son;
he suffers, and os he is Sacrifice;
he is buried, and so he is man;
he rises again, and so he is God.
This is Jesus Christ,
to whom belongs glory for all ages. - prayer by Saint Melito
梅勒蒂昂是公元2世纪时期出色的牧者，他用大能进行管理，并将《圣经》的各章节整理成一套完整的手抄本。他用自己谦逊和虔诚将老底家的教会恢复和平，因为当时因为庆祝复活节引起了纷争。除此之外，他还捍卫基督教免受异教徒的破坏。他于公元170年来到罗马上书皇帝玛尔霍•奥雷里乌斯有关捍卫基督教会的文章。大有学问、虔诚且热心的圣梅勒蒂昂于公元177年安息主怀。
Bishop of Sardis, Lydia (part of modern Turkey). Ecclesiastical writer; he wrote an Apology (defense of Christianity) addressed to emperor Marcus Aurelius.
• Bishop PACHOMIUS Romansky, of the Kyiv Caves (1724)
• Martyr POLYNIKOS (Polynices, Polynikis)
Ὁ Ἅγιος Πολύνικος ὁ Μάρτυρας
• PROCOPIUS 普若科彼 of Sázava, Abbot of Sázava in Bohemia (980-1053) born in Czechia, he was ordained in Prague. Later he became a hermit and finally founded the monastery of Sazava
可敬的捷克人普若科彼
普若科彼出生于现今捷克境内的霍蒂斯。他被任命为司祭，而后隐退到山中，效仿东方隐士的模式生活。乌尔里希公爵意外地来到了普若科彼那里，并要求他在萨扎瓦河畔修建圣施浸约安修道院。这位圣人于公元1053年离世。
• Martyr hermit TEWDRIC (Theodoric) of Tintern, Wales (5-6th c.)
Born a prince, the son of King Ceithfalt of Morganwg; he became king upon his father‘s death. A great supporter of the Church, Tewdrig abdicated in favour of his son Meurig, and then retired to live as a prayerful hermit at Tintern, Montmouthsire, Wales. When the pagan Saxons led by Ceolwulf invaded the region, Tewdrig left his hermitage, took up arms again, led his troops into battle, defeated the Saxons at Pont-y-Saeson, but died from wounds received in the fight. Considered a martyr as he died defending his Christian realm from pagans.
• TUAN of Tamlacht, County of Down
The Martyrology of Tallagh, at the 1st of April, inserts the name of Tuan, son of Cairill. This saint is said to have been called Ruanus, by Giraldus Cambrensis; yet, we do not find any warrant for such an assertion, although, indeed, that writer has an account of a Ruanus, who is reported to have survived a great pestilence, which devastated Ireland, AM 2820. The incrediblestatement is made, that he survived to the time of St Patrick, who baptized him, and that he lived to be 1500 years old, when he died. This is one of the many fables, with which Giraldus Cambrensis was pleased to overload his writings. According to the Martyrology of Donegal, Tuan, son of Coirell, of Tamlachta, in Boirche, had veneration paid him, at this date. The previous identification serves, for this particular locality.
• VALÉRY (Walric, Walericus) Abbot of Leuconay (Saint-Valery-sur-Somme) (619/622) Abbot in Picardy
A monk at Luxeuil in France, he later founded the monastery of Leuconay at the mouth of the Somme. Two towns in that area are named Saint-Valéry after him.
Saint Valery was born at Auvergne in the 6th century, where in his childhood he kept his father's sheep. He desired to study and begged a teacher in a nearby school to trace the letters and teach them to him, which the schoolmaster was happy to do. He soon knew how to read and write, and the first use he made of his knowledge was to transcribe the Psalter; he then learned it by heart. He began to frequent the church, and love of his religion soon burnt strongly in his heart. He was still young when he took the monastic habit in the neighboring monastery of Saint Anthony. No persuasion could convince him to return home when his father came to attempt that move, and the Abbot, recognizing that his firmness was of divine origin, said to the monks, Let us not reject the gift of God. His father eventually was present when he received the tonsure, and shed tears of joy, having accepted his son's determination. It was soon visible to all that God destined him for some high role in the Church. He left for a more distant monastery in Auxerre, and there he seemed to live a life more angelic than human. A rich lord of the region, after talking with him one day, disposed of his entire fortune without even returning home, to embrace religious poverty. At that time Saint Columban was preaching in Gaul; Valery with some fellow monks desired to hear him and went to Luxeuil, where they were not disappointed. They asked to be received into that monastery in 594 and were accepted. A corner of the garden which Valery was assigned to cultivate was entirely spared when insects devastated the rest. The holy Abbot Columban allowed him to make his religious profession, and he remained at Luxeuil for some fifteen years. He was a witness when the local king drove away Saint Columban from his foundation, as a foreigner in the land. Soon afterward the monastery was invaded by strangers, but finally Saint Valery and the new Abbot, Saint Eustasius, succeeded in recovering it. Some time afterwards Saint Valery with another monk left to carry the faith elsewhere, and decided with the permission of King Clotaire to remain as hermits in the region of Amiens. He raised to life a poor condemned man after he had been hanged, and the word of the sanctity of this monk soon spread. The wilderness of Leuconaus was transformed into a community, where from the numerous monastic cells and church the praises of the Lord rose up night and day. In 613, three years after his arrival, this locality became a monastery where the religious lived in common. A man who had become unable to walk was cured by Saint Valery and replaced him later as Abbot of this monastery; he is today Saint Blitmond. Many more miracles illustrated his life of prayer and sacrifice. Saint Valery died in 619, and his tomb became celebrated by numerous miracles. A basilica was raised there in his honor, at the site where one of his disciples had felled a tree, object of pagan superstitions, at a word from the Saint.
• VENANTIUS (255) bishop in Dalmatia whose relics were brought from Spalato to Rome in 641
Bishop in the Dalmatia region of modern Croatia. Martyred with several Christian companions.
Fifth Sunday of Great Lent - St Mary of Egypt
SYNAXARION
On the fifth Sunday of Holy and Great Lent, we commemorate Saint Mary of Egypt. By her example, we are reminded of the extraordinary power of repentance and God's mercy, by which even the greatest sinner may be transformed and sanctified. The recorder of the life of this wonderful saint is St Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem. A hieromonk, the elder Zossima, had gone off at one time during the Great Fast on a twenty-days' walk into the wilderness across the Jordan. He suddenly caught sight of a human being with a withered and naked body and with hair as white as snow, who fled in its nakedness from Zossima's sight. The elder ran a long way, until this figure stopped at a stream and called, "Father Zossima, forgive me for the Lord's sake. I cannot turn around to you, for I am a naked woman." Then Zossima threw her his outer cloak, and she wrapped herself in it and turned around to him. The elder was amazed at hearing his name from the lips of this unknown woman. After considerable pressure on his part, she told him the story of her life.
She had been born in Egypt and had lived as a prostitute in Alexandria from the age of twelve, spending seventeen years in this way of life. Urged by the lustful fire of the flesh, she one day boarded a ship that was sailing for Jerusalem. Arriving at the Holy City, she attempted to go into one of the churches to venerate the Precious Cross, but some unseen power prevented her from entering. In great fear, she turned to an icon of the Mother of God that was in the entrance and begged her to let her go in and venerate the Cross, confessing her sin and impurity and promising that she would then go wherever the Most Pure One led her. She was then allowed to enter the church. After venerating the Cross, she went out again to the entrance and, standing in front of the icon, thanked the Mother of God. Then she heard a voice saying, "If you cross the Jordan, you will find true peace." She immediately bought three loaves of bread and set off for the Jordan, arriving there the same evening. She received Holy Communion the following morning in the monastery of St. John the Baptist, and then crossed the river. She spent the next forty-eight years in the wilderness in the greatest torments, in terror, in struggles with passionate thoughts like gigantic beasts, feeding only on plants.
Later, when she was standing in prayer, Zossima saw her lifted up in the air. She begged him to bring her Holy Communion the next year on the bank of the Jordan, and she would come to receive it. The following year, Zossima came with the Holy Gifts to the bank of the Jordan in the evening and stood in amazement as he saw her cross the river. He saw her coming in the moonlight and, arriving on the further bank, make the sign of the Cross over the river. She then walked across it as though it were dry land. When she had received Holy Communion, she begged him to come again the following year to the same stream by which they had first met. The next year Zossima went and found her dead body there on that spot. Above her head in the sand was written: "Abba Zossima, bury in this place the body of the humble Mary. Give dust to dust. I passed away on April 1, on the very night of Christ's Passion, after Communion of the Divine Mysteries." For the first time, Zossima learned her name and also the awe-inspiring marvel that she had arrived at that stream the previous year on the night of the same day on which she had received Holy Communion - a place that he had taken twenty days to reach. And thus Zossima buried the body of the wonderful saint, Mary of Egypt. When he returned to the monastery, he recounted the whole story of her life and the wonders to which he had been an eyewitness. Thus the Lord glorifies repentant sinners. She entered into rest in about the year 530.
St Mary is remembered today, as we reach the end of the Great Fast, to arouse the energy of the slothful and to urge sinners to repentance, imitating her example. She is also commemorated on April 1. The Righteous Zossima, who buried St Mary, is commemorated on April 4.
O Christ our God, through the intercessions of our venerable Mother Mary of Egypt, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.
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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