The Morning Offering

Living the evangelical life of Orthodox monasticism in witness to the salvific truth of the Gospels of Our Lord, God, and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever!

The Morning Offering

Friday, March 12 / February 27 (Church Calendar)

Saints of the Day:

 

February 27 / March 12. St. Procopius the confessor of Decapolis. St. Titus, presbyter of the Kiev Caves. St. Thalalaeus, hermit of Syria. Martyr Gelasius the Actor of Heliopolis. St. Stephen, monk of Constantinople. St. Titus the Soldier, of the Kiev Caves. St. Pitirim, Bishop of Tambov. (Greek Calendar: Martyr Nesius. Saints Asclepius and James of Syria, monks. St. Timothy of Caesarea, monk.) Repose of Archimandrite Photius of the Novgorod Yuriev Monastery (1838) and Monk Anthony of Valaam (1848).

Photo of the Day:

The Yale Russian Chorus, made up of fourteen young men from Yale University, made a pilgrimage to the monastery, blessing the holy brotherhood with a private concert in the monastery's trapeza. This chorus is incredible, and it was a great blessing for the brotherhood to have such fine young men, sharing their gift of singing with us. We ask God's blessings upon them, as they continue their journey, bringing fine Russian religious music to America.

(click for enlargement)

Quote of the Day:

"O miserable man, do you wish to find life? Hold faith and humility fast within you; for through them you will find mercy, help, and words spoken by God in the heart, along with a protector who stands beside you both secretly and manifestly. Do you wish to obtain these things, which are the fountain of life? From the very outset take hold of simplicity. Walk before God in simplicity and not with knowledge. Simplicity is attended by faith; but subtle and intricate deliberations, by conceit; and conceit is attended by separation from God."

 

St. Isaac the Syrian

"Ascetical Homilies" (Homily Seventy-Two)

Scripture Readings for the Day:

Isaiah 29:13-23

¹³ Therefore the Lord said:


      " Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths
      And honor Me with their lips,
      But have removed their hearts far from Me,
      And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,
       ¹⁴ Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work
      Among this people,
      A marvelous work and a wonder;
      For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
      And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden."
       ¹⁵ Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the LORD,
      And their works are in the dark;
      They say, "Who sees us?" and, "Who knows us?"
       ¹⁶ Surely you have things turned around!
      Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay;
      For shall the thing made say of him who made it,

      " He did not make me"?
      Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it,

      " He has no understanding"?

Future Recovery of Wisdom

    ¹⁷ Is it not yet a very little while
      Till Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
      And the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest?
       ¹⁸ In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book,
      And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
       ¹⁹ The humble also shall increase their joy in the LORD,
      And the poor among men shall rejoice
      In the Holy One of Israel.
       ²⁰ For the terrible one is brought to nothing,
      The scornful one is consumed,
      And all who watch for iniquity are cut off—
       ²¹ Who make a man an offender by a word,
      And lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
      And turn aside the just by empty words.

²² Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:


      " Jacob shall not now be ashamed,
      Nor shall his face now grow pale;
       ²³ But when he sees his children,
      The work of My hands, in his midst,
      They will hallow My name,
      And hallow the Holy One of Jacob,
      And fear the God of Israel.

Genesis 12:1-7

Promises to Abram

 ¹ Now the LORD had said to Abram:

      "Get out of your country,
      From your family
      And from your father's house,
      To a land that I will show you.

 ² I will make you a great nation;
      I will bless you
      And make your name great;
      And you shall be a blessing.

 ³ I will bless those who bless you,
      And I will curse him who curses you;
      And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
⁴ So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵ Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. ⁶ Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.
⁷ Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

<sup>Proverbs 14:15-26

15</sup> The simple believes every word,
      But the prudent considers well his steps.
       ¹⁶ A wise man fears and departs from evil,
      But a fool rages and is self-confident.
       ¹⁷ A quick-tempered man acts foolishly,
      And a man of wicked intentions is hated.
       ¹⁸ The simple inherit folly,
      But the prudent are crowned with knowledge.
       ¹⁹ The evil will bow before the good,
      And the wicked at the gates of the righteous.
       ²⁰ The poor man is hated even by his own neighbor,
      But the rich has many friends.
       ²¹ He who despises his neighbor sins;
      But he who has mercy on the poor, happy is he.
       ²² Do they not go astray who devise evil?
      But mercy and truth belong to those who devise good.
       ²³ In all labor there is profit,
      But idle chatter leads only to poverty.
       ²⁴ The crown of the wise is their riches,
      But the foolishness of fools is folly.
       ²⁵ A true witness delivers souls,
      But a deceitful witness speaks lies.
       ²⁶ In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence,
      And His children will have a place of refuge.