The Morning Offering

Father Moses works on the new patio, which will become the focal point of a new garden.

Wednesday

March 9, 2011 / February 24, 2011

First Week of the Great Lent. Tone eight.
Great Lent. By Monastic Charter: Strict Fast (Bread, Vegetables, Fruits)

First (4th c.) and Second (452) Findings of the Precious Head of St. John the Baptist.
Venerable Erasmus of the Kiev Caves (1160).
Uncovering of the relics (1486) of St. Romanus, prince of Uglich.
Martyrs Montanus, Lucias, Julian, Victoricus, Flavian and their companions at Carthage (259).
St. Cummain Ailbe, abbot of Ilona (669) (Celtic & British).

     By the blessing of His Holiness, the most holy Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus', Kirill, the Commemoration of the First (4th c.) and Second (452) Findings of the Precious Head of St. John the Baptist is transferred to Saturday March 12/February 27.
     The Commemoration of the Venerable Procopius the Confessor of Decapolis is transferred from Saturday, March 12/February 27 to this day.

Quote for the Day:

"The Church on earth is called the Church Militant – the Church in battle. Our struggle is not a battle against human attitudes and beliefs, not with flesh and blood; our struggle is against the forces of darkness, for the true faith through which alone the moral nature of mankind can be preserved, regardless of how many people know or do not know the true faith, how many accept it or reject it. But as a type of fermentation, as yeast, as a starter, faith in Christ can transform the world, all of creation."

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia

Scripture Readings for the Day:

Isaiah 2:3-11

³ Many people shall come and say,

      “ Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
      To the house of the God of Jacob;
      He will teach us His ways,
      And we shall walk in His paths.”
      For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
      And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
       ⁴ He shall judge between the nations,
      And rebuke many people;
      They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
      And their spears into pruning hooks;
      Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
      Neither shall they learn war anymore.

The Day of the LORD

    ⁵ O house of Jacob, come and let us walk
      In the light of the LORD.
       ⁶ For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob,
      Because they are filled with eastern ways;
      They are soothsayers like the Philistines,
      And they are pleased with the children of foreigners.
       ⁷ Their land is also full of silver and gold,
      And there is no end to their treasures;
      Their land is also full of horses,
      And there is no end to their chariots.
       ⁸ Their land is also full of idols;
      They worship the work of their own hands,
      That which their own fingers have made.
       ⁹ People bow down,
      And each man humbles himself;
      Therefore do not forgive them.
       ¹⁰ Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust,
      From the terror of the LORD
      And the glory of His majesty.
       ¹¹ The lofty looks of man shall be humbled,
      The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down,
      And the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

Genesis 1:24-2:3

²⁴ Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. ²⁵ And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
²⁶ Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸ Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
²⁹ And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. ³⁰ Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. ³¹ Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Genesis 2

 ¹ Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. ² And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

Proverbs 2:1-22

The Value of Wisdom

 ¹ My son, if you receive my words,
      And treasure my commands within you,
       ² So that you incline your ear to wisdom,
      And apply your heart to understanding;
       ³ Yes, if you cry out for discernment,
      And lift up your voice for understanding,
       ⁴ If you seek her as silver,
      And search for her as for hidden treasures;
       ⁵ Then you will understand the fear of the LORD,
      And find the knowledge of God.
       ⁶ For the LORD gives wisdom;
      From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
       ⁷ He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
      He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;
       ⁸ He guards the paths of justice,
      And preserves the way of His saints.
       ⁹ Then you will understand righteousness and justice,
      Equity and every good path.
       ¹⁰ When wisdom enters your heart,
      And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
       ¹¹ Discretion will preserve you;
      Understanding will keep you,
       ¹² To deliver you from the way of evil,
      From the man who speaks perverse things,
       ¹³ From those who leave the paths of uprightness
      To walk in the ways of darkness;
       ¹⁴ Who rejoice in doing evil,
      And delight in the perversity of the wicked;
       ¹⁵ Whose ways are crooked,
      And who are devious in their paths;
       ¹⁶ To deliver you from the immoral woman,
      From the seductress who flatters with her words,
       ¹⁷ Who forsakes the companion of her youth,
      And forgets the covenant of her God.
       ¹⁸ For her house leads down to death,
      And her paths to the dead;
       ¹⁹ None who go to her return,
      Nor do they regain the paths of life—
       ²⁰ So you may walk in the way of goodness,
      And keep to the paths of righteousness.
       ²¹ For the upright will dwell in the land,
      And the blameless will remain in it;
       ²² But the wicked will be cut off from the earth,
      And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.

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