The Morning Offering

Thursday

March 17, 2011 / March 4, 2011

Second Week of the Great Lent. Tone one.
Great Lent. By Monastic Charter: Food without Oil

Venerable Gerasimus of the Jordan (475).
Venerable Gerasimus, monk, of Vologda (1178).
St. Daniel, prince of Moscow (1303).
New Hieromartyrs Archpriest Dimitry Ivanov of Kiev (1933) and Priest Vyacheslav (Leontiev) of Nizhegorod (1937).
New Hieromartyr Alexander priest (1938).
Blessed Basil (Basilko), prince of Rostov (1238).
Saints of Pskov martyred by the Latins: Venerable Ioasaph of Snetogorsk Monastery and St. Basil of Mirozh Monastery (1299).
Martyrs Paul, his sister Juliana, and Quadratus, Acacius, and Stratonicus, at Ptolemais in Syria (273).
Venerable James the Faster of Phoenicia (Syria) (6th c.).
Translation of the relicts (938) of Martyr Wenceslaus, prince of the Czechs (935).
St. Gregory, bishop of Constantia in Cyprus.
St. Gregory, bishop of Assos near Ephesus (1150).
St. Julian, patriarch of Alexandria (189).
St. Peter (Michurin), youth of Tobolsk (Siberia) (1820).

Quote for the Day:

“The church must have no political means of exercising an influence on those in authority. The church 'loses public confidence' if it becomes a political player. The church only has one way to influence the powerful and the powerless, the rich and the poor, the educated and the simple-minded – to preach God’s word.” 

His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, and All Russia.

                                            

Scripture Readings for the Day:

Isaiah 6:1-12

Isaiah Called to Be a Prophet

 ¹ In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. ² Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ And one cried to another and said:

      “ Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
      The whole earth is full of His glory!”

 ⁴ And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
⁵ So I said:


      “ Woe is me, for I am undone!
      Because I am a man of unclean lips,
      And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
      For my eyes have seen the King,
      The LORD of hosts.”

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. ⁷ And he touched my mouth with it, and said:


      “ Behold, this has touched your lips;
      Your iniquity is taken away,
      And your sin purged.”

⁸ Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:


      “ Whom shall I send,
      And who will go for Us?”

Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
⁹ And He said, “Go, and tell this people:


      ‘ Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
      Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
       ¹⁰ “ Make the heart of this people dull,
      And their ears heavy,
      And shut their eyes;
      Lest they see with their eyes,
      And hear with their ears,
      And understand with their heart,
      And return and be healed.”

¹¹ Then I said, “Lord, how long?”

   And He answered:


      “ Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant,
      The houses are without a man,
      The land is utterly desolate,
       ¹² The LORD has removed men far away,
      And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

Genesis 5:1-24

The Family of Adam

 ¹ This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. ² He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. ³ And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. ⁴ After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters. ⁵ So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.
⁶ Seth lived one hundred and five years, and begot Enosh. ⁷ After he begot Enosh, Seth lived eight hundred and seven years, and had sons and daughters. ⁸ So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years; and he died.
⁹ Enosh lived ninety years, and begot Cainan.^{[a] 10} After he begot Cainan, Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and had sons and daughters. ¹¹ So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died.
¹² Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Mahalalel. ¹³ After he begot Mahalalel, Cainan lived eight hundred and forty years, and had sons and daughters. ¹⁴ So all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died.
¹⁵ Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared. ¹⁶ After he begot Jared, Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years, and had sons and daughters. ¹⁷ So all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years; and he died.
¹⁸ Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Enoch. ¹⁹ After he begot Enoch, Jared lived eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters. ²⁰ So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died.
²¹ Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. ²² After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. ²³ So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. ²⁴ And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

Proverbs 6:3-20

³ So do this, my son, and deliver yourself;
      For you have come into the hand of your friend:
      Go and humble yourself;
      Plead with your friend.
       ⁴ Give no sleep to your eyes,
      Nor slumber to your eyelids.
       ⁵ Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
      And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

The Folly of Indolence

    ⁶ Go to the ant, you sluggard!
      Consider her ways and be wise,
       ⁷ Which, having no captain,
      Overseer or ruler,
       ⁸ Provides her supplies in the summer,
      And gathers her food in the harvest.
       ⁹ How long will you slumber, O sluggard?
      When will you rise from your sleep?
       ¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber,
      A little folding of the hands to sleep—
       ¹¹ So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,
      And your need like an armed man.

The Wicked Man

    ¹² A worthless person, a wicked man,
      Walks with a perverse mouth;
       ¹³ He winks with his eyes,
      He shuffles his feet,
      He points with his fingers;
       ¹⁴ Perversity is in his heart,
      He devises evil continually,
      He sows discord.
       ¹⁵ Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly;
      Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.
       ¹⁶ These six things the LORD hates,
      Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
       ¹⁷ A proud look,
      A lying tongue,
      Hands that shed innocent blood,
       ¹⁸ A heart that devises wicked plans,
      Feet that are swift in running to evil,
       ¹⁹ A false witness who speaks lies,
      And one who sows discord among brethren.

Beware of Adultery

    ²⁰ My son, keep your father’s command,
      And do not forsake the law of your mother.

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