The Morning Offering

A Beautiful Sunny Day at the Monastery

Monday

May 2, 2011 / April 19, 2011

Second Week of Pascha. Tone one.

Venerable John of the Ancient Caves in Palestine (8th c.).
New Hieromartyr Victor, bishop of Glazov (1934).
New Hieromartyr Demetrius priest (1942).
St. Matrona the Blind of Moscow (1952).
Martyrs Christopher, Theonas, and Antoninus in Nicomedia (303).
Hieromartyr Paphnutius of Jerusalem.
St. George the Confessor, bishop of Antioch in Pisidia (813-820).
St. Tryphon, patriarch of Constantinople (933).
Venerable Nicephorus, abbot of Katabad.
Venerable Symeon the Barefoot of Philotheou Monastery, Mt. Athos.
Finding ofthe relics (1621) of Venerable Joachim, abbot of Opochka (Pskov) (1515).
Venerable Joasaph (Bolotov) of Alaska.
Hieromartyr Alphege, archbishop of Canterbury (1012) (Celtic & British).
New Martyr Agathangelus of Esphigmenou Monastery, Mt. Athos (1819) (Greek).
Martyrs Theodore, his mother Philippa and two soldiers, Socrates and Dionysius at Perge in Pamphylia (2nd c.).

 

Quote for the Day:

The joyous feast of reconciliation, the Resurrection of Christ, continues. We have completed the commemoration of the Thomas, who was the first to confess that the risen Jesus is our true God, and we are now singing of the deeds of the myrrh bearers. We commemorate those women who did not grow weak in their faithfulness to Christ even during the terrible days when He was betrayed and put to death, and who were accounted worthy to announce His resurrection to the apostles. The apostles would enlighten the world by proclaiming the resurrection, but these holy women had first enlightened the apostles with it.

In extolling their faith, the Church calls all of us to imitate this struggle and to participate in the preaching of the resurrection. We are called upon to become so penetrated by joy in Him that we not only forget about the evil done against us by enemies, but to forgive from our hearts their hatred toward us and not only forgive them, but even love our enemies. We must now strive to embrace with love all mankind, inviting them to share with us the spiritual ecstasy of that new life revealed so clearly to us, that everlasting life filled with blessed communion with God. Now is fulfilled that prophecy of Isaiah; "And everlasting joy ... illness, sorrow and sighing have, fled away" (Is 35:10).

Metropolitan Antony Khrapovitsky of Kiev

In the Abbot's Cell

Scripture Readings for the Day:

Acts 3:19-26

¹⁹ Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, ²⁰ and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, ²¹ whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. ²² For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. ²³ And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ ²⁴ Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. ²⁵ You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ ²⁶ To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”

John 2:1-11

Water Turned to Wine

 ¹ On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. ² Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. ³ And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
⁴ Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
⁶ Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. ⁷ Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸ And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. ⁹ When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. ¹⁰ And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”
¹¹ This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.



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