Sunday
June 19, 2011 / June 6, 2011
1st Sunday after Pentecost.
All Saints.
Tone eight.
Eve of Apostles' (Peter & Paul) Fast.
Eve of Apostles' (Peter & Paul) Fast.
Icons of the Mother of God "the Consoler of angry hearts" and "the Unbreakable Wall" (movable holiday on the Sunday of All Saints).Venerable Bessarion the Wonderworker of Egypt (466).Venerable Hilarion the New, abbot of the Dalmatian Monastery (845).
Venerable Raphael confessor (1957).
St. Jonah, bishop of Perm (1470).Venerable Paisius, abbot, of Uglich (1504).Venerable Jonah, abbot of Klimetz (1534).Virgin-martyrs Archelais, Thecla, and Susanna, beheaded at Salerno (293)."Pimen" Icon of the Mother of God (was brought to Moscow from Constantinople in 1381 by Metropolitan Pimen).Five virgins of Caesarea in Palestine: Martha, Mary, Cyria, Valeria, and Marcia (Greek). Venerable Attalus the wonderworker (Greek). Martyr Gelasius (Greek). Venerable Photius, monk (Greek).St. Justus, patriarch of Alexandria (130).Martyrs Amandus, Amantius, Alexander, Lucius, Alexander, Alexandria, Donatus, and Peregrius at Noviodunum in Scythia Minor (320).St. Claudius of Besancon (699) (Gaul).St. Basil of Mangazea, Siberia (1602).St. Jarlath of Cluain Fois (560) (Celtic & British).Words from the Abbot:
Upon entering an Orthodox Christian church one is immediately taken by the icons and frescoes that adorn the walls. These are not displays of Christian art but reminders that when we enter into our temples for worship, we are surrounded by "the unseen hosts of heaven" described in the holy scriptures. Icons act as windows into eternity and connect us to the Church Triumphant.
Unlike Western religious art, one does not see shadows cast from the figures depicted in the icons. This is because the light source is none other than Jesus Christ Himself, Who shines forth in His saints. No shadows here!
This celebration of All Saints Sunday should be a reminder that we are called to holiness as God's children and must become saints if we have are to enter into eternity with the Lord and His saints.
Holiness comes with repentance and the acquisition of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing we can do to gain eternal life, for salvation is a gift from God. It does require our cooperation, however, for God created us with free will. Our lives as Christians should always reflect the Light of Christ within as depicted in the icons of saints. We must be a holy people who've been transformed by our lives in Christ, just as the saints who've gone before us.
Unlike Western religious art, one does not see shadows cast from the figures depicted in the icons. This is because the light source is none other than Jesus Christ Himself, Who shines forth in His saints. No shadows here!
This celebration of All Saints Sunday should be a reminder that we are called to holiness as God's children and must become saints if we have are to enter into eternity with the Lord and His saints.
Holiness comes with repentance and the acquisition of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing we can do to gain eternal life, for salvation is a gift from God. It does require our cooperation, however, for God created us with free will. Our lives as Christians should always reflect the Light of Christ within as depicted in the icons of saints. We must be a holy people who've been transformed by our lives in Christ, just as the saints who've gone before us.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Photos of the Day:
The new doors for our temple just arrived and will replace the existing metal doors. A gift from our friend and benefactor Robert Fouty M.D., they are made of fir and stained cherry wood to match the iconostasis. There are 174 Spanish Clavos embedded on the front side of the doors.
Scripture Readings for the Day:
Hebrews 11:33-12:2
33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again.
Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.
39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.
Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.
39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.
Hebrews 12
The Race of Faith
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Matthew 10:32-33
Matthew 10:32-33
Confess Christ Before Men
32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 10:37-38
Matthew 10:37-38
37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
28 So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
Click photo to enlarge.
Matthew 19:27-30
27 Then Peter answered and said to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?”
28 So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
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