The Morning Offering

Wednesday

July 13, 2011 / June 30, 2011

5^th Week after Pentecost. 

Tone three.
Fast. By Monastic Charter: Strict Fast (Bread, Vegetables, Fruits)

Synaxis of the Holy, Glorious and All-praised Twelve Apostles: Peter, Andrew, James and John the sons of Zebedee, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Jude the brother of James, Simon the Zealot, Matthias. Venerable Peter the Prince of Ordinsk, Rostov (1290). Glorification (1918) of St. Sophronius, bishop of Irkutsk (1771). "Balikin" (1711) and "Gorbanevsk" (1786) Icons of the Mother of God.Synaxis of the Holy, Glorious and All-praised Twelve Apostles: Peter, Andrew, James and John the sons of Zebedee, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Jude the brother of James, Simon the Zealot, Matthias.
New Hieromartyr Timothy priest (1918).
New Hieromartyr Theogenes (1939).
New Hieromartyr Milan Popovic of Rmanj, Serbia (1940s).
Martyr Joh (1944).
Venerable Peter the Prince of Ordinsk, Rostov (1290).
Glorification (1918) of St. Sophronius, bishop of Irkutsk (1771).
"Balikin" (1711) and "Gorbanevsk" (1786) Icons of the Mother of God.
St. Andrew, prince of Bogoliubsk (1174).
New Martyr Michael (Paknanas) the Gardener, of Athens (1770) (Greek).
Translation of the relics of the Great-martyr Stephen-Urosh III of Dechani, Serbia (1338).
St. Gelasius of Rimef (Transylvania) (14th c.).
Martyr Peter of Synope (Greek).
Martyr Meleton (Greek).
Martyr Basilides the Soldier at Alexandria (202).
St. Dinara, queen of Khereti, Georgia (10th c.) (Georgia).
St. Stephen of Omsk (1876).
St. Martial, bishop of Lomoges (3rd c.).

The Church Calendar and Spiritual Maturation

 

One of the most spiritually profitable discoveries for me, personally, was when I started, as a new Orthodox Christian, the observance of the liturgical calendar. Each day of the year I was carried along with the cycle of commemorations that brought to life various events in the life of Christ. The calendar provided me with daily scripture readings that quenched my thirst. The historical memory of the Church, lived out in the  various periods of fasts and feasts, allowed me to experience a Christianity that was vibrant and meaningful.

An important element in the calendar, I discovered, was the daily commemorations of Christian saints and martyrs. These saints came alive with each day's offering, allowing me a chance to emulate in may own life the lives of those who'd already won the battle, acquiring holiness in the Lord. It was the daily commemoration of the saints that allowed me to remember the mystical connection between the Church Militant here on earth and the Church Triumphant in heaven.

Just as a general of the army studies the military maneuvers of past generals in preparation for leading his men into battle, so can I study the saints who've triumphed in spiritual warfare. If I want to struggle more faithfully in my own spiritual quest to deepen my love for God, I need look no further than the lives of the saints to find inspiration.

With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

Photos of the Day:

1) A dark, brooding day at the monastery. Most of our summer has been in the high 50's to high 60's, with many rainy days. Given the weather the rest of our nation has been suffering under, my Norwegian blood is happy as a Puget Sound clam, with this cool, wet summer. 2) The courtyard of the monastery.

Scripture Readings for the Day:

Romans 15:7-16

Glorify God Together

⁷ Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God. ⁸ Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, ⁹ and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written:


      “ For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles,
      And sing to Your name.”

 ¹⁰ And again he says:


      “ Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!”

   

 ¹¹ And again:


      “ Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles!
      Laud Him, all you peoples!”

 ¹² And again, Isaiah says:


      “ There shall be a root of Jesse;
      And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles,
      In Him the Gentiles shall hope.”

¹³ Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

From Jerusalem to Illyricum

¹⁴ Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. ¹⁵ Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God, ¹⁶ that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 12:38-45

The Scribes and Pharisees Ask for a Sign

³⁸ Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”
³⁹ But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰ For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. ⁴¹ The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. ⁴² The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.

An Unclean Spirit Returns

⁴³ “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. ⁴⁴ Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”
Click photo to enlarge.