The Morning Offering

The Roots of Holiness

A Western Tanager visits our fountain

Humility Comes from Humus

 
We all struggle with our passions, and like Saint Paul we can say that we do that which we do not want to do and do not do what we  want to do. The passions hold us down to the ground in our sin and fallen nature, and we are like the rotting soil beneath dead plants, but God's grace is more than sufficient for holiness to take root.

When planting corn, one waters twice a day so that the energy of the plant is expended upwardly, thus allowing the production of the cobs. Yet when planting flowers, you want to skip a daily watering so as to force the roots of the plant to go down deep, thus strengthening the plant so that it can bear lots of flowers and thrive for the whole of the summer months.

Salvation comes when we have acquired the Holy Spirit, and the fruits of the Spirit, a humble and contrite heart. Humility comes from humus, the best soil from which healthy plants can grow. From the rotten soil of our sinful nature, the acquisition of humility can transform that which was rotten into the beautiful flower that God intended.

The soil that is used for growing both vegetables and flowering plants must be healthy and fertile, for the best soil grows healthy plants. This type of soil is full of humus, the organic component of soil, formed by the decomposition of leaves and other plant material by soil microorganisms. Plants grow out of rotting soil, just as we grow out of the rottenness of our sin and fallen nature.

The gardener nurtures his plants, watering them, providing fertilizer and sunshine, and lots of loving care. The Church, much like the gardener, nurtures her children, providing the living Waters of Baptism, and the Holy Mysteries (communion) that give us life, and help us grow in the Light of Christ, the Son of Righteousness.
 
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

Tuesday July 16, 2013 / July 3, 2013

4^th Week after Pentecost. Tone two.

Martyr Hyacinth of Caesarea in Cappadocia.
Translation of the relics (1652) of Hieromartyr Philip, metropolitan of Moscow (1569).
New Hieromartyr Anthony, archbishop of Archangelsk (1931).
Venerable Anatolius, of the Near Caves in Kiev (12th c.).
St. Anatolius (another) recluse of the Far Caves in Kiev (13th c.).
Holy Princes Basil (1249) and Constantine (1257) of Yaroslavl.
Repose of St. Basil, bishop of Ryazan (1295).
Venerables John and Longinus, wonderworkers of Yarenga (Solovki) (1544-45).
Blessed John of Moscow, fool-for-Christ (1589).
Venerable Nicodemus, abbot of Kozha Lake (1640).
Martyrs Diomedes, Eulampius, Asclepiodotus, and Golinduc of Caesarea in Cappadocia (108).
Martyrs Mocius (Mucian) and Mark (4th c.).
Venerable Alexander, founder of the Monastery of the Unsleeping Ones (430).
St. Anatolius, patriarch of Constantinople (458).
Venerable Isaiah the Solitary of Seeds and Palestine (370).
Blessed Michael, Herodion, Basil, and Thomas, fools-for-Christ of Solvychegodsk (17th c.).
St. Germanus, bishop of the Isle of Man and enlightener of Peel, nephew of St. Patrick of Ireland (5th c.) (Celtic & British).
Martyrs Theodotus and Theodota, martyred with St. Hyacinth (Greek).
Venerable Gerasimus the New of Carpenision (1812) (Greek).
St. Claudianus, patriarch of Alexandria (167).
St. Anatolius, bishop of Laodicea, and his successor, St. Eusebius (3rd c.).
St. Symeon, the third stylite of Cilicia (6th c.).
St. George the God-bearer of the Black Mountain, teacher of St. George of Mt. Athos (10th c.)
St. Basil, archbishop of Novgorod (1352).

You can read the life of the saint in red, by clicking on the name.

THANKS to all of you who have been able to contribute towards the support of the monastery. These difficult times of economic hardship have impacted the monastery, and those of you who have been able to donate, have been our lifeline. May God bless you for your generosity, and kindness.

With love in Christ,  
Abbot Tryphon

Donations can be made directly to the monastery through PayPal, or you may send donations to:

All-Merciful Saviour Monastery
PO Box 2420
Vashon Island, WA 98070-2420 USA

The Scripture Readings for the Day

Romans 10:11-11:2

¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. ¹³ For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Israel Rejects the Gospel

¹⁴ How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? ¹⁵ And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:

“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

¹⁶ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” ¹⁷ So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
¹⁸ But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed:

“Their sound has gone out to all the earth, And their words to the ends of the world.”

¹⁹ But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says:

“I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation,
I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.”

²⁰ But Isaiah is very bold and says:

“I was found by those who did not seek Me;
I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me.”

²¹ But to Israel he says:

“All day long I have stretched out My hands
To a disobedient and contrary people.”

Israel’s Rejection Not Total

11 I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. ² God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying,

Matthew 11:16-20

¹⁶ “But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, ¹⁷ and saying:

‘We played the flute for you,
    And you did not dance;
We mourned to you,
    And you did not lament.’

¹⁸ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ ¹⁹ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.”

Woe to the Impenitent Cities

²⁰ Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: 

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