The Great Fast
As we begin the Great and Holy Fast, let us remember that our soul is immortal, and care must be given to ensure its health. Our bodies will die, yet we often give more attention to the health of our bodies, than we do for our souls. Let us embrace the Lenten Fast with wholeheartedness, and use the time we’ve been allotted, responsibly. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? (Mk. 8:36).
Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Inner courtyard looking toward trapyza
Monday February 27, 2012
Beginning of the Great Lent. Tone four.
Great Lent. By Monastic Charter – Full abstention from food
Clean Monday. (On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of the 1st week of Great Lent the Great Vespers the canon of St. Andrew of Crete is read).
Venerable Auxentius, monk of Bithynia (470).
St. Cyril, Equal-to-the-Apostles, teacher of the Slavs (869).
St. Raphael, bishop of Brooklyn (1915).
New Hieromartyr Onisimus bishop of Tula (1937).
New Hieromartyr Tryphon deacon (1938).
Venerable Isaac, recluse of the Kiev Caves (1090).
12 Greek Master-Builders of the Dormition Cathedral in the Lavra of the Kievan Caves (11th C).
Translation of the relics of Prince-martyr Michael and his counselor, St. Theodore of Chernigov (1578).
Venerable Maron, hermit of Syria (423).
St. Abraham, bishop of Charres in Mesopotamia (ca. 423).
Hieromartyr Philemon, bishop of Gaza.
New Martyr George the Tailor of Mitylene, at Constantinople (1693) (Greek).
New Martyr Nicholas of Corinth (1554) (Greek).
St. Peter, patriarch of Alexandria (380).
New Monk-martyr Damian the New of Philotheou, who suffered at Larissa (1568).
St. Ilarion the Georgian of Imeretia and Mt. Athos (1854) (Georgia).
We are hoping to retire the mortgage debt of $250,000.00. Having this hanging over our heads, and knowing the bank owns the monastery, is not a good thing. Your prayers are most appreciated, as we need a miracle.
Isaiah 1:1-20
1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
The Wickedness of Judah
2Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth!
For the Lord has spoken:
“I have nourished and brought up children,
And they have rebelled against Me;
3The ox knows its owner
And the donkey its master’s crib;
But Israel does not know,
My people do not consider.”
4Alas, sinful nation,
A people laden with iniquity,
A brood of evildoers,
Children who are corrupters!
They have forsaken the Lord,
They have provoked to anger
The Holy One of Israel,
They have turned away backward.
5Why should you be stricken again?
You will revolt more and more.
The whole head is sick,
And the whole heart faints.
6From the sole of the foot even to the head,
There is no soundness in it,
But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores;
They have not been closed or bound up,
Or soothed with ointment.
7Your country is desolate,
Your cities are burned with fire;
Strangers devour your land in your presence;
And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
8So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard,
As a hut in a garden of cucumbers,
As a besieged city.
9Unless the Lord of hosts
Had left to us a very small remnant,
We would have become like Sodom,
We would have been made like Gomorrah.
10Hear the word of the Lord,
You rulers of Sodom;
Give ear to the law of our God,
You people of Gomorrah:
11“To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?”
Says the Lord.
“I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of fed cattle.
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
Or of lambs or goats.
12“When you come to appear before Me,
Who has required this from your hand,
To trample My courts?
13Bring no more futile sacrifices;
Incense is an abomination to Me.
The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—
I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.
14Your New Moons and your appointed feasts
My soul hates;
They are a trouble to Me,
I am weary of bearing them.
15When you spread out your hands,
I will hide My eyes from you;
Even though you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of blood.
16“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
Cease to do evil,
17Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.
18“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.
19If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;
20But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword”;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Genesis 1:1-13
The History of Creation
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. 6Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” 7Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. 8And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day. 9Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 10And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. 12And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13So the evening and the morning were the third day.
Proverbs 1:1-20
The Beginning of Knowledge
1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
2To know wisdom and instruction,
To perceive the words of understanding,
3To receive the instruction of wisdom,
Justice, judgment, and equity;
4To give prudence to the simple,
To the young man knowledge and discretion—
5A wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
6To understand a proverb and an enigma,
The words of the wise and their riddles.
7The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Shun Evil Counsel
8My son, hear the instruction of your father,
And do not forsake the law of your mother;
9For they will be a graceful ornament on your head,
And chains about your neck.
10My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.
11If they say, “Come with us,
Let us lie in wait to shed blood;
Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
12Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,
And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;
13We shall find all kinds of precious possessions,
We shall fill our houses with spoil;
14Cast in your lot among us,
Let us all have one purse”—
15My son, do not walk in the way with them,
Keep your foot from their path;
16For their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed blood.
17Surely, in vain the net is spread
In the sight of any bird;
18But they lie in wait for their own blood,
They lurk secretly for their own lives.
19So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain;
It takes away the life of its owners.
The Call of Wisdom
20Wisdom calls aloud outside;
She raises her voice in the open squares.
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