Lives of the Saints
1. HOLY PROPHET MICAH
He was of the tribe of Judah, from the village of Moresheth, for which reason he was called the Morasthite. A contemporary of the Prophets Isaiah, Amos, and Hosea, and of the kings of Judah — Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. He denounced the vices of his people and denounced the false prophets who prophesied for wine and for strong drink. He foretold the fall of Samaria. He foretold also the fall of Jerusalem, which would come because *its rulers take bribes, its priests teach for hire, and its prophets divine for money. Therefore, because of you, Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins. * But of all his prophecies, the most important is the prophecy concerning the Messiah, and especially the place of His birth. He named Bethlehem as the birthplace of the Messiah, *whose origins are from of old, from everlasting. * It is not known precisely whether this prophet too was slain by the Jews or died a peaceful death (see Jeremiah 26:18-19). But it is known that he was buried in his own village, and that his relics were discovered together with the relics of the Prophet Habakkuk in the time of Emperor Theodosius the Great, according to a certain mysterious revelation received by Zebenus, Bishop of Eleutheropolis.
2. HIEROMARTYR MARCELLUS, BISHOP OF APAMEA
He was born on Cyprus of wealthy and distinguished parents. He was highly educated, entered into marriage, and had children. When his wife died, he withdrew to the monastic life in Syria, leaving his children to Providence. He became renowned for his mercifulness, meekness, and spiritual learning, on account of which the people of Apamea elected him as their bishop. As bishop, he zealously labored at converting pagans to the Christian faith. When a certain idolatrous temple burned down, the idolaters seized Marcellus and, ostensibly holding him responsible for that fire, burned him in the flames, around the year 389. Especially instructive from the life of Saint Marcellus is also the fact that the blessing of water and the use of holy water are mentioned in connection with him.
“Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins.”
Hymn of Praise
Micah, God's prophet, burned with the Spirit of God,
And foretold both punishment and salvation:
"Hear, O rulers of the house of Jacob —
When fire breaks out, the chaff is not saved.
You hate good and love evil,
You mercilessly fleece the people of God.
You have forsaken the Law and the prophets of old,
You listen not to God but hearken to soothsayers!
But calamity shall come, torment and wailing,
And vain, and belated, crying to heaven.
Samaria shall become the threshing floor of the Assyrians,
Jerusalem the threshing floor of the furious Chaldeans.
And thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though small,
Small though thou art, most dear art thou to me.
From thee shall come forth the Leader whom we need,
His origins are from the depths of heaven.
From ardent love He shall come gladly,
With His mighty scepter He shall shepherd His flock.
His dominion shall reach to all the ends of the earth,
The earth shall sing with heaven of His mercy.
And peace shall reign — He shall be that peace,
He shall glorify the human race through Himself."
“Micah, God's prophet, burned with the Spirit of God, And foretold both punishment and salvation: "Hear, O rulers of the house of Jacob — When fire breaks out, the chaff is not saved.”
Reflection
Beware of a parent's curse, for terrible is a parent's curse. Value and seek a parent's blessing, for it shall follow you through your entire life. The wise Sirach says: A father's blessing establishes the houses of children, but a mother's curse uproots them to their foundations (Sirach 3:9). The curse with which Noah cursed the descendants of Ham pursues the unfortunate Hamites to this very day. And it was so in life for the sons of Jacob, just as their father had blessed them. Saint Sergius as a young man begged his parents for their blessing to enter a monastery. But his aged parents asked their son to wait and serve them until their death, and afterward let him become a monk. Sergius obeyed his parents, and was blessed until death. Bishop Hermogenes relates a case of how a son mistreated his wife. When his mother, with tears, began to rebuke him for this, the son attacked his mother, beat her, and smashed her head against the wall. The desperate mother cried out: "O Lord, let my son be cursed, and let him have neither my blessing nor Thine!" That very same day the son began to tremble in his whole body, and for a full thirteen years he lived in that trembling, unable even to bring a spoon to his own mouth. After thirteen years he made confession and received Holy Communion, from which he found some relief, and shortly thereafter he reposed.
“The wise Sirach says: A father's blessing establishes the houses of children, but a mother's curse uproots them to their foundations.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the wondrous help of God to Saul in the war against the Ammonites (1 Samuel 11), namely:
1. How mighty Nahash, the leader of the Ammonites, threatened to gouge out the right eye of every Israelite;
2. How the people of Israel wept before the Lord;
3. How Saul and Samuel defeated the Ammonites with God's help, for the Spirit of God was upon Saul and Samuel.
“How Saul and Samuel defeated the Ammonites with God's help, for the Spirit of God was upon Saul and Samuel.”
Homily
on the light prophesied in the darkness
Where it was darkest, the prophet foretells, there shall appear the light-bearing Messiah. The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali were considered the darkest lands. There pagans were mingled with Jews; the yoke of external and internal slavery was heaviest; pagan darkness and Pharisaic darkness covered the people with the shadow of death. The heavenly Light first shone forth in Bethlehem — Christ the Lord was born there. That Light was beheld from afar by the Eastern wise men, and from nearby by the Bethlehem shepherds. But that Light was driven from Bethlehem by Herod's bloody sword. And the Light withdrew into Egypt. Then the Light shone in full radiance in this land of darkness and the shadow of death, in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali. In that land, by the lake, there lived the fishermen whom the Lord chose as His disciples. In that land is also the Mount of the Beatitudes, from which the Lord proclaimed His first great Sermon on the Blessed Ones. There too is Cana of Galilee, where the Lord performed His first miracle. There He began the work of human salvation, by His mighty word and mighty deeds. People saw the great Light and marveled. Many were also scandalized by the Lord, and many mocked Him. But those dark people did not kill Him. There was a darker spot in the land of the Jews, which raised its hand against the Creator and killed Him. It is the very same spot from which Herod, thirty-three years before, had raised his bloody sword to quench the great Light in blood. That is Jerusalem. Of all the darknesses, the darkness of Jerusalem was the blackest. Perhaps the blackest precisely because it called itself the light.
O Lord, our great Light, exceedingly great, illumine us with Thy light in this brief age, and receive us after death into Thy glorious and immortal Light. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light, and to those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them the light has shined.”