Lives of the Saints
1. HOLY APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST LUKE
By birth from Antioch. In his youth he had studied well Greek philosophy, medicine and painting. During the time of the ministry of the Lord Jesus on earth, Saint Luke came to Jerusalem, where he saw the Savior face to face, heard His saving teaching, and was a witness of His wondrous works. Having believed in the Lord, Saint Luke was numbered among the Seventy Apostles and sent out to preach. Together with Cleopas he saw the Risen Lord on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24). After the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, Luke returned to Antioch, and there became a co-laborer of the Apostle Paul, with whom he also traveled to Rome, converting Jews and pagans to the Faith of Christ. Luke, the beloved physician, greets you, writes the Apostle Paul to the Colossians (Colossians 4:14). At the request of Christians he wrote his Gospel, around the year 60. After the martyric death of the great Apostle Paul, Saint Luke preached the Gospel in Italy, Dalmatia, Macedonia and other lands. He painted an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos -- and not just one, but three, and likewise icons of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. Hence Saint Luke is considered the founder of Christian iconography. Under old age he visited Libya and Upper Egypt. From Egypt he returned to Greece, where he continued with great zeal to preach and convert people to Christ, regardless of his advanced age. Saint Luke wrote the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, and dedicated both to Theophilus, the governor of Achaia. He was eighty-four years old when the malicious idolaters subjected him to torment for Christ's sake and hanged him on an olive tree in the city of Thebes in Boeotia. The wonderworking relics of this wondrous saint were translated to Constantinople in the time of Emperor Constantius, the son of Constantine.
2. SAINT PETER OF CETINJE, METROPOLITAN OF MONTENEGRO
Born on April 1, 1749, in the village of Njegos. He entered the monastic rank at the age of twelve. After the death of Metropolitan Sava in 1782, Peter became Metropolitan and ruler of Montenegro. This glorious man devoted all his life, both heroic and holy, to his people. Internally he labored with all his strength to reconcile the feuding tribes, and externally to defend the land and people from rapacious invaders. He succeeded in both tasks. He distinguished himself especially by his victory over the army of Napoleon in Boka and Dalmatia. Toward himself he was austere, but toward everyone else righteous and condescending. He lived in a narrow cell, as a simple monk, even though he was a prince over a people. He reposed in the Lord on October 18, 1830. His wonderworking relics repose incorrupt in the Monastery of Cetinje. The Lord glorified him in heaven and on earth, as His faithful and long-suffering servant.
3. SAINT JULIAN AND DIDYMUS THE BLIND
Saint Julian, called the Desert-Dweller, was a Persian and a peasant without schooling, but because of the purity of his heart he was a vessel of the grace of the Holy Spirit. He practiced asceticism near the Euphrates in Mesopotamia. He had the gift of clairvoyance. At the very moment when Julian the Apostate perished, Saint Julian perceived it in spirit and announced it to his disciples. His contemporary, Saint Didymus the Blind in Alexandria, likewise foresaw in spirit the death of Julian the Apostate; he was at prayer one night, when a voice came to him from heaven: "Today Emperor Julian has perished; inform Patriarch Athanasius of this." Saint Anthony the Great greatly esteemed this wondrous blind man Didymus, who had a clairvoyant spirit, and would visit him whenever he came from the desert to Alexandria, and together with him would pray to God. Both Saint Julian and Saint Didymus, wondrous servants of God, reposed in the Lord after the year 362.
Hymn of Praise
The divine Luke, both wise and learned,
Was willingly martyred for the Lord.
He could have escaped reproach and torment,
But then the world would not have had the great Luke.
Young Luke beheld the Truth of God,
He gave his heart to the Son of God,
Listened to the Teacher, beheld the Wonderworker,
And in Him recognized his immortal Creator.
He saw the Risen One and spoke with Him,
He wrought miracles in His name.
And Christ became his singular joy,
Luke sacrificed to Him mind, treasure and youth.
When Luke grew old, through Christ he was young,
From Christ he received and to the world he gave,
And when he gave the world all he could give,
Then the world, according to Scripture, repaid him with cruelty...
On an old olive tree hangs the elder Luke,
With a smile upon his face, his arms crossed,
From heaven a hand of Christ Himself was stretched forth
And received the soul of His Evangelist.
Now in the radiant Paradise with the other apostles,
Holy Luke prays for the holy Church.
“From heaven a hand of Christ Himself was stretched forth, and received the soul of His Evangelist.”
Reflection
Can a sinner atone for his sins in ten days? By the immeasurable mercy of God, he can. In the time of Emperor Maurice there was a certain notorious robber in the vicinity of Constantinople. Both in the environs of the capital and in the capital itself there reigned fear and trembling on account of him. Then Emperor Maurice himself sent him a cross as a sign of his pledge that he would do him no harm if he surrendered. The robber accepted the cross and surrendered. Coming to Constantinople he fell at the emperor's feet and begged for forgiveness. The emperor kept his word, pardoned him and set him free. But immediately thereafter the robber fell gravely ill, and he sensed that death was drawing near. He began to repent bitterly of all his sins and to pray tearfully to God, that God would forgive him as the emperor had also forgiven him. He shed many tears in prayer, so that the kerchief with which he wiped his tears was completely soaked through. And the robber died after ten days of weeping and prayer. That very night when he died, the physician who had been treating him saw in a dream a wondrous vision: when the robber on his bed breathed out his soul, some sort of dark figures gathered around him with many papers on which were written the sins of the deceased. Then two radiant angels also appeared. Between them scales were set, and the dark figures joyfully placed all those papers on the scales, and their side of the scales sank, for the other side was empty. "What shall we place on our side?" the angels conferred. "Let us search for some good in his life!" And in the hands of one angel there was found that kerchief soaked with penitent tears. The angels quickly placed it on their side of the scales, and their side at once outweighed all those papers. Then the dark figures fled, howling sorrowfully, and the angels took the soul and carried it to paradise, glorifying the love of God for mankind.
“The angels quickly placed it on their side of the scales, and their side at once outweighed all those papers.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the miracle with the Apostle Philip and the eunuch (Acts 8), namely:
1. How an angel directed Philip from Samaria to the road to Gaza;
2. How Philip saw the eunuch of the queen, explained to him a prophecy of Isaiah, and baptized him;
3. How the angel took Philip, made him invisible to the eunuch, and instantly transported him to the city of Azotus.
“How the angel directed Philip from Samaria to the road to Gaza.”
Homily
on the sins of the tongue
I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue (Psalm 39:1)
The sin of the tongue is the most frequent and the swiftest sin. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, says the Apostle James (James 3:2). When a penitent takes the ways of God, that is, when he begins to live according to the commandments of God, let him strive first not to sin with his tongue. Such a rule the penitent David had set for himself. He especially resolved to be silent before his adversaries: *I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. * Here is a splendid rule for those who are being healed of sin. When he is accused, he does not answer; when he is slandered, he is silent. In truth, what use is it even to speak to an enraged unjust man who does not have God before him? If you speak to him of evil, you will only irritate him more; but if of good, you will make him a mocker of what is holy. Before Pilate, Christ was silent. *Answerest thou not me? * said Pilate. What shall He answer thee, when thou hast no ears to hear nor reason to understand? Behold, the silence of the righteous before the unrighteous can still have the best influence upon the unrighteous. Left to interpret the silence of the righteous for himself, the unrighteous man may interpret it for the benefit of his own soul, while every answer, white or black, he will interpret to the evil and condemnation of the other and to the justification of himself. Blessed is the one who has learned to govern his tongue. O Lord Jesus Christ, our God, Thou who hast shown us by Thine example how and when one should speak, hast also shown us by Thine example how and when one should be silent. Help us by Thy Holy Spirit, that we sin not with our tongue. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“Blessed is the one who has learned to govern his tongue.”