Lives of the Saints
1. HOLY MARTYR PARASCEVA
Born in the city of Iconium to parents who were wealthy and lovers of Christ. After the death of her parents, the maiden Parasceva began to distribute her possessions to the poor and needy, all in the name of Christ the Lord. When the persecution began in the time of Diocletian, Parasceva was brought before the court of the prince of that land. When the prince asked her name, she said that she was called a Christian. The prince rebuked her for not giving her ordinary name. But Parasceva said to him: "I had first to tell thee the name of eternal life, and then the name of temporal life." After being flogged, the prince cast her into prison, where an angel of God appeared to her, healed her wounds and comforted her. By her prayer she destroyed all the idols in the pagan temple. After long and cruel torments she was beheaded with the sword and departed to eternal life.
2. SAINT ARSENIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF PEC
A great hierarch of the Serbian Church and successor of Saint Sava, Arsenius was a native of Srem. While still in his youth he became a monk and gave himself sincerely to wholehearted ascetic labors for the salvation of his soul. But hearing of the wondrous person and activity of Saint Sava, Arsenius went to him at Zica, where Sava received him lovingly and enrolled him in the brotherhood of Zica. Seeing the rare virtues in Arsenius, Sava soon appointed him abbot of the Monastery of Zica. When the Hungarians invaded the Serbian lands, Sava sent Arsenius south to find for the archbishopric a place more sheltered than Zica. Arsenius chose Pec and there built a monastery and a church dedicated to the Holy Apostles, which was later called the Church of the Ascension of the Lord. Before his second departure for Jerusalem, Sava designated Arsenius as his successor on the archiepiscopal throne. And when Sava died upon his return at Trnovo, Arsenius urged King Vladislav to transfer the body of Sava to Serbian lands. He wisely governed the Church for thirty years and reposed in the Lord on October 28, 1266. On the altar wall of the Pec temple is inscribed: "Lord our God, hearken, visit and bless this temple... and remember also me, the sinful Arsenius." He is buried there in the temple of Pec.
3. HOLY MARTYR TERENCE
From Syria. He suffered for the faith of Christ together with his wife and his seven children. After many torments, during which the power of God was manifested, all were beheaded with the sword.
4. SAINT STEPHEN THE SABAITE
The author of many beautiful canons. He practiced asceticism in the monastery of Saint Sabas the Sanctified. He was later a bishop, and peacefully reposed in the year 807.
5. SAINT ATHANASIUS, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE
An opponent of the union with Rome, in contrast to his predecessor John Veccus (1275-1282). An ascetic and man of prayer from childhood. Beloved by the people, he provoked the displeasure of certain clergy because of his moral strictness. He withdrew to his monastery on Mount Ganos, where he practiced asceticism even more strictly than before. The Lord Christ Himself appeared to him and gently rebuked him for having left the flock to the wolves. When he prophesied the day of an earthquake in Constantinople, Emperor Andronicus returned him to the patriarchal throne against his will. Afterward he again secretly withdrew to his ascetic labors. He reposed in his one hundredth year of life. A wonderworker and seer.
6. SAINT DEMETRIUS, BISHOP OF ROSTOV
A great hierarch, preacher, writer and ascetic. He was born near Kiev in 1651 and reposed at prayer in 1709. In addition to his many renowned edifying works, he became especially famous for his translation and publication of the "Lives of the Saints." He foresaw his death three days in advance and reposed at prayer. A great luminary of the Russian Church and of Orthodoxy in general. He had heavenly visions during his life; he served the Lord zealously and departed to the heavenly Kingdom.
“I had first to tell thee the name of eternal life, and then the name of temporal life.”
Hymn of Praise
The wise hierarch, holy Arsenius,
Does not conceal his wondrous power even today;
He hastens to God with gracious prayers
And helps the faithful servants of Christ.
He has access before God Most High,
For he was deemed worthy of the heavenly Kingdom.
When fierce Shishman, ruler of the Bulgarians,
Wished to plunder the monastery at Pec,
His army encamped near the monastery,
But that dark night it had no peace.
A radiant pillar of fire appeared from heaven,
Shishman's army was stricken with terror,
And the army fled headlong without looking back
From the holy place of Pec where the saint reposes.
God bestowed a crown of might and glory
Upon the wondrous successor of Saint Sava.
He continued the work of his glorious predecessor
And together with Saint Sava became the pride of his nation.
We now pray to holy Arsenius
That his grace may shine upon us.
“The wise hierarch, holy Arsenius, Does not conceal his wondrous power even today; He hastens to God with gracious prayers And helps the faithful servants of Christ.”
Reflection
Saint Demetrius of Rostov was a saint of the old and true patristic mold. He not only wrote beautiful and edifying books, but also illumined his flock by his own example. He was a great faster and man of prayer. He was so humble that he even asked the seminarians in his seminary to pray to God for him. Whenever the clock struck the hour he would rise to prayer and read "Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos!" When he was ill — which happened to him often — he would ask the seminarians each to read the "Our Father" five times for him, with the thought of the five wounds of the Lord Jesus Christ. Once Saint Barbara appeared to him and said with a smile: "Why do you pray in the Latin manner?" That is, why does he pray to God so briefly? From this reproof, mild though it was, he was in despair. But she encouraged him, saying: "Fear not!" On another occasion Saint Orestus the Martyr (November 10) appeared to him, just as Saint Demetrius was writing his life, and said: "I endured greater torments for Christ than you have written." And he showed him his left side and said: "This was pierced with a red-hot iron." Then he showed him his left hand and said: "Here I was cut." Finally he showed him his leg above the knee and said: "And this was slashed with a scythe." When Saint Demetrius wondered which Orestus this was, and whether it was the one among the Five Martyrs (December 13), the saint read his thought and said: "I am not the one among the Five Martyrs, but the one whose life you have just now written."
“On another occasion Saint Orestus the Martyr appeared to him, just as Saint Demetrius was writing his life, and said: 'I endured greater torments for Christ than you have written.'”
Contemplation
Contemplate the terrible punishment of God upon Herod (Acts 12), namely:
1. How Herod exalted himself with pride, and the people praised him as a god;
2. How the angel of God suddenly struck him because he did not give glory to God;
3. How he was eaten by worms and expired.
“How the angel of God suddenly struck Herod because he did not give glory to God.”
Homily
on the prayer to God to save the soul from dust
Our soul, brethren, is clothed in dust, and a chariot of dust has been given to serve our soul. Let not our soul sink into the dust! Let it not be enslaved by dust! Let the living spark not be extinguished in a tomb of dust! Very vast is the field of earthly dust that draws us to itself, but vaster still is the immeasurable spiritual kingdom, which calls our soul its kinswoman. By the dust of our body we are indeed akin to the earth, but by our soul we are akin to heaven. We are settlers in temporary huts, soldiers in passing tents. Lord, save me from the dust! So prays the repentant king, who at first had given himself over to dust until he saw how dust drags one into the abyss of destruction. The dust of the human body with its fantasies is dust; and all evil people who war against the righteous are dust; and the demons with their terrors are dust. From all this dust may the Lord save us. He alone can do so. And let us endeavor first and foremost to see the enemy within ourselves — the enemy who attracts all the other enemies. The greatest misery of the sinner comes from the fact that he is himself an ally of his enemies against himself, unconsciously and unwillingly. But the righteous man has firmly strengthened his soul in God and in the Kingdom of God, and is not afraid; he is not afraid first of himself, and then he is not afraid of his other enemies either. He is not afraid because he is neither an ally nor an accomplice of the enemies of his soul. Therefore neither people nor demons can do anything to him. God is his ally, and the angels of God his protectors — what can man do to him, what can a demon do, what can any dust do?
O Lord our God, tri-hypostatic and one, who didst breathe a living soul into the dust of our body, save us by Thy mercy, that we may not sink. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“The dust of the human body with its fantasies is dust; and all evil people who war against the righteous are dust; and the demons with their terrors are dust. From all this dust may the Lord save us.”