John 10.1-9 (Matins Gospel, St Tikhon)

1“Most certainly, I tell you, one who doesn’t enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2But one who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him; for they don’t know the voice of strangers.” 6Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they didn’t understand what he was telling them.

7Jesus therefore said to them again, “Most certainly, I tell you, I am the sheep’s door. 8All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out and will find pasture.

Isaiah 48.17-49.4 (6th Hour)

17Thus says the Lord that delivered you, the Holy One of Israel; I am your God, I have shown you how you should find the way wherein you should walk. 18And if you had listened to my commandments, then would your peace have been like a river, and your righteousness as a wave of the sea. 19Your seed also would have been as the sand, and the offspring of your belly as the dust of the ground: neither now shall you by any means be utterly destroyed, neither shall your name perish before me. 20Go forth of Babylon, you that flee from the Chaldeans: utter aloud a voice of joy, and let this be made known, proclaim it to the end of the earth; say you⌃, The Lord has delivered his servant Jacob. 21And if they shall thirst, he shall lead them through the desert; he shall bring forth water to them out of the rock: the rock shall be cloven, and the water shall flow forth, and my people shall drink. 22There is no joy, says the Lord, to the ungodly.

1Listen to me, you⌃ islands; and attend, you⌃ Gentiles; after a long time it shall come to pass, says the Lord: from my mother's womb he has called my name: 2and he has made my mouth as a sharp sword, and he has hid me under the shadow of his hand; he has made me as a choice shaft, and he has hid me in his quiver; 3and said to me, You are my servant, O Israel, and in you I will be glorified. 4Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have given my strength for vanity and for nothing: therefore is my judgment with the Lord, and my labor before my God.

Genesis 27.1-41 (Vespers)

1And it came to pass after Isaac was old, that his eyes were dimmed so that he could not see; and he called Esau, his elder son, and said to him, My son; and he said, Behold, I am here. 2And he said, Behold, I am grown old, and know not the day of my death. 3Now then take the weapons, both your quiver and your bow, and go into the plain, and get me venison, 4and make me meats, as I like them, and bring them to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you, before I die. 5And Rebecca heard Isaac speaking to Esau his son; and Esau went to the plain to procure venison for his father. 6And Rebecca said to Jacob her younger son, Behold, I heard your father speaking to Esau your brother, saying, 7Bring me venison, and prepare me meats, that I may eat and bless you before the Lord before I die. 8Now then, my son, listen to me, as I command you. 9And go to the cattle and take for me thence two kids, tender and good, and I will make them meats for your father, as he likes. 10And you shall bring them in to your father, and he shall eat, that your father may bless you before he dies. 11And Jacob said to his mother Rebecca, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I a smooth man. 12Peradventure my father may feel me, and I shall be before him as one ill-intentioned, and I shall bring upon me a curse, and not a blessing. 13And his mother said to him, On me be your curse, son; only listen to my voice, and go and bring them me. 14So he went and took and brought them to his mother; and his mother made meats, as his father liked them. 15And Rebecca having taken the fine raiment of her elder son Esau which was with her in the house, put it on Jacob her younger son. 16And she put on his arms the skins of the kids, and on the bare parts of his neck. 17And she gave the meats, and the loaves which she had prepared, into the hands of Jacob her son. 18And he brought them to his father, and said, Father; and he said, Behold I am here; who are you, son? 19And Jacob said to his father, I, Esau your firstborn, have done as you told me; rise, sit, and eat of my venison, that your soul may bless me. 20And Isaac said to his son, What is this which you have quickly found? And he said, That which the Lord your God presented before me. 21And Isaac said to Jacob, Draw near to me, and I will feel you, son, if you are my son Esau or not. 22And Jacob drew near to his father Isaac, and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. 23And he knew him not, for his hands were as the hands of his brother Esau, hairy; and he blessed him, 24and he said, Are you my son Esau? and he said, I am. 25And he said, Bring hither, and I will eat of your venison, son, that my soul may bless you; and he brought it near to him, and he ate, and he brought him wine, and he drank. 26And Isaac his father said to him, Draw near to me, and kiss me, son. 27And he drew near and kissed him, and smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him, and said, Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of an abundant field, which the Lord has blessed. 28And may God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and abundance of corn and wine. 29And let nations serve you, and princes bow down to you, and be you lord of your brother, and the sons of your father shall do you reverence; accursed is he that curses you, and blessed is he that blesses you. 30And it came to pass after Isaac had ceased blessing his son Jacob, it even came to pass, just when Jacob had gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 31And he also had made meats and brought them to his father; and he said to his father, Let my father arise and eat of his son's venison, that your soul may bless me. 32And Isaac his father said to him, Who are you? And he said, I am your firstborn son Esau. 33And Isaac was amazed with very great amazement, and said, Who then is it that has procured venison for me and brought it to me? and I have eaten of all before you came, and I have blessed him, and he shall be blessed. 34And it came to pass when Esau heard the words of his father Isaac, he cried out with a great and very bitter cry, and said, Bless, I pray you, me also, father. 35And he said to him, Your brother has come with subtlety, and taken your blessing. 36And he said, Rightly was his name called Jacob, for behold! this second time has he supplanted me; he has both taken my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing; and Esau said to his father, Have you not left a blessing for me, father? 37And Isaac answered and said to Esau, If I have made him your lord, and have made all his brethren his servants, and have strengthened him with corn and wine, what then shall I do for you, son? 38And Esau said to his father, Have you only one blessing, father? Bless, I pray you, me also, father. And Isaac being troubled, Esau cried aloud and wept. 39And Isaac his father answered and said to him, Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above. 40And you shall live by your sword, and shall serve your brother; and there shall be a time when you shall break and loosen his yoke from off your neck. 41And Esau was angry with Jacob because of the blessing, with which his father blessed him; and Esau said in his mind, Let the days of my father's mourning draw near, that I may kill my brother Jacob.

Proverbs 19.16-25 (Vespers)

16He that keeps the commandment keeps his own soul; but he that despises his ways shall perish. 17He that has pity on the poor lends to the Lord; and he will recompense to him according to his gift. 18Chasten your son, for so he shall be hopeful; and be not exalted in your soul to haughtiness. 19A malicious man shall be severely punished, and if he commit injury, he shall also lose his life. 20Hear, son, the instruction of your father, that you may be wise at your latter end. 21There are many thoughts in a man's heart; but the counsel of the Lord abides for ever. 22Mercy is a fruit to a man: and a poor man is better than a rich liar. 23The fear of the Lord is life to a man: and he shall lodge without fear in places where knowledge is not seen. 24He that unjustly hides his hands in his bosom, will not even bring them up to his mouth. 25When a pestilent character is scourged, a simple man is made wiser: and if you reprove a wise man, he will understand discretion.

Wisdom of Solomon 3.1-9 (Vespers, St Tikhon)

1But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them. 2In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure is taken for misery, 3And their going from us to be utter destruction: but they are in peace. 4For though they be punished in the sight of men, yet is their hope full of immortality. 5And having been a little chastised, they shall be greatly rewarded: for God proved them, and found them worthy for himself. 6As gold in the furnace has he tried them, and received them as a burnt offering. 7And in the time of their visitation they shall shine, and run to and fro like sparks among the stubble. 8They shall judge the nations, and have dominion over the people, and their Lord shall reign for ever. 9They that put their trust in him shall understand the truth: and such as be faithful in love shall abide with him: for grace and mercy is to his saints, and he has care for his elect.

Wisdom of Solomon 5.15-6.3 (Vespers, St Tikhon)

15But the righteous live for evermore; their reward also is with the Lord, and the care of them is with the most High. 16Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom, and a beautiful crown from the Lord's hand: for with his right hand shall he cover them, and with his arm shall he protect them. 17He shall take to him his jealousy for complete armor, and make the creature his weapon for the revenge of his enemies. 18He shall put on righteousness as a breastplate, and true judgment instead of an helmet. 19He shall take holiness for an invincible shield. 20His severe wrath shall he sharpen for a sword, and the world shall fight with him against the unwise. 21Then shall the right aiming thunderbolts go abroad; and from the clouds, as from a well drawn bow, shall they fly to the mark. 22And hailstones full of wrath shall be cast as out of a stone bow, and the water of the sea shall rage against them, and the floods shall cruelly drown them. 23Yes, a mighty wind shall stand up against them, and like a storm shall blow them away: thus iniquity shall lay waste the whole earth, and ill dealing shall overthrow the thrones of the mighty.

1Hear therefore, O you⌃ kings, and understand; learn, you⌃ that be judges of the ends of the earth. 2Give ear, you⌃ that rule the people, and glory in the multitude of nations. 3For power is given you of the Lord, and sovereignty from the Highest, who shall try your works, and search out your counsels.

Wisdom of Solomon 4.7-15 (Vespers, St Tikhon)

7But though the righteous be prevented with death, yet shall he be in rest. 8For honorable age is not that which stands in length of time, nor that is measured by number of years. 9But wisdom is the gray hair to men, and an unspotted life is old age. 10He pleased God, and was beloved of him: so that living among sinners he was translated. 11Yes speedily was he taken away, lest that wickedness should alter his understanding, or deceit decieve his soul. 12For the bewitching of naughtiness does obscure things that are honest; and the wandering of concupiscence does undermine the simple mind. 13He, being made perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time: 14For his soul pleased the Lord: therefore hasted he to take him away from among the wicked. 15This the people saw, and understood it not, neither laid they up this in their minds, That his grace and mercy is with his saints, and that he has respect to his chosen.

Hebrews 7.26-8.2 (Epistle, St Tikhon)

26For such a high priest was fitting for us: holy, guiltless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; 27who doesn’t need, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices daily, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. For he did this once for all, when he offered up himself. 28For the law appoints men as high priests who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints a Son forever who has been perfected.

1Now in the things which we are saying, the main point is this: we have such a high priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2a servant of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, not man.

John 10.9-16 (Gospel, St Tikhon)

9I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out and will find pasture. 10The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.

11“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them. 13The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own; 15even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd.

St Justin (Popovic) of Chelije in Serbia (1979) (March 25 OC)

He was born on the Feast of the Annunciation 1894, in Vranje, South Serbia, to a family whose seven previous generations had been headed by priests (Popovich means ‘family or son of a priest’ in Serbian). He began reading the scriptures at a young age, and as an adult carried a New Testament with him, reading three chapters every day. He studied at the Seminary of St Sava in Belgrade while St Nikolai Velimirovic (March 18) was on the faculty. In 1914, Blagoje (as he was called before his tonsure) completed the nine-year seminary program. He desired to become a monk, but postponed entry into the monastic ranks due to the outbreak of war and the poor health of his parents. He spent the war caring for his parents and serving as a student nurse.

In 1915 he was tonsured a monk under the name Justin, after St Justin the Philosopher. Shortly thereafter he traveled to Petrograd to study at the seminary; there he acquired a deep, first-hand knowledge of the Russian ascetical tradition and a lifelong love of Russian spirituality, especially that of the common people. He then attended Oxford University from 1916 to 1919, writing a doctoral dissertation which was rejected. After a brief return to Belgrade, he entered the Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Athens. As in Russia, he used his time there not merely to study but to drink in the Orthodox spirituality of the Greek people. He was ordained to the diaconate while in Greece, then to the priesthood after returning to Belgrade in 1922. He wept ‘as a newborn babe’ throughout his ordination service. One of his first labors as a priest was to translate the Divine Liturgy into modern Serbian. During this period he came to know Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky (later first hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad) and St John Maximovich, both of whom were living in Serbia as exiles from the Russian Revolution.

Father Justin’s preaching, writing and spiritual counsel became known throughout his country. In 1931 he was sent to Czechoslovakia to help in reorganizing the Church there (then under the jurisdiction of the Serbian Church), which was greatly tried and weakened by Uniatism. Realizing the people’s crying need a clear exposition of the Faith in their own language, he began in 1932 his three-volume Dogmas of the Orthodox Church. The first volume was so well-received that Fr Justin was made Professor of Dogmatics at the Seminary of St Sava, where he remained, completing the Dogmas and several other books, until the end of World War II. The new atheistic Communist regime then banned him from the university system, and Fr Justin lived from that time on in various Serbian monasteries.

In 1948 he entered Chelije Monastery, where he remained until his repose in 1979. He became Archimandrite and spiritual head of the Monastery. It was during this period that he emerged as a great light of Orthodoxy: pious believers from all parts of Yugoslavia, from Greece, and from all over the world traveled to Chelije to hear the holy Justin’s preaching and seek his counsel.

Saint Justin reposed in peace in 1979 at the age of 85, on the Feast of the Annunciation — the date of his birth. Since his repose, many miracles have been witnessed at his grave: healings, flashes of unearthly light from his tomb, and conversions of unbelievers by his prayers. His many writings are increasingly recognized as a fount of pure Orthodox teaching in the midst of our dark time.

Note: St Justin is commemorated on the anniversary of his repose, so his commemoration only coincides with the Feast of the Annunciation on the Old Calendar.

Holy Martyr Calliopius, with his mother Theoclea (304)

Calliopius was the only son of a senator from Pamphylia and his wife Theoclea, who had long prayed to God for a child. The devout Theoclea reared her son in purity of life and love for God from infancy. When persecution of Christians broke out under Maximian, Theoclea put Calliopius aboard a ship bound for Pompeiopolis to save him from the persecutors. But Calliopius, as soon as he disembarked, encountered a pagan festival, where he was arrested when he refused to make sacrifice to the idols. Brought before the governor Maximus, he freely confessed that he was a Christian. For this he was cruelly tortured and thrown into prison. His mother, hearing of his torments, sold her goods and hurried to comfort him and encourage him in his martyrdom.

Calliopius was sentenced to death by crucifixion, as it happened on Holy Thursday; but the holy Theoclea bribed the officials to postpone the execution by one day, so that her son might imitate the Lord’s Crucifixion on the day that He endured it; she also prevailed upon the torturers to crucify Calliopius upside-down (like St Peter) in humility toward the Lord. When her son’s lifeless body was taken down from the cross, Theoclea cast herself upon it and died.

St George the Confessor, bishop of Mitylene (ca. 820)

The righteous George was Metropolitan of Mitylene. In his old age, a persecution was unleashed against the Church by the iconoclast Emperor Leo V (the Armenian). To further his plans, the Emperor summoned a Council of bishops which he expected to support his iconoclasm. At the Council, George and some other faithful bishops refused to follow the Emperor’s wishes, and openly stood in defense of the icons. For his stance, George was publicly humiliated, then sent into exile at Cherson on the Black Sea. There, after many years of extreme privation, the holy bishop died. By his prayers many were healed, both during his life and after his repose.

St Nilus (Nil Sorsky), abbot of Sora (1508)

St Nilus established the monastic skete (a community of monks living separately like hermits, but sharing some common life) in Russia. He took one side of a religious controversy that troubled the Russian Church’s life for many years. St Nilus and his disciples claimed that prayer and ascetic struggle are the whole purpose of monastic life, and opposed monastic ownership of property, or involvement in works such as almshouses, hospitals, and orphanages. Joseph, abbot of Volokalamsk, took up the argument on the other side, insisting that the Church and its monks should be involved in good works (and have the means to do those works) as well as in prayer. The two groups became known as the “Possessors” (Joseph’s side) and the “Non-Possessors” (Nilus’ side). Each group had reason to be troubled by the other’s extremes: Monasteries owned huge amounts of land, kept serfs, and were subject to corruption by involvement in finance; at the same time, the Church formed most of the ‘welfare’ system of Russia, and the Non-possessors did not suggest how the poor were to be tended, or orphans cared for, without the monasteries’ charity. Many of the Non-possessors tended toward a non-Russian and almost un-Orthodox puritanism, condemning beautiful churches and icons as diversions from true spirituality.

The Possessors (not surprisingly) were favored by the Tsarist government, and eventually won out. The artificial division of the Church into mystical and practical ‘parties,’ and the victory of one of the parties, led to a period of stagnation in the Russian church that was only corrected two hundred years later, when a great renewal of religious life, characterized by such holy Fathers as St Paisios Velichkovsky and St Seraphim of Sarov, restored the fullness and balance of Orthodox life to the Russian church.

An indication of the fullness of Orthodoxy: the Church has glorified not only St Nilus but his opponent St Joseph of Volokalamsk, who is commemorated on Sept. 9.

Saint Savvas the New of Kalymnos (1948) (March 25 OC)

He was born in Thrace to a poor family. Early in life he desired to become a monk and, failing to get his parents’ consent, left secretly for Mt Athos. After several years there, he traveled to Palestine, where he entered the Monastery of St George the Chozebite. In 1903 he was ordained to the priesthood. From 1907–1916 he lived in severe asceticism as a hermit on the banks of the Jordan. After living in several monasteries in Greece, he served with St Nektarios of Aegina for the last year of the Saint’s life (he reposed in 1920). After six more years on Aegina, Fr Savvas moved to the island of Kalymnos, where he spent the remainder of his life. He lived in quietness and asceticism, acquiring a reputation throughout the island as a confessor and spiritual father. He slept only a few hours each night, and gave away any money that came to him the same day, since he believed that it was wrong for a monk to have money in his cell after nightfall.

Saint Savvas reposed on the Old Calendar feast of the Annunciation in 1948. Innumerable miracles and healings have been wrought through his intercession. A striking example occurred in 1957: A group of young islanders were talking about the Saint, and one of them, who doubted his sanctity, said ‘If this lamp breaks I’ll believe.’ At that moment the lamp shattered spontaneously.

The following account is from Mother Nectaria McLees’ Evlogeite! A pilgrim’s guide to Greece: ‘His last words of counsel to his nuns were, “…love… is the bond of perfection,” and to the abbess he said, “Love, love, love (Agapa, agapa, agapa).” Then he clapped his hands six times, saying “The Lord, the Lord, the Lord…”

‘In 1957 his relics were uncovered in the presence of Metropolitan Isidoros of Kalymnos, who described them as “the bones being perfectly joined, and the vestments intact.” When the sepulchre was opened a divine and otherworldly fragrance covered the area, even to the outskirts of town far below. In 1961, an iconographer of the Skete of Kapsokalyvia on Mount Athos painted an icon of St. Savvas at Abbess Philothei’s request. The icon arrived by ferry, and as it was being transferred from the post office to the customs house where the nuns would pick it up, the convent bell began ringing by itself and continued until the icon was brought to the monastery.’