Isaiah 7.1-14 (6th Hour)

1And it came to pass in the days of Achaz the son of Joatham, the son of Ozias, king of Juda, there came up Rasim king of Aram, and Phakee son of Romelias, king of Israel, against Jerusalem to war against it, but they could not take it. 2And a message was brought to the house of David, saying, Aram has conspired with Ephraim. And his soul was amazed, and the soul of his people, as in a wood a tree is moved by the wind. 3And the Lord said to Esaias, Go forth to meet Achaz, you, and your son Jasub who is left, to the pool of the upper way of the fuller's field. 4And you shall say to him, Take care to be quiet, and fear not, neither let your soul be disheartened because of these two smoking firebrands: for when my fierce anger is over, I will heal again. 5And as for the son of Aram, and the son of Romelias, forasmuch as they have devised an evil counsel, saying, 6We will go up against Judea, and having conferred with them we will turn them away to our side, and we will make the son of Tabeel king of it; 7thus says the Lord of hosts, This counsel shall not abide, nor come to pass. 8But the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus, Rasim; and yet within sixty and five years the kingdom of Ephraim shall cease from being a people. 9And the head of Ephraim is Somoron, and the head of Somoron the son of Romelias: but if you⌃ believe not, neither will you⌃ at all understand. 10And the Lord again spoke to Achaz, saying, 11Ask for yourself a sign of the Lord your God, in the depth or in the height. 12And Achaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. 13And he said, Hear you⌃ now, O house of David; is it a little thing for you to contend with men? and how do you⌃ contend against the Lord? 14Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel.

Genesis 5.32-6.8 (Vespers)

1And Noe was five hundred years old, and he begot three sons, Sem, Cham, and Japheth. And it came to pass when men began to be numerous upon the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2that the sons of God having seen the daughters of men that they were beautiful, took to themselves wives of all whom they chose. 3And the Lord God said, My Spirit shall certainly not remain among these men for ever, because they are flesh, but their days shall be one hundred and twenty years. 4Now the giants were upon the earth in those days; and after that when the sons of God were wont to go in to the daughters of men, they bore children to them, those were the giants of old, the men of renown. 5And the Lord God, having seen that the wicked actions of men were multiplied upon the earth, and that every one in his heart was intently brooding over evil continually, 6then God laid it to heart that he had made man upon the earth, and he pondered it deeply. 7And God said, I will blot out man whom I have made from the face of the earth, even man with cattle, and reptiles with flying creatures of the sky, for I am grieved that I have made them. 8But Noe found grace before the Lord God.

Proverbs 6.20-7.1 (Vespers)

20My son, keep the laws of your father, and reject not the ordinances of your mother: 21but bind them upon your soul continually, and hang them as a chain about your neck. 22Whenever you walk, lead this along and let it be with you; that it may talk with you when you wake. 23For the commandment of the law is a lamp and a light; a way of life; reproof also and correction: 24to keep you continually from a married woman, and from the calumny of a strange tongue. 25Let not the desire of beauty overcome you, neither be you caught by your eyes, neither be captivated with her eyelids. 26For the value of a harlot is as much as of one loaf; and a woman hunts for the precious souls of men. 27Shall any one bind fire in his bosom, and not burn his garments? 28or will any one walk on coals of fire, and not burn his feet? 29So is he that goes in to a married woman; he shall not be held guiltless, neither any one that touches her. 30It is not to be wondered at if one should be taken stealing, for he steals that when hungry he may satisfy his soul: 31but if he should be taken, he shall repay sevenfold, and shall deliver himself by giving all his goods. 32But the adulterer through lack of sense procures destruction to his soul. 33He endures both pain and disgrace, and his reproach shall never be wiped off. 34For the soul of her husband is full of jealousy: he will not spare in the day of vengeance. 35He will not forego his enmity for any ransom: neither will he be reconciled for many gifts.

1My son, keep my words, and hide with you my commandments. My son, honor the Lord, and you shall be strong; and fear none but him:

Ven. Alexius the Man of God

He was born of pious and noble parents in Rome in the time of the Emperor Honorius. His parents, Euphemianus and Agalais, set a high standard of godly living: his father, though wealthy, sat down to dine only once a day, at sunset. By his parents’ arrangement Alexis was married at a young age. However, without ever living with his new wife, he fled to Edessa in Mesopotamia, where he lived in asceticism for eighteen years, presenting himself as a beggar in order to avoid the praise of men. When, despite his efforts, he began to be known as a holy man, he fled the city and took ship for Laodicea. By divine providence, the ship was blown off course and forced to land in Rome. Taking this as a sign, Alexis, still disguised as a beggar, returned to his parents’ house, where he sat at the gates, unrecognized by any of his family. His father, not knowing who he was, allowed him to live in a hut in his courtyard. There Alexis spent another seventeen years, living only on bread and water. He died clutching a piece of paper on which he had revealed his true identity. At the time of his death, the pope of Rome heard a voice saying “Look for the Man of God,” and revealing where he should look. It is said that the Emperor Honorius, the Pope and a large retinue came to the house, where they found Alexis dead in his tiny hut, his face shining like the sun. His parents and wife were at first overcome with grief to learn that their son and husband had been secretly living near them, but they were comforted when they saw that his body healed the sick and exuded a fragrant myrrh. Thus they knew that God had glorified him. His head is preserved at the Church of St Laurus on the Peloponnese.

St Patrick, Enlightener of Ireland (ca. 461)

“Saint Patrick, the Apostle of the Irish, was seized from his native Britain by Irish marauders when he was sixteen years old. Though the son of a deacon and grandson of a priest, it was not until his captivity that he sought out the Lord with his whole heart. In his Confession, the testament he wrote towards the end of his life, he says, ‘After I came to Ireland — every day I had to tend sheep, and many times a day I prayed — the love of God and His fear came to me more and more, and my faith was strengthened. And my spirit was so moved that in a single day I would say as many as a hundred prayers, and almost as many at night, and this even when I was staying in the woods and on the mountain; and I would rise for prayer before daylight, through snow, through frost, through rain, and I felt no harm.”

After six years of slavery in Ireland, he was guided by God to make his escape, and afterwards struggled in the monastic life in Aesir in Gaul [now France], under the guidance of the holy Bishop Germanus. Many years later he was ordained bishop and sent to Ireland once again, about the year 432, to convert the Irish to Christ. His arduous labours bore so much fruit that within seven years, three bishops were sent from Gaul to help him shepherd his flock, ‘my brethren and sons whom I have baptized in the Lord — so many thousands of people,’ he says in his Confession.

His apostolic work was not accomplished without much ‘weariness and painfulness,’ long journeys through difficult country, and many perils; he says his very life was in danger twelve times. When he came to Ireland, as its enlightener, it was a pagan country; when he ended his earthly life some thirty years later, about 461, the Faith of Christ was established in every corner.” (Great Horologion)

The work of St Patrick and his brethren has been called the most successful single missionary venture in the history of the Church.

It is said of St Patrick that he chanted the entire Psalter every day.