1O Lord God, I will glorify you, I will sing to your name; for you have done wonderful things, even an ancient and faithful counsel. So be it.
2For you have made cities a heap, even cities made strong that their foundations should not fall: the city of ungodly men shall not be built for ever.
3Therefore shall the poor people bless you, and cities of injured men shall bless you.
4For you have been a helper to every lowly city, and a shelter to them that were disheartened by reason of poverty: you shall deliver them from wicked men: you have been a shelter of them that thirst, and a refreshing air to injured men.
5We were as faint-hearted men thirsting in Sion, by reason of ungodly men to whom you did deliver us.
6And the Lord of hosts shall make a feast for all the nations: on this mount they shall drink gladness, they shall drink wine:
7they shall anoint themselves with ointment in this mountain. Impart you all these things to the nations; for this is God's counsel upon all the nations.
8Death has prevailed and swallowed men up; but again the Lord God has taken away every tear from every face. He has taken away the reproach of his people from all the earth: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.
9And in that day they shall say, behold our God in whom we have trusted, and he shall save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, and we have exulted, and will rejoice in our salvation.
Genesis 9.8-17 (Vespers)
8And God spoke to Noe, and to his sons with him, saying,
9And behold I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you,
10and with every living creature with you, of birds and of beasts, and with all the wild beasts of the earth, as many as are with you, of all that come out of the ark.
11And I will establish my covenant with you and all flesh shall not any more die by the water of the flood, and there shall no more be a flood of water to destroy all the earth.
12And the Lord God said to Noe, This is the sign of the covenant which I set between me and you, and between every living creature which is with you for perpetual generations.
13I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of covenant between me and the earth.
14And it shall be when I gather clouds upon the earth, that my bow shall be seen in the cloud.
15And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you, and between every living soul in all flesh, and there shall no longer be water for a deluge, so as to blot out all flesh.
16And my bow shall be in the cloud, and I will look to remember the everlasting covenant between me and the earth, and between every living soul in all flesh, which is upon the earth.
17And God said to Noe, This is the sign of the covenant, which I have made between me and all flesh, which is upon the earth.
Proverbs 12.8-22 (Vespers)
8The mouth of an understanding man is praised by a man; but he that is dull of heart is had in derision.
9Better is a man in dishonor serving himself, than one honouring himself and lacking bread.
10A righteous man has pity for the lives of his cattle; but the bowels of the ungodly are unmerciful.
11He that tills his own land shall be satisfied with bread; but they that pursue vanities are void of understanding. He that enjoys himself in banquets of wine, shall leave dishonor in his own strong holds.
12The desires of the ungodly are evil; but the roots of the godly are firmly set.
13For the sin of his lips a sinner falls into snare; but a righteous man escapes from them. He whose looks are gentle shall be pitied, but he that contends in the gates will afflict souls.
14The soul of a man shall be filled with good from the fruits of his mouth; and the recompence of his lips shall be given to him.
15The ways of fools are right in their own eyes; but a wise man hearkens to counsels.
16A fool declares his wrath the same day; but a prudent man hides his own disgrace.
17A righteous man declares the open truth; but an unjust witness is deceitful.
18Some wound as they speak, like swords; but the tongues of the wise heal.
19True lips establish testimony; but a hasty witness has an unjust tongue.
20There is deceit in the heart of him that imagines evil; but they that love peace shall rejoice.
21No injustice will please a just man; but the ungodly will be filled with mischief.
22Lying lips are a abomination to the Lord; but he that deals faithfully is accepted with him.
Commemorations
Martyr Conon of Isauria
The holy Martyr Conon lived in the days of the holy Apostles; he was born in the village of Bydane of Isauria in Asia Minor, to parents named Nestor and Nada. He was instructed in the Faith and baptised into Christ by the Archangel Michael himself, who, it is said, accompanied him for the rest of his life. His parents joined him in marriage to a pagan maiden named Anna; but on their wedding night he took a candle, put it under a vessel, and asked her ‘Which is better, light or darkness?’ She answered ‘Light,’ and he told her of the Christian faith and the joys of the spiritual life. She accepted Christ, and the two agreed to live in virginity. Conon went on to bring many pagans to Christ, including his own parents. His wife and both parents died after a few years (Nestor as a Martyr) and he gave himself up entirely to prayer, fasting, and contemplation on God. He was known as a wonder-worker, and even evil spirits were compelled to serve him.
During one of the persecutions, Magnus the governor of Isauria imprisoned Conon and had him tortured, beaten and stabbed with knives. Believers obtained some of his blood, and the sick who were anointed with it became well. A large crowd of Christians whom Conon had brought to Faith surrounded the governor’s palace demanding Conon’s release, and the frightened governor let him go. He lived for two more years in his own home, then reposed in peace.
St Mark of Athens (4th c.)
He was born in Athens of pagan parents, but believed and was baptized, and, forsaking everything, lived as a hermit in the desert beyond Egypt. He did not see another human being for ninety-five years, and we would know nothing of his life had not the monk Serapion come upon him. Mark was about to depart this life, and lived only long enough to tell Serapion his story. Serapion then gave him burial.
St Mark the Ascetic (5th c.)
St Mark was a disciple of St John Chrysostom, tonsured a monk at the age of forty by St John himself. He then withdrew to the Nitrian desert and lived for sixty years as a hermit, devoting himself to fasting, prayer, and writing spiritual discourses.
Saint Mark knew all the Holy Scriptures by heart. His compassion was so great that he wept at the distress of any of God’s creatures: once he wept for the blind pup of a hyena, and the pup received its sight. Though he lived alone in the desert, it is said that he received Communion from an angel.
The holy and scholarly Patriarch Photios held his writings in the highest esteem, and at one time there was a saying, ‘sell all that you have, and buy Mark.’ Some of these beautiful and profound writings may be read in English in the first volume of the Philokalia.
Saint Nikolai (Velimirovic), Bishop of Ochrid and Zica, Serbia (1956)(March 5 OC)
He has been called ‘The New Chrysostom’ for his many grace-filled sermons and writings.
He was born in 1880 in the Serbian village of Lelich. After attending the Seminary of St Sava in Belgrade, he obtained doctoral degrees from both the University of Berne and Oxford University. In 1919, Archimandrite Nikolai was made Bishop of Zica.
In 1941 Bishop Nikolai was arrested by the Nazis and, after three years’ imprisonment in Ljubostir Vojlovici Monastery, was sent to the infamous Dachau concentration camp along with the Serbian Patriarch Gavrilo. He both witnessed and personally underwent many tortures there until the camp was liberated by the US army in 1945.
After the war he fled Communist-controlled Yugoslavia and emigrated to the United States, where he taught at St Sava’s Seminary, St Vladimir Seminary and St Tikhon seminary. It was at St Tikhon Seminary that he reposed in 1956. His relics rested for awhile at St Sava’s Seminary in Libertyville IL, then were returned to Serbia, where they now reside.
Throughout his adult life, the holy monk and bishop poured forth a steady stream of beautiful homilies and theological and spiritual writings. He is the author of the Prologue from Ochrid, a Slavic Synaxarion. The luminous homilies included therein, one for each day of the year, give a good sample of his inspired writing.
His feast is kept on this day (March 5 OC, March 18 NC) by Orthodox Christians on both the Old and New Calendars.
Note: With the blessing of Bishop Jovan of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Mitrophan Chin is engaged in a project to translate St Nikolai’s Prologue into Chinese. To learn more about this worthy project, see his web site: http://chineseorthodox.n3.net