Isaiah 13.2-13 (6th Hour)

2Lift up a standard on the mountain of the plain, exalt the voice to them, beckon with the hand, open the gates, you⌃ rulers. 3I give command, and I bring them: giants are coming to fulfil my wrath, rejoicing at the same time and insulting. 4A voice of many nations on the mountains, even like to that of many nations; a voice of kings and nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts has given command to a warlike nation, 5to come from a land afar off, from the utmost foundation of heaven; the Lord and his warriors are coming to destroy all the world. 6Howl you⌃, for the day of the Lord is near, and destruction from God shall arrive. 7Therefore every hand shall become powerless, and every soul of man shall be dismayed. 8The elders shall be troubled, and pangs shall seize them, as of a woman in travail: and they shall mourn one to another, and shall be amazed, and shall change their countenance as a flame. 9For behold! the day of the Lord is coming which can’t be escaped, a day of wrath and anger, to make the world desolate, and to destroy sinners out of it. 10For the stars of heaven, and Orion, and all the host of heaven, shall not give their light; and it shall be dark at sunrise, and the moon shall not give her light. 11And I will command evils for the whole world, and will visit their sins on the ungodly: and I will destroy the pride of transgressors, and will bring low the pride of the haughty. 12And they that are left shall be more precious than gold tried in the fire; and a man shall be more precious than the stone that is in Suphir. 13For the heaven shall be enraged, and the earth shall be shaken from her foundation, because of the fierce anger of the Lord of hosts, in the day in which his wrath shall come on.

Genesis 8.4-21 (Vespers)

4And the water continued to decrease until the tenth month. 5And in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the heads of the mountains were seen. 6And it came to pass after forty days Noe opened the window of the ark which he had made. 7And he sent forth a raven; and it went forth and returned not until the water was dried from off the earth. 8And he sent a dove after it to see if the water had ceased from off the earth. 9And the dove not having found rest for her feet, returned to him into the ark, because the water was on all the face of the earth, and he stretched out his hand and took her, and brought her to himself into the ark. 10And having waited yet seven other days, he again sent forth the dove from the ark. 11And the dove returned to him in the evening, and had a leaf of olive, a sprig in her mouth; and Noe knew that the water had ceased from off the earth. 12And having waited yet seven other days, he again sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him again any more. 13And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year of the life of Noe, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water subsided from off the earth, and Noe opened the covering of the ark which he had made, and he saw that the water had subsided from the face of the earth. 14And in the second month the earth was dried, on the twenty-seventh day of the month. 15And the Lord God spoke to Noe, saying, 16Come out from the ark, you and your wife and your sons, and your sons' wives with you. 17And all the wild beasts as many as are with you, and all flesh both of birds and beasts, and every reptile moving upon the earth, bring forth with you: and increase you⌃ and multiply upon the earth. 18And Noe came forth, and his wife and his sons, and his sons' wives with him. 19And all the wild beasts and all the cattle and every bird, and every reptile creeping upon the earth after their kind, came forth out of the ark. 20And Noe built an altar to the Lord, and took of all clean beasts, and of all clean birds, and offered a whole burnt offering upon the altar. 21And the Lord God smelled a smell of sweetness, and the Lord God having considered, said, I will not any more curse the earth, because of the works of men, because the imagination of man is intently bent upon evil things from his youth, I will not therefore any more strike all living flesh as I have done.

Proverbs 10.31-11.12 (Vespers)

31The mouth of the righteous drops wisdom: but the tongue of the unjust shall perish. 32The lips of just men drop grace: but the mouth of the ungodly is perverse.

1False balances are an abomination before the Lord: but a just weight is acceptable to him. 2Wherever pride enters, there will be also disgrace: but the mouth of the lowly meditates wisdom. 3When a just man dies he leaves regret: but the destruction of the ungodly is speedy, and causes joy. 4Possessions will not profit in a day of wrath, but righteousness will deliver from death. 5Righteousness traces out blameless paths: but ungodliness encounters unjust dealing. 6The righteousness of upright men delivers them: but transgressors are caught in their own destruction. 7At the death of a just man his hope does not perish: but the boast of the ungodly perishes. 8A righteous man escapes from a snare, and the ungodly man is delivered up in his place. 9In the mouth of ungodly men is a snare to citizens: but the understanding of righteous men is prosperous. 10In the prosperity of righteous men a city prospers: but by the mouth of ungodly men it is overthrown. 11At the blessing of the upright a city shall be exalted. 12A man void of understanding sneers at his fellow citizens: but a sensible man is quiet.

St Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem

He was born in Jerusalem in 315, ordained to the priesthood in 346, and succeeded Maximus as Archbishop of Jerusalem in 350. He was exiled three times by the Arian Emperors Constantius and Valens for his unwavering defense of the Faith. Restored by the Emperor Theodosius, he did not return to the throne, but lived for eight years in peace before reposing in 386.

He was known to all his people as a tireless defender of the poor, and as a great ascetic. He was gentle and humble in his bearing, pale and gaunt from fasting. He struggled throughout his time against the Arian heresy, which had become very strong, claiming the allegiance even of the Emperors. In addition, he lived through the reign of Julian the Apostate, who tried by many means to weaken and undermine the Church and the Christian Faith.

Of St Cyril’s many writings, the best-known are his Catecheses, considered the oldest systematic summary of Christian teaching.

St Ananias (Aninus) the Wonderworker (?)

“Born in Chalcedon, he was little of stature, like Zaccheus, but great in spirit and faith. He denied himself to the world at the age of fifteen and settled near the River Euphrates in a little hut, where he atoned for his sins, and prayed to God, at first with his teacher Mayum and then, after Mayum’s death, alone. By the power of his prayers he filled an empty well with water, healed the sick of various pains and tamed wild beasts. There was a tamed lion with him as his servant. He had insight into distant happenings. When robbers attacked a stylite, Pionius, at some distance from him, and beat him up to such an extent that he decided to come down from his pillar and go to complain to the judges, St Aninus saw his intention in his soul and sent him a letter by means of his lion, telling him to set aside his intention, to forgive his assaulters and to continue in his asceticism. He was inexpressibly generous. The bishop of Neo-Caesarea made a gift to him of a donkey, to ease his carrying of water from the river, but he gave this donkey to some poor man who had complained to him of his poverty. The bishop gave him a second donkey, but he gave that away. Then the bishop gave him a third donkey, not for his own but only to serve as a water-carrier, to be kept and returned. At the time of his death, he saw Moses, Aaron and Or coming to him and calling: ‘Aninus, the Lord is calling you. Get up and come with us.’ This he revealed to his disciples, and gave his spirit to the Lord whom he had served so faithfully. He was 110 years old when he finished his earthly course.” (Prologue)