9And all the people of Ephraim, and they that lived in Samaria shall know, who say in their pride and lofty heart,
10The bricks are fallen down, but come, let us hew stones, and cut down sycamores and cedars, and let us build for ourselves a tower.
11And God shall dash down them that rise up against him on mount Sion, and shall scatter his enemies;
12even Syria from the rising of the sun, and the Greeks from the setting of the sun, who devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but still his hand is exalted.
13But the people turned not until they were struck, and they sought not the Lord.
14So the Lord took away from Israel the head and tail, great and small, in one day:
15the old man, and them that respect persons, this is the head; and the prophet teaching unlawful things, he is the tail.
16And they that pronounce this people blessed shall mislead them; and they mislead them that they may devour them.
17Therefore the Lord shall not take pleasure in their young men, neither shall he have pity on their orphans or on their widows: for they are all transgressors and wicked, and every mouth speaks unjustly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is yet exalted.
18And iniquity shall burn as fire, and shall be devoured by fire as dry grass: and it shall burn in the thickets of the wood, and shall devour all that is round about the hills.
19The whole earth is set on fire because of the fierce anger of the Lord, and the people shall be as men burnt by fire: no man shall pity his brother.
20But one shall turn aside to the right hand, for he shall be hungry; and shall eat on the left, and a man shall by no means be satisfied with eating the flesh of his own arm.
21For Manasses shall eat the flesh of Ephraim, and Ephraim the flesh of Manasses; for they shall besiege Juda together. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is yet exalted.
1Woe to them that write wickedness; for when they write they do write wickedness,
2perverting the cause of the poor, violently wresting the judgment of the needy ones of my people, that the widow may be a prey to them, and the orphan a spoil.
3And what will they do in the day of visitation? for affliction shall come to you from afar: and to whom will you⌃ flee for help? and where will you⌃ leave your glory,
4that you⌃ may not fall into captivity? For all this his wrath is not turned away, but his hand is yet exalted.
Genesis 7.1-5 (Vespers)
1And the Lord God said to Noe, Enter you and all your family into the ark, for you have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
2And of the clean cattle take in to you sevens, male and female, and of the unclean cattle pairs male and female.
3And of clean flying creatures of the sky sevens, male and female, and of all unclean flying creatures pairs, male and female, to maintain seed on all the earth.
4For yet seven days having passed I bring rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will blot out every offspring which I have made from the face of all the earth.
5And Noe did all things whatever the Lord God commanded him.
Proverbs 8.32-9.11 (Vespers)
32Now then, my son, hear me: blessed is the man who shall listen to me, and the mortal who shall keep my ways;
33Hear wisdom and be wise, and be not strangers to it.
34watching daily at my doors, waiting at the posts of my entrances.
35For my outgoings are the outgoings of life, and in them is prepared favor from the Lord.
36But they that sin against me act wickedly against their own souls: and they that hate me love death.
1Wisdom has built a house for herself, and set up seven pillars.
2She has killed her beasts; she has mingled her wine in a bowl, and prepared her table.
3She has sent forth her servants, calling with a loud proclamation to the feast, saying,
4Whoso is foolish, let him turn aside to me: and to them that lack understanding she says,
5Come, eat of my bread, and drink wine which I have mingled for you.
6Leave folly, that you⌃ may reign for ever; and seek wisdom, and improve understanding by knowledge.
7He that reproves evil men shall get dishonor to himself; and he that rebukes an ungodly man shall disgrace himself.
8Rebuke not evil men, lest they should hate you: rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
9Give an opportunity to a wise man, and he will be wiser: instruct a just man, and he will receive more instruction.
10The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the counsel of saints is understanding: for to know the law is the character of a sound mind.
11For in this way you shall live long, and years of your life shall be added to you.
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