Orthodox Calendar

Friday, March 2, 2029
Friday of the Second Week of Lent

Lenten Fast — Abstain from meat, fish, dairy, eggs, wine, and oil

Service Notes

  • Presanctified Liturgy

Scripture Readings

Commemorations

Scripture Readings

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:

Commemorations

Greatmartyr Theodore Tyro

The Greek Tyron means “conscript.” This holy Martyr of Christ came from Pontus and was a Roman legionary during Maximian’s persecution (ca. 303). Though he had been a Christian since childhood, he kept his faith secret while in the army. While his cohort was stationed near a town called Euchaita, he learned that the people there were being terrorized by a dragon which lived in the neighboring forest. He set off to face the dragon, praying to God that the outcome of the contest would be a sign to him of whether the time had come to offer himself for martyrdom. He found the fire-spitting monster and, arming himself with the sign of the Cross, drove his spear through its head and killed it.

His success convinced him that, having vanquished this fleshly dragon, he was ready to vanquish the spiritual dragon, the Devil. When the commander of his camp next ordered a sacrifice to the Gods, Theodore boldly refused, saying “I am a Christian!” Further, he encouraged the other Christians in his company to do the same. That night he went to a nearby pagan temple of Rhea, mother of the gods, and burned it down. He was seen by the caretaker of the temple and was brought unresisting to the governor Publius. Theodore was thrown into a solitary dungeon cell; there he refused bread and water, saying that Christ had promised him food from heaven. He spent his time there chanting hymns with the angels, so that the guards were convinced that other Christians had somehow joined him in his cell.

When all argument, cajolery, bribery and threat had failed to turn the soldier from Christ, the governor resorted to torture, subjecting the Saint to terrible mutilations; but when Theodore endured them calmly and resolutely, the governor began to fear that his example would encourage other Christians, and ordered that he be burned. Taken to the stake, the Martyr walked freely into the flames, where he gave back his soul to God. When his body was ransomed and taken from the ashes by a pious Christian, it was found to be untouched. A church was built in Euchaita in honor of the Martyr; many pilgrims came there for the healing of soul and body.

In 361, the Emperor Julian the Apostate ordered the Prefect of Constantinople to have all foods in the marketplaces sprinkled with blood of animals sacrificed to the pagan gods during the first week of Lent, so that Christians would be unable to escape contact with idolatry. But St Theodore appeared in a vision to Patriarch Eudoxius (360-364), warned him of the plan and told him to instruct his flock not to buy any food in the marketplace, but to eat kolyva made from boiled wheat grains. So, through the Saint’s intervention, the people were preserved from the stain of idolatry. Ever since, the Church has commemorated the miracle on the first Saturday of Great Lent. Since that time kolyva has come to be offered also in honor of the Saints and in memory of the departed. The whole grain represents the body, sown corruptible, which will be raised incorruptible (2 Cor. 15:37); it is usually sweetened with honey to signify the delights of Paradise.