Orthodox Calendar

Tuesday, March 27, 2029
Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Lent

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

Scripture Readings

Commemorations

Scripture Readings

Isaiah 49.6-10 (6th Hour)

6And he said to me, It is a great thing for you to be called my servant, to establish the tribes of Jacob, and to recover the dispersion of Israel: behold, I have given you for the covenant of a race, for a light of the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the end of the earth. 7Thus says the Lord that delivered you, the God of Israel, Sanctify him that despises his life, him that is abhorred by the nations that are the servants of princes: kings shall behold him, and princes shall arise, and shall worship him, for the Lord's sake: for the Holy One of Israel is faithful, and I have chosen you. 8Thus says the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard you, and in a day of salvation have I succored you: and I have formed you, and given you for a covenant of the nations, to establish the earth, and to cause to inherit the desert heritages: 9saying to them that are in bonds, Go forth; and bidding them that are in darkness show themselves. They shall be fed in all the ways, and in all the paths shall be their pasture. 10They shall not hunger, neither shall they thirst; neither shall the heat nor the sun strike them; but he that has mercy on them shall comfort them, and by fountains of waters shall he lead them.

Genesis 31.3-16 (Vespers)

3And the Lord said to Jacob, Return to the land of your father, and to your family, and I will be with you. 4And Jacob sent and called Lea and Rachel to the plain where the flocks were. 5And he said to them, I see the face of your father, that it is not toward me as before, but the God of my father was with me. 6And you⌃ too know that with all my might I have served your father. 7But your father deceived me, and changed my wages for the ten lambs, yet God gave him not power to hurt me. 8If he should say thus, The speckled shall be your reward, then all the cattle would bear speckled; and if he should say, The white shall be your reward, then would all the cattle bear white. 9So God has taken away all the cattle of your father, and given them to me. 10And it came to pass when the cattle conceived and were with young, that I saw with my eyes in sleep, and behold the he-goats and the rams leaping on the sheep and the she-goats, speckled and variegated and spotted with ash-colored spots. 11And the angel of God said to me in a dream, Jacob; and I said, What is it? 12And he said, Look up with your eyes, and behold the he-goats and the rams leaping on the sheep and the she-goats, speckled and variegated and spotted with ash-colored spots; for I have seen all things that Laban does to you. 13I am God that appeared to you in the place of God where you anointed a pillar to me, and vowed to me there a vow; now then arise and depart out of this land, depart into the land of your nativity, and I will be with you. 14And Rachel and Lea answered and said to him, Have we yet a part or inheritance in the house of our father? 15Are we not considered strangers by him? for he has sold us, and quite devoured our money. 16All the wealth and the glory which God has taken from our father, it shall be our's and our children's; now then do whatever God has said to you.

Proverbs 21.3-21 (Vespers)

3To do justly and to speak truth, are more pleasing to God than the blood of sacrifices. 4A high-minded man is stout-hearted in his pride; and the lamp of the wicked is sin. 6He that gathers treasures with a lying tongue pursues vanity on to the snares of death. 7Destruction shall lodge with the ungodly; for they refuse to do justly. 8To the froward God sends froward ways; for his works are pure and right. 9It is better to dwell in a corner on the house-top, than in plastered rooms with unrighteousness, and in an open house. 10The soul of the ungodly shall not be pitied by any man. 11When an intemperate man is punished the simple becomes wiser: and a wise man understanding will receive knowledge. 12A righteous man understands the hearts of the ungodly: and despises the ungodly for their wickedness. 13He that stops his ears from hearing the poor, himself also shall cry, and there shall be none to hear him. 14A secret gift calms anger: but he that forbears to give stirs up strong wrath. 15It is the joy of the righteous to do judgment: but a holy man is abominable with evil-doers. 16A man that wanders out of the way of righteousness, shall rest in the congregation of giants. 17A poor man loves mirth, loving wine and oil in abundance; 18and a transgressor is the abomination of a righteous man. 19It is better to dwell in a wilderness than with a quarrelsome and talkative and passionate woman. 20A desirable treasure will rest on the mouth of the wise; but foolish men will swallow it up. 21The way of righteousness and mercy will find life and glory.

Commemorations

Ven. Benedict of Nursia

His name, Benedictus, means “Blessed” in Latin. He was born in 480 in Nursia, a small town northeast of Rome. He had only rudimentary schooling: he wrote later of his fear that through book-learning he might ‘lose the great understanding of my soul.’ At an early age he fled to a monastery where he was tonsured; he then withdrew to a remote mountain, where he lived or several years in a cave, perfecting himself in prayer. His only food was some bread brought to him by Romanus, the monk who had tonsured him. When he became known in the area, he fled his cave to escape the attentions of the pious; but flight proved useless, and in time a community of monks formed around him. He was granted many spiritual gifts: he healed the sick and drove out evil spirits, raised the dead, and appeared in visions to others many miles away.

Benedict founded twelve monasteries, most famously that at Monte Cassino. Initially, each monastic house had twelve monks, to imitate the number of the Twelve Apostles. The Rule that he established for his monks was based on the works of St John Cassian and St Basil the Great, and became a standard for western monasteries. Thus he is sometimes called the first teacher of monks in the West.

Six days before his death, the Saint ordered that his grave be opened, gathered all his monks together, gave them counsel, then gave his soul back to God on the day that he had predicted. At the moment of his death, two monks in different places had the same vision: they saw a path from earth to heaven, richly adorned and lined on either side with ranks of people. At the top of the path stood a man, clothed in light and unspeakably beautiful, who told them that the path was prepared for Benedict, the beloved of God. In this way, the monks learned that their abbot had gone to his rest.

St Theognostus, Metropolitan of Kiev (1353)

He was born in Greece and succeeded St Peter of Kiev as Metropolitan of that city. Some of his enemies among his own flock denounced him to the Mongol ruler, saying that he had collected no tribute from his churches to pay to the Mongols. Summoned before the Mongol prince and asked about this, he answered ‘Christ our God bought His Church from the unbelievers with His precious Blood. For what do we pay tribute to unbelievers?’ Returning home, he governed the Church for twenty-five more years and reposed in peace in 1353.