Hebrews 8.7-13 (Epistle)

7For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8For finding fault with them, he said, “Behold, the days are coming”, says the Lord, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; 9not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they didn’t continue in my covenant, and I disregarded them,” says the Lord. 10“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says the Lord: “I will put my laws into their mind; I will also write them on their heart. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 11They will not teach every man his fellow citizen and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all will know me, from their least to their greatest. 12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. I will remember their sins and lawless deeds no more.”

13In that he says, “A new covenant”, he has made the first obsolete. But that which is becoming obsolete and grows aged is near to vanishing away.

Mark 10.46-52 (Gospel)

46They came to Jericho. As he went out from Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude, the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the road. 47When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, you son of David, have mercy on me!” 48Many rebuked him, that he should be quiet, but he cried out much more, “You son of David, have mercy on me!”

49Jesus stood still and said, “Call him.” They called the blind man, saying to him, “Cheer up! Get up. He is calling you!”

50He, casting away his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.

51Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “Rabboni, that I may see again.”

52Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your faith has made you well.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the way.

Holy Innocents Slain by Herod

See Matthew ch. 2. Their number is sometimes put at fourteen thousand.

In our own day, the icon of “Rachel weeping for her children” (Matthew 2:18) has come to commemorate also the tens of millions of children who have died through abortion.

Our Venerable Father Marcellus, Abbot of the Monastery of the Unsleeping Ones (485)

He was born to a wealthy family in Syria at the beginning of the fifth century. Early in life he saw the futility of worldly things, gave away all of his wealth, and went to Ephesus, where he earned his living as a scribe. There he was schooled in the virtues by his fellow-worker Promotus, a slave who distributed most of his earnings to the poor; after the day’s work was done, Promotus would take Marcellus to pray all night in the churches and monasteries.

Marcellus heard of the Saint Alexander the Unsleeping (February 25), who had settled near Constantinople with about thirty disciples, who made it their discipline to send up prayer and praise to God at every hour of the day and night. The monastery aroused the resentment of some more worldly monasteries, and the brethren were forced to flee to Bithynia. It was there that Marcellus joined them and took the monastic habit.

After the death of St Alexander and his successor, Marcellus was elected Abbot of the monastery against his will. Under his direction the Monastery of the Unsleeping Ones became a beacon of sanctity, with monks flocking to it from every corner of the Empire. The practice of never-ceasing service to God spread throughout the Empire, in both the West and the East. The monks were divided into three companies according to the language they spoke: Greek, Latin, or Syriac; each company took its turn celebrating the services in its particular language, and thus every hour of the day was given over to God’s glory. The monastery not only grew but give birth to others: The famed Studion Monastery in Constantinople was founded by monks from Marcellus’ monastery.

Saint Marcellus took part in the Council of Chalcedon, defending Orthodoxy against the Monophysite heresy both at the Council and in the years that followed. His generosity and contempt for worldly wealth were known to all: anyone who came to the monastery in need received alms, but God always replenished the funds so that more could be given. When Marcellus inherited his family’s fortune upon his brother’s death, he kept none of it either for himself or even for his monastery, but distributed it to poorer communities and to the needy.

Saint Marcellus reposed in peace around 484, having lived the ascetical life for some sixty years.