Isaiah 3.1-14 (6th Hour)

1Behold now, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will take away from Jerusalem and from Judea the mighty man and mighty woman, the strength of bread, and the strength of water, 2the great and mighty man, the warrior and the judge, and the prophet, and the counsellor, and the elder, 3the captain of fifty also, and the honorable counsellor, and the wise artificer, and the intelligent hearer. 4And I will make youths their princes, and mockers shall have dominion over them. 5And the people shall fall, man upon man, and every man upon his neighbor: the child shall insult the elder man, and the base the honorable. 6For a man shall lay hold of his brother, as one of his father's household, saying, You have raiment, be you our ruler, and let my meat be under you. 7And he shall answer in that day, and say, I will not be your ruler; for I have no bread in my house, nor raiment: I will not be the ruler of this people. 8For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judea has fallen, and their tongues have spoken with iniquity, disobedient as they are towards the Lord. 9Therefore now their glory has been brought low, and the shame of their countenance has withstood them, and they have proclaimed their sin as Sodom, and made it manifest. 10Woe to their soul, for they have devised an evil counsel against themselves, saying against themselves, Let us bind the just, for he is burdensome to us: therefore shall they eat the fruits of their works. 11Woe to the transgressor! evils shall happen to him according to the works of his hands. 12O my people, your exactors strip you, and extortioners rule over you: O my people, they that pronounce you blessed lead you astray, and pervert the path of your feet. 13But now the Lord will stand up for judgment, and will enter into judgment with his people. 14The Lord himself shall enter into judgment with the elders of the people, and with their rulers: but why have you⌃ set my vineyard on fire, and why is the spoil of the poor in your houses?

Genesis 2.20-3.20 (Vespers)

20And Adam gave names to all the cattle and to all the birds of the sky, and to all the wild beasts of the field, but for Adam there was not found a help like to himself. 21And God brought a trance upon Adam, and he slept, and he took one of his ribs, and filled up the flesh instead thereof. 22And God formed the rib which he took from Adam into a woman, and brought her to Adam. 23And Adam said, This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of her husband. 24Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

1And the two were naked, both Adam and his wife, and were not ashamed. Now the serpent was the most crafty of all the brutes on the earth, which the Lord God made, and the serpent said to the woman, Therefore has God said, Eat not of every tree of the garden? 2And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, 3but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God said, You⌃ shall not eat of it, neither shall you⌃ touch it, lest you⌃ die. 4And the serpent said to the woman, You⌃ shall not surely die. 5For God knew that in whatever day you⌃ should eat of it your eyes would be opened, and you⌃ would be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes to look upon and beautiful to contemplate, and having taken of its fruit she ate, and she gave to her husband also with her, and they ate. 7And the eyes of both were opened, and they perceived that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons to go round them. 8And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the afternoon; and both Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God in the midst of the trees of the garden. 9And the Lord God called Adam and said to him, Adam, where are you? 10And he said to him, I heard your voice as you walked in the garden, and I feared because I was naked and I hid myself. 11And God said to him, Who told you that you were naked, unless you have eaten of the tree concerning which I charged you of it alone not to eat? 12And Adam said, The woman whom you gave to be with me—she gave me of the tree and I ate. 13And the Lord God said to the woman, Why have you done this? And the woman said, The serpent deceived me and I ate. 14And the Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this you are cursed above all cattle and all the brutes of the earth, on your breast and belly you shall go, and you shall eat earth all the days of your life. 15And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed, he shall watch against your head, and you shall watch against his heel. 16And to the woman he said, I will greatly multiply your pains and your groanings; in pain you shall bring forth children, and your submission shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you. 17And to Adam he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and eaten of the tree concerning which I charged you of it only not to eat—of that you have eaten, cursed is the ground in your labors, in pain shall you eat of it all the days of your life. 18Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. 19In the sweat of your face shall you eat your bread until you return to the earth out of which you were taken, for earth you are and to earth you shall return. 20And Adam called the name of his wife Life, because she was the mother of all living.

Proverbs 3.19-34 (Vespers)

19God by wisdom founded the earth, and by prudence he prepared the heavens. 20By understanding were the depths broken up, and the clouds dropped water. 21My son, let them not pass from you, but keep my counsel and understanding: 22that your soul may live, and that there may be grace round your neck; and it shall be health to your flesh, and safety to your bones: 23that you may go confidently in peace in all your ways, and that your foot may not stumble. 24For if you rest, you shall be undismayed; and if you sleep, you shall slumber sweetly. 25And you shall not be afraid of alarm coming upon you, neither of approaching attacks of ungodly men. 26For the Lord shall be over all your ways, and shall establish your foot that you be not moved. 27Forbear not to do good to the poor, whenever your hand may have power to help him. 28Say not, Come back another time, to-morrow I will give; while you are able to do him good: for you know not what the next day will bring forth. 29Devise not evil against your friend, living near you and trusting in you. 30Be not ready to quarrel with a man without a cause, lest he do you some harm. 31Procure not the reproaches of bad men, neither do you covet their ways. 32For every transgressor is unclean before the Lord; neither does he sit among the righteous. 33The curse of God is in the houses of the ungodly; but the habitations of the just are blessed. 34The Lord resists the proud; but he gives grace to the humble.

Hieromartyr Blaise of Sebaste

He was born in the province of Armenia, and was a physician by profession. Such was his reputation for holiness that his fellow-citizens elected him Bishop of Sebaste in eastern Anatolia. Though there were few Christians in that pagan city, the bishop labored tirelessly for his flock, encouraging them to stand firm during the fierce persecutions then raging, and visiting the martyrs in prison.

When the city was stripped of Christians, all of whom had fled or been killed, the bishop, already an old man, withdrew to a cave on Mount Argea and devoted himself entirely to prayer. As they often do, the wild beasts sensed his sanctity, and gathered around the cave, waiting quietly for him to give his blessing or heal their injuries and ailments.

The persecutors, who had not stopped hunting for the bishop, eventually found his cave, and were amazed to find it like a second Eden, with lions, tigers, bears and wolves grazing peacefully around it. The Saint greeted them cheerfully and told them that he knew from a vision that they were coming for him.

As Blaise was taken back to Sebaste, the peace and gentleness that seemed to radiate from the Saint were enough in themselves to turn many pagan bystanders to faith in Christ. Diseases of men and animals were cured as he walked by. One mother brought him her child, who was choking on a fishbone. The Saint put his hand down the child’s throat, took out the fishbone, and prayed to the Lord to restore him to full health. (For this reason he is invoked in the West for the cure of throat ailments).

At his trial, the holy bishop fearlessly confessed Christ and scorned the idols, for which he was savagely beaten with rods and thrown into a dungeon. Seven women and two of their children were imprisoned with him. The women were slain first after many tortures. The Synaxarion continues, “Having failed in his efforts to break Saint Blaise’s resolve, Agricolaus [the governor] condemned him to be drowned in the lake. The holy Martyr made the sign of the Cross at the water’s edge and began walking across the surface of the lake as the Saviour had done on the Sea of Galilee. On reaching the middle, he invited the pagans to join him, if they believed they could trust themselves to their gods. Sixty-eight of them took up the challenge and drowned, while a bright angel appeared and invited the Saint to return to the shore in order to receive the crown of glory.” Then Blaise and the two young children were beheaded together.

Saint Blaise is one of the most-venerated holy healers in both the East and the West. He is called upon for protection from wild beasts, and for the healing of every kind of ailment. His head is kept at the Monastery of Konstamonitou on Mount Athos.

Ven. Dimitry of Priluk

He entered monastic life as a youth and was a disciple of St Sergius of Radonezh. After years of monastic obedience he was ordained to the priesthood, then founded a monastery on the shores of Lake Priluki, whose rule followed that of the Lavra of St Sergius. Saint Demetrius, who was exceptionally handsome, always concealed his face behind his monastic veil and never conversed with women. Once a noblewoman, driven by curiosity, managed to catch sight of his face in church. She immediately fell paralyzed to the ground. The Saint asked her ‘My child, why did you want to gaze at the face of a sinner who has long been dead to the world?’ He then gave her some words of instruction in the spiritual life and sent her away healed.

In time St Demetrius became so renowned in Russia that the flow of visitors burdened him and he retreated to an uninhabited area to live as a hermit, until he was found out and made abbot of a nearby monastery. He kept a constant fast, living only on prosphora and water. In his own lifetime the Saint was known for his gift of prophecy, his care for the poor, and his healings. Once his brother sought his blessing to trade with the pagans in the far north. He made a good profit there and asked for a blessing to return. This time the Saint would not give his blessing, but his brother went anyway, and was killed by pagans.

Toward the end of his life St Demetrius withdrew into solitude in his cell. One day the brethren noticed a wonderful aroma of incense coming from his cell and knew that he had departed this life for heaven. After his repose he continued to work countless miracles, healing illnesses (especially the plague), and driving away invaders.

St Theodora the Empress (867)

Theodora was the wife of Emperor Theophilus the Iconoclast, but secretly revered the icons, and protected others who did, until the emperor’s death. Upon his death, she quickly restored veneration of icons to churches throughout the empire, the event celebrated on the upcoming Sunday of Orthodoxy, the first Sunday of the Great Fast. She ruled wisely as regent for the young emperor Michael for fifteen years: she is said to have initiated the mission of Sts Cyril and Methodios to the Slavs. Before Michael III reached his majority, he was prevailed upon by Bardas, Theodora’s brother, to depose her and send her to a monastery, where she finished her life in peace and holiness.

When Constantinople fell, her incorrupt relics were taken to Corfu along with those of St Spyridon. They are still venerated there.

There is a much-debated story that, when Theophilus was dying, the Empress, moved by compassion for him, brought an icon of the Mother of God out of hiding and laid it on his face; and that Theophilus, coming to himself, kissed the holy icon and confessed the true Faith before giving up his soul. Other accounts say that the Emperor died in heresy. It seems possible that the holy Empress circulated the story to ensure that her departed husband would be remembered in the Church’s prayers.