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:

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.