Orthodox Calendar

Thursday, March 4, 2083
Thursday of the Second Week of Lent

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

Scripture Readings

Commemorations

Scripture Readings

Isaiah 6.1-12 (6th Hour)

1And it came to pass in the year in which king Ozias died, that I saw the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne, and the house was full of his glory. 2And seraphs stood round about him: each one had six wings: and with two they covered their face, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3And one cried to the other, and they said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4And the lintel shook at the voice they uttered, and the house was filled with smoke. 5And I said, Woe is me, for I am pricked to the heart; for being a man, and having unclean lips, I dwell in the midst of a people having unclean lips; and I have seen with my eyes the King, the Lord of hosts. 6And there was sent to me one of the seraphs, and he had in his hand a coal, which he had taken off the altar with the tongs: 7and he touched my mouth, and said, Behold, this has touched your lips, and will take away your iniquities, and will purge off your sins. 8And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go to this people? And I said, behold, I am here, send me. And he said, Go, and say to this people, 9Youpl shall hear indeed, but youpl shall not understand; and youpl shall see indeed, but youpl shall not perceive. 10For the heart of this people has become gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. 11And I said, How long, O Lord? And he said, Until cities be deserted by reason of their not being inhabited, and the houses by reason of there being no men, and the land shall be left desolate. 12And after this God shall remove the men far off, and they that are left upon the land shall be multiplied.

Genesis 5.1-24 (Vespers)

1This is the genealogy of men in the day in which God made Adam; in the image of God he made him: 2male and female he made them, and blessed them; and he called his name Adam, in the day in which he made them. 3And Adam lived two hundred and thirty years, and begot a son after his own form, and after his own image, and he called his name Seth. 4And the days of Adam, which he lived after his begetting Seth, were seven hundred years; and he begot sons and daughters. 5And all the days of Adam which he lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died. 6Now Seth lived two hundred and five years, and begot Enos. 7And Seth lived after his begetting Enos, seven hundred and seven years, and he begot sons and daughters. 8And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died. 9And Enos lived one hundred and ninety years, and begot Cainan. 10And Enos lived after his begetting Cainan, seven hundred and fifteen years, and he begot sons and daughters. 11And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years, and he died. 12And Cainan lived one hundred and seventy years, and he begot Maleleel. 13And Cainan lived after his begetting Maleleel, seven hundred and forty years, and he begot sons and daughters. 14And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died. 15And Maleleel lived one hundred and sixty and five years, and he begot Jared. 16And Maleleel lived after his begetting Jared, seven hundred and thirty years, and he begot sons and daughters. 17And all the days of Maleleel were eight hundred and ninety and five years, and he died. 18And Jared lived one hundred and sixty and two years, and begot Enoch: 19and Jared lived after his begetting Enoch, eight hundred years, and he begot sons and daughters. 20And all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty and two years, and he died. 21And Enoch lived one hundred and sixty and five years, and became the father of Mathusala. 22And Enoch was well-pleasing to God after his begetting Mathusala, two hundred years, and he begot sons and daughters. 23And all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty and five years. 24And Enoch was well-pleasing to God, and was not found, because God translated him.

Proverbs 6.3-20 (Vespers)

3My son, do what I command you, and deliver yourself; for on your friend's account you are come into the power of evil men: faint not, but stir up even your friend for whom you are become surety. 4Give not sleep to your eyes, nor slumber with your eyelids; 5that you may deliver yourself as a doe out of the toils, and as a bird out of a snare. 6Go to the ant, O sluggard; and see, and emulate his ways, and become wiser than he. 7For whereas he has no husbandry, nor any one to compel him, and is under no master, 8he prepares food for himself in the summer, and lays by abundant store in harvest. Or go to the bee, and learn how diligent she is, and how earnestly she is engaged in her work; whose labors kings and private men use for health, and she is desired and respected by all: though weak in body, she is advanced by honouring wisdom. 9How long will you lie, O sluggard? and when will you awake out of sleep? 10You sleep a little, and you rest a little, and you slumber a short time, and you fold your arms over your breast a little. 11Then poverty comes upon you as an evil traveller, and lack as a swift courier: but if you be diligent, your harvest shall arrive as a fountain, and poverty shall flee away as a bad courier. 12A foolish man and a transgressor goes in ways that are not good. 13And the same winks with the eye, and makes a sign with his foot, and teaches with the beckonings of his fingers. 14His perverse heart devises evils: at all times such a one causes troubles to a city. 15Therefore his destruction shall come suddenly; overthrow and irretrievable ruin. 16For he rejoices in all things which God hates, and he is ruined by reason of impurity of soul. 17The eye of the haughty, a tongue unjust, hands shedding the blood of the just; 18and a heart devising evil thoughts, and feet hastening to do evil, —are hateful to God. 19An unjust witness kindles falsehoods, and brings on quarrels between brethren. 20My son, keep the laws of your father, and reject not the ordinances of your mother:

Commemorations

Apostles of the Seventy Archippus and Philemon

Archippus was the son of Saints Philemon (Nov. 22) and Apphia (Feb. 15), and, like them, was a disciple of the Apostle Paul, who calls him “our fellow soldier” (Philm. 2). He and his father preached the Gospel at Colossae, and Archippus probably served as a priest for the church that gathered there at his family’s house (Col. 4:17). Archippus’ fervor in preaching the Gospel of Christ so angered the pagans that they seized him and brought him before the governor Androcles. When the Saint refused to sacrifice to Artemis, he was stripped, beaten, tormented in various ways, and finally stoned to death.

Our Venerable Mother Philothea of Athens (1589)

“This bright star of compassion arose in the dark days of the Turkish occupation to shed God’s mercy upon the oppressed people of Athens and to guide many endangered souls onto the path of righteousness.” (Synaxarion)

She was born in 1528 to the prominent Venizelou family, miraculously answering her mother’s prayer of many years. Though even in childhood she showed a love for ascesis and prayer, she was much sought-after as a wealthy heiress, and was married at the age of twelve to a rough, violent man. She endured his ill-treatment nobly, and prayed daily for his conversion. After three years, the brutal husband died, and Philothea gave herself entirely to a life of prayer and fasting, living like a hermitess though still in her parents’ house. When her parents died ten years later, she used her entire fortune to found a convent. Its design had been given her in a vision by the Apostle Andrew, and it was dedicated to him. Alongside the monastery, she founded a hospital, a hospice for the poor, and schools where boys and girls could receive a Christian education, something obviously not provided by the Turkish rulers.

As soon as the monastery was begun, she took monastic vows under the name of Philothea, and she, her own maidservants, and many young women of the city, became the first nuns there. Philothea continued in her boundless compassion for the poor and infirm, whom she visited and tended. She was so free in her almsgiving that more than once the monastery was left without food or other necessities of life, and the sisters began to complain about her. But each time, large donations appeared unexpectedly and saved the community from starvation.

Philothea offered asylum and refuge to Christian slave women who had fled their masters to preserve their faith and chastity. This angered the Turks, who surrounded the monastery, seized Philothea, and brought her before the judge. She was told to deny Christ or die, and when she refused was sentenced to death; but some influential Athenian Greeks were able to intervene on her behalf and to obtain her release.

Immediately upon her release she redoubled her prayers, her apostolic labors and her works of mercy, and was soon granted the gift of working miracles and healings. So many disciples came to join her that she established a second monastery. Her growing influence aroused the hatred of some of the Turks, who broke into the monastery one night and beat her violently, leaving her half-dead. She bore the effects of her injuries patiently, and after a short time gave back her soul to God in 1589.

Twenty years after her repose, a beautiful scent began to issue from her tomb. Her precious relics, venerated at the Cathedral in Athens, remain incorrupt to this day.