Thursday, 28 January 2027

Thursday of the 35th week after Pentecost

291 days after Pascha · Tone 1 · Black squigg (6-stich typikon symbol) · No Fast

Saints commemorated

Saint Isaac the Syrian, bishop of Nineveh

He was born early in the seventh century in the East. His birthplace is unclear: the Great Horologion says that he was born in eastern Arabia (present-day Qatar); the Synaxarion that he was born in Kurdistan. While still young he entered the Lavra of St Matthew with his brother, but after a few years of monastic life, having advanced far in obedience and the practice of prayer, he withdrew into the desert. His reputation for holiness reached the city of Nineveh, where the people prevailed on the hierarchy to consecrate him as their bishop in 670. Reluctantly but obediently, St Isaac took up the duties of shepherd of his flock in Nineveh. After a few months, he was called on to settle a dispute between two of the faithful, but they rejected his counsel and said ‘Leave your Gospel out of this matter!’ The holy bishop said, ‘If they are not prepared to obey Our Lord’s commandments, what need have they of me?’, and retired to live as a hermit in the mountains of Kurdistan. Later, he settled in the monastery of Raban Shapur, where he wrote his Ascetical Homilies and other jewel-like works on the spiritual life. There he reposed in peace.

The fame of St Isaac’ Homilies spread, and about one hundred years after their writing they were translated from Syriac into Greek by two monks in Palestine. In this form they spread throughout the monastic world, becoming a treasured guide to those who seek the fullness of the life of prayer. The Synaxarion says, “The book of Saint Isaac is, with the Ladder of Saint John Climacus, the indispensible guide for every Orthdox soul to journey safely toward God. Hence, not many years ago, a holy spiritual father, Jerome of Egina (d. 1966), recommended begging, if necessary, in order to be able to purchase a copy.” We are blessed to have a good translation of the Ascetical Homilies available in English.

Saint Isaac is a very unusual case of an Orthodox Saint who lived outside the canonical boundaries of the Church: he was a bishop of the “Nestorian” communion, now sometimes called the “Oriental Orthodox.” The purity of his own Orthodox faith is so clearly evident in his writings that the Church has nonetheless recognized his sanctity.

Saint James the Faster of Phoenicia

James the Faster was a saint of Phoenicia venerated in the Orthodox tradition. He is commemorated as one who distinguished himself through ascetic practice and spiritual discipline. The epithet "the Faster" indicates his particular commitment to the ascetic practice of fasting as a means of mortifying the flesh and drawing close to God in prayer. James devoted his life to the pursuit of holiness, combining physical asceticism with interior spiritual discipline aimed at the transformation of the heart and the attainment of virtue. He exemplified the early Christian understanding of the body as a worthy instrument of salvation when subjected to the will of God and aligned with the spirit in pursuit of holiness. James is venerated as a saint of Phoenicia and an example of ascetic dedication, commemorated on 28 January.

Venerable Ephrem the Syrian

373

He is often called “The Harp of the Holy Spirit” for the sublimity of his writings. He was born in Nisibis of Mesopotamia about the year 306. He embraced the Christian faith while young and for this was driven from his home by his father, a pagan priest. He came under the care of St James of Nisibis (January 13), who was one of the bishops at the Council of Nicaea. He took up a strictly ascetical life, renouncing all possessions and denying himself all comforts. It is said that his eyes constantly flowed with tears: tears of compunction for his own sins, or tears of joy as he contemplated the wonders of God’s grace.

He was baptized at the age of twenty and withdrew to the desert, then settled in Edessa. Once, as he was walking to the city, a harlot approached him. Pretending to accept her proposition, he took her to the city’s public square and suggested that they lie together there, in plain view. Horrified, the woman rebuked him, saying ‘Have you no shame?’ The Saint answered, ‘Poor woman, you are afraid of being watched by other people; but why are you not afraid of being seen by God, who sees everything and, on the last day, will judge all our actions and most secret thoughts?’ The woman repented and, with the Saint’s help, embarked upon a new life.

The Saint returned to the desert for a time, then to Nisibis to aid the Persian Christians, persecuted because they were seen as allies of the Romans. When Nisibis finally fell under Persian rule, St Ephraim and his spiritual father St James both settled in Edessa. At that time Edessa was troubled by the gnostic heretic Bardaisan, one of whose devices was to compose attractive hymns, which became popular and enticed many away from the truth. Taking up Bardaisan’s own weapons, St Ephraim composed a number of hymns, beautiful in word and melody, which poetically set forth the true Faith.

Hearing of the sanctity of St Basil the Great, St Ephraim traveled to Cappadocia to meet him. It is recorded that at their first meeting, St Basil greeted him: ‘Art thou the Ephraim who hath beautifully bended his neck and taken upon himself the yoke of the saving Word?’; to which St Ephraim replied, ‘I am Ephraim who hinder myself from traveling the way to heaven.’ After discoursing with the Syrian Saint for some time, St Basil cried out ‘O, if only I had thy sins!’ Basil then ordained St Ephraim to the diaconate. He would have ordained him a priest but St Ephraim, feeling unworthy, refused to be ordained, then and for the rest of his life.

The Saint returned to a life of solitude; but when a famine broke out in Edessa in 372, he came forth to rebuke the wealthy for failing to share their wealth with the poor. Some replied that they knew no one whom they could trust with their goods, so St Ephraim persuaded them to give their alms to him for distribution to the poor. A true deacon, he cared for the sick with his own hands. The following year, he reposed in peace.

St Ephraim was the first to use hymnody and song to express the teaching of the Church, and so might be called the Church’s first hymnographer. His works were probably an inspiration to St Romanos the Melodist, also a Syrian. He is said to have written more than three million lines of verse in Syriac, in addition to many homilies and treatises. Only a fraction of his work has been translated.

A beautiful selection of St Ephraim’s writings can be found in A Spiritual Psalter, a collection edited by St Theophan the Recluse, available in English.

Venerable Palladius of the Antiochene Desert

Palladius was a Syrian monk and ascetic who devoted himself to the monastic life in the deserts surrounding Antioch. Living in the early Christian era, he pursued the ascetic path with great fervour, seeking through prayer, fasting, and spiritual combat to attain union with God. Palladius became a spiritual father to many disciples who sought his guidance in the monastic life and in the struggle against the passions. He is remembered as an exemplar of the Syrian monastic tradition, which combined rigorous asceticism with pastoral compassion and wisdom. The details of his biography remain sparse in the historical record, but his memory persists in the liturgical tradition of the Orthodox Church as a testament to the transformative power of monastic discipline and grace. Palladius is commemorated on 28 January as a venerable father of the desert and a guide in the ascetic life.

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

Hebrews — Hebrews 10.35-11.7

³⁵Cast not away therefore your boldness, which hath great recompense of reward. ³⁵Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. ³⁶For ye have need of patience, that, having done the will of God, ye may receive the promise. ³⁶For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. ³⁷For yet a very little while, He that cometh shall come, and shall not tarry. ³⁷For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. ³⁸But my righteous one shall live by faith: And if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him. ³⁸Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. ³⁹But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

³⁹But we are not of them that shrink back unto perdition; but of them that have faith unto the saving of the soul.

¹Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.

¹Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ²For by it the elders obtained a good report. ²For therein the elders had witness borne to them. ³By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which appear. ³Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. ⁴By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, God bearing witness in respect of his gifts: and through it he being dead yet speaketh. ⁴By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. ⁵By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God translated him: for he hath had witness borne to him that before his translation he had been well-pleasing unto God: ⁵By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. ⁶But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. ⁶and without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him. ⁷By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. ⁷By faith Noah, being warned of God concerning things not seen as yet, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Mark — Mark 9.10-16

¹⁰And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean. ¹⁰And they kept the saying, questioning among themselves what the rising again from the dead should mean.

¹¹And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come? ¹¹And they asked him, saying, How is it that the scribes say that Elijah must first come? ¹²And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought. ¹²And he said unto them, Elijah indeed cometh first, and restoreth all things: and how is it written of the Son of man, that he should suffer many things and be set at nought? ¹³But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him. ¹³But I say unto you, that Elijah is come, and they have also done unto him whatsoever they would, even as it is written of him.

¹⁴And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them.

¹⁴And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great multitude about them, and scribes questioning with them. ¹⁵And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him. ¹⁵And straightway all the multitude, when they saw him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him. ¹⁶And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them? ¹⁶And he asked them, What question ye with them?