Thursday, 18 February 2027

73 days before Pascha · Tone 4 · Liturgy · No Fast

Saints commemorated

Saint Agapetus of Sinai

Saint Agapetus was a venerable monastic ascetic who dwelt in the sacred desert of Sinai. He dedicated himself to unceasing prayer and spiritual struggle, seeking union with God through contemplation and disciplined askesis. The monks of the desert recognised in him a spiritual elder of great wisdom and holiness. Through his intercessions and prayers, Saint Agapetus became known as a protector of those who called upon him. He endured the rigours of desert monasticism with steadfastness and remained a beacon of Orthodox virtue. The Church venerates him as a model of monastic dedication and spiritual perfection.

Saint Colman of Lindisfarne, bishop and confessor

676

Saint Colman was born in the west of Ireland about the year 605 and from his youth devoted himself to the monastic life. He was educated at the great monastery of Iona, founded by Saint Columba, and there absorbed the Celtic tradition of prayer, learning and missionary zeal. About the year 661 he was sent from Iona to Northumbria and was consecrated the third bishop of Lindisfarne in succession to Saint Aidan and Saint Finan. In 664 the Synod of Whitby was held at the abbey of Saint Hilda to settle the differences between the Celtic and Roman observances of Easter and other matters of monastic discipline. Saint Colman defended with gentleness and conviction the customs received from Saint Columba and the elders of Iona, but King Oswiu of Northumbria gave his judgment in favour of the Roman practice. Unwilling to abandon the tradition of his fathers, Colman resigned the see of Lindisfarne and withdrew with all the Irish brethren and some thirty English monks. Returning by way of Iona to Ireland, he founded a monastery on the island of Inishbofin off the coast of Connaught and, when disputes arose between the Irish and English communities, established a separate house on the mainland for the English monks, known as Mayo of the Saxons, which became a centre of learning. Saint Colman reposed in peace on 18 February in the year 676 and is honoured among the saints of Ireland and the British Isles.

Saint Flavian the confessor, patriarch of Constantinople

448

Saint Flavian was patriarch of Constantinople from 446 to 449 and a champion of Orthodoxy against the Monophysite heresy of Eutyches. Before his elevation he had served as a presbyter and the keeper of the sacred vessels of the Great Church, and he was esteemed for his learning, his pastoral diligence and his austere manner of life. In the year 448 Saint Flavian convened a local council at Constantinople to examine the teaching of the archimandrite Eutyches, who confused the two natures of Christ, holding that after the union the Lord had only one nature, the divine. Saint Flavian and the bishops with him condemned Eutyches and deposed him, but the heretic, supported by the eunuch Chrysaphius and by Dioscorus of Alexandria, appealed to the emperor Theodosius II. In 449 the so-called "Robber Council" was assembled at Ephesus under the presidency of Dioscorus. There Saint Flavian was prevented from speaking, was openly assaulted in the church and trampled by armed monks. Mortally injured, he was sent into exile and died three days later from his wounds. Two years afterwards, at the Fourth Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon in 451, his memory was vindicated and his teaching upheld. The Church honours him as a hieromartyr and confessor.

Saint Leo the Great, Pope of Rome

Pope Leo was one of the great bastions of Orthodoxy during the time of the monophysite heresy and its offshoots. ‘According to some, this Saint was born in Rome, but according to others in Tyrrenia (Tuscany), and was consecrated to the archiepiscopal throne of Rome in 440. In 448, when St Flavian, Archbishop of Constantinople [also commemorated today], summoned Eutyches, an archimandrite in Constantinople, to give account for his teaching that there was only one nature in Christ after the Incarnation, Eutyches appealed to St Leo in Rome. After St Leo had carefully examined Eutyches’ teachings, he wrote an epistle to St Flavian, setting forth the Orthodox teaching of the person of Christ, and His two natures, and also counseling Flavian that, should Eutyches sincerely repent of his error, he should be received back with all good will. At the Council held in Ephesus in 449, which was presided over by Dioscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria (and which Saint Leo, in a letter to the holy Empress Pulcheria in 451, was the first to call “The Robber Council”), Dioscorus, having military might behind him, did not allow Saint Leo’s epistle to Flavian to be read, although repeatedly asked to do so; even before the Robber Council was held, Dioscorus had uncanonically received the unrepentant Eutyches back into communion. Because Saint Leo had many cares in Rome owing to the wars of Attila the Hun and other barbarians, in 451 he sent four delegates to the Fourth Ecumenical Council, where 630 Fathers gathered in Chalcedon during the reign of Marcian, to condemn the teachings of Eutyches and those who supported him. Saint Leo’s epistle to Flavian was read at the Fourth Council, and was confirmed by the Holy Fathers as the Orthodox teaching on the incarnate Person of our Lord; it is also called the “Tome of Leo.” The Saint wrote many works in Latin; he reposed in 461.’(Great Horologion).

St Leo is remembered for saving Rome from conquest by Attila the Hun. When Attila drew near to Rome, preparing to pillage the city, St Leo went out to him in his episcopal vestments and enjoined him to turn back. For reasons unknown to worldly historians, the pitiless Attila with all his troops abandoned their attack and returned the way they had come.

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

1 Peter — 1 Peter 4.12-5.5

¹²Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial among you, which cometh upon you to prove you, as though a strange thing happened unto you:

¹²Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: ¹³but insomuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, rejoice; that at the revelation of his glory also ye may rejoice with exceeding joy. ¹³But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. ¹⁴If ye are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are ye; because the Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God resteth upon you. ¹⁴If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. ¹⁵For let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evil-doer, or as a meddler in other men’s matters: ¹⁵But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. ¹⁶Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. ¹⁶but if a man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this name. ¹⁷For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? ¹⁷For the time is come for judgment to begin at the house of God: and if it begin first at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God? ¹⁸And if the righteous is scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear? ¹⁸And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? ¹⁹Wherefore let them also that suffer according to the will of God commit their souls in well-doing unto a faithful Creator. ¹⁹Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

¹The elders therefore among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:

¹The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: ²Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; ²Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; ³Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. ³neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock. ⁴And when the chief Shepherd shall be manifested, ye shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away. ⁴And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. ⁵Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. ⁵Likewise, ye younger, be subject unto the elder. Yea, all of you gird yourselves with humility, to serve one another: for God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Mark — Mark 12.38-44

³⁸And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces,

³⁸And in his teaching he said, Beware of the scribes, who desire to walk in long robes, and to have salutations in the marketplaces, ³⁹And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: ³⁹and chief seats in the synagogues, and chief places at feasts: ⁴⁰Which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation. ⁴⁰they that devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers; these shall receive greater condemnation.

⁴¹And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.

⁴¹And he sat down over against the treasury, and beheld how the multitude cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. ⁴²And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. ⁴²And there came a poor widow, and she cast in two mites, which make a farthing. ⁴³And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: ⁴³And he called unto him his disciples, and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, This poor widow cast in more than all they that are casting into the treasury: ⁴⁴For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living. ⁴⁴for they all did cast in of their superfluity; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.