June 19 / June 6
The Holy Apostle Jude, the Brother of the Lord (80)
St. Jude was one of the Twelve Apostles. He was the son of Joseph and Salome*) and the brother of James, the brother of the Lord. Joseph the carpenter had four sons with Salome: James, Hosea, Simon and Jude. This Jude is sometimes called “Jude, the brother of James” due to his brother being better- known (Luke 6:16, Acts 1:13). St. Jude begins his epistle in this manner: Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James (Jude 1:1). Even though he could call himself the brother of the Lord as much as James, he did not do this, out of humility and shame, for he did not at first believe in Christ the Lord. When the elderly Joseph, before his death, wanted to leave a portion of his estate to Jesus, as well as to his other children, all of them protested, even Jude. Only James voluntarily set aside a share of his portion and intended it for Jesus. Jude is also called Levi and Thaddaeus. There is another Thaddaeus of the Seventy Apostles (Au- gust 21), but this Thaddaeus or Jude was one of the Great Apostles. Jude preached the Gospel throughout Judea, Samaria, Galilee, Idumea, Syria, Arabia, Mesopotamia and Armenia. In Edessa, the town of Abgar, he augmented the preaching of the other Thaddaeus. When Jude was preaching in the regions around Ararat, he was captured by pagans, crucified on a cross and killed by being shot with arrows, that he might reign eternally in the Kingdom of Christ.
The Venerable Paisius the Great, of Egypt (400)
Paisius was an Egyptian by birth and language. After a vision in a dream, his mother dedicated him to the service of God. As a young man, Paisius came to the Venerable Pambo, who received him as his disciple and as a fellow disciple of the Venerable John the Dwarf, who later wrote the life of Paisius. To the joy of his spiritual father, Paisius added labor to labor and ascetic feat to ascetic feat. Many times the Prophet Jeremiah, whom he especially loved and often read, appeared to him. Angels of God also often appeared to him and even the Lord Christ Himself. “Peace be with thee, my beloved chosen one!” the Lord Christ said to him. By the great grace of God, Paisius possessed the special gift of abstaining from food. Often he did not taste bread for fifteen days, more often for a week, and once, according to the testimony of St. John the Dwarf, he went for seventy days without par- taking of anything. He waged a great struggle with the spirits of evil, who appeared to him at times exactly as they are and at times in the form of radiant angels. But the blessed servant of God did not permit himself to be deceived and beguiled. Paisius was famous throughout Egypt as a clairvoyant and miracle- worker. He took up his habitation in eternity in the year 400. The Venerable Isidore of Pelusium translated the relics of Paisius to his monastery and honorably buried them.
The Holy Martyr Zosimas the Soldier, at Antioch in Pisidia (116) Zosimas was a Roman soldier during the reign of Emperor He courageously confessed his faith in Christ the Lord, for which he endured cruel tortures. In the midst of his tortures, he heard a voice from heaven saying: “Be brave, Zosimas, and sign thyself with the Cross. I am with thee!”
Angels of God appeared to him in prison. After many tortures, Zosimas was beheaded in the year 116.
The Venerable John the Solitary, of Jerusalem (586)
John lived a life of asceticism in the sixth century in the proximity of Jerusalem. Through his asceticism, he achieved a high degree of purity and power, so that wild beasts were submissive to him. John reposed in the Lord in extreme old age, in the year 586.
- John (Maximovitch), archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco (1966).
- Holy Myrrh-bearer Mary, mother of Apostle James (1st ).
- Macarius of Petra (4th c.).
- Zeno, hermit, of Egypt (late 4th c.).
- Romuald, abbot of Camaldoli (Ravenna) (1027).
- Barlaam, monk, of Shenkursk (1462).
- Job, patriarch of Moscow (1607).
- Paisius the Bulgarian, of Hilandar, Mt. Athos (late 18th c.).
- (Greek : Hieromartyr Asyncretus).
HYMN OF PRAISE
The Venerable Paisius the Great
Paisius the Great from the earliest age
Closed the doors of all desires behind him.
He lifted his spirit up to God, his only desire,
Like all the great saints of old.
The monks asked the wondrous Paisius:
“Which virtue is most pleasing to God?”
“That which is hidden!” said Paisius to them,
“And that which is made known is not pleasing to God.”
When Paisius had glorified God by his life,
The glorified Lord Christ appeared unto him:
“Peace be to thee, O Saint. What dost thou wish?
Tell me. According to thy wish, so will it be.
Ask and receive!”
When he heard these words from the Lord,
Paisius gave himself over to weeping like a child.
“O gentle Lord, a man of great sin am I,
And because of my many sins I am greatly downcast.
According to Thy mercy, forgive me my sins,
All my sins, O God, from my early youth.
And grant me strength for future times,
That with new sins I will not burden my yoke,
That to the end of my life I may do
Thy will And burn for Thee with greater love.”
The Lord fulfilled for him this wise desire,
And granted a blessing to His saint.
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