February 17 / February 4
The Venerable Isidore of Pelusium
Isidore was an Egyptian by birth, the son of a prominent family, and the kinsman of the Alexandrian Patriarchs Theophilus and Cyril. Having studied all the secular disciplines, he renounced worldly riches and glory, and for the love of Christ he devoted himself completely to the spiritual life. He was a great and ardent defender and interpreter of the Orthodox Faith. According to the historian Nicephorus, St. Isidore wrote more than ten thousand letters to various individuals. In these he reproached some, counseled others, and comforted and instructed still others. In one letter St. Isidore wrote: “It is more important to teach by a life of doing good than to preach in eloquent terms.” In another, he said: “If one desires that his virtues appear great, let him consider them small, and they will surely manifest them- selves as great.” The first and basic rule for St. Isidore was this: “First do and then teach, according to the example of our Lord Jesus.” At the time of the persecution of St. John Chrysostom, when the entire population was di- vided into two camps—one for him and one against him—St. Isidore, this great pillar of Orthodoxy, sided with St. John Chrysostom. He wrote to Patriarch Theophilus that Chrysostom was a great light of the Church, and begged him to avoid rancor toward him. Isidore lived long and accom- plished much, glorifying Christ God with his life and his writings. Isidore took up his habitation in the Kingdom of Christ in about the year 436.
The Venerable Nicholas the Confessor, abbot, of the Studion (868)
This saint was born at Cydonia in Crete in 793. He went to Constantinople to visit his kinsman, Abbot Theodore of the Studite Monastery. There he remained and was tonsured a monk. As a monk, Nicholas under- took ascetic labors for the sake of the salvation of his soul. During the per- secution of the Church by Leo the Armenian, Theodore and Nicholas were cruelly tortured, humiliated, beaten with bullwhips, and finally thrown into prison. There they were imprisoned for three years. After the death of St. Theodore, Nicholas became abbot of the Studite Monastery. Even during his lifetime, he worked many miracles through the power and grace of God. Nicholas healed Eudocia, the wife of Emperor Basil, as well as Hel- ena, the wife of the patrician Manuel. Nicholas blessed the newly born daughter of Theophilus Melisenus, a prominent nobleman whose other children had not survived birth, and he prophesied that she would live and be very fruitful. This prophecy came to pass, to the joy of the parents. On the very day of his death, Nicholas gathered the monastic brotherhood and asked them what they lacked. “Wheat,” answered the monks. Then the dying man said: “He Who fed Israel in the wilderness will send you an ample supply of wheat within three days.” And indeed, on the third day a boat full of wheat sent by Emperor Basil arrived below the monastery. Nicholas took up his habitation in the Heavenly Kingdom on February 4, 868, in the seventy-fifth year of his life.
The Holy New Martyr Joseph
Joseph was born in Aleppo in Syria. Pressured by the Turks to embrace Islam, Joseph not only rejected this but also began to expose the falsehoods of Islam and to praise the Faith of Christ. For this, Joseph was tortured and beheaded in the year 1686. .
- Martyrs Jadorus and Isidore, who suffered under Decius (249-251).
- Hieromartyr Phileas, bishop of Thmuis, and Martyr Philoromus the Magistrate (ca. 303).
- John of Irenopolis in Cilicia, one of the 318 Godbearing Fathers of the First Council of Nicaea.
- Hieromartyr Abramius, bishop of Arbela in Assyria (ca. 344-347).
- Evagrius, fellow-ascetic of St. Shio of Mgvime, Georgia (6th c.).
- Hieromartyr Aldate of Gloucester (6th ).
- George, prince of Vladimir (1238).
- Abraham and Coprius, founders of Pechenga Monastery (Vologda) (ca. 1485).
- Cyril, founder of Novoezersk Monastery (Novgorod) (1532).
- New Hieromartyr Methodius (Krasnoperov), bishop of Petropavlovsk (1921).
- The Venerable Nicetas of Pythia.
- Saint Jasimus the Wonderworker.
- The Holy Martyr Theoktistus, who was slain by the sword.
- New Hieromartyrs Theodosius (Bobkov), hieromonk of the Chudov Monastery (Moscow), Nicholas Kandaurov, archpriest (Moscow), Boris Nazarov, archpriest, of Protasievo (Verey), Alexander Pokrovsky, archpriest, of Mineyevo (Moscow), Alexander Sokolov, archpriest, of Paveltsovo (Moscow), Peter Sokolov, archpriest, of Klin (Moscow), John Tikhomirov, archpriest, of Petrovskoye (Moscow), and Nicholas Pospelov, priest, of Bylovo (Podolsk) (1938).
- New Martyr Raphaela, schemanun, of Moscow (1938).
HYMN OF PRAISE
A Sacrifice of Thanksgiving
Render sacrifice to God, a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
O you who are wealthy by God’s mercy!
He who is wealthy, let him barter with what he has.
Let each with his own gifts acquire the Kingdom.
Whoever is overflowing with money, let him offer money;
Whoever has a bounty of wheat, let him distribute wheat;
Whoever is given wisdom, let him teach others;
Whoever’s hands are strong, let him perform service;
Whoever knows a trade, let him honorably uphold it.
Let him conscientiously consider himself as a debtor to God.
Let him who knows how to sing, praise God.
Only he is small who does not know God.
With whatever one receives, with that let him serve;
With mercy toward men, let him repay God.
Not all are the same, nor do all possess the same,
But everyone can offer a pure heart to God.
O purity of heart, a sacrifice worthy of wonder,
You are the crucial virtue for salvation,
And on your sacrificial altar, your incense ascends,
Arriving more swiftly than anything before the Lord.
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