August 3 / July 21
1. The Holy Prophet Ezekiel
Ezekiel was the son of a priest from the town of Sarir. He was taken into captivity in Babylon with King Jehoiachim and many other Israelites. Ezekiel prophesied for twenty-seven years in captivity. He was a contemporary of the Prophet Jeremiah. While Jeremiah taught and prophesied in Jerusalem, so Ezekiel taught and prophesied in Babylon. The prophecies of Jeremiah were known in Babylon, and the prophecies of Ezekiel were known in Jerusalem. Both of these holy men agreed in their respective prophecies, and both were mistreated and tortured by the unbelieving Jewish people. St. Ezekiel had fearful and unheard-of visions. By the river Chebar, Ezekiel saw the heavens opened, and a cloud and fire and lightning, and four wild creatures like molten copper. One creature had the face of a man, the second the face of a lion, the third the face of a calf, and the fourth the face of an eagle. The face of the man signified the Lord Incarnate as a man; the face of the lion, His divinity; the face of the calf, His sacrifice; and the face of an eagle, His Resurrection, and Ascension. Another time, he was shown a vision of the resurrection of the dead. The prophet saw a valley full of dry, dead bones, and when the Spirit of God descended upon them they came to life and rose to their feet. He also saw the terrible destruction of Jerusalem, when the wrath of God slew all but those who had been marked with the Greek letter Tau—which corresponds to our letter “T,” which is also the sign of the Cross. The malice of the Jews did not spare even this holy man. Infuriated at him for having rebuked them, the Jews tied his limbs to the tails of horses and tore him apart. He was buried in the same sepulcher as Shem, the son of Noah.
2. The Venerable Symeon of Emesa, fool-for-Christ (590), and his fellow faster St. John (6th c.)
These two young men left their homes and relatives: Simeon left his aged mother, and John left his young wife. Both received the monastic tonsure at the hands of Abbot Nicon in the Monastery of St. Gerasimus, and withdrew into the desert, where they lived an austere life of self-denial for many years. They chastised their bodies with rigorous asceticism to the point that they resembled two withered trees. One day Simeon said to John that, according to God’s command, he must depart from the desert and go among the people and serve God there. John gave him this counsel: “Guard your heart against all that you will see in the world. Whatever you touch with your hand, do not allow to touch your heart. Whatever you eat with your mouth, let not your heart take delight in it. When you use your feet to walk, let there be peace within you. And whatever you do outwardly, let not your mind be disturbed by it. Pray for me, that God does not separate us from one another in the future life.” St. Simeon accepted the counsel of his companion, embraced him, and then left the desert and went among the people as a fool-for-Christ, to teach men and to turn them to the Christian Faith. He pretended madness before men, but his heart was a temple of the Holy Spirit, in which dwelt unceasing prayer. He possessed abundant grace from God. He could discern all the inner secrets of men, both close at hand or afar off, and had the power to heal men from evil spirits and sickness. Dancing in the streets like a madman, he would suddenly approach people and whisper their secret sins in their ears, and call them to repentance. He appeared to sinners in dreams, rebuked them, and called them to repentance. Thus it was with Bali, a pagan actor who openly mocked Christian shrines—St. Simeon appeared to him in a dream and rebuked him, and he repented and became a good Christian. A young libertine went out of his mind from promiscuity. Confronting this insane young man, St. Simeon struck him across the face with his hand and said: “Do not commit fornication.” At that moment the unclean demon departed from the young man, and he became well.
- Hieromartyr Zoticus of Comana in Armenia (204).
- Martyr Victor of Marseilles (3rd ).
- Martyrs Justus, Matthew, and Eugene, at Rome (305).
- Hieromartyr Bargabdesian, deacon, at Arbela in Assyria (354).
- Paul, bishop, and John, priest, ascetics, near Edessa (5th c.).
- Onuphrius the Silent, of the Kiev Caves (12th c.).
- Onesimus, recluse of the Kiev Caves (13th c.).
- Uncovering of the relics (1649) of Anna, princess of Kashin (Euphrosyne in mo- nasticism) (1368).
- . Sts. Raphael (1640-1645) and Parthenius (1660) of Old Agapia Monastery (Romania).
- Parthenius of Radovizlios, bishop (1777).
- New Hieromartyrs Simo and Milan, and the latter’s son Martyr Milan, of Gla- moc, Serbia (1941-1945).
- (Greek : St. Eleutherius of “Dry Hill”).
- “Armatia” Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos.
HYMN OF PRAISE
The Holy Prophet Ezekiel
By God’s will,
Ezekiel envisioned A wide, wide, boundless field,
Filled to overflowing with dead men’s bones.
Ezekiel heard a voice from above:
“Son of man, seest thou these bones?
They lived once, as My guests on earth;
I served them well at My table
But few repaid Me as was meet.
Dost thou wish to make these dead bones live again?”
The prophet was frightened and struck with wonder:
“Lord, Lord, Thou knowest,
If Thou commandest, they must arise.”
Then a quaking, rumbling and trembling began,
The prophet witnessed a miracle—the dead resurrected!
The bones rose up, and joint met joint;
Then flesh, then sinews and skin enclosed them.
The prophet, trembling, witnessed the miracle
And glorified God with his heart and soul.
What the prophet of God discerned in the spirit
The resurrected Lord clearly showed.
When the Spirit wills, the dead will resurrect,
In a living body as in a new garment,
And the faithful will then rejoice with Christ,
To reign eternally in His Kingdom.
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