December 14 / December 1
1. The Holy Prophet Nahum
Nahum was born of the tribe of Simeon in a place called Elkosh on the far side of the Jordan. He lived about seven hundred years before Christ and prophesied the destruction of Nineveh about two hundred years after the Prophet Jonah. Because of Jonah’s preaching, the Ninevites had re- repented, and God had spared them and not destroyed them. In time, however, they forgot God’s mercy and again became corrupt. The Prophet Nahum prophesied their destruction, and since there was no re- penance, God did not spare them. The entire city was destroyed by earthquake, flood, and fire so that its location is no longer known. St. Nahum lived for forty-five years and entered into rest in the Lord, leaving us a small book of his true prophecies.
1. Saint Philaret the Almsgiver, of Amnia in Asia Minor (797)
Philaret was from the village of Amnia in Paphlagonia. Early in life, Philaret was a very wealthy man, but by distributing abundant alms to the poor he himself became extremely poor. However, he was not afraid of poverty, and, not heeding the complaints of his wife and children, he con- tinued his charitable works with hope in God, Who said: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (Matt 5:7). Once, while he was plowing in the field, a man came to him and complained that one of his oxen had died in the harness and that he was unable to plow with only one ox. Phil- aret then unharnessed one of his oxen and gave it to him. He even gave his remaining horse to a man who was summoned to go to war. He gave away the calf of his last cow, and when he saw how the cow pined for her missing calf, and the calf for the cow, he called the man and gave him the cow too. And thus the aged Philaret was left without food in an empty house. But he prayed to God and placed his hope in Him. And God did not abandon the righteous one to be put to shame in his hope. At that time the Empress Irene reigned with her young son, Constantine. According to the custom of that time, the empress sent men throughout the whole empire to seek the best and most distinguished maiden to whom she could wed her son, the emperor. By God’s providence, these men happened to stay overnight in Philaret’s house, and they saw his most beauti- ful and modest granddaughter Maria, the daughter of his daughter Hypa- tia, and took her to Constantinople. The emperor was well pleased with her, married her, and moved Philaret and all his family to the capital, giving him great honors and riches. Philaret did not become proud as a result of this unexpected good fortune, but, thankful to God, he continued to per-form good works even more than he had before, and thus he continued until his death. At the age of ninety, he summoned his children, blessed them, and instructed them to cleave to God and to God’s law, and with his clairvoyant spirit, he prophesied to all of them how they would live out this life, as once had Jacob. After that, he went to the Rodolfia Monastery and gave up his soul to God. At his death, his face shone like the sun, and after his death, an unusual, sweet fragrance came forth from his body and miracles took place at his relics. This righteous man entered into rest in the year 797. His wife, Theosevia, and all his children and grandchildren lived a God-pleasing life and reposed in the Lord.
- Martyr Ananias of Persia.
- Eligius, bishop of Noyon (Neth.) (660).
- Botolph, abbot and confessor, of Ikanhoe, England (680).
- Anthony the New, monk, of Kios in Bithynia (865).
- Theoclites, bishop of Sparta (870).
- New Hieromartyr Innocent, archbishop of Kharkov and Akhtyra (1937).
- (Greek : St. Onesimus, archbishop of Ephesus. Sts. Ananias and Solochonus, archbishops of Ephesus).
HYMN OF PRAISE
Saint Philaret the Almsgiver
To the merciful one, God shows mercy;
He never ceases to show mercy.
He hears the prayers of the merciful;
He gives gifts a hundredfold.
Philaret the Merciful
Placed himself wholly in God’s hands.
By his compassion, he amazed the world;
He was faithful to God, even in suffering.
Philaret did not compete
For honor or precedence.
We use this age to purchase
The Eternal Kingdom and blessedness.
The Lord spoke a wondrous word:
“Trade until I return!
When the time is right,
I will repay you with great riches.”
When Philaret became impoverished
Because of almsgiving beyond measure,
Because of truth and goodness—
God visited him from on high:
Visited him and bestowed mercy,
Bestowed mercy and rewarded him,
Just as once upon the faithful Job,
He bestowed mercy and a reward.
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