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Daily Orthodox - December 16th, 2024

Today is Monday of the 26th Week after Pentecost.

Fasting Obligations

  • OCA, GOARCH, Antioch: Strict fast.

Today, we commemorate...

  1. The Holy Prophet Haggai (Aggaeus)

Haggai was born in Babylon during the time of the captivity of Israel. He was of the tribe of Levi and prophesied about 470 years before Christ. As a youth, he visited Jerusalem. He urged Zerubbabel and Joshua the priest to restore the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, prophesying for this Temple greater glory than the former Temple of Solomon, The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of Hosts (Haggai 2:9), for the Lord and Savior was to appear in this new temple. He lived long enough to see one part of the temple built by Zerubbabel. He died in old age and joined his ancestors.

  1. Saint Nicholas Chrysoverges, Patriarch of Constantinople

Nicholas governed the Church from 980 until 995. He ordained the great Simeon the New Theologian a presbyter when this spiritual giant was elected abbot of the Monastery of the Holy Martyr Mamas in Constantinople. During his time, a miraculous appearance of the Archangel Gabriel took place at Karyes [Mount Athos]. On this occasion, the archangel taught the monks to praise the Most-holy Theotokos with the hymn "It Is Truly Meet," writing this hymn on a stone in a chapel of one of the kellia, which from that time has been called "It Is Truly Meet" (June 13). As an eminent and great hierarch, he entered peacefully into rest and took up his habitation in the Kingdom of God.

  1. Saint Theophano the Empress (893)

Theophano was born of eminent parents, Constantine and Anna, who were kin to several emperors. Her parents were childless for a long time and prayed to the Most-holy Theotokos to give them an offspring. And God gave them this daughter, Theophano. Imbued with the Christian spirit from her childhood, Theophano surpassed all her companions in all the Christian virtues. When she grew up, she entered into marriage with Leo, the son of Emperor Basil the Macedonian. She endured great hardships alongside her husband. Responding to slander—that Leo carried a knife in his boot and planned to kill his father at an opportune time—the gullible father, Basil, locked his son and daughter-in-law in prison. Thus, two innocent souls languished in prison for three years. Once, during the Feast of the Prophet Elias, the emperor summoned all his noblemen to his court for a banquet. Suddenly the emperor's parrot unexpectedly spoke these words, "Alas, alas, my Lord Leo!" and repeated these words a number of times. This brought great anxiety to all of the imperial noblemen, and they all begged the emperor to release his son and daughter-in-law. The grieved emperor did so. After his father's death, Leo became emperor and was called "the Wise." Theophano did not consider her imperial dignity as anything, but, completely devoted to God, she cared only about the salvation of her soul, fasting and praying, distributing many alms, and restoring many monasteries and churches. Neither an untrue word nor an excessive word nor, least of all, slander proceeded from her lips. Before her death she called all her closest friends, took leave of them and gave up her soul to her God in the year 892. The Emperor Leo wanted to build a church over her grave in her name, but since the patriarch objected to this, he built a church to All Saints, saying that if Theophano became a saint, she would be glorified together with the other saints. The Feast of All Saints was then instituted to be celebrated on the Sunday after the Feast of the Holy Trinity.

  1. Martyr Marinus of Rome (283)

  2. St. Memnon, archbishop of Ephesus (ca. 440)

  3. St. Modestus II, patriarch of Jerusalem (634)

  4. St. Sophia, nun (in the world Solomonia), wife of Grand Duke Basil III of Moscow (1542)

  5. St. John the Barefoot, fool-for-Christ, of Kiev (1849)

  6. New Hieromartyr Vladimir, priest, of Okhansk (1918)

  7. St. Parasceva, abbess of Toplovsky Convent (Simferopol) (1928)

  8. New Hieromartyr Arcadius, bishop of Bezhetsk (1937)

For more information on today's saints or commemorations not provided, see https://www.oca.org/saints/lives (Slavic) and/or https://www.goarch.org/chapel (Greek).

Daily Scriptures

Slavic and Greek
  • Epistle: 1 Timothy 1:1-7

<1> Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope, <2> To Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. <3> As I urged you when I went into Macedonia—remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, <4> nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. <5> Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, <6> from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, <7> desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.

  • Gospel: Mark 9:42-10:1

<42> "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea. <43> If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— <44> where ‘Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.' <45> And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— <46> where ‘Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.' <47> And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire— <48> where ‘Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.' <49> "For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. <50> Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another." <1> Then He arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan. And multitudes gathered to Him again, and as He was accustomed, He taught them again.

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