Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Greek Orthodox Church Daily Readings For Sunday 8 May

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Daily Scripture Readings and Lives of the Saints for Sunday, May 8, 2011



Readings for today:



Luke 24:1-12

St. John's First Universal Letter 1:1-7

Mark 15:43-47; 16:1-8



Feasts and Saints celebrated today:



Holy Myrrhbearers Sunday

John the Apostle, Evangelist, & Theologian

Arsenios the Great

Emelia, mother of St. Basil the Great





Orthros Gospel Reading



The reading is from Luke 24:1-12



On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb,

taking the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone

rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the

body. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by

them in dazzling apparel; and as they were frightened and bowed their

faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living

among the dead? Remember how he told you, while he was still in

Galilee, that the Son of man must be delivered in to the hands of sinful

men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise." And they

remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all this to the

eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna and

Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told this

to the apostles; but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and

they did not believe them.



But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw

the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home wondering at what

had happened.



(c) 2011 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America



Epistle Reading



The reading is from St. John's First Universal Letter 1:1-7



THAT WHICH WAS from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have

seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our

hands, concerning the word of life - the life was made manifest, and we

saw it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life which

was with the Father and was made manifest to us - that which we have

seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have

fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son

Jesus Christ. And we are writing this that our joy may be complete.



This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that

God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have

fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live

according to the truth; but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light,

we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son

cleanses us from all sin.



(c) 2011 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America



Gospel Reading



The reading is from Mark 15:43-47; 16:1-8



At that time, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the

council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage

and went to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. And Pilate

wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked

him whether he was already dead. And when he learned from the

centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. And he bought a

linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud, and

laid him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock; and he rolled

a stone against the door of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the

mother of Joses saw where he was laid.



And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of

James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.

And very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb

when the sun had risen. And they were saying to one another, "Who will

roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?" And looking up,

they saw that the stone was rolled back; for it was very large. And

entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed

in a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, "Do not

be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has

risen, he is not here; see the place where they laid him. But go, tell

his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee; there

you will see him, as he told you." And they went out and fled from

the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and they

said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.



(c) 2011 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America





Holy Myrrhbearers Sunday



Reading from the Synaxarion:



About the beginning of His thirty-second year, when the Lord Jesus was

going throughout Galilee, preaching and working miracles, many women

who had received of His beneficence left their own homeland and from

then on followed after Him. They ministered unto Him out of their own

possessions, even until His crucifixion and entombment; and afterwards,

neither losing faith in Him after His death, nor fearing the wrath of the

Jewish rulers, they came to the sepulchre, bearing the myrrh-oils they

had prepared to annoint His body. It is because of the myrrh-oils,

that these God-loving women brought to the tomb of Jesus that they are

called the Myrrh-bearers. Of those whose names are known are the

following: first of all, the most holy Virgin Mary, who in Matthew 27:56

and Mark 15:40 is called "the mother of James and Joses" (these are

the sons of Joseph by a previous marriage, and she was therefore

their step-mother); Mary Magdalene (celebrated July 22); Mary, the wife

of Clopas; Joanna, wife of Chouza, a steward of Herod Antipas;

Salome, the mother of the sons of Zebedee, Mary and Martha, the sisters

of Lazarus; and Susanna. As for the names of the rest of them, the

evangelists have kept silence (Matt 27:55-56; 28:1-10. Mark 15:40-41. Luke

8:1-3; 23:55-24:11, 22-24. John 19:25; 20:11-18. Acts 1:14).



Together with them we celebrate also the secret disciples of the Saviour,

Joseph and Nicodemus. Of these, Nicodemus was probably a Jerusalemite,

a prominent leader among the Jews and of the order of the

Pharisees, learned in the Law and instructed in the Holy Scriptures. He

had believed in Christ when, at the beginning of our Saviour's

preaching of salvation, he came to Him by night. Furthermore, he brought

some one hundred pounds of myrrh-oils and an aromatic mixture of aloes

and spices out of reverence and love for the divine Teacher (John

19:39). Joseph, who was from the city of Arimathea, was a wealthy and

noble man, and one of the counsellors who were in Jerusalem. He went

boldly unto Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, and together with

Nicodemus he gave Him burial. Since time did not permit the preparation of

another tomb, he placed the Lord's body in his own tomb which was hewn

out of rock, as the Evangelist says (Matt. 27:60).



Apolytikion in the Second Tone

When Thou didst descend unto death, O Life Immortal, then didst Thou

slay Hades with the lightning of Thy Divinity. And when Thou didst

also raise the dead out of the nethermost depths, all the powers in

the Heavens cried out: O Life-giver, Christ our God, glory be to

Thee. Glory... The noble Joseph, taking Thine immaculate Body down from

the Tree, and having wrapped It in pure linen and spices, laid It for

burial in a new tomb. But on the third day Thou didst arise, O Lord,

granting great mercy to the world. Both now... Unto the myrrh-bearing

women did the Angel cry out as he stood by the grave: Myrrh oils are

meet for the dead, but Christ hath proved to be a stranger to

corruption. But cry out: The Lord is risen, granting great mercy to the

world.



Kontakion in the Second Tone

When you said to the Myrrh-bearers, "Rejoice!", O Christ our God, You

ended, by Your Resurrection, the lament of Eve, the first mother. And,

You commanded Your Apostles to proclaim, "The Savior has risen from

the grave."



This content is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved:

Reading (c) Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

Apolytikion (c) Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

Kontakion (c) Narthex Press





John the Apostle, Evangelist, & Theologian



Reading from the Synaxarion:



The feast today in honour of the holy Apostle John commemorates the

miracle taking place each year in Ephesus, in which a certain dust or

powder, called manna, suddenly poured forth from his tomb and was used by

the faithful for deliverance from maladies of both soul and body. For

an account of his life, see September 26.



Apolytikion in the Second Tone

O Apostle, beloved of Christ our God, hasten to deliver a

defenceless people. He that allowed thee to recline on His breast, receiveth

thee bowing in intercession. Implore Him, O Theologian, to dispel the

persistent cloud of the heathen, and ask for us His peace and great mercy.



Kontakion in the Second Tone

Who can recount your greatness, O virgin, for miracles flow and

healing springs forth from you. You intercede for our souls, as the

Theologian and friend of Christ.



This content is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved:

Reading (c) Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

Apolytikion (c) Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

Kontakion (c) Narthex Press





Arsenios the Great



Reading from the Synaxarion:



Saint Arsenios was a deacon of the Church of Rome, born of an

illustrious family, and wondrous in virtue. In the days of Saint Theodosius

the Great, he was chosen to be the tutor of the Emperor's young sons,

Arcadius and Honorius. While living at the imperial palace in

Constantinople, compassed with all luxury and innumerable temptations to sin,

Arsenios often besought God with tears to guide him to salvation. This

prayer was answered one day when a voice came to him saying, "Arsenios,

flee from men, and thou shalt be saved." He sailed secretly to

Alexandria, and from there went to Scete, where he became a monk. Yet after

he had withdrawn from the world, and was come among the most

illustrious monks of his day, he heard, 'Arsenios, flee, be silent, pray

always, for these are the causes of sinning not." Following this call, he

separated himself even from his fellow monks, practicing extreme silence.

On Saturday evenings, he would turn his back on the setting sun, and

would stretch out his hands in prayer to Heaven, till the sun shone

upon his face the following morning, and only then would he sit down.

Once a monk came to visit him, and looking into his cell saw Arsenios

entirely like a flame of fire. After living some fifty-five years as a

monk, and attaining to heights reached by few, he reposed in peace

about the year 449, at the age of ninety-five.



Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone

With the streams of thy tears, thou didst cultivate the barrenness of

the desert; and by thy sighings from the depths,thou didst bear fruit

a hundredfold in labours; and thou becamest a luminary, shining

with miracles upon the world, O Arsenios our righteous Father.

Intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.



Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

Since thou hadst shown forth the life of the Angels while in a body, O

God-bearing Arsenios, thou wast also counted worthy of their honour; and with

them thou standest before the Lord's throne, interceding that divine

forgiveness be granted unto all.



This content is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved:

Reading (c) Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

Apolytikion (c) Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

Kontakion (c) Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

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