35th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST — Tone 2. Afterfeast of the Meeting. Ven. Isidore of Pelusium (ca. 436-440).
Tone 2 Troparion (Resurrection)
When You descended to death, O Life Immortal, You slew hell with the splendor of Your Godhead. And when from the depths You raised the dead, all the powers of heaven cried out:// “O Giver of life, Christ our God, glory to You!”
Tone 4 Troparion (St. Nicholas)
The truth of your deeds has revealed you to your flock as a rule of faith, an image of meekness and a teacher of self-control; your humility exalted you; your poverty enriched you.// O Father Bishop Nicholas, pray to Christ God that our souls may be saved.
Tone 1 Troparion (Feast)
Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos, Full of Grace! From you shone the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God, enlightening those who sat in darkness. Rejoice and be glad, O righteous Elder, you accepted in your arms the Redeemer of our souls,// Who grants us the Resurrection!
Tone 8 Troparion (Ven. Isidore)
The image of God was truly preserved in you, O Father, for you took up the Cross and followed Christ. By so doing, you taught us to disregard the flesh for it passes away; but to care instead for the soul, for it is immortal.// Therefore your spirit, venerable Isidore, rejoices with the angels.
Tone 2 Kontakion (Resurrection)
Hell became afraid, O almighty Savior, seeing the miracle of Your Resurrection from the tomb! The dead arose! Creation, with Adam, beheld this and rejoiced with You,// and the world, my Savior, praises You forever.
Tone 3 Kontakion (St. Nicholas)
You proved yourself to be be a holy priest, O Nicholas. You served God in Myra and lived the gospel of Christ. You offered your life for your people, And rescued the innocent from death. Therefore God has glorified you as a trustworthy guide of things divine.
Tone 3 Kontakion (Ven. Isidore)
Finding you to be another morning star, O glorious one, the Church is illumined by the brilliance of your words.// She cries out to you: “Rejoice, all-blessed and divinely-wise Isidore!”
Tone 1 Kontakion (Feast)
By Your Nativity You sanctified the Virgin’s womb and blessed Simeon’s hands, O Christ God. Now You have come and saved us through love. Grant peace to all Orthodox Christians,// O only Lover of Man!
Tone 2 Prokeimenon (Resurrection)
The Lord is my strength and my song; / He has become my salvation. (Ps. 117:14)
V. The Lord has chastened me sorely, but He has not given me over to death. (Ps. 117:18)
Tone 3 Prokeimenon (Song of the Theotokos)
My soul magnifies the Lord, / and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. (Lk. 1:46-47)
Colossians 3:12-16 (Epistle)
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Tone 2
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
V. May the Lord hear you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you! (Ps. 19:1)
V. Save the King, O Lord, and hear us on the day we call! (Ps. 19:9)
Tone 8
V. Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word, for my eyes have seen Your salvation! (Luke 2:29)
Matthew 25:14-30 (Gospel)
For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Venerable Isidore of Pelusium
Saint Isidore of Pelusium lived during the fourth-fifth centuries. He was a native of Alexandria, and was raised among pious Christians. He was a relative of Theophilus, Archbishop of Alexandria, and of his successor, Saint Cyril (January 18). While still a youth he quit the world and withdrew to Egypt to Mount Pelusium, which became the site of his monastic efforts.
Saint Isidore’s spiritual wisdom and strict asceticism, combined with his broad learning and innate knowledge of the human soul, enabled him to win the respect and love of his fellow monks in a short time. They chose him as their head and had him ordained a priest (the earliest sources for his life, however, say nothing of him being an igumen).
Following the example of Saint John Chrysostom, whom he had managed to see and hear during a trip to Constantinople, Saint Isidore devoted himself primarily to Christian preaching, that “practical wisdom” which, in his own words, is both “the foundation of the edifice and the edifice itself”, while logic is “its embellishment, and contemplation its crown”.
He was a teacher and a willingly provided counsel for anyone who turned to him for spiritual encouragement, whether it was a simple man, a dignitary, a bishop, the Patriarch of Alexandria, or even the emperor. He left behind about 10,000 letters, of which 2,090 have survived. A large portion of these letters reveal profound theological thought and contain morally edifying interpretations of Holy Scripture. Saint Photius (February 6) calls Isidore a model of priestly and ascetical life, and also a master of style.
Saint Isidore’s love for Saint John Chrysostom resulted in his support of Saint John when he was persecuted by the empress Eudoxia and Archbishop Theophilus. After the death of Saint John, Saint Isidore persuaded Theophilus’ successor Saint Cyril to inscribe the name of Saint John Chrysostom into the Church diptychs as a confessor.
Through the initiative of Saint Isidore the Third Ecumenical Council was convened at Ephesus (431), at which the false teaching of Nestorius concerning the person of Jesus Christ was condemned.
Saint Isidore lived into old age and died around the year 436. The Church historian Evagrius (sixth century) writes of Saint Isidore, “his life seemed to everyone the life of an angel upon the earth.” Another historian, Nikēphóros Callistus (ninth century), praises Saint Isidore thus: “He was a vital and inspired pillar of monastic rules and divine vision, and as such he presented a very lofty image of most fervent example and spiritual teaching.”
Isidore of Pelusium
1 Abba Isidore of Pelusium used to say: “A life without a word is more advantageous than a word without life; for the first, even in silence, is advantageous, while the second is a trouble-maker when it cries out, whereas if life and word run together they constitute the portrait of all philosophy.”
2 The same [elder] said: “Honor the virtues, do not cultivate the things that pass away; for the former are something immortal while the latter are readily extinguished.”
3 He also said: “Many folk reach out for virtue but shrink from traveling the road that leads to it; others think there is no such thing as virtue. Those must be persuaded to set aside their shrinking, these be taught that virtue really is virtue.”
4 He also said: “Evil distances folk from God and separates them from each other. One must fly headlong from it and pursue virtue—which draws us to God and joins us with each other. The definition of virtue and philosophy is: unaffectedness with prudence.”
5 He also said: “Since great is the stature of humble-mindedness and [great] the calamity of boastfulness, I counsel you to embrace the former and not to fall into the latter.”
6 He also said: “The terrible and shameless love of riches, which is never satisfied, drives the captured soul to the ultimate of evils. Let us therefore drive it off, especially in the first stages, for if we hold on to it, it will become unmanageable.”
Wortley, John. Give me a Word: The Alphabetical Sayings of the Desert Fathers (pp. 150-151). Saint Vladimirs Seminary Press.
From St. Nikolai on St. Isidore
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 themselves 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.”
Velimirovic, Saint Nikolai. The Prologue of Ohrid (p. 190). Sebastian Press Publishing House.