7th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST — Tone 6. Martyrs Trophimus, Theophilus, and 13 others in Lycia (4th c.).
Tone 6 Troparion (Resurrection)
The Angelic Powers were at Your tomb; the guards became as dead men. Mary stood by Your grave, seeking Your most pure body. You captured hell, not being tempted by it. You came to the Virgin, granting life. O Lord, Who rose from the dead,// 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 4 Troparion (Martyrs)
Your holy martyr Trophimus and his companions, O Lord, through their sufferings have received incorruptible crowns from You, our God. For having Your strength, they laid low their adversaries, and shattered the powerless boldness of demons.// Through their intercession, save our souls!
Tone 6 Kontakion (Resurrection)
When Christ God, the Giver of Life, raised all of the dead from the valleys of misery with His mighty hand, He bestowed resurrection on the human race.// He is the Savior of all, the Resurrection, the Life, and the God of all.
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 8 Kontakion (General Kontakion for Martyrs)
You have appeared as bright lamps, O holy martyrs! Illumine the whole creation with the brightness of your miracles. Deliver it from infirmity and drive away the deep darkness,// always interceding before Christ God for us all.
Tone 6 Kontakion (Steadfast Protectress)
Steadfast Protectress of Christians, Constant Advocate before the Creator; Do not despise the cries of us sinners, but in your goodness come speedily to help us who call on you in faith. Hasten to hear our petition and to intercede for us, O Theotokos, for you always protect those who honor you!
Tone 6 Prokeimenon (Resurrection)
O Lord, save Your people, / and bless Your inheritance! (Ps. 27:9a)
V. To You, O Lord, will I call. O my God, be not silent to me! (Ps. 27:1a)
Tone 1 Prokeimenon (St. John)
My mouth shall speak wisdom; / the meditation of my heart shall be understanding. (Ps. 48:3)
Romans 15:1-7 (Epistle)
We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.” For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.
Tone 6
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
V. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the heavenly God. (Ps. 90:1)
V. He will say to the Lord: “My Protector and my Refuge; my God, in Whom I trust.”(Ps. 90:2)
Tone 2
V. The mouth of the righteous shall proclaim wisdom, and his tongue shall speak of judgment. (Ps. 36:31)
Matthew 9:27-35 (Gospel)
When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows it.” But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country. As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed. And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, “It was never seen like this in Israel!” But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.” Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
REFLECTION from July 20th, the Feast of the Prophet Elijah (Elias)
Writing about the life of his sister St. Macrina, St. Gregory of Nyssa hesitates to enumerate her miracles, saying: “… that I may not be responsible for the sin of unbelief among weak men.” His term for those who do not believe is “weak.” Truly, there is nothing weaker than a man without faith. The man without faith believes in the power of dead things and dead elements of nature, but does not believe in the power of God or of men of God. This is spiritual dullness, and this dullness is equivalent to spiritual death. Thus, living souls believe and dead souls do not believe. Living souls believe in the powerful miracles of the Prophet Elias. These miracles give them courage and joy, for they know that they are a manifestation of God’s might. When God manifests His might through lifeless things and elements of nature, why would He not manifest it through living and holy men? The Prophet Elias’s appearance on Mount Tabor at the time of the Transfiguration of the Lord in particular gives the faithful the greatest joy. During his life on earth, this great prophet gave proof of the existence of the One and Living God and, by his appearance on Mount Tabor hundreds of years after his departure from the earth, he gave mankind visible proof of life after death.
Velimirovic, Saint Nikolai. The Prologue of Ohrid. Sebastian Press Publishing House.
Peace and joy
Our spirit is saddened, everything is sorrow and suffering. You have seen for yourself: when you are in a state of peace, all is well, but here in this life, such peace does not last for long. It is disturbed very easily. For this reason we must always be in contact with the Source of life, with God—always, without ceasing. As soon as our inner peace is troubled, we must immediately ask for His help—just like a little child who, when separated from his mother, immediately cries and calls out to her. He is afraid to be alone. So it is with our soul: when it finds itself alone (separated from the Lord) it suffers a great deal, but when it is united with the Lord, no matter what misfortunes come upon it, all is well. The soul surmounts all difficulties because it is joyful to be with the Lord; it feels Divine joy and peace. The soul knows that it must pass through the fire and water of this world in order to rise above the little things of this world that torment us. What torments us most are our thoughts. Thoughts make us do all kinds of things, then we lose our peace and are tormented by our conscience. These pangs of conscience are nothing but the judgment of God within us. And so, we must make peace with our Heavenly Father and turn to Him from our heart, asking Him to forgive us and give us of His Grace and His Divine strength in order that we may always remain in peace and joy, like the angels and the saints. Amen.
Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives: the Life and Teachings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica (p. 176). St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood.
Saint Paisios the Athonite brings solace to every soul
Elder Païsios has no need of any praise or introduction from us. With his imitation of Christ’s love, he satisfied both God and other people and this is why he’s widely praised in the Church of God. He had the rare gift of being able to bring solace to people of all walks of life, irrespective of their level of education or their spiritual state. I remember the case of a psychiatrist/psychoanalyst who came to visit our monastery after an encounter with the Elder. Not only had he found peace, but he also told me that what the Elder had said to him was the last word in modern psychiatry. It’s well known that the Elder didn’t read books, other than the Gospels and Abba Isaak the Syrian. If it was to bring solace to a soul, he would spare neither time nor effort. There was once I was curious to know how he was able to cure a young man with severe psychological problems. Out of respect, I didn’t ask him. Years later he satisfied my curiosity as follows: ‘When people have a problem you have to listen carefully, for as long as they’re talking and not give any sign that you’re tired, because then you’ll lose everything. Well, I listened to that young man one day for nine hours, without moving. That’s when my insides were damaged’. It wasn’t the only time that the sacrificial love of Father Païsios worked a miracle. On another occasion, when I asked him about a difficult problem I’d encountered in confession, as a spiritual father, he told me: ‘Listen, father, when you become a spiritual father, you have to be prepared to go down into hell for those you confess. Otherwise, don’t bother. But what I have to say is that, if you go to hell, you’ll make it paradise, because you’ll have love’. Amazing advice, that only a God-bearing person would be able to give. It’s well known that, in the last thirty years, Our Most Holy Lady has ensured an influx of new monks to the Holy Mountain. Father Païsios was one of those elders who helped many young men to take the decision to become monks. He even helped many young monks to take root on the Holy Mountain and to bear fruit. We felt him to be at our side in our struggle to take pastoral care of our young monks, a coach for many who were fighting the devil, the passions, the world.
— Archimandrite George Kapsanis, (Former) Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Gregoriou.
Sunday Bulletin July 2, 2023