#foolforchrist

[thesynaxarium]

Today we celebrate the Venerable Confessor Gabriel Urgebadze the Fool for Christ of Georgia. Saint Gabriel is one of the holiest people to have lived in the 20th century. Born and having lived his whole life in Georgia, Saint Gabriel was an extraordinary person even from his childhood. He often carried sticks and ran with them held up in the air, and birds would flock to sit on the child's sticks. He was first introduced to the faith at the age of 7 as he grew up in an atheistic communist society where orthodoxy was shunned. At the age of 12, he had a vision of an evil spirit which tried to scare him as the evil one was tired of his prayerful state. The young Saint was not phased by the vision, but only strengthened his faith in God. Growing up, he dedicated his whole life to Christ to the point where even his mother, who was a Christian, demanded him to "act like normal boys". He was often ridiculed for his faith and even suffered torture from the communist party, leaving him half dead. He spent much time at monasteries and eventually became a monk, but the trials did not end there. The communists could not stand his preaching and ordered that he be admitted to a mental asylum. This did not stop his fervour however. Once when conversing with a fellow Georgian who followed Hinduism, he performed a similar miracle as did Saint Spyridon at the first Ecumenical Council - he held bread which at the name of the Holy Trinity, turned into fire, wheat, and water. Towards the end of his life, he lived at a hermit and was often seen conversing with people that were not seen by others. On November 2nd 1995, the Holy Elder gave up his soul to the Lord, having served Him from the age of 12. May the venerable confessor intercede for us always + #saint #gabriel #confessor #foolforchrist #georgia #ascetic #prayer #love #child #young #communist #trinity #holy #holytrinity #spyridon #stspyridon #stgabriel #saintgabriel #orthodox (at Mtskheta • მცხეთა) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ckbpeq8Law4/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[russianicons]

The antique Orthodox icon of the Hexahemeron that you can see in the picture is a fine piece of Russian iconography made in the middle of the 19th century. The multi-layered composition of the icon consists of several parts and depicts six creation scenes, six Feasts, and a constellation of holy figures, including the Evangelists, Monastic saints, Metropolitans, Church Fathers, and Fools-for-Christ. The Hexahemeron, which is the term for six days of biblical creation, is the main theme and the prime focus of the presented work.

[thelivesofthesaints]

February 5 - The Martyrs of Japan - 16th & 17th Century A.D

See the triumph of the martyrs of Japan, by F. Trigault, from the year 1612 to 1620, the history of Japan, by F. Crasset, to the year 1658, and that by the learned F. Charlevolx in nine volumes: also the life of F. Spinola, &c.

The empire of Japan, so called from one of the islands of which it is composed, was discovered by certain Portuguese merchants, about the year 1541. It is generally divided into several little kingdoms, all which obey one sovereign emperor. The capital cities are Meaco and Jedo. The manners of this people are the reverse of ours in many things. Their characteristic is pride, and an extravagant love of honor. They adore idols of grotesque shapes, by which they represent certain famous wicked ancestors: the chiefest are Amida and Xacha. Their priests are called Bonzas, and all obey the Jaco, or high-priest. St. Francis Xavier arrived in Japan in 1549, baptized great numbers, and whole provinces received the faith. The great kings of Arima, Bungo, and Omura, sent a solemn embassy of obedience to pope Gregory XIII. in 1582: and in 1587 there were in Japan above two hundred thousand Christians, and among these several kings, princes, and bonzas, but in 1588, Cambacundono, the haughty emperor, having usurped the honors of a deity, commanded all the Jesuits to leave his dominions within six months: however, many remained there disguised. In 1593, the persecution was renewed, and several Japanese converts received the crown of martyrdom. The emperor Tagcosama, one of the proudest and most vicious of men, was worked up into rage and jealousy by a suspicion suggested by certain European merchants desirous of the monopoly of this trade, that the view of the missionaries in preaching the Christian faith was to facilitate the conquest of their country by the Portuguese or Spaniards. Three Jesuits and six Franciscans were crucified on a hill near Nangasaqui in 1597. The latter were partly Spaniards and partly Indians, and had at their head F. Peter Baptist, commissary of his Order, a native of Avila, in Spain. As to the Jesuits, one was Paul Michi, a noble Japanese and an eminent preacher, at that time thirty-three years old. The other two, John Gotto and James Kisai, were admitted into the Society in prison a little before they suffered. Several Japanese converts suffered with them. The martyrs were twenty-six in number, and among them were three boys who used to serve the friars at mass; two of them were fifteen years of age, and the third only twelve, yet each showed great joy and constancy in their sufferings. of these martyrs, twenty-four had been brought to Meaco, where only a part of their left ears was cut off; by a mitigation of the sentence which had commanded the amputation of their noses and both ears. They were conducted through many towns and public places, their cheeks stained with blood, for a terror to others. When the twenty-six soldiers of Christ were arrived at the place of execution near Nangasaqui, they were allowed to make their confession to two Jesuits of the convent, in that town, and being fastened to crosses by cords and chains, about their arms and legs, and an iron collar about their necks, were raised into the air, the foot of each cross falling into a hole prepared for it in the ground. The crosses were planted in a row, about four feet asunder, and each martyr had an executioner near him with a spear ready to pierce his side, for such is the Japanese manner of crucifixion. As soon as all the crosses were planted, the executioners lifted up their lances, and at a signal given, all pierced the martyrs almost in the same instant; upon which they expired and went to receive the reward of their sufferings. Their blood and garments were procured by Christians, and miracles were wrought by them. Urban VIII. ranked them among the martyrs, and they are honored on the 5th of February, the day of their triumph. The rest of the missionaries were put on board a vessel, and carried out of the dominions, except twenty-eight priests, who stayed behind in disguise. Tagcosama dying, ordered his body should not be burned, as was the custom in Japan, but preserved enshrined in his palace of Fuximi, that he might be worshipped among the gods under the title of the new god of war. The most stately temple in the empire was

built to him, and his body deposited in it. The Jesuits returned soon after, and though the missionaries were only a hundred in number, they converted, in 1599, forty thousand, and in 1600, above thirty thousand, and built fifty churches; for the people were highly scandalized to see him worshipped as a god, whom they had remembered a most covetous, proud, and vicious tyrant. But in 1602, Cubosama renewed the bloody persecution, and many Japanese converts were beheaded, crucified, or burned. In 1614, new cruelties were exercised to overcome their constancy, as by bruising their feet between certain pieces of wood, cutting off or squeezing their limbs one after another, applying red-hot irons or slow fires. flaying off the skin of the fingers, putting burning coals to their hands, tearing off the flesh with pincers, or thrusting reeds into all parts of their bodies, and turning them about to tear their flesh, till they should say they would forsake their faith: all which, innumerable persons, even children bore with invincible constancy till death. In 1616, Xogun succeeding his father Cubosama in the empire, surpassed him in cruelty. The most illustrious of these religious heroes was F. Charles Spinola. He was of a noble Genoese family, and entered the Society at Nola, while his uncle cardinal Spinola was bishop of that city. Out of zeal and a desire of martyrdom, he begged to be sent on the Japanese mission. He arrived there in 1602; labored many years in that mission, gained many to Christ, by his mildness, and lived in great austerity, for his usual food was only a little rice and herbs. He suffered four years a most cruel imprisonment, during which, in burning fevers, he was not able to obtain of his keepers a drop of cold water out of meals: yet he wrote from his dungeon. “Father, how sweet and delightful is it to suffer for Jesus Christ! I have learned this better by experience than I am able to express, especially since we are in these dungeons where we fast continually. The strength of my body fails me, but my joy increases as I see death draw nearer. O what a happiness for me, if next Easter I shall sing the heavenly Alleluia in the company of the blessed!” In a long letter to his cousin Maximilian Spiuola, he said: “O, if you had tasted the delights with which God fills the souls of those who serve him, and suffer for him, how would you contemn all that the world can promise! I now begin to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, since for his love I am in prison, where I suffer much. But I assure you, that when I am fainting with hunger, God hath fortified me by his sweet consolations, so that I have looked upon myself as well recompensed for his service. And though I were yet to pass many years in prison, the time would appear short, through the extreme desire which I feel of suffering for him, who even here so well repays our labors. Besides other sickness. I have been afflicted with a continual fever a hundred days without any remedies or proper nourishment. All this time my heart was so full of joy, that it seemed to me too narrow to contain it. I have never felt any equal to it, and I thought myself at the gates of paradise.” His joy was excessive at the news that he was condemned to be burnt alive, and he never ceased to thank God for so great a mercy, of which he owned himself unworthy. He was conducted from his last prison at Omura to Nangasaqui, where fifty martyrs suffered together on a hill within sight of that city— nine Jesuits, four Franciscans, and six Dominicans, the rest seculars: twenty-five were burned, the rest beheaded. The twenty-five stakes were fixed all in a row, and the martyrs tied to them Fire was set to the end of the pile of wood twenty-five feet from the martyrs, and gradually approached them, two hours before it reached them. F. Spinola stood unmoved, with his eyes lifted up towards heaven, till the cords which tied him being burnt, he fell into the flames, and was consumed, on the 2d of September, in 1622, being fifty-eight years old. Many others, especially Jesuits, suffered

variously, being either burnt at slow fires, crucified, beheaded, or thrown into a burning mountain, or hung with their heads downward in pits, which cruel torment usually put an end to their lives in three or four days. In 1639, the Portuguese and all other Europeans, except the Dutch, were forbid to enter Japan, even for trade; the very ambassadors which the Portuguese sent thither were beheaded. In 1642, five Jesuits landed secretly in Japan, but were soon discovered, and after cruel tortures were hung in pits till they expired. Thus hath Japan encouraged the church militant, and filled the triumphant with glorious martyrs: though only the first-mentioned have as yet been publicly declared such by the holy See, who are mentioned in the new edition of the Roman Martyrology published by Benedict XIV. in 1749.

[foolforjesus]

Save Us, Oh Lord

[ikonographics]

#wip #icon #iconography #byzantineiconography #byzantineicon #eggtempera #tetrachrome #art #painting #orthodoxchristian #orthodoxchurch #easternorthodox #iconographer #stbasiltheblessed #foolforchrist

[bills-bible-basics]

ONE SCREW LOOSE -- a poem by Bill Kochman

My original BBB Blog post is here: https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/one-screw-loose-a-poem-by-bill-kochman/.

Post tags: #BillKochman, #BillsBibleBasics, #Christian, #Crazy, #FoolForChrist, #Foolish, #FoolsForChrist, #LaughAt, #Loony, #MakeFun, #Mock, #Mockers, #OneScrewLoose, #Original, #Poem, #Poems, #Poetry, #Rebellion, #Reprobates, #Scoff, #Scoffer, #Scoffers, #Wicked, #Wordweaver

[death-to-the-world]

Having been as a wandering stranger on earth, sighing for the Heavenly homeland, thou wast known as a fool by the senseless and unbelieving, but as most wise and holy by the faithful, and wast crowned by God with glory and honor, O Xenia, manly-minded and divinely wise. Wherefore, we cry to thee: Rejoice, for after earthly wandering thou hast come to dwell in the Father's house. #StXenia #wanderer #foolforChrist #dttw #deathtotheworld

[thesynaxarium]

Today we also celebrate the Venerable Parasceva of Sarov-Diveyevo, the Fool-for-Christ (+1915). Saint Parasceva was left a widow at a young age when she started living a life of wondering. Being secretly tonsured a nun, she fled to the wilderness where she spent her days in unceasing prayer and vigil. On the glorification of Saint Seraphim of Sarov in 1903, Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra visited holy one. It was her custom to put a lot of sugar in the tea of her visitors if something bad was going to happen to them. So much sugar was put in the Tsar's tea that it spilled over. She foretold them the birth of an heir, and also the fall of Tsarist Russia. Saint Parasceva kept a portrait of the Tsar, in front of which she made full prostrations - foretelling of his impending martyrdom and glorification. The Venerable Parasceva reposed on this day in 1915 at the age of 120. May she intercede for us always + #saint #parasceva #paraskevi #pasha #sarov #diveyevo #russia #fool #foolforchrist #nun #tonsure #ascetic #monastic #asceticism #monasticism #prayer #vigil #tsar #tsarnicholasii #nicholasii #tsarina #tsarinaalexandra #alexandra #nicholas #tsarist #venerable #prophecy #prostration #orthodox #saintoftheday (at Diveevo Monastery) https://www.instagram.com/p/CivV4sBrlmG/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[thesynaxarium]

Today we celebrate a recent Saint of our church, Eldress Sophia the Fool for Christ of Kleisoura Monastery (+1975). Showing true wisdom as her namesake, Saint Sophia took on the struggle of foolishness for Christ. She practiced extreme asceticism, living in the wood fire oven of the monastery's kitchen, eating the crumbs left on the dining table and drinking from the dirty dish water. Through her foolishness, she was proved wise before God. May she intercede for the salvation of our souls + #saint #sophia #kleisoura #eldress #ascetic #nun #monastic #monasticism #fool #foolforchrist #christ #jesus #jesuschrist #prayer #monastery #orthodox #saintoftheday (at Klisoúra, Kastoria, Greece) https://www.instagram.com/p/CdMNlR5PKjE/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[thesynaxarium]

Today we celebrate the Venerable Confessor Gabriel Urgebadze the Fool for Christ of Georgia. Saint Gabriel is one of the holiest people to have lived in the 20th century. Born and having lived his whole life in Georgia, Saint Gabriel was an extraordinary person even from his childhood. He often carried sticks and ran with them held up in the air, and birds would flock to sit on the child's sticks. He was first introduced to the faith at the age of 7 as he grew up in an atheistic communist society where orthodoxy was shunned. At the age of 12, he had a vision of an evil spirit which tried to scare him as the evil one was tired of his prayerful state. The young Saint was not phased by the vision, but only strengthened his faith in God. Growing up, he dedicated his whole life to Christ to the point where even his mother, who was a Christian, demanded him to "act like normal boys". He was often ridiculed for his faith and even suffered torture from the communist party, leaving him half dead. He spent much time at monasteries and eventually became a monk, but the trials did not end there. The communists could not stand his preaching and ordered that he be admitted to a mental asylum. This did not stop his fervour however. Once when conversing with a fellow Georgian who followed Hinduism, he performed a similar miracle as did Saint Spyridon at the first Ecumenical Council - he held bread which at the name of the Holy Trinity, turned into fire, wheat, and water. Towards the end of his life, he lived at a hermit and was often seen conversing with people that were not seen by others. On November 2nd 1995, the Holy Elder gave up his soul to the Lord, having served Him from the age of 12. May the venerable confessor intercede for us always + #saint #gabriel #confessor #foolforchrist #georgia #ascetic #prayer #love #child #young #communist #trinity #holy #holytrinity #spyridon #stspyridon #stgabriel #saintgabriel #orthodox #sophia (at Mtskheta • მცხეთა) https://www.instagram.com/p/CVvb5vdM04e/?utm_medium=tumblr

[thesynaxarium]

Today we celebrate the memory of the Holy Hierarch John Maximovitch the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Shanghai and San Fransisco (+1966). Saint John was a recent Russian Saint who through his humility, love and foolishness for Christ, was able to attain the state of sainthood in these latter times. He was also one of the main catalysts in establishing the Western Rite Orthodox Church in the United States of America. May he intercede for us all + #saint #john #saintjohn #maximovitch #archbishop #johnmaximovitch #shanghai #china #sanfransisco #usa #america #love #humility #fool #foolforchrist #christ #jesus #jesuschrist #orthodox #saintoftheday (at San Francisco, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQzHdcbLCbs/?utm_medium=tumblr

[thelivesofthesaints]

January 22 - St. Vincent - 304 A.D

The most glorious martyr St. Vincent was born, some say at Saragossa, others at Valentia, but most authors, and most probably, at Osca, now Huesca, in Granada. He was instructed in the sacred sciences and in Christian piety by Valerius, the bishop of that city, who ordained him his deacon, and appointed him, though very young, to preach and instruct the people. Dacian, a most bloody persecutor, was then governor of Spain. The emperors Dioclesian and Maximian published their second and third bloody edicts against the Christian clergy in the year 303, which in the following year were put in force against the laity. It seems to have been before these last that Dacian put to death eighteen martyrs at Saragossa, who are mentioned by Prudentius, and in the Roman Martyrology, January the 16th, and that he apprehended Valerius and Vincent. They spilt some of their blood at Saragossa, but were thence conducted to Valentia, where the governor let them lie long in prison, suffering extreme famine and other miseries. The proconsul hoped that this lingering torture would shake their constancy; but when they were brought out before him, he was surprised to see them still intrepid in mind, and vigorous in body, and reprimanded his officers, as if they had not treated the prisoners according to his orders. Then, turning to the champions of Christ, he employed alternately threats and promises to induce them to sacrifice. Valerius, who had an impediment in his speech, making no answer, Vincent said to him: “Father, if you order me, I will speak.” “Son,” said Valerius, “as I committed to you the dispensation of the word of God, so I now charge you to answer in vindication of the faith which we defend.” The holy deacon then acquainted the judge that they were ready to suffer every thing for the true God, and little regarded either his threats or promises in such a cause. Dacian contented himself with banishing Valerius. 395 As for St. Vincent, he was determined in assail his resolution by every torture his crue! temper could suggest. St. Austin assures us. that he suffered torments far beyond what any man could possibly have endured, unless supported by a supernatural strength; and that he preserved such a peace and tranquillity in his words, countenance, and gestures in the midst of them, as astonished his very persecutors, and visibly appeared as something divine; while the rage and distraction of Dacian’s soul was as visible in the violent agitations of his body, by his eyes sparkling with fury, and his faltering voice.

The martyr was first stretched on the rack by his hands and feet, drawn by cords and pulleys, till his joints were almost torn asunder: while he hung in this posture, his flesh was unmercifully torn off with iron hooks. Vincent, smiling, called the executioners weak and faint-hearted. Dacian thought they spared him, and caused them to be beaten, which afforded the champion an interval of rest: but they soon returned to him, resolved fully to satisfy the cruelty of their master, who excited them all the while to exert their utmost strength. They twice stayed their hands to take breath, and let his wounds grow cold; then began with fresh vigor to rend and tear his body, which they did in all its limbs and parts with such cruelty, that his bones and bowels were in most places exposed bare to sight. The more his body was mangled, the more did the divine presence cherish and comfort his soul, and spread a greater joy on his countenance. The judge, seeing the streams of blood which flowed from all the parts of his body, and the frightful condition to which itwas reduced, was obliged to confess, with astonishment, that the courage of the young nobleman had vanquished him, and his rage seemed somewhat abated. Hereupon he ordered a cessation of his torments, begging of the saint for his own sake, that if he could not be prevailed upon to offer sacrifice to the gods, he would at least give up the sacred books to be burnt, according to the order of the late edicts. The martyr answered, that he feared his torments less than that false compassion which he testified. Dacian, more incensed than ever, condemned him to the most cruel of tortures, that of fire upon a kind of gridiron, called by the acts the legal torture. 396 The saint walked with joy to the frightful engine, so as almost to get the start of his executioners, such was his desire to suffer. He mounted cheerfully the iron bed, in which the bars were framed like scythes, full of sharp spikes made red-hot by the fire underneath. On this dreadful gridiron the martyr was stretched out at length, and bound fast down. He was not only scourged thereon, but, while one part of his body was broiling next the fire, the other was tortured by the application of red-hot plates of iron. His wounds were rubbed with sait, which the activity of the fire forced the deeper into his flesh and bowels. All the parts of his body were tormented in this manner, one after the other, and each several times over. The melted fat dropping from the flesh, nourished and increased the flames; which, instead of tormenting, seemed, as St. Austin says, to give the martyr new vigor and courage; for the more he suffered, the greater seemed to be the inward joy and consolation of his soul. The rage and confusion of the tyrant exceeded all bounds: he appeared not able to contain himself, and was continually inquiring what Vincent did and what he said; but was always answered, that he suffered with joy in his countenance, and seemed every moment to acquire new strength and resolution. He lay unmoved, his eyes turned towards heaven, his mind calm, and his heart fixed on God in continual prayer.

At last, by the command of the proconsul, he was thrown into a dungeon and his wounded body laid on the floor strewed with broken potsherds, which opened afresh his ghastly wounds, and cut his bare flesh. His legs were set in wooden stocks, stretched very wide, and strict orders were given that he should be left without provisions, and that no one should be admitted to see or speak to him. But God sent his angels to comfort him, with whom he sung the praises of his protector. The jailer observing through the chinks the prison filled with light, and the saint walking and praising God, was converted upon the spot to the Christian faith, and afterwards baptized. At this, news Dacian chafed, and even wept through rage, but ordered some repose should be allowed the prisoner. The faithful were then permitted to see him, and coming in troops wiped and kissed his wounds, and dipped cloths in his blood, which they kept as an assured protection for themselves and their posterity. After this a soft bed was prepared for him, on which he was no sooner laid but he expired, the happy moment he had not ceased to pray for ever since his torments, and his first call to martyrdom. Dacian commanded his body to be thrown on a marshy field among rushes; but a crow defended it from wild beasts and birds of prey. The acts in Ruinart and Bollandus, and the sermon attributed to St. Leo, add, that it was then tied to a great stone and cast into the sea in a sack, but miraculously carried to the shore, and revealed to two Christians. They laid it in a little chapel out of the walls of Valentia, where God honored these relics with many miracles, as the acts and St. Austin witness. Prudentius informs us, that the iron on which he lay, and other instruments of his passion, were likewise preserved with veneration. Childebert, king of France, or rather of Paris, besieging Saragossa, wondered to see the inhabitants bushed continually in making processions. Being informed they carried the stole of St. Vincent about the walls in devout prayer, and had been miraculously protected by that martyr’s intercession, he raised the siege upon condition that relic should be given him. This he with great solemnity brought to Paris, and enriched with it the magnificent church and abbey of St. Vincent, now called St. Germain-des-Prés, which he built in 559, and which his successor Clotaire caused to be dedicated. 397 In the year 855, his sacred bones were discovered at Valentia, and conveyed into France, and deposited in the abbey of Castres, now an episcopal see in Languedoe, where they remain; but several portions have been given to the abbey of St. Germain-des-Prés at Paris, and other churches; and part was burnt at Castres by the Huguenots about the end of the sixteenth century. 398 Aimoinus, a contemporary monk, wrote the history of this translation, with an account of many miracles which attended it. 399 St. Gregory of Tours mentions a portion of his relies to have been famous for miracles, in a village church near Poictiers. 400 In the life of St. Domnolus, mention is made of a portion placed by him in a great monastery in the suburb of the city of Mans. But it is certain that the chief part of this martyr’s body was conveyed to Lisbon. To escape the cruel persecution of the Saracen king Abderamene, at Valently, many Christians privately withdrew themselves, and, carrying with them the body of St. Vincent, took shelter on the southwest cape, called the Sacred Promontory, and from these relies St. Vincent’s, in the kingdom of Algarb, then under the Saracens. Alphonsus Henry, the must pious first king of Portugal, son of count Henry, having defeated five Moorish kings, at Ourique, in the year 1139, received from those faithful keepers the body of St. Vincent, sent it by sea to Lisbon, and built the royal monastery of the Cross of regular canons of St. Austin, in which he most religiously deposited this treasure, rendered more famous by miracles, in the year 1148. This account is recorded by contemporary unexceptionable vouchers in Bollandus, p. 406. Mariana, and

especially Thomas ab Incarnatione, a regular canon, in his Historiâ Ecclesiæ Lusitanæ, printed at Lisbon, a. d. 1759, Sæc. 4, c. 6, t. 1, p. 215. The Portuguese, ever since the year 1173, keep an annual commemoration of this translation on the 15th of September, which feast was confirmed by Sixtus V.

Prudentius finishes his hymn on this holy martyr by a prayer to him, that he would present the marks of his sufferings to Christ, to move him to compassion in his behalf.

God never more visibly manifested his power, nor gave stronger or more wonderful proofs of his tenderness and love for his church, than when he suffered it to groan under the most violent oppression and persecution; nor does his grace anywhere appear more triumphant than in the victories of his martyrs under the severest trials, and in the heroic virtues which they displayed amidst torments and insults. Under the slightest disappointments and afflictions we are apt to fall into discouragement, and to imagine, by our sloth and impatience, that our situation is of all others the most unhappy and intolerable. If nature feels, and we implore the divine mercy, and a deliverance, if this may be conducive to God’s honor, we must be careful never to sink under the trials, or consent to the least secret murmuring: we must bear them if not with joy, at least with perfect submission; and remain assured that God only seems to withdraw himself from us, that we may follow him more earnestly, and unite ourselves more closely to him.

[thesynaxarium]

Today we celebrate a recent Saint of our church, Eldress Sophia the Fool for Christ of Kleisoura Monastery (+1975). Showing true wisdom as her namesake, Saint Sophia took on the struggle of foolishness for Christ. She practiced extreme asceticism, living in the wood fire oven of the monastery's kitchen, eating the crumbs left on the dining table and drinking from the dirty dish water. Through her foolishness, she was proved wise before God. May she intercede for the salvation of our souls + #saint #sophia #kleisoura #eldress #ascetic #nun #monastic #monasticism #fool #foolforchrist #christ #jesus #jesuschrist #prayer #monastery #orthodox #saintoftheday (at Klisoúra, Kastoria, Greece) https://www.instagram.com/p/COgK5xIp21e/?igshid=11felopno652y

[thesynaxarium]

Today we celebrate the memory of the Holy Ascetic and Fool-for-Christ Symeon. Saint Symeon became a monk in the desert when travelling throughout the Holy Lands and venerating the Holy Sites. After many years in the desert, he felt the calling to go into the world to help his fellow people. In order not to be commended for his work, he took on the guise of a fool for which he was treated poorly by most, but respected dearly by a select few who knew his degree of virtue. A few days before his death, he was informed in a vision of his departure from this life, and so he secluded himself in a cell where he spent his last days in prayer and solitude. May he intercede for us always + #saint #symeon #foolforchrist #fool #christ #jesus #prayer #desert #desertfather #desertdweller #orthodox #saintoftheday (at Urfa, Turkey) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRjxGdWrNRk/?utm_medium=tumblr

[thelivesofthesaints]

January 31 - St. Peter Nolasco - 1258 A.D

From Chronica Sacri et Militaris Ordinis B. M. de Mercede, per Bern. de Vargas, ej. Ord. 2 vol. in fol Panormi, 1622, and by John de Latomis in 12mo. in 1621, and especially the Spanish history of the same by Alonso Roman, 2 vol. fol. at Madrid, in 1618, and the life of the saint compiled in Italian by F Francis Olihano, in 4to. 1668. See also Baillet, and Hist. des Ordres Relig. par Helyot, and Hist de l’Ordre de Notre Dame de la Merci, par les RR. Pères de la Merci, de la Congregation de Paris, fol. printed at Amiens, in 1685.

Peter, of the noble family of Nolasco, in Languedoc, was born in the diocese of St. Papoul, about the year 1189. His parents were very rich, but far more illustrious for their virtue. Peter, while an infant, cried at the sight of a poor man, till something was given him to bestow on the object of his compassion. In his childhood he gave to the poor whatever he received for his own use. He was exceeding comely and beautiful; but innocence and virtue were his greatest ornaments. It was his pious custom to give a very large alms to the first poor man he met every morning, without being asked. He rose at midnight, and assisted at matins in the church, as then the more devout part of the laity used to do, together with all the clergy. At the age of fifteen he lost his father, who left him heir to a great estate: and he remained at home under the government of his pious mother, who brought him up in extraordinary sentiments and practices of virtue. Being solicited to marry, he betook himself to the serious consideration of the vanity of all earthly things; and rising one night full of those thoughts, prostrated himself in fervent prayer, which he continued till morning, most ardently devoting himself to God in the state of celibacy, and dedicating his whole patrimony to the promoting of his divine honor. He followed Simon of Montfort, general of the holy war against the Albigenses, an heretical sect, which had filled I anguedoc with great cruelties, and overspread it with universal desolation. That count vanquished them, and in the battle of Muret defeated and killed Peter, king of Aragon, and took his son James prisoner, a child of six years old. The conqueror having the most tender regard and compassion for the prince his prisoner, appointed Peter Nolasco, then twenty-five years old, his tutor, and sent them both together into Spain. Peter, in the midst of the court of the king at Barcelona, 608 where the kings of Aragon resided, led the life of a recluse, practising the austerities of a cloister. He gave no part of his time to amusements, but spent all the moments which the instruction of his pupil left free, in holy prayer, meditation, and pious reading. The Moors at that time were possessed of a considerable part of Spain, and great numbers of Christians groaned under their tyranny in a miserable slavery both there and in Africa, Compassion for the poor had always been the distinguishing virtue of Peter The sight of so many moving objects in captivity, and the consideration of the spiritual dangers to which their faith and virtue stood exposed under heir Mahometan masters, touched his heart to the quick, and he soon spent his whole estate in redeeming as many as he could. Whenever he saw any poor Christian slaves, he used to say: “Behold eternal treasures which never fail.” By his discourses he moved others to contribute large alms towards this charity, and at last formed a project for instituting a religious Order for a constant supply of men and means whereby to carry on so charitable an undertaking. This design met with great obstacles in the execution. but the Blessed Virgin, the true mother of mercy, appearing to St. Peter, the king, and St. Raymund of Pennafort, in distinct visions the same night, encouraged them to prosecute the holy scheme under the assurance of her patronage and protection. St. Raymund was the spiritual

director both of St. Peter and of the king, and a zealous promoter of this charitable work. The king declared himself the protector of the Order, and assigned them a large quarter of his own palace for their abode. All things being settled for laying the foundation of it, on the feast of St. Laurence, in the year 1223, the king and St. Raymund conducted St. Peter to the church and presented him to Berengarius, the bishop of Barcelona, who received his three solemn religious vows, to which the saint added a fourth, to devote his whole substance and his very liberty, if necessary, to the ransoming of slaves; the like vow he required of all his followers. St. Raymund made an edifying discourse on the occasion, and declared from the pulpit, in the presence of this august assembly, that it had pleased Almighty God to reveal to the king, to Peter Nolasco, and to himself, his will for the institution of an Order for the redemption of the faithful, detained in bondage among the infidels. This was received by the people with the greatest acclamations of joy, happy presages of the future success of the holy institute. 609 After this discourse, St. Peter received the new habit (as Mariana and pope Clement VIII. in his bull say) from St. Raymund, who established him first general of this new Order, and drew up for it certain rules and constitutions. Two other gentlemen were professed at the same time with St. Peter. When St. Raymund went to Rome, he obtained from pope Gregory IX., in the year 1225, the confirmation of this Order, and on the rule and constitutions he had drawn up. He wrote an account of this from Rome to St. Peter, informing him how well pleased his Holiness was with the wisdom and piety of the institute. The religious chose a white habit, to put them continually in mind of innocence: they wear a scapular, which is likewise white: but the king would oblige them, for his sake, to bear the royal arms of Aragon, which are interwoven on their habit upon the breast. Their numbers increasing very fast, the saint petitioned the king for another house; who, on this occasion, built for them, in 1232, a magnificent convent at Barcelona. 610

King James having conquered the kingdom of Valencia, founded in it several rich convents; one was in the city of Valencia, which was taken by the aid of the prayers of St. Peter, when the soldiers had despaired of success, tired out by the obstinacy of the besieged and strength of the place. In thanksgiving for this victory, the king built the rich monastery in the royal palace of Uneza, near the same city, on a spot where an image of our Lady was dug up, which is still preserved in the church of this convent and is famous for pilgrimages. It is called the monastery of our Lady of mercy del Puche. 611 That prince attributed to the prayers of Saint Peter thirty great victories which he obtained over the infidels, and the entire conquest of the two kingdoms of Valencia and Murcia. St. Peter, after his religious profession, renounced all his business at court, and no entreaties of the king could ever after prevail with him to appear there but once, and this was upon a motive of charity to reconcile two powerful noblemen, who by their dissension had divided the whole kingdom, and kindled a civil war. The saint ordained that two members of the Order should be sent together among the infidels, to treat about the ransom of Christian slaves, and they are hence called Ransomers. One of the two first employed in this pious work was our saint; and the kingdom of Valencia was the first place that was blessed with his labors; the second was that of Granada. He not only comforted and ransomed a great number of captives, but by his charity and other rare virtues, was the happy instrument of inducing many of the Mahometans to embrace the faith of Christ. He made several other journeys to the coasts of Spain, besides a voyage to Algiers, where, among other sufferings, he underwent imprisonment for the faith. But the most terrifying dangers could never make him desist from his pious endeavors for the conversion of the infidels, burning with a holy desire of martyrdom. He begged earnestly of his Order to be released from the burden of his generalship: but by his tears could only obtain the grant of a vicar to assist him in the discharge of it. He employed himself in the meanest offices of his convent, and coveted above all things to have the distribution of the daily alms at the gate of the monastery: he at the same time instructed the poor in the knowledge of God and in virtue. St. Louis IX. of France wrote frequently to him, and desired much to see him. The saint waited on him in Languedoc, in the year 1243, and the king, who tenderly embraced him, requested him to accompany him in his expedition to recover the Holy Land. St. Peter earnestly desired it, but was hindered by sickness, with which he was continually afflicted during the last years of his life, the effect of his fatigues and austerities, and he bore it with incomparable patience. In 1249, he resigned the offices of Ransomer and General, which was six or seven years before his death. This happened on Christmas-day, in 1256. In his agony, he tenderly exhorted his religious to perseverance, and concluded with those words of the psalmist: Our Lord hath sent redemption to his people; he hath commanded his covenant forever. 612 He then recommended his soul to God by that charity with which Christ came from heaven to redeem us from the captivity of the devil, and melting into tears of compunction and divine love, he expired, being in the sixty-seventh year of his age. His relics are honored by many miracles. He was canonized by pope Urban VIII. His festival was appointed by Clement VIII. to be kept on the 31st of January.

Charity towards all mankind was a distinguishing feature in the character of the saints. This benevolent virtue so entirely possessed their hearts, that they were constantly disposed to sacrifice even their lives to the relief and assistance of others. Zealously employed in removing their temporal necessities, they labored with redoubled vigor to succor their spiritual wants by rooting out from their souls the dominion of sin, and substituting in its room the kingdom of God’s grace. Ingratitude and ill-treatment, which was the return they frequently met with for their charitable endeavors, were not able to allay their ardent zeal: they considered men on these occasions as patients under the pressure of diseases, more properly the object of compassion than of resentment. They recommended them to God in their private devotions, and earnestly besought his mercy in their favor. This conduct of the saints, extraordinary as it is, ceases to appear surprising when we recollect the powerful arguments our Blessed Saviour made use of to excite us to the love of our neighbor. But how shall we justify our unfeeling hard-heartedness, that seeks every trifling pretence to exempt us from the duty of succoring the unfortunate? Have we forgot that Jesus Christ our Redeemer, who alone hath bestowed on us whatever we possess, hath made charity towards our fellow-creature, but especially towards the needy, an indispensable precept? Do we not know that he bids us consider the suffering poor as members of the same head, heirs of the same promises, as our brethren and his children who represent him on earth? He declares, that whatever we bestow upon them he will esteem it as given to himself; and pledges his sacred word that he will reward our alms with an eternity of bliss. Such motives, says St. Chrysostom, would be sufficient to touch a heart of stone: but there is something still more cogent, continues the same holy father, which is, that the same Jesus Christ, whom we refuse to nourish in the persons of the poor, feeds our souls with his precious body and blood. If such considerations move not our hearts to commiserate and assist the indigent, what share of mercy and relief can we hope for in the hour of need? Oh, incomprehensible blindness! we perhaps prepare for ourselves an eternal abyss, by those very means which, properly applied, would secure us the conquest of a kingdom which will never have an end. 613

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January 27 - St. Julian, First Bishop of Mans - 3rd - 4th Century A.D

He was succeeded by St. Turibius. His head is shown in he cathedral of Mans, but the most of his relics in the neighboring Benedictin aobey of nuns called St. Julian’s du Prè, famous for miracles; though the greatest part of these relics was burnt, or scattered in the wind by the Huguenots, who plundered the shrine of St. Julian, in 1562. He was much honored in France, and many churches built during the Norman succession in England, especially about the reign of Henry II., who was baptized in the church of St. Julian, at Mans, hear his name: one in particular at Norwich, which the people by mistake imagine to have been dedicated under the title of the venerable Juliana, a Benedictin nun at Norwich, who died in the odor of sanctity, but never was publicly invoked as a saint. St. Julian of Mans had an office in the Sarum breviary. See Tillem. t. 4, pp. 448, 729. Gal Christ. Nov. &c.