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orthodoxydaily · 1 year ago

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Saints&Reading: Thursday, May 18, 2023

may 18_may 5

THE HOLY GREAT-MARTYTR IRENE OF THESSALONICA (1st-2nd c.)

The holy Great Martyr Irene was born in Magedon in Persia during the fourth century. She was the daughter of Licinius, the pagan ruler of a particular small kingdom, and his wife Licinia, and at birth, her parents named her Penelope.

Penelope was very beautiful, and her father kept her isolated in a high tower from when she was six so she would not be exposed to Christianity. He also placed thirteen young maidens in the tower with her. An old tutor named Apellian was appointed to give her the best possible education. Apellian was a Christian, and during her lessons, he told the girl about Christ the Savior and taught her about the Christian Faith and virtues.

When Penelope reached adolescence, her parents began to think about her marriage. One night Penelope beheld the following vision: a dove entered the tower with an olive branch in its beak, depositing it on the table. An eagle also flew in carrying a wreath of flowers and left it on the table. Then a raven flew in through another window and dropped a snake on the table. In the morning, Penelope woke up and wondered about the meaning of what she had seen. She related them to her tutor Apellian, and he explained that the dove symbolized her superior education and that the olive branch represented the grace of God which is received in Baptism. The eagle and the olive branch indicated success in her future life. The snake signified that she would experience suffering and sorrow.

At the end of the conversation, Apellian said that the Lord wished to betroth her to Himself and that Penelope would suffer much for her heavenly Bridegroom. After this Penelope refused marriage, was baptized by the priest Timothy, and he named her Irene (peace). She even urged her own parents to become Christians. Shortly after being baptized, she smashed all her father’s idols.

Since Saint Irene had dedicated herself to Christ, she refused to marry any of the suitors her father had chosen for her. When Licinius learned that his daughter refused to worship the pagan gods, he was furious. He attempted to turn her from Christ by having her tortured. She was tied up and thrown beneath the hooves of wild horses so that they might trample her to death, but the horses remained motionless. Instead of harming the saint, one of the horses charged Licinius, seized his right hand and tore it from his arm. Then it knocked Licinius down and began to trample him to death. This caused a great deal of confusion among the people there but Irene consoled them with the words of Christ: “All things are possible to the one who believes” (Mark 9: 23). And indeed, with wondrous faith, she prayed, and through her prayers, Licinius rose unharmed in the presence of many eyewitnesses with his hand intact. Then, Licinius and his wife were baptized as Christians, along with almost 3000 others who turned away from the worship of inanimate idols. Licinius abandoned his domain and lived in the tower he had built for his daughter. There he spent the rest of his life in repentance.

Saint Irene lived in the house of her teacher Apellian, and she began to preach Christ among the pagans, leading them to the path of salvation.

When Sedekias (Yesdegerd), the new prefect of the city, heard of the miracles performed by the saint, he summoned Apellian and questioned him about Irene’s manner of life. Apellian replied that Irene, like other Christians, lived in strict temperance, devoting herself to constant prayer and reading holy books. Sedekias summoned the saint and urged her to stop preaching about Christ. He also attempted to force her to sacrifice to the idols. Saint Irene staunchly confessed her faith before the prefect, not fearing his wrath, and prepared to undergo suffering for Christ. By order of Sedekias she was thrown into a pit filled with vipers and serpents. The saint spent ten days in the pit and remained unharmed, for an angel of the Lord protected her and brought her food. Sedekias ascribed this miracle to sorcery, and he subjected Saint Irene to many other tortures, but she remained unharmed. Under the influence of her preaching and miracles even more people were converted to Christ, and turned away from the worship of inanimate idols.

Sedekias was deposed by his son Sapor, who persecuted Christians with even greater zeal than his father had done. Saint Irene went to her home town of Magedon in Persia to meet Sapor and his army and ask him to end the persecution. When he refused, Saint Irene prayed and his entire army was blinded. She prayed again, and they received their sight once more. Despite this, Sapor refused to recognize the power of God. Because of his insolence, he was struck and killed by a bolt of lightning.

After this, Saint Irene walked into the city and performed many miracles. She returned to the tower built by her father, accompanied by the priest Timothy. Through her teaching, she converted five thousand people to Christ.

Next, the saint went to Callinicus, or Callinicum (possibly on the Euphrates River in Syria). The ruler of that place was King Numerian, the son of Sebastian. When she began to teach about Christ, she was arrested and tortured by the pagan authorities. They enclosed her inside three bronze oxen, one after another, which were heated until they were red-hot. When the Great Martyr was placed within the third ox, it began to walk about and split asunder. Saint Irene emerged from it as if from the fires of hell. This resulted in thousands of souls converting to the faith of Christ.

Sensing the approach of death, Numerian instructed his eparch Babdonus to continue torturing the saint to force her to sacrifice to idols. Once again, the tortures were ineffective, and many people turned to Christ.

Christ’s holy martyr then traveled to Constantina, forty miles northeast of Edessa. By 330, the Persian king Sapor II (309-379) had heard of Saint Irene’s great miracles. She was arrested, beheaded, and then buried to prevent her from winning more people to Christ. However, God sent an angel to raise her again, and she went into Mesembria. After seeing her alive and hearing her preach, the local king was baptized with many of his subjects.

Wishing to convert even more pagans to Christianity, Saint Irene went to Ephesus, where she taught the people and performed many miracles. The Lord revealed to her that the end of her life was approaching. Then Saint Irene left the city accompanied by six people, including her former teacher Apellian. On the outskirts of the town, she found a new tomb in which no one had ever been buried. After making the Sign of the Cross, she went inside, directing her companions to seal the entrance to the cave with a large stone, which they did. She also told them that that no one should move the stone until four days had passed.

Apellian returned after only two days and found that the stone had been rolled away and the tomb was empty. There are conflicting accounts about her holy relics being taken to Constantinople and other places, including Patras, Samos, and Patmos. According to the Western Martyrologies, Saint Irene was martyred in Thessaloniki after being thrown into the fire. At the same time, according to the Menologion of Emperor Basil II, Saint Irene completed her martyric contest by being beheaded.

Saint Irene led thousands of people to Christ through her preaching and by her example. The Church continues to honor her memory and to seek her heavenly intercession. She is invoked by those wishing to effect a swift and happy marriage. In Greece, she is also the patron saint of policemen. Saint Irene is also one of the twelve Virgin Martyrs who appeared to Saint Seraphim of Sarov (January 2) and the Diveyevo nun Eupraxia on the Feast of the Annunciation in 1831. By her holy prayers, may the Lord be merciful and save us. Amen.

Fragments of Saint Irene's Holy Relics are located at Kykkos Monastery in Cyprus and in the Greek church of Saint George in Venice.

Source: Orthodox Church in America

St HILARY BISHOP OF ARLES (449)

“On this day, we celebrate the feast of St. Hilary of Arles. He was born about 403, and, at an early age, he joined Lérins, the monastery founded by his relative, St. Honoratus. Hilary succeeded Honoratus as abbot, and, in 429, as bishop of Arles. Bishop Hilary's famous clash with Pope Leo the Great came in 445 after Hilary deposed Celedonius, bishop of Besançon, for marrying a widow and, before his ordination, for having presided over a trial that ended with capital punishment. Celedonius appealed to Rome. Even though Pope Leo knew that Pope Zosimus's predecessor had granted primacy over Besançon to Arles, he quashed Hilary's ruling. "Archbishop Hilary, a person of austere and uncourtly address, took up his staff and traveled on foot to Rome amid winter. Leo received him with good humor, but Hilary abruptly declared that he had not traveled so far, and in such weather, to bandy words with the pope but simply to state the case of Celedonius as it really stood upon the facts proved and to warn the pontiff against flying in the face of all ecclesiastical law." Things went from bad to worse. Hilary "appears to have lost his temper and committed some contempt of the pontiff and his court that consigned him to ecclesiastical custody." But Hilary escaped his jailers and went home to Arles. Leo cut him off from communion with Rome. There were more sanctions, including an edict from the emperor, Valentinian III. St. Hilary was no match for St. Leo, who later would stand up to Atilla the Hun. "When we come to the reign of Pope Leo I (440-61) we reach one of the momentous turning points in the history of the papacy. By common consent of historians, Leo was one of the greatest ecclesiastical statesmen and deservedly surnamed 'the Great.' At a time when the world was cracking at the seams, Leo stood forth as a Pope of commanding character and genius who dramatically and successfully asserted the supreme authority of the papacy. . . . he formulated a doctrine of papal primacy that was to weather all storms and guide the policy of all subsequent Popes. According to Leo, Peter was 'the Rock' on which the Lord built his Church; his successors, the Popes, were merely his temporary mystical personifications. . . . Leo not only enunciated this grandiose theory of papal primacy but also . . . made its claims good. . . . he frustrated the attempt to create an independent Gallic see in Arles--even going so far as to strip the saintly Hilary of his metropolitan authority there." St. Hilary died in 449.”

Source: National Catholic Reporter

ACTS 14:20-27

20 However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and entered the city. And the next day, he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. 21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God." 23 So when they had appointed elders in every church and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. 24 And after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. 25 When they preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 26 From there, they sailed to Antioch, where they were commended to God's grace for the work they had completed. 27 When they gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

JOHN 9:39-10:9

39 And Jesus said, "For judgment, I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind." 40 Then some of the Pharisees with Him heard these words and said to Him, "Are we blind also?" 41 Jesus told them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains.

1 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him, the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his sheep, he goes before them; the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will not follow a stranger but flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. 6 Jesus used this illustration, but they needed help understanding what He spoke to them. 7 Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

#orthodoxy #orthodoxchristianity #easternorthodoxchurch #originofchristianity #spirituality #holyscriptures #bible #gospel wisdom

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dianapopescu · 7 months ago

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5 mai: Sfânta Mare Muceniță Irina

Având ziua de sărbătoare pe 5 mai, Sfânta Mare Muceniță Irina s-a născut în orașul Magedon, din Persia, în secolul al IV-lea. A fost fiica lui Licinius, conducătorul pagan al unui mic regat, și a soției lui, Licinia, iar la naștere, părinții săi au numit-o Penelopa. https://www.diane.ro/2024/05/5-mai-sfanta-mare-mucenita-irina.html

#5 #mai #sfanta #mucenita #Irina #ziua #sarbatoare #religie #crestinism #dianero

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dfroza · 11 months ago

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A far greater threat than “climate change” is coming upon first earth

but there is an Ark of safety for those made Spirit-ready

Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament is the 16th chapter of the book of Revelation:

Then I heard a great voice coming from the temple ordering the seven heavenly messengers.

A Voice: Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God upon the earth.

So the first messenger poured out his bowl onto the earth. When he did, a foul-smelling, painful sore broke out on each person who bore the mark of the beast and who worshiped its image.

The second messenger poured out his bowl into the sea. When he did, the waters became like the blood that spills from a dead body, and every living creature in the sea died.

The third messenger poured out his bowl into the rivers and springs of fresh water. When he did, they, too, became blood. And I heard the messenger over the waters speak.

Messenger over the Waters: You are just, O holy One who is and who was,

for You have judged these things rightly.

Because people shed the blood of the saints and prophets,

You have given them blood to quench their thirst.

They are deserving of these punishments.

And I heard a voice from the altar agree.

A Voice: Yes, Lord God, the All Powerful,

true and right are Your judgments!

The fourth messenger poured out his bowl on the sun. When he did, the sun was permitted to blister people with its fire. The incredible heat of the sun burned their skin; but instead of rethinking their actions and glorifying God, they cursed God’s name because He had the power to carry out these plagues.

The fifth messenger poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast. When he did, its kingdom was blanketed in darkness. People chewed on their tongues out of the depth of their agony. Still they refused to change their wicked ways, so they cursed the God of heaven because of their painful afflictions and ulcerous sores.

The sixth messenger poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates. When he did, the river dried up and became a road so that the kings from the east and their armies could make their way. What I saw next troubled me deeply: three foul spirits like frogs appeared, belched from the mouth of the dragon, the mouth of the beast, and the mouth of the earth-beast. These frogs are demonic spirits. As they go into the world, they perform miracles persuading the kings of the world to gather for the last battle on the great day of God, the All Powerful.

A Voice: See, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the person who watches and waits, dressed and ready to go, so as not to wander about naked, exposed to disgrace.

And the kings gathered at the place called Har-Magedon in Hebrew.

Finally, the seventh messenger poured out his bowl into the air. When he did, a great voice came out of the temple, from the throne.

A Voice: It is accomplished!

At the sound of the voice, there were flashes of lightning, sounds of voices, rumblings of thunder, and tremors of an earthquake. In all of human history, there had never been an earthquake of this magnitude. The great city was torn into three parts, and the cities of all the nations fell. God remembered the great city, Babylon, and made her drink the cup of His fury and wrath. Every island sank into the ocean, and no mountains were left to be discovered. And great hailstones, each weighing nearly 100 pounds, fell from the sky onto the people until they cursed God because the plague of hail was so severe.

The Book of Revelation, Chapter 16 (The Voice)

A set of notes from the Voice translation:

The dragon, beast, and earth-beast are an unholy trinity who send out demonic spirits. These spirits resemble frogs and remind the reader of the plague of frogs that invaded Egypt before the exodus. These foul spirits roam the world, persuading the kings of the earth to assemble together to do battle against God and His chosen.

Har-Magedon means Mount Megiddo and is sometimes transliterated “Armageddon.” This refers to the battleground where the armies of the earth, led by the forces of evil, will assemble to mount their final attack against God. This place is often associated with the plain of Megiddo in northern Israel because the fertile land there has often been turned into fields of blood during gruesome battles. In a place like this, for one last time, evil will raise its ugly head against good.

Today’s paired reading from the First Testament is the 5th chapter of the book of Hosea:

Eternal One: Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, you leaders of Israel!

Hear all of you in the royal court, My judgment is against you!

You’ve been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on Mount Tabor;

you’ve led the people astray:

Those who have revolted against Me have dug a deep pit of slaughter,

so I’m going to punish all of you.

I know Ephraim; Israel isn’t hiding from Me.

Even now Ephraim plays the part of a whore;

Israel is covering herself in impurity.

They’re so caught up in their way of life

that they can’t return to their God.

They have a spirit of prostitution within them,

so they don’t know Me; I am the Eternal One.

The pride of Israel testifies against her to her very face.

Israel (which is called Ephraim) will stagger because of its guilt.

Judah, too, will stagger with them.

They’ll go with their flocks and their herds to seek Me,

offering a multitude of sacrifices, but they won’t find Me because they are abandoned.

They’ve been unfaithful to Me, the Eternal,

and produced defiled, illegitimate children.

Now at a new moon, a foreign nation will devour them and their fields.

Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah,

sound the trumpet in Ramah, and raise a war cry in Beth-aven.

Even as your cities fall, Benjamin, more armies are behind you!

Ephraim will be devastated when they are punished with this invasion from the south.

(This is sure to happen, and I’m announcing it to all the tribes of Israel!)

But I’ll also punish the leaders of Judah—

I’ll pour out My wrath on them like water—

Because they’re trying to snatch this territory of Benjamin’s.

They’ve become like the dishonest people who move boundary-stones.

Ephraim is oppressed, crushed by punishment,

because he insists on pursuing empty ways and trusting others to save him.

In My judgments I’m like a disease that devours Ephraim as a moth eats wool,

like an infected wound to the people of Judah.

But when Ephraim saw how sick he was

and Judah saw his open sore,

Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to the great king for relief.

But a foreign ruler can’t cure you; he can’t heal your sore.

The great king is the king of Assyria from whom both Israel and Judah eventually seek help.

I’ll be like a lion to Ephraim,

like a young lion to the people of Judah.

I’ll tear them to pieces myself and make off with My kill.

I’ll carry it away, and no one will be able to take it from Me.

I’ll go back to My lair and stay there until they admit their guilt and come looking for Me.

In their distress, they’ll desperately try to find Me.

The Book of Hosea, Chapter 5 (The Voice)

A note from the Voice translation:

God is describing the fate of those rebellious leaders who have dug a deep hole: because of their depravity, they will be led to slavery in shackles.

Hosea’s prophecy is fulfilled in 722 b.c., when Shalmaneser V leads his Assyrian army to conquer Samaria, the capital city of Israel. But leveling the city and slaughtering countless citizens isn’t what ends Israel’s legacy. In the years following the war, Sargon II systematically deports the remaining Israelites to cities in the Assyrian Empire and repopulates Samaria with foreigners to suppress future rebellions. This policy decimates the cultures of the ten tribes who inhabited the Northern Kingdom and leads to the fabled “Lost Tribes of Israel.”

It may be assumed that the members of the ten tribes assimilate into their new cultures and abandon their history and religion; they simply blend into their surroundings to survive. However, in the third century a.d., Christian poet Commodian compiles the writings of several early rabbis and weaves the story of the ten tribes’ post-deportation lives. These ten tribes reside in a sort of paradise beyond a river, where everyone lives long lives, experiences no pain, and follows God’s laws. One day, the story goes, these tribes will return to Jerusalem, recapture her, and dwell in her.

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures for Sunday, december 31 of 2023 with a paired chapter from each Testament (the First & the New) of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons about becoming single-minded:

I have written about the dangers of being "double-minded" or "two-souled" over the years. This is the ambivalent condition of heart wherein the soul desires two (or more) contrary things at once and therefore is in a state of contradiction and fragmentation. "A double-minded person (δίψυχος) is unstable in all his ways" (James 1:8). This is because he is pulled in conflicting directions, unsure of where he wants to go. And since he is unclear and undecided about what he truly desires, he invariably gets lost within a "repetition" of feckless affections, never able to seek for the highest...

If “purity of heart is to will one thing,” then impurity of heart is the result of simultaneously willing two things. It is therefore a state of inner opposition, of having two separate "minds" or "wills" that hold contrary thoughts or desires. Yeshua said that "a divided house cannot stand." A divided heart is at war within itself, "two-souled" and unstable in all its ways...

Paradoxically, there is another danger we may face even if we have inwardly resolved to love the love the LORD our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and that danger is impatience that may be expressed as discontent of heart. We may feel bereft of our heart's deepest longing. We may go through our days, with worldly concerns and the needs of immediacy, lost in holy distraction. We may experience homesickness, ennui, and sorrow as we return to the dust.

Perhaps you can relate to these words of Hadewijch of Antwerp: "I wander alone and must remain far from him to whom I belong above all that I am, and for whom I would so gladly be perfect love. And - God knows - he has fruition of all, and I lack everything through which my soul might repose in him." As the Song of Songs says: "All night long on my bed I look for the one my heart loves." Does not my beloved cry out to my heart: "O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret places of the cliff, Let me see your face, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your face is lovely."

I stand looking out through my little window, upon the vastness; my eyes fail as I scan the heavenly abyss; inwardly sighing, groaning, crying for his presence...I rehearse my need; I am swallowed up in my emptiness; all I am is hunger, thirst, and longing, hoping for I know not what -- but his touch.

I recall his comforts, like a dream, the smile in his eyes set upon me, my heart aflame. I have felt his touch, in ecstatic moments; I have warmed in his light; I have heard his voice whisper to me in the dancing wind. But then I return - falling back to earth, to the darkness of the shadows; I am caught in the thicket of the fleeting; my heart prisoned by its fears...

It is a painful contradiction between the person I am when I am close to God's heart, leaning upon his breast, and the faint shade of myself wandering the waste places of the desert. Abraham closed his eyes to this world to see the eternal, but when he opened them he saw once again the emptiness of exile that stretched out before him. Everything was changed through his vision, but everything then became strange, and his dream and his love were whisked into the unseen once again.

That is the “aching side” of hope - the waiting - the gap, the delay, the "already-not-yet" expectation, and the separation forged between this lonely world and our eternal home... Ironically enough, hope itself sees the "divided house" that cannot stand, and finds its refuge in the everlasting habitation of God's house. Hope endures in the midst of our dissolution and fading away; even when all we have left is hope to our very last breath.

Alas, our love for God - at least in this life - remains incomplete and unfulfilled. God's love draws our hearts to him in longing, yet we await the realization of salvation, or as Paul puts it. "we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body" (Rom. 8:23). God "wounds us" to seek Him with greater intimacy and fervor. Such a divine disappointment is a hidden blessing, though, since God's love leads to a greater desire to love God, and this desire leads to further desire, and so on. As it says in the Song of Songs: "I opened for my beloved, But my beloved had turned away and was gone. My heart leaped up when he spoke. I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer." Yet the Beloved did not give up...

"In hope we are saved" (τῇ γὰρ ἐλπίδι ἐσώθημεν), but hope that is seen is not hope, for why would someone hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, then we must eagerly wait for it with endurance" (Rom. 8:24-25). As Jeremiah encouraged himself: "The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and silently wait for the salvation of the LORD" (Lam. 3:24-26). Or as David said: "I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning" (Psalm 130:5-6). Though we must await the fulfillment of our hope, we pray to the LORD: "Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame" (Song 8:6). "Our soul waits for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name" (Psalm 33:20-21).

Therefore do not give up! Never give up! Press on in hope. In our struggle against the darkness, there is an end coming, so don’t let your heart grow numb. Encourage yourself with words of hope. Choose to fight (ἀγωνίζομαι - "agonize," "struggle") another day. Do not yield to despair or give place to anxiety. Press on and keep fighting the "good fight" of faith (1 Tim. 6:12). Trust that the deepest longing of your heart will one day be manifest; there is a "future and a hope" reserved for you (Jer. 29:11). In the end you shall see. “All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.” Amen.

[ Hebrew for Christians ]

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Psalm 39:7 Hebrew reading:

https://hebrew4christians.com/Blessings/Blessing_Cards/psalm39-7-jjp.mp3

Hebrew page:

https://hebrew4christians.com/Blessings/Blessing_Cards/psalm39-7-lesson.pdf

12.28.23 • Facebook

from yesterday’s email by Israel 365:

The identification of Jews with the land of Israel as our homeland is an essential component of our national identity. It is only by living as an independent nation in the land that God gave us that we achieve the status of Israel, the nation that is meant to bring the light of God to the world. The desire of Jacob to be buried in the land did not come from a private, personal place. Rather, he was reminding his children, and all of us, that our true purpose is to be Israel, the ministers of God, triumphant and powerful in our land, so that we can fulfill the mission of building God’s kingdom on Earth.

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

December 31, 2023

Count Your Many Blessings

“Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness.” (Psalm 65:11)

At year’s end, a Christian should stop to count his blessings. If he does this fairly and fully, no matter what his problems may have been during the year, he will have to confess that God, as always, has crowned the year with goodness.

The coronation figure is frequently used in Scripture to speak of God’s blessings in the Christian life. For example, “Bless the LORD...Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies” (Psalm 103:2, 4). Even our testings and trials are always in the context of God’s grace and love. Christ Himself wore a crown of thorns so that we may be crowned with mercy and salvation.

Consider also Psalm 5:12: “For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favor wilt thou compass him as with a shield.” The word “compass” is the same Hebrew word as “crown,” with the basic meaning “encircle.” Other jewels in the believer’s year-end crown are God’s grace and glory. “[Wisdom] shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee” (Proverbs 4:9).

Then there is the wonderful testimony that “thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:5). Finally, the believer’s crown is none other than the Lord Himself. “In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people” (Isaiah 28:5).

Most Christians have an abundance of material blessings for which to thank the Lord. Even if they have none of these, however, God has crowned the year with goodness and favor, with lovingkindness and tender mercies, with grace and glory and honor and, best of all, with His own presence. “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Psalm 103:2). HMM

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goronska · 2 years ago

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szkło ale artystyczne

postawili cię przy oknie żebyś odbijała refleksy światła w ich źrenicach wabiła swym słynnym antico (choć to tylko powietrze które utknęło któremu się nie udało) prezentowała nadobne kształty tam bałwanek choć nie zima tam fala choć morza brak tam jaskółka lecz bez nieba tam asteroida ale nie Har-Magedon bo to miejsce nie istnieje to złe miejsce nie istnieje wszystkie złe miejsca istnieją poza tym jednym poza tym niczego od ciebie nie chcieli tylko żebyś odbijała refleksy światła w ich źrenicach no i od czasu do czasu popatrzyć jak jesteś rżnięta

Adrian Krysiak (2023)

#poezja intelektualna #jest w to dobry

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coffee-the-bat · 8 months ago

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let the boop Magedon begin!

how do I give boops?

This will appear at the top of your dash! Click start and get ready to be spammed or spam mutuals, strangers and the like ✨💥‼️‼️‼️

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mrdespondency · 6 years ago

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Come and catch the release of my brand new (and first ever!) short graphic story “The House Next Door” this August 4th!

Available in limited copies, so be sure to pick up some of the limited copies available at Indieket 2018 in Pasig City, Manila :)

#Indieket2018 #KomikonPH #komiks #magedon #The House Next Door #THND #art #projects #comics #comic zine #horror #thriller #ill also be releasing this soon in my upcoming tictail #so watch out for it there too!

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creepydark1 · 5 years ago

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El pequeño hombre alza la mirada diciéndole a la gran criatura negra

"Te he llamado desde tus abismos mas profundos, con tus mil nombres para pedir que me regreses a mi amada"

El ser solo lo observo e hizo una mueca de angustia al hombre

"Lo lamento pero no puedo interferir con el destino y ella ya termino su labor en este mundo terrenal...pero puedo hacer que ella pueda estar contigo una vez cada navidad, un obsequio de mi parte"

Cerrando así el trato...

English The little man looks up, telling the big black creature "I have called you from your deepest chasms, with your thousand names to ask that you return me to my beloved" The being just watched him and made a face of anguish at the man "I'm sorry but I can't interfere with fate and she has finished her work in this underworld ... but I can make her be with you once every Christmas, a gift from me" Thus closing the deal ...

#sol de luna #magedon #una pequeña historia #no soy buena con historias #regalo de navidad

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hermitdrabbles56 · 2 years ago

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Your blog is the perfect color.

Yes.

Yes it is.

All it needs is some

some

craaaaa

craaaab

!!!!!!

CRAB!!? CRAB CRAB CRAB!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

#hermit responds!#hermit and anon #crab magedon #MWAHAHAHAHA #THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

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charzmander · 5 years ago

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Oh no, they left him on ‘sea-n’

#animal crossing new horizons #acnh #gulliver #poor bugger #puns #left on seen #pun-magedon

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rp-kat · 8 years ago

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Har-Magedon

#Har-Magedon #HarMagedon #har #Magedon #black metal

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orthodoxydaily · 6 months ago

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Saint& Reading: Saturday , May 18, 2024

may 5_May 18

SAINT HILLARY BISHOP OF ARLES (France_449)

St. Hilary of Arles (born 401, probably northern Gaul—died May 5, 449, Arles; feast day May 5) was a Gallo-Roman bishop of Arles who is often regarded as providing the occasion for extending papal authority in Gaul.

While young, Hilary entered the Abbey of Lérins that was presided over by his kinsman Honoratus, who later became bishop of Arles. In 429 Hilary succeeded Honoratus as bishop and vigorously promoted reforms through several councils, including that of Orange (441). His enthusiasm led him to interfere with provinces outside his metropolitan jurisdiction: in 443–444 he deposed Bishop Chelidonius of Besançon, irregularly replacing him with another bishop, Projectus. This act was quashed by Pope St. Leo I, who deprived Hilary of all metropolitan rights but did not remove him from his see. These measures, to which Hilary submitted, were endorsed by a decree of the Western Roman emperor Valentinian III.

Source: Britannica

THE HOLY GREAT-MARTYR IRENE OF THESSALONICA (1st-2sc)

The holy Great Martyr Irene was born in the city of Magedon in Persia during the fourth century. She was the daughter of Licinius, the pagan ruler of a certain small kingdom, and his wife Licinia, and at birth her parents named her Penelope.

Penelope was very beautiful, and her father kept her isolated in a high tower from the time she was six so that she would not be exposed to Christianity. He also placed thirteen young maidens in the tower with her. An old tutor by the name of Apellian was appointed to give her the best possible education. Apellian was a Christian, and during her lessons, he told the girl about Christ the Savior and taught her about the Christian Faith and Christian virtues.

When Penelope reached adolescence, her parents began to think about her marriage. One night Penelope beheld the following vision: a dove entered the tower with an olive branch in its beak, depositing it on the table. An eagle also flew in carrying a wreath of flowers, and left it on the table. Then a raven flew in through another window and dropped a snake on the table. In the morning Penelope woke up and wondered about the meaning of the things she had seen. She related them to her tutor Apellian and he explained that the dove symbolized her superior education, and that the olive branch represented the grace of God which is received in Baptism. The eagle and the olive branch indicated success in her future life. The snake signified that she would experience suffering and sorrow.

At the end of the conversation Apellian said that the Lord wished to betroth her to Himself and that Penelope would undergo much suffering for her heavenly Bridegroom. After this Penelope refused marriage, was baptized by the priest Timothy, and he named her Irene (peace). She even urged her own parents to become Christians. Shortly after being baptized, she smashed all her father’s idols to pieces.

Since Saint Irene had dedicated herself to Christ, she refused to marry any of the suitors her father had chosen for her. When Licinius learned that his daughter refused to worship the pagan gods, he was furious. He attempted to turn her from Christ by having her tortured. She was tied up and thrown beneath the hooves of wild horses so that they might trample her to death, but the horses remained motionless. Instead of harming the saint, one of the horses charged Licinius, seized his right hand and tore it from his arm. Then it knocked Licinius down and began to trample him to death. This caused a great deal of confusion among the people there but Irene consoled them with the words of Christ: “All things are possible to the one who believes” (Mark 9: 23). And indeed, with wondrous faith, she prayed and through her prayers Licinius rose unharmed in the presence of many eyewitnesses with his hand intact. Then, Licinius and his wife were baptized as Christians, along with almost 3000 others who turned away from the worship of inanimate idols. Licinius abandoned his domain and lived in the tower he had built for his daughter. There he spent the rest of his life in repentance.

Saint Irene lived in the house of her teacher Apellian, and she began to preach Christ among the pagans, leading them to the path of salvation.

When Sedekias (Yesdegerd), the new prefect of the city, heard of the miracles performed by the saint, he summoned Apellian and questioned him about Irene’s manner of life. Apellian replied that Irene, like other Christians, lived in strict temperance, devoting herself to constant prayer and reading holy books. Sedekias summoned the saint to him and urged her to stop preaching about Christ. He also attempted to force her to sacrifice to the idols. Saint Irene staunchly confessed her faith before the prefect, not fearing his wrath, and prepared to undergo suffering for Christ. By order of Sedekias she was thrown into a pit filled with vipers and serpents. The saint spent ten days in the pit and remained unharmed, for an angel of the Lord protected her and brought her food. Sedekias ascribed this miracle to sorcery, and he subjected Saint Irene to many other tortures, but she remained unharmed. Under the influence of her preaching and miracles even more people were converted to Christ, and turned away from the worship of inanimate idols.

Sedekias was deposed by his son Sapor, who persecuted Christians with an even greater zeal than his father had done. Saint Irene went to her home town of Magedon in Persia to meet Sapor and his army, and ask him to end the persecution. When he refused, Saint Irene prayed and his entire army was blinded. She prayed again and they received their sight once more. In spite of this, Sapor refused to recognize the power of God. Because of his insolence, he was struck and killed by a bolt of lightning.

Next, the saint went to the city of Callinicus, or Callinicum (possibly on the Euphrates River in Syria). The ruler of that place was King Numerian, the son of Sebastian. When she began to teach about Christ, she was arrested and tortured by the pagan authorities. They enclosed her inside three bronze oxen, one after another, which were heated until they were red-hot. When the Great Martyr was placed within the third ox, it began to walk about, and then it split asunder. Saint Irene emerged from it as if from the fires of hell. This resulted in thousands of souls converting to the faith of Christ.

Sensing the approach of death, Numerian instructed his eparch Babdonus to continue torturing the saint in order to force her to sacrifice to idols. Once again, the tortures were ineffective, and many people turned to Christ.

Christ’s holy martyr then traveled to the city of Constantina, forty miles northeast of Edessa. By 330, the Persian king Sapor II (309-379) had heard of Saint Irene’s great miracles. To prevent her from winning more people to Christ, she was arrested, beheaded, and then buried. However, God sent an angel to raise her up again, and she went into the city of Mesembria. After seeing her alive and hearing her preach, the local king was baptized with many of his subjects.

Apellian returned after only two days, and found that the stone had been rolled away and the tomb was empty. There are conflicting accounts about her holy relics being taken to Constantinople and other places, including Patras, Samos, and Patmos. According to the Western Martyrologies, Saint Irene was martyred in Thessaloniki after being thrown into the fire, while according to the Menologion of Emperor Basil II, Saint Irene completed her martyric contest by being beheaded.

Saint Irene led thousands of people to Christ through her preaching, and by her example. The Church continues to honor her memory and to seek her heavenly intercession. She is invoked by those wishing to effect a swift and happy marriage. In Greece, she is also the patron saint of policemen. Saint Irene is also one of the twelve Virgin Martyrs who appeared to Saint Seraphim of Sarov (January 2) and the Diveyevo nun Eupraxia on the Feast of the Annunciation in 1831. By her holy prayers, may the Lord have mercy upon us and save us. Amen.

Fragments of Saint Irene's Holy Relics are located at Kykkos Monastery on Cyprus, and in the Greek church of Saint George in Venice.

Source: Orthodox Church in America_OCA

ACTS 5:21-33

21 And when they heard that, they entered the temple early in the morning and taught. But the high priest and those with him came and called the council together, with all the elders of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. 22 But when the officers came and did not find them in the prison, they returned and reported, 23 saying, "Indeed we found the prison shut securely, and the guards standing outside before the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside!" 24 Now when the high priest, the captain of the temple, and the chief priests heard these things, they wondered what the outcome would be. 25 So one came and told them, saying, "Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!" 26 Then the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned. 27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, 28 saying, "Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man's blood on us!" 29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: "We ought to obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. 31 Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him. 33 When they heard this, they were furious and plotted to kill them.

JOHN 6:14-27

14 Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world." 15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone. 16 Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them. 18 Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. 19 So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid. 20 But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." 21 Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going. 22 On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone - 23 however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks - 24 when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. 25 And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?" 26 Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.

#orthodoxy #orthodoxchristianity #easternorthodoxchurch #originofchristianity #spirituality #holyscriptures #gospel #bible #wisdom #faith #saints

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