Daily Bread
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
Daily Scripture Readings
Philippians 2:24-30 (Epistle)
24 But I trust in the Lord that I myself shall also come shortly.
25 Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need;
26 since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick.
27 For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
28 Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful.
29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem;
30 because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.
Luke 12:48-59 (Gospel)
48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
49 I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!
50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished!
51 Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division.
52 For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three.
53 Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
54 Then He also said to the multitudes, “Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is.
55 And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is.
56 Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?
57 Yes, and why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right?
58 When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort along the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.
59 I tell you, you shall not depart from there till you have paid the very last mite.”
St. Paul the Confessor, Archbishop of Constantinople (350)
Saint Paul the Confessor, Archbishop of Constantinople, was chosen to the patriarchal throne after the death of Patriarch Alexander (+ 340), when the Arian heresy had again flared up. Many of the Arians were present at the Council which selected the new Archbishop of Constantinople. They revolted in opposition to the choice of Saint Paul, but the Orthodox at the Council were in the majority.
The emperor Constantius, ruling over the Eastern half of the Roman Empire, was an Arian. He was not in Constantinople for the election of the Archbishop, and so it took place without his consent. Upon his return, he convened a council which illegally deposed Saint Paul, and the emperor banished him from the capital. In place of the saint they elevated Eusebius of Nicomedia, an impious heretic. Archbishop Paul withdrew to Rome, where other Orthodox bishops were also banished by Eusebius.
Eusebius did not rule the Church of Constantinople for long. When he died, Saint Paul returned to Constantinople, and was greeted by his flock with love. But Constantius exiled the saint a second time, and so he returned to Rome. The Western emperor Constans wrote a harsh letter to his Eastern co-ruler, which he sent to Constantinople along with the holy exiled archpastor. The threats worked, and Saint Paul was reinstated upon the archepiscopal throne.
But soon the pious emperor Constans, a defender of the Orthodox, was treacherously murdered during a palace coup. They again banished Saint Paul from Constantinople and this time sent him off in exile to Armenia, to the city of Cucusus, where he endured a martyr’s death.
When the Archbishop was celebrating the Divine Liturgy, Arians rushed upon him by force and strangled him with his own omophorion. This occurred in the year 350. In 381, the holy Emperor Theodosius the Great solemnly transferred the relics of Saint Paul the Confessor from Cucusus to Constantinople. In 1326, the relics of Saint Paul were transferred to Venice.
Saint Athanasius the Great, a contemporary of Saint Paul, writes briefly about his exiles, “Saint Paul the first time was sent by Constantine to Pontus, the second time he was fettered with chains by Constantius, and then he was locked up in Mesopotamian Syngara and from there moved to Emesus, and the fourth time to Cappadocian Cucusus in the Taurian wilderness.”
Part of the Saint's skull is located in the Holy Monastery of Simonópetra on Mount Athos. The Saint's incorrupt relics are to be found in the Roman Catholic church of Saint George of Greater Venice. A fragment of the Saint's relics is located in the Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra at Saint Petersburg.
The Three Visits of Mary Magdalene to the Tomb of Christ
By Blessed Metropolitan Antony Khrapovitsky
We have read various discussions about the apparent lack of accord among the Gospel narrations of Christ's Resurrection. There have been a number of attempts at demonstrating a concordance among the Evangelists in this regard, but not all have been successful.
I wish to offer some considerations on the subject, and I wish to begin by mentioning the most obvious point of seeming lack of accord.
In Matthew's Gospel, we read that upon being greeted by the risen Lord with the word "rejoice," Mary of Magdala and the other Mary immediately embraced His feet. Nevertheless, we read elsewhere [John 20:11-17] that, when Mary of Magdala was weeping at the empty tomb and did not recognize Christ, but thought that He was the caretaker of the garden. When she did finally recognize Him, she was forbidden to touch Him.
These narratives do not appear to conform with one another, and attempts of readers to reconcile them only produce strained interpretations and unconvincing contrivances.
The four Gospels do not describe the appearances of the Lord to the Myrrhbearing women in an identical manner. What most perplexes interpreters is the lack of accord between the accounts given by Matthew and John. It is evident that the Lord appeared to Mary of Magdala twice - once alone and the other time together with the other Mary - but the relationship of these two appearances perplexes interpreters.
The thesis by which we intend to resolve this question may be expressed as follows: the Evangelist Matthew speaks of the journey of the two Marys to the Lord's tomb, already knowing that Christ had risen from the dead.
What Matthew is describing took place after the appearance described by John when Mary of Magdala had gone to the tomb and mistaken Christ for the gardener. She had informed the apostles how she had seen the Lord and He had spoken to her, then she informed the other Mary, and both of them went to the tomb. They did not go at that time to anoint the body of Jesus, because they knew that He was risen, but they went "to see the tomb, " knowing it to be empty, but knowing also that the winding strips in which He had been buried were still there. It was not only them and the two apostles who rushed to the tomb to verify what Mary of Magdala had seen, but later, the other myrrhbearers and more than eleven others also went (Luke 24:9, 24). The Evangelist informs us that the two Mary's were made worthy of a second appearance of the angel and then of the Lord Himself.
What other evidence do we have, besides Matthew's words that they went "to see the tomb," that the events in that gospel took place after the events described in John's gospel? The second evidence is that John describes the events that occurred "while it was yet dark," while Matthew clearly speaks of something that happened "at dawn on the first day of the week."
The third point which requires our attention is the reaction of the myrrhbearers to the angel's words, and to Christ Himself. In John's Gospel, Mary appears so unprepared for the event that she cannot assimilate it and takes Christ for a gardener; in Mark's account, the angel's words bring the myrrhbearers to such terror that they "said nothing to anyone because they were afraid." Luke writes that they were overcome with fear and prostrated themselves on the ground.
Matthew's narration, on the other hand, encounters the myrrh-bearers already prepared for the encounter, though the angel reassures them: "Do not be afraid. Go and see the place where the Lord lay." In Mark's gospel, we read of the other myrrhbearing women that they "said nothing to anyone because they were afraid." Matthew, however, relates of the two Mary's that they ran "with fear and joy to announce to His disciples" that He had risen. For Mary Magdalene, this was the second encounter, and the other Mary who knew about it from her receives the news again from the Saviour Himself, being already prepared for it. From whence is this evident?
This week’s calendar reminders:
Monday 11/04: Matins 8:30 a.m.
Tuesday 11/05: no services or events
Wednesday 11/06: no services or events
Thursday 11/07: Matins 8:30 a.m.
Friday 11/08: Matins 8:30 a.m.
Saturday 11/09: St. Nektarios Festal Divine Liturgy 9:15 a.m., Catechumen class 4:30; Great Vespers 6 pm
Sunday 11/10: Divine Liturgy 9: 15 a.m. Great Vespers for St Nektarios 4pm
