'Daily Bread'
Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024
That Secret Things Might be Revealed...
"All images reveal and make perceptible those things which are hidden. For example, a man does not have immediate knowledge of invisible things, since the soul is veiled by the body. Nor can man have immediate knowledge of things which are distant from each other or separated by place, because he himself is limited by place and time. Therefore the icon was devised that he might advance in knowledge, and that secret things might be revealed and made perceptible. Therefore, icons are a source of profit, help, and salvation for all, since they make things so obviously manifest, enabling us to perceive hidden things. Thus, we are encouraged to desire and imitate what is good and to shun and hate what is evil."
- St. John of Damascus
Daily Scripture Reading
2 Corinthians 2:14-3:3 (Epistle)
14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
16 To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?
17 For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.
1 Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you?
2 You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men;
3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.
Matthew 23:23-28 (Gospel)
23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.
26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.
28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Blessed John “the Hairy”, Fool-for-Christ at Rostov (1580)
Blessed John the Merciful of Rostov (also known as “the Hairy”) struggled at Rostov in the exploit of holy foolishness, enduring much deprivation and sorrow. He did not have a permanent shelter, and at times took his rest at the house of his spiritual Father, a priest at the church of All Saints, or with one of the aged widows.
Living in humility, patience and unceasing prayer, he spiritually nourished many people, among them Saint Irenarchus, Hermit of Rostov (January 13). After a long life of pursuing asceticism, he died on September 3, 1580 and was buried, according to his final wishes, beside the church of Saint Blaise beyond the altar.
He had “hair upon his head abundantly,” therefore he was called “Hairy.” The title “Merciful” was given to Blessed John because of the many healings that occurred at his grave, and also in connection with the memory of the holy Patriarch John the Merciful (November 12), whose name he shared.
Guardian Angels
An angel of peace, a guardian of our souls and bodies. What does the Church teach about your Guardian Angel?
ROLE OF ANGELS IN OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE
The angels have a major role in the spiritual life of each person. First of all, they convey all the spiritual gifts to the person and this according to their rank and depending on the person’s spiritual stage: purification, illumination or deification. “The more we purify ourselves, the more we know God, and the more we love Him” (St. Gregory the Theologian). The spiritual person resembles the angels, as St. Gregory of Nyssa says: “The spiritual life allows the spirit to enter the world of angels.” During the purification stage, “We need an angel to help us overcome our passions, since we are not perfect,” according to Origen. In the illumination stage, the soul enters the angelic world, to attain finally a life of union with God.
The angels contemplate how the soul moves out of the darkness of sin to a state of illumination and grace and passes them over to the glory that the Logos granted to humanity only in His union with human nature. The angels wait for a deified person to be united to his prayer and be lifted up more towards God. That is why, “The angels wait for the death of martyrs to lead their souls to its place,” says St. Gregory of Nyssa, and “they surround the martyrs on their way to God and they accompany them to the holy of holies where the Holy Trinity is in the middle of Cherubim and Seraphim,” confirms St. John Chrysostom.
This week’s calendar reminders:
Monday 9/2: Matins 8:30 a.m.
Tuesday 9/3: no services or events
Wednesday 9/4: no services or events
Thursday 9/5: Matins 8:30 a.m.
Friday 9/6: Matins 8:30 a.m.
Saturday 9/7: No Catechumen Class 4:30; Choir practice 5 pm; Great Vespers 6 pm
Sunday 9/8: Divine Liturgy 9: 15 a.m.
