Daily Bread
Monday, December 16, 2024
“Come, let us wonder at the virgin most pure, wondrous in herself, unique in creation, she gave birth, yet knew no man; her pure soul with wonder was filled, daily her mind gave praise in joy at the twofold wonder: her virginity preserved, her child most dear. Blessed is He who shone forth from her!”
— St. Ephraim the Syrian, Songs of Praise
Daily Scripture Readings
1 Timothy 1:1-7 (Epistle)
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,
2 to Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia – remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith.
5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith,
6 from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk,
7 desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.
Mark 9:42-10:1 (Gospel)
42 But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.
43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched –
44 where ‘Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’
45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched –
46 where ‘Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’
47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire –
48 where ‘Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’
49 For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.
50 Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.”
1 Then He arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan. And multitudes gathered to Him again, and as He was accustomed, He taught them again.
Venerable Sophia of Suzdal, the Wonderworker (1542)
Saint Sophia (in the world Great Princess Solomonia Yurievna) was born around 1490, the daughter of the noble Yuri Saburov. Her mother died when she was young, and she was raised by her aunt Eudokia (her father's sister). In the year 1505 she was chosen as the bride of the heir to the throne, the future Great Prince Basil III. She was selected from among 500 girls from all over the country, who were presented at court for this purpose.
The wedding of Prince Basil and Solomonia took place on September 4, 1505, in the presence of the groom's father, Ivan III. Metropolitan Simon blessed the couple at the Dormition Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin. When she married Basil, her father was raised to the rank of boyar. For the first time in Moscow's history, a Great Prince took neither a foreign princess nor a Russian princess as his wife, but a bride who came from a boyar family.
After twenty years, it became apparent that Solomonia was unable to conceive a child. Basil understood perfectly that if he died childless his brothers would inherit the throne. In order to preclude that possibility, they were imprisoned or forbidden to marry until his own son was born. In the end, this led to the extinction of the Rurikid dynasty, and to the succession crisis known as the Time of Troubles.
Despite her radiant beauty, exemplary morals, and mild character, Solomonia's failure to produce an heir must have weighed upon Basil's relations with his wife, who turned to foreign doctors for help. In 1525, the Great Prince decided to divorce Solomonia, with the approval of Metropolitan Daniel and the boyars, although other Church authorities declared the divorce was unlawful.
In order to obtain an heir, Great Prince Basil decided to marry Elena Glinska, the daughter of the Lithuanian prince Basil Glinsky. This action of the Great Prince Basil was condemned by all the Patriarchs, and Patriarch Mark of Jerusalem even predicted that of this second marriage a "cruel child" would be born, who would fill Russia with blood and horrors. Ivan the Terrible was born in 1530, and Basil's second son, Yuri, was feeble-minded. All the best Russian people of that time stood up for the blameless and miserable Great Princess: i.e. Metropolitan Barlaam, Saint Maximos the Greek (January 21) and others. But all their protests were in vain. For the first time in Russian history, a Great Prince removed a Metropolitan from office and imprisoned him in a monastery. Saint Maximos was not allowed to serve, and others were persecuted as well. Prince Andrew Kurbsky called Princess Solomonia "innocent and holy."
The Sign of the Cross in the Old Testament
In his first epistle to the Corinthians, Saint Paul mentions that ‘the Jews seek a sign’ (1 Cor. 1, 22), that is they wanted a supernatural sign, such as resurrection of the dead, or healing of the demonically possessed, which would make them believe in the preaching concerning the Cross. So they sought this supernatural sign, ignoring and ignorant of all the signs and wonders that God had shown them in the past, every time they found themselves in danger. Of course, the sign they were looking for could only have been the Cross, which, on the one hand is foreshadowed throughout the whole of the Old Testament and, on the other, was ever-present, preserving the people of God from devastation and extermination.
There are a great many adumbrations of the sign of the Precious Cross in the Old Testament, but here we shall quote only six particular examples.
The main sign of the elevation of the Cross in the history of the Jewish people is that executed by Moses with his staff when he parted the waters of the Red Sea, at God’s command, so that the Israelites could cross and avoid the pursuit of the Egyptians. The people were saved and the waters then came back together as they had been before (Ex. 14, 1-31). Because of this, at the feast of the Elevation of the Precious Cross, the Church sings a hymn which says: ‘When Moses executed a cross with his staff, the Red Sea immediately parted for Israel on foot’ (Irmos, ode 1, Mattins Canon).
When the Israelites arrived at Rafidim (Horeb), Moses made the sign of the Cross twice. The first was when he struck the rock to bring out water for the thirsty people to drink; and the second when he raised his arms and staff to the heavens to pray and to encourage the Israelites who were fighting the Amalekites (Ex. 17, 1-16). It was the sign of the Cross which gave succor to the Israelite warriors and encouraged their efforts for victory, according to Saint Gregory Palamas (PG. 133-136). Theodoret of Cyrus states that, apart from the sign of the Cross, the image of the crucified Lord was also prefigured (PG 80, 260-261).
Moses made this sacred sign another time, when he led the people of Israel into Edom. There they became dispirited and lost their faith in God, with the result that God sent deadly poisonous snakes to bite them, leading to many deaths. After they’d repented, God ordered Moses to have a bronze snake made and to have it elevated on a post. Anyone who looked upon it was immediately cured (Num. 21, 4-9). Although the Biblical account doesn’t give a detailed description of the elevation of the snake, Saint Gregory Palamas paints a very clear picture. He says that Moses raised the serpent horizontally on the vertical pole, thus forming the arms of a cross (PG. 133-136). Moreover, Jesus Christ Himself, in the narrative in Saint John’s Gospel, is shown as foretelling His death on the Cross, which He likens to the elevation of the bronze snake in the wilderness, saying: ‘Just as Moses raised up the serpent in the desert, so, too, must the son of man be elevated’ (Jn. 3, 14).
In the Old Testament, the sign of the Cross also saved the Prophet Daniel and the three young men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. These lived in Babylon at the time of the exile. When the three young men were thrown into the fiery furnace, they were saved, thanks to God’s miraculous intervention (Dan. 3, 23), just as Daniel himself was saved when he was cast into the lions’ den (Dan. 6, 23).
Naturally, in these instances, too, the Biblical text doesn’t present a picture of the rescue of the three young men, but an image of their salvation is given in the words of Andrew of Crete, who declares that, initially the three young men and then, later, the Prophet Daniel were saved by raising their arms to heaven in the form of a cross (PG 97, 1040-1041). The same tradition is preserved in the hymnology of the Church, when, on the Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross, we sing: ‘When he had been cast into the lions’ den, the great Prophet Daniel extended his arms in the form of a cross and was saved, unharmed, from being devoured by them’. (Ode 8, Mattins canon).
In the Old Testament, it’s not just the Cross of Christ which is adumbrated but also other events, such as His birth, passion and resurrection. But the Cross is the means by which Christ was glorified and overcame the wicked enemy, triumphed over death and, through His resurrection brought humankind into a new state of life, liberated from the bonds of death and corruption.
Although the cross was a symbol of abomination and death in the time before Christ, because according to the strictures of Deuteronomy, those who died on the cross were considered to be cursed (Deut. 21, 23), through His crucifixion it became the symbol of victory over death, the symbol of glory and majesty. The cross lost its aura of vilification, degradation, abomination and humiliation and became the expression of sanctity, blessing, honor, glory and magnificence.
This week’s calendar reminders:
Monday 12/16: Matins 8:30am
Tuesday 12/17: no services or events
Wednesday 12/18: Yale Russian Chorus concert - 7pm
Thursday 12/19: Matins 8:30 am; Men’s Group 7pm
Friday 12/20: Paraklesis to the Theotokos 8:30am
Saturday 12/21: Catechumen Class 4:30pm; Choir Rehearsal 5pm; Great Vespers 6 pm
Sunday 12/22: Divine Liturgy 9:15am
