“If our thoughts are kind, peaceful, and quiet, turned only to the good, then we also influence ourselves and radiate peace all around us - in our family, the whole country, everywhere. This is true not only here on earth, but in the cosmos as well. When we labor in the fields of the Lord, we create harmony. Divine harmony, peace, and quiet spread everywhere.”
Elder Thaddeus of Vitnovica
Daily Scripture Readings
Hebrews 10:35-11:7
Brethren, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that you may do the will of God and receive what is promised. “For yet a little while, and the coming one shall come and shall not tarry; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and keep their souls.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old received divine approval. By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he received approval as righteous, God bearing witness by accepting his gifts; he died, but through his faith he is still speaking. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was attested as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, took heed and constructed an ark for the saving of his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which comes by faith.
Mark 9:10-16
At that time, they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant. And they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that first Eli’jah must come?” And he said to them, “Eli’jah does come first to restore all things; and how is it written of the Son of man, that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Eli’jah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.” And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd about them, and scribes arguing with them. And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed, and ran up to him and greeted him. And he asked them, “What are you discussing with them?”
Blessed Maximus the Fool for Christ of Tot'ma
Blessed Maximus Makar'ev was a priest in the city of Tot'ma (Vologda Diocese) during the first half of the XVII century, and his father was a priest. Saint Maximus was also ordained to the priesthood, and for 45 years he voluntarily undertook the difficult spiritual exploit of foolishness for Christ's sake, spending his time in unceasing prayer, fasting, and nakedness, completely neglecting to take care of his body.
Father Maximus was already distinguished by grace-filled gifts from God during his lifetime. He reposed at an advanced age on January 16, 1650 and was buried near the Resurrection church of Varnitsa in the city of Tot'ma. His laborious and holy life, and the miraculous cures which flowed from his tomb, served as an incentive to write his Life, but it was destroyed in 1676 during a fire in the church of the Resurrection. A new Life was composed in 1680, and it was lost as well. Meanwhile, the miracles continued at the righteous one's tomb.
Local veneration of the Saint began in 1715, because of the numerous miracles which occurred at his grave. In that year, the Priest John Rokhletsov and the parishioners of Holy Resurrection church asked Archbishop Joseph of Great Ustyug to allow them to place a sepulcher over the relics of Saint Maximus in the church of Saint Paraskevḗ, which was built over his relics, and to put an Icon of the Saint on the tomb. Vladyka granted their petition and gave his blessing for Molebens to be served for him, as is done for other God-pleasers. At that time, everyone still remembered the miracles which took place at the tomb of Blessed Maximus, and these miracles were depicted on the borders of the icon which adorned the God-pleaser’s tomb.
In 1680, Boris Tarunin, a resident of Tot'ma, fell ill with a fever and was paralyzed for six months. When he prayed to the righteous Maximus for the help, he was healed right away.
In 1691, the peasant Aréthas Malevinsky was bed-ridden for nine weeks with a fever. When he began to call upon Saint Maximus for help, his illness completely disappeared.
The peasant Theodore Mamoshov was paralyzed for nine years. On the night of November 5, 1703, he dreamt that an old man, clad in just a shirt, approached his bedside and said to him, "Theodore, cease your grieving." Taking him by the shoulder, he led him into the church and commanded him to venerate his grave. When he awakened, Theodore felt so well that he was able to walk to the church of the Resurrection in order to venerate the tomb of his healer.
In 1705, Anna Tataurova had not been in her right mind for a month. One night, Saint Maximus appeared to her in a dream, telling her to have two Panikhidas served at his tomb, promising her that she would recover if she did this. When the sick girl woke up, she asked to be taken to the righteous one's tomb. After the two Panikhidas were served, she felt perfectly well.
Blessed Maximus is also commemorated on the third Sunday of Pentecost, the Synaxis of the Vologda Saints.
Spiritual Wisdom from St. Nectarios of Aegina
Immortalityofthesoul
The rational soul of man has supernatural, infinite aspirations. If the rational soul were dependent upon the body and died together with the body, it should necessarily submit to the body and follow it in all its appetites. Independence would have been contrary both to the laws of nature and to reason, because it disturbs the harmony between the body and the soul. As dependent upon the body it should submit to the body and follow in all its appetites and desires, whereas, on the contrary, the soul masters the body, imposes its will upon the body. The soul subjugates and curbs the appetites and passions of the body, and directs them as it (the soul) wills. This phenomenon comes to the attention of every rational man; and whoever is conscious of his own rational soul is conscious of the soul's mastery over the body.
The mastery of the soul over the body is proved by the obedience of the body when it is being led with self-denial to sacrifice for the sake of the abstract ideas of the soul. The domination by the soul for prevalence of its principles, ideas, and views would have been entirely incomprehensible if the soul died together with the body. But a mortal soul would never have risen to such a height, would never have condemned itself to death along with the body for the prevalence of abstract ideas that lacked meaning, since no noble idea, no noble and courageous thought has any meaning for a mortal soul.
A soul, therefore, which is capable of such things must be immortal.
This week’s calendar reminders:
Monday 1/13: Matins 8:30 am
Tuesday 1/14: no services or events
Wednesday 1/15: no services or events
Thursday 1/16: Matins 8:30 am
Friday 1/17: Matins 8:30 am
Saturday 1/18: Choir Practice 5 pm; Great Vespers 6 pm
Sunday 1/19: Divine Liturgy 9:15am
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