Daily Bread

Thursday, March 20, 2025

Mar 20, 2025

Isaiah 11:10-12:2 (6th Hour)

10 “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious.”

11 It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left, from Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, from Elam and Shinar, from Hamath and the islands of the sea.

12 He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

13 Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.

14 But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west; together they shall plunder the people of the East; they shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab; and the people of Ammon shall obey them.

15 The Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; with His mighty wind He will shake His fist over the River, and strike it in the seven streams, and make men cross over dry-shod.

16 There will be a highway for the remnant of His people who will be left from Assyria, as it was for Israel in the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.

1 And in that day you will say: “O Lord, I will praise You; though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.

2 Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’”

Genesis 7:11-8:3 (Vespers, 1st reading)

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

12 And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.

13 On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark –

14 they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort.

15 And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life.

16 So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.

17 Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth.

18 The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters.

19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered.

20 The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered.

21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man.

22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died.

23 So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.

24 And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days.

1 Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.

2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained.

3 And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters decreased.

Martyr Photini the Samaritan Woman, her sons, and those with them

The Holy Martyr Photini (Photinḗ/Svetlana) the Samaritan Woman, her sons Victor (named Photinos) and Iosḗs; and her sisters Anatolḗ, Photó, Photida, Paraskevḗ, Kyriakḗ, Nero’s daughter Domnina; and the Martyr Sebastian.

The holy Martyr Photini was the Samaritan Woman, with whom the Savior conversed at Jacob’s Well (John. 4:5-42).

During the time of the Emperor Nero (54-68), who displayed excessive cruelty against Christians, Saint Photini lived in Carthage with her younger son Iosḗs, and fearlessly preached the Gospel there. Her eldest son Victor fought bravely in the Roman army against barbarians, and was appointed as military commander of the city of Attalia (Asia Minor). Later, Nero called him to Italy to arrest and punish Christians.

Sebastian, an official in Italy, said to Saint Victor, “I know that you, your mother and your brother, are followers of Christ. As a friend I advise you to submit to the will of the Emperor. If you inform on any Christians, you will receive their wealth. I shall write to your mother and brother, asking them not to preach Christ in public. Let them practice their faith in secret.”

Saint Victor replied, “I want to be a preacher of Christianity like my mother and brother.” Sebastian said, “O Victor, we all know what woes await you, your mother and brother.” Then Sebastian suddenly felt a sharp pain in his eyes. He was dumbfounded, and his face was somber.

Hasty and Careless Prayer

St. Theophan the Recluse

Coldness

May the grace of God be with you.

You write: ‘My prayer is somewhat cold and weak’. The coldness and weakness aren’t in the prayer, but in the person praying. Try to pray as you should and your prayer will go better.

If a school-child writes carelessly, the teacher will scold them and threaten them with some sort of punishment. This makes the child more attentive and they begin to write more carefully.

So scold yourself and threaten divine punishment, so that you can concentrate and pray properly. When it comes to our human activities, we’re conscientious and careful enough, so as to avoid being criticized by other people. When it comes to matters of God, though, we deal with them casually, because the Lord keeps silent, is long-suffering and gives the opportunity to serve him to us, his children, who have benefitted so greatly from his goodness. How bitter the hour will be when we have to give an answer before his dread judgment seat, when we’ll have to confess our guilt and our negligence.

Where did your prayer go? It was fine until now. You felt its beneficial action in your heart. Let me tell you where it went. Because you prayed a couple of times with attention and fervor, you had speedy assistance from Saint Sergius [Radonezhskij]. Did you imagine that your prayer had been firmly established in your heart and that it would simply continue on its own thereafter? This is why you began to pray hastily and carelessly.

You’ve also stopped guarding against bad thoughts. Your mind’s given over to daydreaming and wandering. The result: you pray… without praying! There’s nothing left for you to do now but start again to strive to acquire real prayer, asking for the Lord’s assistance in this. Never think that any spiritual work is well-established and secure, particularly prayer. Always pray as though you’re doing so for the first time. You see, whatever’s done for the first time is performed with fervent zeal.

This week’s calendar reminders:

Monday 3/17: Lenten Matins 8:30 am
Tuesday 3/18: no services or events
Wednesday 3/19: Presanctified Liturgy 6:30 pm (potluck meal to follow)
Thursday 3/20: Lenten Matins 8:30 am
Friday 3/21: Paraklesis to the Theotokos 8:30 am
Saturday 3/22: Memorial Liturgy for the Departed 9:15 a.m.; Catechumen Class 4:30 pm; Choir Rehearsal 4:30 pm; Great Vespers 6 pm
Sunday 3/23: Divine Liturgy 9:15am;