Twenty-ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Venerable Paul of Thebes & John the Hut-dweller

Venerable Martyr Pansophios of Alexandria; Venerable Gabriel of Lesnovo

January 15, 2017

Hymns of the Day

Troparion of the Resurrection – Tone 5

Let us believers praise and worship the Word; coeternal with the Father and the Spirit, born of the Virgin for our salvation. For, He took pleasure in ascending the Cross in the flesh to suffer death; and to raise the dead by His glorious Resurrection.

Troparion of St Paul of Thebes – Tone 8

The barren wilderness thou didst make fertile with the streams of thy tears; and by thy deep sighing thou hast given fruit through thy struggles a hundredfold. Accordingly, thou hast become a star for the universe, sparkling with miracles. Therefore, O righteous Father Paul, intercede with Christ God to save our souls.

Troparion of St John the Hut-Dweller- Tone 4

Since thou hadst with fervor longed after the Lord from thy youth, thou leftest the world with its delights and nobly didst strive in valiant ascetic deeds. Thou didst pitch thy hut before the gates of thy parents; thou didst break the demons’ snares, O all-blessed Father. And therefore, as is meet, hath Christ God glorified thee, O John.

Troparion of St Joseph – Tone 2

Proclaim, O Joseph to David, the ancestor of God, the amazing wonder, for by the angel they were revealed unto thee. For thou hast seen a Virgin great with child, and thou gave glory with the shepherds and didst worship with the Magi. Wherefore, plead with Christ God to save our souls.

Kontakion of the Presentation of Christ – Tone 1

Thou, O Christ God, Who by Thy Birth, didst sanctify the Virgin’s womb, and, as is meet, didst bless Simeon’s arms, and didst also come to save us; preserve Thy fold in wars, and confirm them whom Thou didst love, for Thou alone art the Lover of mankind.

Epistle – Colossians 3:4-11

Brethren, when Christ, Who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. In these you once walked, when you lived in them. But now put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old nature with its practices and have put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator. Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.

Gospel – Luke 17:12-19

At that time, as Jesus entered a village, He was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”  When He saw them He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”  And as they went they were cleansed.  Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks.  Now he was a Samaritan.  Then Jesus said, “Were not ten cleansed?  Where are the nine?  Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”  And He said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

Venerable Paul of Thebes – January 15^th

Saint Paul of Thebes was born in Egypt around 227 in the Thebaid of Egypt. Left orphaned, he suffered many things from a greedy relative over his inheritance. During the persecution against Christians under the emperor Decius (249-251), St Paul learned of his brother-in-law’s insidious plan to deliver him into the hands of the persecutors, and so he fled the city and fled into the wilderness.

Settling into a mountain cave, St Paul dwelt there for ninety-one years, praying incessantly to God both day and night. He sustained himself on dates and bread, which a raven brought him, and he clothed himself with palm leaves.

St Anthony the Great (January 17), who also lived as an ascetic in the Thebaid desert, had a revelation from God concerning St Paul. St Anthony thought that there was no other desert dweller such as he. Then God said to him, “Anthony, there is a servant of God more excellent than you, and you should go and see him.”

Anthony went into the desert and came to St Paul’s cave. Falling to the ground before the entrance to the cave, he asked to be admitted. The Elders introduced themselves, and then embraced one another. They conversed through the night, and St Anthony revealed how he had been led there by God. St Paul disclosed to St Anthony that for sixty years a bird had brought him half a loaf of bread each day. Now the Lord had sent a double portion in honor of St Paul’s visit. The next morning, St Paul spoke to Anthony of his approaching death, and instructed him to bury him. He also asked St Anthony to return to his monastery and bring back the cloak he had received from St Athanasius. He did not really need a garment, but wished to depart from his body while St Anthony was absent.

As he was returning with the cloak, St Anthony beheld the soul of St Paul surrounded by angels, prophets, and apostles, shining like the sun and ascending to God. He entered the cave and found Abba Paul on his knees with his arms outstretched. St Anthony mourned for him, and wrapped him in the cloak. He wondered how he would bury the body, for he had not remembered to bring a shovel. Two lions came running from the wilderness and dug a grave with their claws.

St Anthony buried the holy Elder, and took his garment of palm leaves, then he returned to his own monastery. St Anthony kept this garb as a precious inheritance, and wore it only twice a year, on Pascha and Pentecost.

St Paul of Thebes died in the year 341, when he was 113 years old. He did not establish a single monastery, but soon after his end there were many imitators of his life, and they filled the desert with monasteries. St Paul is honored as the first desert-dweller and hermit.

        In the twelfth century St Paul’s relics were transferred to Constantinople and placed in the Peribleptos monastery of the Mother of God, on orders of the emperor Manuel (1143-1180). Later, they were taken to Venice, and finally to Hungary, at Ofa. Part of his head is in Rome.

[oca.org]