FEBRUARY - 19 1. THE HOLY APOSTLES ARCHIPPUS, PHILEMON AND APPHIA

Archippus was one of the Seventy Apostles. The Apostle Paul mentions him in his Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon. "And tell Archippus, `See that you fulfill the ministry that you received in the Lord' " (Colossians 4:17) as well as in his letter to Philemon calling him his fellow soldier in the battle: "To Archippus our fellow soldier" (Philemon 1:2). In the town of Colossae, the center of Christianity was in the home of Philemon. Here Christians gathered for prayer. In writing to Philemon, the Apostle Paul called this "the church at your house" (Philemon 1:2). At that time, the apostles ordained their disciples as bishops; some of them in permanent places and others as missionaries traveling to various places.

Philemon was one of the latter. Apphia, Philemon's wife, hosted and served in the domestic church! At the time of a pagan feast to the goddess Artemis, according to their custom, all the faithful in Colossae, gathered in the home of Philemon for prayer. The pagans, learning of this gathering, rushed and apprehended all the Christians; Philemon, Apphia and Archippus, as leaders. At first, they were whipped and afterwards they were buried up to their waists and they began to stone them. Thus, they killed Philemon and Apphia and, Archippus they removed from the pit barely alive and left him to the amusement of the children. The children pierced him throughout with knives. Thus, this "fellow soldier" in battle ended well in the course of his

earthly path.

2. THE VENERABLE DOSITHEUS

Dositheus was a disciple of the glorious Abba Dorotheus who lived in the cenobitic monastic community of the Venerables Serdius, John and Barsanuphius the Great. Dositheus was a kinsman of a general and came to Jerusalem to visit the Holy Shrines. Once while he was gazing upon the icon of the Dreadful Judgment in a church, a woman clothed in purple attire approached him and began explaining the icon to him. Finally, before parting, she said that if you desire to be saved, you should fast, abstain from meat, and pray to God often. That was the All-Holy Virgin Birthgiver of God [The Theotokos]. The heart of the young Dositheus became inflamed, and he desired the life of a monk. Dorotheus received him as his novice

[Iskusenik] and ordered him to completely abandon his will and to obey his spiritual father. For a few days, he gave him as much as he wanted to eat. After a period of time, Dorotheus cut down his rations by one-fourth and after a period of time again, by one-fourth, until Dositheus became accustomed to get by with the least amount of food, always saying to Dositheus: "eating is a habit, and as much as a person is accustomed to eat, that much he will eat." He was saved and glorified by total obedience. He remained forever an example of monastic obedience and dedication to his spiritual father. This young saint lived in the sixth century.

HYMN OF PRAISE

Obedience without murmuring, salvation complete, Among the spiritual, the first pearl; stone most precious. This pearl, from Eve's necklace, unraveled, And after it, all the goods, by God, bestowed.

The devil speaks both then and now: To God, do not listen,

Rather, according to the thoughts of your mind, live only! Thus speaks the devil from time immemorial who detested the light, Thus speaking, the disobedient with his noose he fitted. Christ came, to the people cried out: the obedient He summoned, To every call, the disobedient did not respond.

The scene of Paradise from Christ until now, repeats itself,

The obedient to Paradise is raised; the disobedient falls.

To his spiritual father, the true monk is obedient,

The father to the Church, the Church to Christ, her Lord.

Obedience, the reliable path toward salvation is, Of the spiritual necklace; the first light, the first pearl.

St. Anthony teaches: "Just as a man comes froth naked from his mother's womb, so the soul comes forth naked from the body. One soul is pure and bright, the second is soiled by sin, and the third is blackened by many sins If a body comes forth from a mother's womb unhealthy, it cannot live; and so the soul, if it does not attain the knowledge of God through good behavior, it cannot be saved neither can it be in communion with God. The organ of bodily sight is the eye; the organ of spiritual sight is the mind. Just as the body is blind without eyes, so the soul is blind without a correct mind and correct life."

CONTEMPLATION

To contemplate the Lord Jesus in the midst of the common people:

1. How with love, He teaches the people as a parent teaches his children;

2. How the common people receive His words, astonished by His works and glorify God;

3. How even today, the common people, free from corruption, receive His words with joy and thanksgiving.

-About testing"The person who is trust worthy in very small matters is also trust worthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? " (St. Luke 16: 10-12). This is how the Householder of both the material and spiritual world speaks. Material wealth He calls "small" and the spiritual wealth He calls "great." To whomever material wealth is given and proves himself to be selfish, hardhearted, arrogant, unmerciful and godless, to him spiritual wealth cannot be given, for if he is unfaithful in small things, he will be unfaithful in great things; when he is unfaithful in the physical, he will be unfaithful in the spiritual.

Man undergoes a test in a foreign world, and if he passes the test, he will gain his own world; if, however, he fails the test, who will give him his world? Man's true world, his homeland, is the heavenly sublime, divine world. The earthly world, however, is the world of coarseness and deterioration; a foreign world for man. But man is sent into this foreign world to complete a test for that, his true world; for his heavenly homeland. Both expressions of the Savior, however, are similar in meaning. O how profound and true is their meaning! Just as light disperses darkness, so do these words of the Savior disperse our confusion in relation to that: why are we sent into this life? And what should we do? Whoever is able to read with a pure understanding, to him, everything is said in these two sentences.

Therefore, let us know that God will not bestow the spiritual gifts; the gift of understanding, nor the gift of faith, nor the gift of love, nor the gift of purity, nor the gift of prophecy, nor the gift of miracle-working, nor the gift of authority over demons, nor the gift of discernment, nor the gift of the vision of the heavenly world to him who has gambled and used these gifts for evil - as did the prodigal son - with the gifts of bodily health, or earthly riches or glory and position among men or knowledge of the material world or some other skill or ability. O Lord Most Gentle, sustain our fidelity toward You in that which You have entrusted to us. To You be glory and thanks always. Amen.

HYMN OF PRAISE

THE HOLY MARTYR CECILIA

Cecilia-strong in faith, rich in faithHer faith is more beautiful than the stars, more precious than gold. She nailed herself to the Lord, as to the Cross, And sacrificed youth, joy, marriage and honor for Christ!

The cruel demon could steal nothing from her;

And when only her body remained, she gave it to Christ. For the love of Christ, she gave the whole worldEven two worlds: her body and her pure soul. Thus does the flame of faith burn, and the flame of love, And by that flame, Cecilia glorified herself.

Every effort of learning is in vain without the effort of attaining purity of faith and life. The heavenly world is revealed not to the learned but to the pure. When St. Cecilia was led to the bridal chamber with her bridegroom Valerian on the first night, she said him: ``I want to tell you a mystery: standing here is an angel of God, the guardian of my virginity, whom you do not see. He stands ready to protect me, his handmaid, from assault. If you only touch me, he will kill you.'' Valerian begged Cecilia to show him the angel, so that he could see it, too. The virgin replied: ``You are a man who knows not the true God. You cannot see the angel of God until you cleanse yourself of the foulness of your unbelief.'' When Valerian was baptized, he saw the angel in great light and ineffable beauty. So, too,

when Valerian's brother Tiburtius changed his life from impurity to purity in baptism, he saw holy angels and spoke with them. Maximus their fellow sufferer as well, when the two brothers were beheaded, vowed with a great oath before the executioners and the people, saying: ``I see angels of God shining like the sun, taking the souls of these martyrs from their bodies like beautiful virgins from the bridal chamber, and leading them to heaven with great glory.'' But that which he saw, none of the impure unbelievers were able to see.

CONTEMPLATION

Contemplate the wondrous creation of the world (Genesis 2):

1. How God planted a paradisal garden in Eden and placed man there;

2. How God made trees in Paradise, beautiful to look at and good for food;

3. How God brought all the animals before man and he named them.

-on that which constitutes the unity of the faithful… One Lord, one Faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all (Ephesians 4:5-6). Here is the all-important and extremely obvious reason for all Christians to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3) and be one body and one spirit (Ephesians 4:4). For the One Lord Jesus Christ is our Creator, Redeemer and Resurrector. There are not two true Christs, that there should be division among us. One and the same blood was shed upon the Cross for us all, just as one and the same mouth prayed for us all in Gethsemane. We have one Faith in the Holy Trinity, undivided and life-creating-the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one in Essence and three in Persons-the Unbegotten Father, the Begotten Son and the Spirit proceeding from the Father.

We have one Baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This Baptism is by threefold immersion in water, for death to sin and the devil, and for the resurrection and life in Christ the Lord. One God and Father of all-the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God, Who through Christ and because of Christ adopts us and gives us the right to say to Him, Our Father. Do you see, my brethren, how strong are the bonds that unite us? Not even the stars themselves are bound by stronger bonds, nor the water to the earth, nor fire to the air. Do you see the overwhelming reasons that we have for unity? Everything else that, from the left hand, would urge us to division is inconsequential compared to these

reasons, like a grain of sand compared to the high mountains. The devil cannot destroy our unity if we do not help him. The devil can never conquer us if we do not surrender ourselves to him. O Lord Jesus, sweet and gracious, how firmly Thou hast bound us for eternal good! Keep us, we pray, in this bond. To You be glory and thanks always. Amen.