SEPTEMBER - 9 1. SAINTS JOACHIM AND ANNA

St. Joachim was of the lineage of Judah and a descendant of King David. Anna was the daughter of Matthan the priest, from the lineage of Levi, as was Aaron the high priest. Matthan had three daughters: Mary, Sophia and Anna. Mary married, lived in Bethlehem and gave birth to Salome; Sophia married, also lived in Bethlehem, and gave birth to Elizabeth, the mother of St. John the Forerunner; Anna married Joachim in Nazareth, and in old age gave birth to Mary, the Most-holy Theotokos. Joachim and Anna had lived together in marriage for fifty years, and yet had remained barren. They lived devoutly and quietly, and of all their income they spent one third on themselves, distributed one third to the poor and gave the other third to the Temple, and they were well provided for. Once when

The aged woman prayed; her prayer Thou didst accept.

in their old age they came to Jerusalem to offer a sacrifice to God, the high priest Issachar reprimanded Joachim, saying: ``You are not worthy that a gift be accepted from your hands, for you are childless.'' Others, who had children, pushed Joachim behind them as one unworthy. This greatly grieved these two aged souls and they returned home in great sorrow. Then the two of them fell down before God in prayer, that He work a miracle with them as He once had with Abraham and Sarah, and give them a child as a comfort in their old age. Then God sent His angel, who announced to them the birth of ``a daughter most-blessed, by whom all nations on earth will be blessed and through whom the salvation of the world will come.'' Anna straightway conceived, and in nine months gave birth to the Holy

Virgin Mary. St. Joachim lived for eighty years and Anna lived for seventy-nine, at which time they reposed in the Lord.

2. THE COMMEMORATION OF THE THIRD ECUMENICAL COUNCIL

This Council met in Ephesus in 431 at the time of Emperor Theodosius the Younger. There were two hundred Holy Fathers present at this Council. This Council condemned Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople, for his heretical teachings concerning the Most-holy Virgin Mary and the birth of the Lord. Nestorius did not want to call the Holy Virgin the Theotokos (Birth-giver of God), but rather the Christotokos (Birth-giver of Christ). The Holy Fathers condemned the teachings of Nestorius and confirmed that the Holy Virgin be called the Theotokos. Besides this, the Council confirmed the decisions of the First and Second Ecumenical Councils-especially as regarding the Nicaean-Constantinopolitan Creed, commanding that no one take from or add to the Creed.

3. THE HOLY MARTYR SEVERIAN

Severian was a nobleman from Sebaste. During the martyrdom of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (March 9), he visited them in prison, encouraging and ministering to them. After their glorious repose he too was arrested, beaten and tortured for Christ. Finally, he was hanged from a tree with a heavy stone around his neck and another dangling from his feet. Giving thanks to God for everything, Severian gave up his spirit. This was during the reign of Emperor Licinius, in the year 320.

4. SAINT THEOPHANES THE CONFESSOR AND FASTER

After a God-pleasing life and much suffering, Theophanes reposed peacefully in the year 299.

5. SAINT NICETAS THE GOD-PLEASER

Nicetas lived in Constantinople in the twelfth century. He so pleased God by his life that the church doors opened of themselves before him, and the icon lamps lit by themselves. Such was the power of his prayer. At the wish of Deacon Sozon, and by the prayer of Nicetas, a priest appeared from the other world, from whom Sozon had been estranged and had remained unreconciled. There first appeared a row of priests vested in white and then another row of priests in red vestments. Sozon recognized his former opponent among them, and made peace with him. This occurred at night, in the Blachernae Church.

HYMN OF PRAISE

SAINTS JOACHIM AND ANNA

Be glad, O barren one; Be glad, O aged Anna. You will conceive and give birth To a wondrous child, a chosen oneAs once did the aged Sarah, And the mother of Samson, And the mother of Samuel, And the mother of JohnYet you will be more glorious than all, For you will give birth from the womb To the wonderful Virgin, the only Wonderful Mother of the Most-high King. Be glad, O Joachim, Father of the unprecedented mother, Of whom the Creator desires To be clothed with glory.

The Law loses its power

When God wills, and where He wills. Who can gainsay God? Can there be any dispute with God? Not by disputation, but by love Does God change His laws. Before love, all laws Are as if nonexistent. When men hunger, the Lord Makes the dry field fertile; And because of the spiritual hunger of the world, He makes the barren one fertile. For the salvation of men, the Lord Arranges all for the best. That is why all the Church of the saints Cries out to Him: Glory! Glory!

One should not give alms with pride but rather with humility, considering the one to whom the alms are given to be better than oneself. Did not the Lord Himself say: Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me (Matthew 25:40)? Theophanes the Confessor possessed a mind illumined by the light of Christ, even as a child. Once, while walking along the street, he saw a naked child freezing. He quickly removed his clothes, clothed the child and thus warmed him and brought him back to life. He then returned home naked. His startled parents asked him: ``Where are your clothes?'' To this Theophanes replied: ``I clothed Christ.'' This is why he was given the grace of Christ, and was later a great ascetic, a sufferer for the Christian Faith and a

miracle-worker. Often, when we give alms, either in someone else's name or in our own name, we cannot avoid pride which, as soon as it appears in the heart, destroys all the good deeds performed. When we give to the beggar as to a beggar and not as to Christ, we cannot avoid pride or disdain. What value is there in performing an act of mercy, while taking pride in ourselves and disdaining the man? Virtue is not a virtue when it is mixed with sin, just as milk is not milk when it is mixed with gasoline or vinegar.

CONTEMPLATION

Contemplate the wisdom of Solomon (I Kings 3):

1. How two women disputed over a child, and each said that the child was hers;

2. How Solomon ordered that the child be cut in two; and one half be given to each woman;

3. How the real mother cried out for the child, and thus made it known that the child was hers.

-On God's testimony of HimselfIf I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true (John 5:31). This is how the Lord spoke to a false and lying people. He spoke these words to the elders of the Jews, not as an instruction, but rather as a reproach. They did not believe one man when he spoke for himself, but rather sought two witnesses. Brethren, do not even think that what the Lord says of Himself is not true-but rather, that the Jews did not consider it as true. From this, according to the interpretation of our Holy Fathers, the words My witness is not true must be understood to mean that this witness was not true in the eyes of the Jews. That every word that the Lord Jesus spoke about Himself is true He expressed in another place, saying: Though I bear record of Myself, yet My

record is true (John 8:14). Here the Lord teaches, there He reproaches; here He confirms how a thing is; there, how the thing seemed to be to the Jews. The Jews did not believe His witness about Himself, but sought other witnesses. Therefore, He cited three great witnesses-the witness of His own works: The same works that I do, bear witness of Me (John 5:36); the witness of His Heavenly Father, Who bore witness to Him as His Son at the Jordan and on Mount Tabor: And the Father himself, which hath sent Me, hath borne witness of Me (John 5:37); and finally, the witness of the Holy Scriptures: Search the scriptures … they are they which testify of Me (John 5:39). With a bit of understanding, what other kind of witness would a man require? But the understanding of the Jewish elders was

darkened to so great an extent that they were unable to see or understand anything. When the Lord, the Lover of Mankind, did all that was necessary to save the Jewish elders, and when they rejected all the witnesses about Him, thereby rejecting even their own salvation, He then said to them: Though I bear record of Myself, yet My record is true (John 8:14). O my brethren, let us not be stony-hearted as were those blind elders, and let us not reject our only salvation. We do not seek any other witnesses, but rather believe that which the Lord Jesus alone says of Himself. He said of Himself, I am … the Truth (John 14:6), and it is by this Truth that we are nourished and saved. O Lord Jesus, the Living Truth, the Eternal Truth-do not withdraw from us, but enlighten us and save us.

To You be glory and thanks always. Amen.

2. SAINT HANNAH, MOTHER OF THE PROPHET SAMUEL

Hannah was the wife of Elkanah from Ramathaim Zophim or Arimathea (I Samuel 1:1-2). Hannah had not given birth to any children because she was barren, and this caused her to weep and grieve bitterly. But the Merciful God showed pity on her and removed her barrenness because of her ceaseless sighs and prayers. Hannah bore a son, Samuel, and dedicated him to God from his childhood. Samuel was a great leader of the nation of Israel and a prophet, who anointed two kings, Saul and David. St. Hannah sang a hymn of thanksgiving to God, a hymn wonderful both in its wisdom and its beauty, which is used even to this day in the services of the Church (I Samuel 2:1).

3. THE VENERABLE STEPHEN THE NEW LIGHT

This God-pleaser was born and brought up in Constantinople in the home of his parents, Zacharias and Theophano. His father was a priest of the Great Church at the time of Patriarch Methodius. While carrying him in her womb, his mother fed only on bread and water, and when the child was born a cross of light shone on his chest. Because of this and because of his pure and God-pleasing life, he is called the ``New Light.'' At the age of eighteen Stephen enclosed himself in a cell near the Church of St. Peter the Apostle, and there he gave himself up to the ascetic labor of fasting and prayer. Once St. Peter appeared to him and said: ``Peace be to you, my child. You have made a good beginning. May the Lord strengthen you.'' Following this, he lived for many years in a cell by the

Church of the Holy Martyr Antipas. This saint also appeared to him and encouraged him with the words: ``Know that I will not abandon you.'' Stephen imposed even greater and greater hardships upon himself. He ate only twice a week and then only unsalted vegetables. This holy man lived a life of asceticism for fifty-five years for the sake of Christ's Kingdom and entered into rest in the Lord in the year 829, at the age of seventy-three.

4. SAINT SOPHRONIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF CYPRUS

Sophronius was born and brought up in Cyprus. Because of his great spiritual learning and his many virtues, especially compassion, he was appointed archbishop following St. Damian. Having faithfully served the Church and pleased God, Sophronius died peacefully in the sixth century.

HYMN OF PRAISE

THE CONCEPTION OF THE MOST-HOLY THEOTOKOS BY SAINT ANNA

O Most-glorious God, wonderful and marvelous, Kind and merciful toward all creation,

The proud dost Thou overturn, the humble dost Thou raise;

Thou Who dost extinguish, Thou Who makest to live, According to Thy plan, O Creator, Thou canst do all, According to Thy plan, eternal and divine. With Thy blessing, the fertile earth brings forth fruit; By Thy holy word, Thou settest a seal upon the barren. From one who gives birth, Thou canst take away, And for the barren one, Thou canst bring forth good fruit. Thou madest fertile the barren Anna; Thou didst grant her a holy and noble daughter. That which was the subject of mockery, Thou didst crown with glory;

The dream of a childless woman Thou didst openly surpass.

The seal of barrenness Thou didst remove from her body;

Her dead body Thou didst fill with life; Thou gavest her a Virgin, wondrous in beauty, And a daughter was born, the Most-holy Virgin, A Daughter, a Mother, and the Mother of God! According to Thy plan, O Creator, Thou canst do all, According to Thy plan, eternal and divine.

Fear of God drives all fear from the hearts of men. In every great hierarch of the Orthodox Church, we see meekness and fearlessness wonderfully united. St. Nicholas grabbed the sword of the executioner and pulled it away so that innocent men would not be beheaded. St. Chrysostom reproached the Empress Eudoxia for her misdeeds without consideration for the unpleasantness and danger to his own life, to which he was exposed as a result. And there are many, many other examples similar to this: Emperor Valentinian the Elder, upon hearing of Ambrose's stern criticism of him, said: ``I knew of your fearlessness; that is why I helped you to be chosen as bishop. Correct our faults as the Law of God teaches, and heal our unrighteousness.'' When Valentinian the Younger, at the instigation of

his mother Justina, an Arian, ordered that the cathedral church in Milan be yielded to the heretics, Ambrose shut himself in the church with the faithful and would not come out for three days. He sent a message to the emperor and empress that, if they desired his death, he was prepared at any moment ``here in the church to be run through either by the sword or spear.'' Hearing this, the emperor and empress withdrew their decree. When a riot occurred in Thessalonica, at which time about seven thousand people were beheaded by the decree of Emperor Theodosius the Great, Ambrose became so enraged at the emperor that, when the emperor visited Milan and wished to enter the church, the saint forbade him. The emperor said to Ambrose: ``Even David sinned and was not deprived of God's

mercy.'' To this the bishop replied: ``As you have imitated David in sin, imitate him also in repentance.'' The emperor was ashamed, turned back and repented bitterly of the sin he had committed.

CONTEMPLATION

Contemplate the righteousness of the righteous Noah (Genesis 6):

1. How all men were corrupt and wicked;

2. How, amidst universal corruption, Noah alone remained righteous and lived according to the will of God.

-on NoahNoah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God (Genesis 6:9). To be righteous among the righteous is a great and praiseworthy deed, but how far greater and more praiseworthy a deed it is to be righteous among the unrighteous. Noah lived among men who were filled with unrighteousness and evil; he lived among them for five hundred years and remained righteous before God: Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord (Genesis 6:8). The Most-high Judge, who looks at all the works of mankind and evaluates them without prejudice and without error, valued the labors of Noah because, in the midst of a corrupt and perverse generation, he remained in the righteousness of God; and God rewarded him with His grace. Assuredly, Noah endured much misery

and bitterness from his evil neighbors. Assuredly, he was unable to have a friend among them. The greatest satisfaction for a sinner is to drag a righteous man down into his own mire and to share his sin with him. But Noah did not allow himself to be dragged down or misled. Noah favored God's friendship over that of unrighteous men. It was dearer to him to walk with God without men, than to walk with men without God. Fear of God, the Creator and Judge, preserved him from the worldwide corruption; and he was not only righteous but also perfect in his generations. That is, he did not allow himself, even in the least, to be contaminated by the common evil, but rather he cleaved to God's righteousness. The allurement of sin and the ridicule of the sinners: everything merely served to

separate him all the more from them. When the universal flood befell the human race, God did not abandon his faithful Noah to perish with the others. Instead, He saved him and glorified him, making him the progenitor of a new generation of men. Brethren, this shining example of Noah teaches that each one of us can please God even in the midst of sinners, if only we want to. O Righteous and Long-suffering God, uphold us on the path of Thy righteousness. To You be glory and thanks always. Amen.