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St Simeon the Host of God This Simeon was chosen, in the time of the Egyptian Pharaoh Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-246 B.C.), as one of the famous Seventy to whom was committed the task of translating the Bible from the Hebrew into Greek. Simeon worked conscientiously, but when, translating the Prophet Isaiah, he came to the prophecy: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son", he was puzzled and took a knife to scratch out the word "virgin" and substitute "young woman", and thus translate it into Greek. But at that moment an angel of God appeared to him and held him back from his intention, explaining to him that the prophecy was true and rightly-expressed. And to confirm its veracity, the messenger from God said that he, Simeon, by the will of God, would not die until he had seen the Messiah born of a virgin. The righteous Simeon rejoiced at these heavenly tidings, left the prophecy unchanged and thanked God that He had found him worthy to live to see the Promised One. When the Christ Child was brought to the Temple in Jerusalem by the Virgin Mary, the Spirit of God revealed this to Simeon, who was now a very old man with snow-white hair. He went quickly to the Temple and found there both the Virgin and the Child, bathed in a light that shone round their heads like a halo. The joyful elder took Christ in his arms and prayed God to let him leave this world: "Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart ... according to Thy word, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation." Thither came also Anna the prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, who recognised the Messiah and made Him known to the people. Anna was then 84 years old. Soon after that, St Simeon departed this life. This righteous elder is venerated as the protector of young children.The Holy Martyrs Adrian and Eubulus These two holy souls came from their home town, Baneas, in Caesarea of Cappadocia, to visit imprisoned Christians and to uphold and encourage them. They themselves were taken and condemned to death, Adrian being slain with the sword and Eubulus thrown to the wild beasts, in the year 309. And, thus with no trace of lament for this life, they entered with joy and honour into eternal life.St Jacob, the Archbishop of SerbiaMartyr Blaise of Caesarea, in Cappadocia Saint Blaise of Caesarea lived in the third century. He was from Caesarea in Cappadocia (Asia Minor) and was a shepherd.
When a persecution against Christians began, St Blaise surrendered himself into the hands of the torturers. They subjected him to torture, and beat him with leather thongs, but the Lord healed his wounds. They then threw Blaise into a cauldron of boiling water, but he remained there unharmed. The pagan soldiers, seeing this miracle, came to believe in Christ.
The governor, wishing to show that the martyr remained unharmed because the water had cooled, jumped into the cauldron and died.
Having brought many to faith in Christ, St Blaise peacefully surrendered his soul to God. They thrust the saint’s shepherd’s staff into the ground, and it grew up into a large tree, which covered with its branches a church built over his relics.
Troparion — Tone 4
Your holy martyr Blaise, O Lord, / through his suffering has received an incorruptible crown from You, our God. / For having Your strength, he laid low his adversaries, / and shattered the powerless boldness of demons. / Through his intercessions, save our souls!
Holy, Righteous Anna the Prophetess According to St Luke’s Gospel, “And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Aser. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband for seven years from her virginity; and she was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not leave the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming at that very hour, also gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption at Jerusalem” (Luke 2:36-38).
Kontakion — Tone 3
Let the godly pair be praised together: / Simeon the Righteous and Anna the Prophetess, well-pleasing to God. / They became witnesses of the Incarnate Lord / when they saw Him as an infant; / together they worshipped Him.
Prophet Azarias (10th c.B.C.) He lived and prophesied in tenth century B.C., during the reign of Asa, King of Judea. He predicted the help of God to this king for his piety and troubles, which must overtake the Judeans because of their sins. (2 Chronicles 15).Martyrs Papias, Diodorus, and Claudianus at Perge in Pamphylia (250)They confessed the Christian faith in Perge, in Pamphylia, during the reign of the Emperor Decian, for which they were seized and, after various tortures, were beheaded in 250. There is witness that these martyrs were all natural brothers. New Martyrs Stamatius and John, brothers, and Nicholas their companion, in Chios (1822) St Simeon the Bishop of Polotsk and Tver Saint Simeon, Bishop of Tver was descended from the Polotsk princes. He was the seventh bishop of Polotsk and the first bishop of the Tver diocese. The saint’s cathedra was first at Polotsk, but hostile attacks and conflicts with the Lithuanian princes, and the murder of the Polotsk prince (his relative) in 1263, compelled him to move to Tver (Prince Yaroslav Yaroslavich had become Great Prince of Russia, and he chose Tver as his ruling city).
St Simeon was well-disposed and kind to the down-trodden and destitute, attentive to the monastic and priestly orders, and a zealous defender of truth.
The Nikonov Chronicle relates that this holy bishop was “knowledgeable about medicine, and well versed in the books of Holy Scripture; he was a teacher, a virtuous man, concerned for the needy, widows and orphans, a defender of the down-trodden and deliverer of the oppressed.”
History preserves for us a conversation of St Simeon with Prince Constantine of Polotsk who, wishing to make a jest about his court, asked the saint at supper: “Where shall the courts be in that world?” Simeon answered, “Those courts shall also be where the prince is.”
The prince did not care for this, and he said, “A court might judge unjustly, and take bribes, or torture people, and is it I who do the harm?” The bishop explained to him, “If a prince is good and God-fearing, and is concerned for the people, and loves truth and he appoints good, God-fearing, intelligent and truth-loving men to his council, that prince shall be in Paradise and his court with him. If, however, a prince is without the fear of God, and is not concerned for Christians and does not think of orphans and widows, and if he appoints wicked counselors who lack integrity in order to bring him money, that prince shall be in Hell and his court with him.”
St Simeon died on February 3, 1289. St. Sviatoslav-Gabriel and his son St. Dimitry of Yuriev (1253) Right-Believing Prince Roman of Uglich The Holy Right-Believing Prince Roman of Uglich, son of Prince Vladimir and Princess Photina of Uglich, and nephew of St Basil (Basilko) of Rostov (March 4), was born on October 1, 1235. Upon the death of his father (in 1248) and his older brother Andrew (in 1261), St Roman, at the age of twenty-six, took upon himself the governance of Uglich and became a father to his subjects.
He established a poor-house and took in the destitute, who came to him from everywhere. In the principality he built fifteen more churches. St Roman was present every day at the divine services, and he often conversed with pious monks.
After the death of his wife in 1280, he devoted himself entirely to ascetic exploits of fasting, prayer and works of righteousness. He built the city Romanov (now Tutaev) on the high bank of the Volga. The holy prince died peacefully on February 3, 1285 and was buried in the Church of the Transfiguration in Uglich.
In 1486, the relics of St Roman were found to be incorrupt and were transferred into the new cathedral Church of the Transfiguration. In the year 1595 with the blessing of Patriarch Job in consequence of the fame concerning miracles the relics were witnessed to by the Metropolitan (later Patriarch) St Hermogenes (February 17), and St Roman was numbered among the saints. In 1609, the holy relics were burned along with the church during an invasion by the Poles. |
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