Sunday

Galatians 5:  I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Prayer:  O my God I firmly believe that Thou art one God in three Divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; I believe that Thy Divine Son became man, and died for our sins, and that he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches, because Thou hast revealed them, who canst neither deceive nor be deceived. (Act of Faith)

Monday
**Readings from St Nikolai’s Prologue this week

The Jews say: “The foundation is Moses.” The Moslems say: “The foundation is Mohammed.” The shortsighted naturalists say: “The foundation is nature.” We ask: Did Moses resurrect from the dead? Did Mohammed ascend into heaven? Does nature bestow the Holy Spirit, the Comforter? Moses did not resurrect. Mohammed did not ascend into heaven. Nature not only does not bestow the Holy Spirit the Comforter upon men, but breathes hatred against man and growls at him and shows its claws. The foundation of the world cannot be one who was conceived in sin; who himself sinned; who wandered and sought counsel in women; who, by someone else’s power, performed certain works; who crumbled in the grave; and whose name leads to confusion as to the way, the truth and the life. Mohammed and Moses were conceived in sin and they committed sins; they sought counsel from women; with the power of others they performed deeds; in the grave they lay decomposed; their names lead men to confusion about the way, the truth and the life. That is why, brethren, we have nowhere to turn in history to seek another such foundation except the Lord Jesus Christ, Who was conceived without sin; Who did not commit any sin; Who did not wander and Who did not seek counsel from anyone; Who by His own power performed mighty deeds; Who did not decay in the grave; and Whose name does not lead men into confusion regarding the way, the truth and the life. The Apostle does not say that Christ laid down some foundation but that He Himself is that established foundation. He is all justice; that is why He is the foundation of every justice. He is all truth; that is why He is the foundation of every truth. He is all wisdom; that is why He is the foundation of every wisdom. He is all power; that is why He is the foundation of every power. He is all good; that is why He is the foundation of every good. He is all life; that is why He is the foundation of life in both worlds, in this and in the next.

Prayer:  Having risen from sleep I hasten to Thee, O Lord, Lover of men, and by Thy loving-kindness I strive to do Thy work, and I pray to Thee:  help me at all times, in everything, and deliver me from every evil thing of the world and every attack of the devil, and lead me into Thine eternal Kingdom. For Thou art my Creator, the Giver and Provider of everything good, and all my hope is in Thee, and to Thee I send up glory, now and ever, and to the ages of ages.  Amen.
*Prayer for the next day’s morning

Tuesday

“Guard your heart!” These words were spoken in the past by experienced ascetics. Father John of Kronstadt says the same thing in our days: “The heart is refined, spiritual and heavenly by nature. Guard it. Do not overburden it; do not make it earthly; be temperate to the utmost in food and drink, and in bodily pleasures in general. The heart is the temple of God. If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy (I Corinthians 3: 17).” Spiritual experience in ancient times and spiritual experience in our time is identical, under the condition that the confession of faith is identical. The heavenly knowledge to which the ascetics of old attained does not differ from the heavenly knowledge to which the ascetics of today attain. For, as Christ is the same today and tomorrow, so it is with human nature. The main thing is: the human heart is the same; its thirst and its hunger are the same; and nothing is able to satisfy it but the glory, power and riches of God.

 

Prayer:  Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears! Turn, then, O most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
*Salve Regina

Wednesday

A person does not have Christ who has Him only on his tongue. Neither does a person have Christ who has Him only on paper. Neither does a person have Christ who has Him only on the wall. Neither does a person have Christ who has Him only in a museum of the past. A person truly has Christ who has Him in his heart. For Christ is Love and the throne of Love is the heart. If Christ is in your heart, then, for you, He is God. If He is only on your tongue, or on paper, or on a wall, or in a museum of the past— and even if you call Him God— for you, He is but a toy. Beware then, O man, for no one can play around with God without punishment. The heart is a seemingly narrow organ, but God can dwell in it. When God dwells in it, then it is filled, and filled to overflowing, and nothing else can stand in it. If, however, the whole world were to settle in it, it would remain empty without God. Brethren, let Christ, the resurrected and living Lord, pour faith into your hearts, and your hearts will be filled, and filled to overflowing. He cannot enter and dwell in your hearts except through your faith. If you do not possess faith, Christ will remain only on your tongue, or on paper, or on the wall, or in a museum of the past. What benefit is there for you in that? What benefit is there for you in holding life on your tongue and death in your heart? For, if you hold the world in your heart and Christ on your tongue, you hold death in your heart and life on your tongue. Water on the tongue of the thirsty does not help. Let the living Christ into your heart, and you will be permeated with the truth and you will sense unspeakable sweetness.

 

Prayer:  Queen of Heaven rejoice, alleluia: For He whom you merited to bear, alleluia, Has risen as He said, alleluia. Pray for us to God, alleluia. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia. Because the Lord is truly risen, alleluia.
Let us pray : O God, who by the Resurrection of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, granted joy to the whole world: grant we beg Thee, that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, His Mother, we may lay hold of the joys of eternal life. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
*Regina Coeli

Thursday

At the time of the First Ecumenical Council [Nicaea, 325], the quarreling clerics wrote accusations one against the other and presented them to the emperor. Emperor Constantine received all of these accusations and, not opening them, burned them over a lit candle. To the amazement of those around him, the emperor said: “If I saw with my own eyes a bishop, a priest or a monk in a sinful act, I would cover him with my cloak, so that no one would ever see his sin.” Thus, this great Christian emperor embarrassed the scandalmongers and sealed their mouths. Our Faith prohibits us from being spies of the sins of others and stresses that we be merciless judges of our own sins. The sick person in the hospital is concerned with his own particular malady, so that he has neither the will nor the time to question others who are ill or to mock their illness. Are we not all in this world as patients in a hospital? Does not our own common sense emphasize that we look at our own illness and not at another’s? Let no one think that he will be cured of his illness in the other world. It is this world that is the hospital and place for healing; in the next world there is no hospital; there is either a palace or a prison.

 

Prayer:  The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.   And she conceived of the Holy Ghost.
Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and in the hour of our death.
Behold the handmaid of the Lord.  Be it done unto me according to thy word.  (Repeat HM)

Friday

There are no contradictions in Holy Scripture, and even in these words there is no contradiction, though it sounds like there is. The physical is governed by sound, while the spiritual is governed by meaning. For physical man, there are contradictions everywhere, for he is afraid of obstacles and flees from a shadow if it seems to be an obstacle for him. The spiritual man is like a knight who likes to overcome obstacles. For the spiritual man, the entire science of salvation is hidden in these words of Scripture. For when I am weak, then am I strong. That is, when I am cognizant of my nothingness and the omnipotence of God, then I am strong. When I know that I, of myself alone, cannot do any good either for myself or for others, and when I totally entrust myself to the power and mercy of God, then I am strong. When I sense that I am as a drowning person in this world, and that I am not in a position to grasp the extended hand of God and to hold onto it by my own strength, but instead cry out to God that He take hold of my hand and pull me out of the depths of the sinful abyss, then I am strong. When I see that I am weak and that I am a hollow reed amidst the tempest of winds and floods— a reed that God is able to fill with His almighty grace— and when I pray with faith for God’s grace, then I am strong.

Prayer:  And the Word became Flesh.  And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and in the hour of our death.
Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.  That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray. Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that, we to whom the Incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an Angel, may by His Passion and Cross, be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord.

Saturday

In the course of an uprising in Constantinople during the reign of Emperor Constantine, some embittered men broke off the nose and ears of the statue of the emperor in the city. Many flatterers quickly came to the emperor and with great disgust told the emperor how rebels had broken the nose and ears from his statue, and they asked the emperor to punish the transgressors with the most severe punishment. The great emperor felt his nose and ears with his hands and said to the flatterers: “I feel that my nose and ears are whole and undamaged!” The flatterers were ashamed and withdrew. With such royal magnanimity we all need to endure insults from others. Yet let us listen with particular caution to the accusations against others that our flatterers bring to us. We should always confess before God and before ourselves that we, because of our sins, deserve even greater insults than those that are perpetrated against us.

Prayer:  May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.