November 15, Saint Machutus, Bishop and Confessor

November 15, Saint Machutus Bishop and Confessor

St. Machutus

Machutus, better known as Malo, was a Welshman who became a monk and went to Brittany, where he settled among the pagans, and began to preach to them, at a place them called Aleth, but now called Malo. And after he had made many converts, he was consecrated to the episcopate. * But violent discords grew up in his flock, and well nigh broke his heart ; so that he left, with thirty of his monks, and went to Saintes. Where after several years a deputation from Aleth waited upon him, and with tears implored him to return, for they said that with his departure the light had gone, and darkness had settled down upon Brittany. * But Malo returned only long enough to set things somewhat in order, and then went back to Saintes ; for he knew that his end was near, and he was fain to die there. Which same he did in the peace of God, and the year of salvation 621.
　

Collect:

Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that the devout observance of this festival of blessed Malo, thy confessor and Bishop, may be profitable unto us for our advancement in all godliness, and for the attainment of everlasting salvation, through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

Alternate Matins Lesson for this Sunday, November 14 2010

In some uses of the Western Rite, this Sunday adopts the Lessons and some of the Propers for the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany. I believe this is due to the variable length of the season resulting from the movable nature of the feast of Pascha.

Saint Athanasius

VI Sunday after Epiphany

From a Sermon by Saint Athanasius the Bishop


If the hereticks had but known the Person, the matter, and the time whereof the Apostle spake, when he was writing his Epistle to the Hebrews, they would never have behaved so wickedly and foolishly toward Christ as to attribute human qualities to his Godhead. This will be easily seen if ye will but read the beginning of the passage on which we are commenting, and consider it carefully. The Apostle there saith : God, who at sundry times and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the Prophets, hath in theses last days spoken unto us by his Son. And again, a little further on : When the Son had purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high ; being made so much better than the Angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent Name than they. The Apostle doth here expressly specify the time wherein God hath spoken unto us by his Son, namely : When the son had by himself purged our sins. Let us ask, then, when it was that God spake unto us by his Son? Or when did the Son purge our sins? Or when was he born Man? And the Apostle answereth : After God spake unto the fathers by the Prophets : namely: In these last days.
The Apostle, when about to enter upon a discussion of the human dispensation of the Word, which as he saith began in these last days, naturally mentioned first that God had been silent in time past, but had spoken unto the fathers by the Prophets. And secondly, he saith that after the Prophets had discharged their office, and the Law had been given by the ministry of Angels, then the Son also came down unto us to minister. Whereupon he addeth : Being made so much better than the Angels : to shew that as the Son differeth from a servant, so the ministry of the Son must have been better than the ministry and office of the Angels who are not sons but servants.

Russian Icon of Athanasius

It was for this reason that the Apostle, seeing the difference between the new ministry of the Son and the old of the Angels, maketh very bold in writing and speaking to the Hebrews. For this cause, therefore, he doth not compare the details of the two ministries, and then come to the general conclusion that the new was greater or more honorable than the old. For if he had so done, some might have reasoned therefrom that the two ministries were of the same kind : and on this wise thay might be misled to think that the Apostle’s conclusion (to wit, that the new ministry is better than the old) was arrived at by comparing the degrees in each of things which the two ministries had in common. Therefore he saith plainly that the Son himself was made better than the Angels, to distinguish at once and completely the nature of the Son from the nature of things created.

Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity

Matins Lesson: A Homily By St Jerome the Priest

The eighth recorded miracle should have been that which was wrought when a certain ruler, desiring not to be kept out of the mystery of the true Circumcision, besought Christ to recall his daughter to life. But a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood, thrust herself in, and so her cure occupieth the eighth place, for which reason the raising of the ruler’s daughter is postponed and made the ninth in enumeration, even as it is written in the psalms : Then shall the princes come out of Egypt ; the Morian’s land shall soon stretch out her hands unto God. And again (as saith the Apostle) : Blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in ; and so all Israel shall be saved.

So it is that we read: And, behold a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment. In the Gospel according to Luke it is written that the ruler’s daughter was about twelve years of age. Note therefore that this woman, who typifies the Gentiles, had been diseased for the same time that the Jewish nation, typified by the ruler’s daughter, had been living in faith. For we see not clearly the hideousness of evil, until we compare it with good.

This woman with the issue of blood came not to the Lord in a house or in a city, for all such as she were by the Law banished out of cities. Rather, she came to him in the way, as he walked ; so it was that the Lord healed one, even while he was on the road to heal another. Whence also the Apostles said : It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you ; but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

Antiphon on the Benedictus:

For she said within herself, if I may but touch the hem of his garment, * I shall be whole.
　

Collect:

O Lord, we beseech thee, absolve thy people from their offences; that, through thy bountiful goodness, we may all be delivered from the hands of those sins, which by our frailty we have committed. Grant this, O heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

Antiphon on the Magnificat:

But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said * Daughter, be of good comfort ; thy faith hath made thee whole, alleluia.

Saint Britius, Bishop and Martyr, November 13

Saint Britius, Bishop and Confessor

Ss.Brice and Martin of Tours

Britius, also called Brice, was trained form childhood by Saint Martin of Tours in the monastery of Marmoutier. But in spite of his monastic profession, he became a passionate, arrogant, and avaricious priest ; and whenever his spiritual father Martin rebuked him, he retaliated with abuse and counter-accusations. However, when holy Martin was asked to depose him form the priesthood, he replied : If Christ bore with Judas, why not Martin with Brice? * For at times the young priest would return to Martin with a penitence as passionate as his rebellion had been. So that, in the long run, through the prayers and charity of Saint Martin, Brice reformed ; and when Martin died, he became bishop in his stead. Then began grievous trials for Brice ; and among other things he was unjustly charged with seducing a nun, and thereby forced out of his diocese. And although he vindicated himself form most of the charges, he patiently and cheerfully accepted exile at Rome as a penance for the many sins of arrogance and avarice of which he knew he had been guilty. * After almost twenty years of banishment and penance, when his successor in the See of Tours had died, the Pope ordered him to return and assume the office again. And so changed was he that his people knew him to be a Saint of God on earth. Thereupon he ruled his diocese for seven years ; and having built a church over the body of his beloved master Martin, he went to God, after an episcopate of forty-seven years, namely, in the year 444 ; and straitway his feast began to be kept at Tours, and afterwards throughout Europe.

Collect:

Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God ; that the devout observance of this festival of blessed Britius, thy Confessor and Bishop, may be profitable unto us for our advancement in all godliness, and for the attainment of everlasting salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Saint Martin I Pope and Martyr, November 12

Saint Martin I Pope and Martyr



Martin, concerning whose life we know much from the Liber Pontificalis and from his letters, was born at Todi in Tuscany. In those days it was customary, before the consecration of a Pope, to get the confirmation of the election from the Emperor ; but when Martin was elected, he did not seek it, because this same, Constans II, had placed himself outside the Church through heresy. At the beginning of his Popedom, however, in the year 649, he was careful to send an ambassage with letters to Paul, Patriarch of Constantinople, to call upon him to return to the truth of the Orthodox Faith from the blasphemous heresy of the Monothelites. But Paul, backed up by the heretical Emperor, banished the Legates of the Roman See into divers places in the Islands. This evil deed moved the Pope to gather together at the Lateran a council of one hundred and five bishops, by whom Paul was condemned, and certain heretical edicts of the Emperor were censured. * Thereupon Constans sent his Chamberlain Olympius into Italy, as Exarch, straitly commanding him to bring to naught this resistance of Pope Martin to the Monothelites. But Olympius found no way to bring harm to Martin, and soon departed. Whereupon Constans sent the Exarch Theodore Calliopas to Rome, with command to lay hands on the Pope. By him Martin was treacherously taken to the Island of Naxos. Later he was brought to Constantinople, where he was kept in prison till he was sent to the Crimea. * There his sufferings for the Orthodox Faith utterly broke him down ; and he left this life in the eighth year of his pontificate, on September 16^th, 655. November 12^th is reputed to be the day of his translation, for his body was afterwards brought to Rome, and buried in the Church dedicated under the names of Saints Sylvester and Martin of Tours. He sat Saint Peters Chair for six years, one month, and twenty-six days, and was the last the Popes to be honored with the Martyr’s title. He held two ordinations in the month of December, wherein he made eleven priests, five deacons, and thirty-three bishops divers  places. 　

Pope Saint Martin I

　
A Homily by St. Gregory the Pope

Dearly beloved brethren, if we consider what and how great things are promised us in heaven, all things which are upon earth grow poor in our mind. For when this world’s goods are reckoned against heavenly rewards, they are found to be a hindrance rather than a help. Earthly life, being compared to life eternal, ought rather to be called death than life. For what is the daily failing of our corruptible body but, as it were, a slow death? And what tongue can tell, or what mind comprehend, how great is the rejoicing in the city above? For there they have part with the choirs of Angels, and stand with those blessed spirits before the glory of the Creator, and see God face to face, and gaze upon Light Incomprehensible, and have no fear of death, but rejoice in the gift of an incorruption which is eternal.

When we hear these things our hearts burn within us. And we long to be already there, where we hop to rejoice eternally. But we cannot attain unto great rewards save through great labour. Therefore saith the mighty preacher Paul: No man is crowned except he strive lawfully. If the greatness of the reward delighted the mind, then the pressure of the struggle cannot make the heart grow faint. Therefore the truth saith to all who would come to him : If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

Collect:

Almighty God, mercifully look upon our infirmities: that whereas we are afflicted by the burden of our sins: the glorious intercession of thy Martyr and Pope, blessed Martin, may be our succour and defense, through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

November 11th, Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop and Confessor

Saint Martin of Tours

Martin (according to the account written of his life by his friend Saint Sulpicius Severus, from which is taken most of what is herein given for his feast) was born at Sabaria, in Pannonia. When he was ten years old he became a catechumen, in spite of his father and mother, who were heathens. Now his father was an officer in the army, who had risen from the ranks ; and therefore Martin, at the age of fifteen, was forced into the army against his will, and served as a soldier first under Constantius and then under Julian. Once at the gate of Amiens a poor man asked of him an alms for Christ’s Name’s sake, and since he had nothing to his hand but his arms and his clothes, he gave him half of his cloak. In the night following he dreamt that Christ appeared to him clad in the half of his cloak, and saying to the Angels who bore him company: While Martin was yet a catechumen, he clad me in this garment. Whereupon Martin made haste to be baptized.

He was eighteen years of age when he thus put on Christ, and thereafter he gave up the life of a soldier, and betook himself to Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, by whom he was placed in the order of acolytes. Being afterwards made Bishop of Tours, and that much against his will, (for he was taken by force and consecrated,) he gave himself to his office with diligence. But for his Episcopal residence, he built at Tours a monastery wherein he lived in holiness, in company of four-score monks. Famous for holy works and many miracles, he at last fell sick of a grievous fever at Candes, a remote village in his diocese, and besought God in constant prayer to set him free form the prison of his dying body. But when his disciples expostulated with him, he changed his prayer and said : Lord, if I be still needful to thy people, I refuse not to labour!



St. Martin of Tours

 When his disciple saw him, in the height of the fever, lying upon his back and praying, they entreated him to turn over and take a little rest upon his side, as much as the violence of his sickness would allow him. But Martin answered them: Suffer me to look heavenward rather than earthward, that my spirit may see the way whereby it is so soon going to the Lord At the moment of death he saw the enemy of mankind, and cried out : Why hast thou come hither, O beast of blood? In me thou shalt find nothing of thine! With these words on his lips, he gave up his soul to God, being aged eighty years. He is said to have been received by a company of Angels, whereof many men afterwards testified that they heard them singing, among the which was Saint Severinus, Bishop of Cologne. His blessed death took place on November 8^th, but his feast is kept on November 11^th, being the day of his burial at Tours. Whereto, it is said, two thousand monks and nuns came to honour him, being his disciples in the many religious houses he had founded.
　

A Homily by Saint Ambrose the Bishop

The candle is faith, even as it is written : Thy word is a lantern unto my feet, and a light unto my paths. Now our faith is to us the very word of God, for this word of God furnisheth us with light, whereof faith is the candle. It is written concerning the incarnate Word of God : That was the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. For a candle cannot shine, unless it be set a-light from some fire. And it is the incarnate Word of God that lighteth us.

St. Ambrose of Milan

Also it is written : What woman, having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And in this connection, the candle, which is lighted to find the lost piece, is the strength of our understanding and affections. Let no man therefore attempt to seek faith under the Law. For the Law is by measure, but grace is without measure ; the Law overshadowed , but grace enlighteneth. And therefore let no man shut up his faith within the measure of the Law, but give it unto the Church ; wherein shineth the sevenfold grace of the Spirit, and whereon the divine glory of the great high priest doth strike from heaven, lest the shadow of the Law should rest any more at all upon her.

Collect:

O Lord God, who seest that we put not our trust in anything that we do, mercifully grant that, by the intercession of blessed Martin thy Confessor and Bishop, we may be defended against all adversity, through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

November 10, Saints Tryphon, Respicius, Nympha, Martyrs

Commemorated on November 10

In the Church of the Holy Spirit in Sassia, Italy, are enshrined the relicks of the three Martyrs commemorated on November 10. About the year 250, during the reign of the Emperor Decius, one Tryphon strove by preaching the Faith of Jesus Christ to bring all men to worship the Same. For this cause he was taken by the servants of Decius, and at first tormented upon the rack, and thereafter cruelly tortured in various ways, such as with red-hot nails driven into his insteps, and with scorching from lighted torches. The courage wherewith Tryphon bore all these things brought to faith in the Lord Christ the Prefect Respicius, who thereupon declared himself a Christian. He likewise was then in divers ways tormented ; and afterwards he was led along with Tryphon to an image of Jupiter : and when Tryphon prayed, the statue fell down. Then were both Tryphon and Respicius savagely lashed with whips loaded with lead, until they attained the crown of their glorious testimony. This was the tenth day of November, on which day also a certain maiden named Nympha, having openly confessed that Jesus Christ is very God, added the palm of martyrdom to the crown of virginity.

Collect:

Grant, O Lord, we pray thee that, as by the prayers of thy blessed Martyrs, Tryphon, Respicius, and Nympha, we do feel the effectual succour of thy protection, so we may at all times devoutly observe their festival, through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord. Amen.