14th Sunday after Pentecost
Our Venerable Father Job Abbot of Pochaev
Readings
The Reading from the Second Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to the Corinthians (II Corinthians 1:21-2:4)
Brethren: He Who establisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God, who hath also put His seal upon us, and given us the pledge of the Spirit in our hearts. Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that it was to spare you that I came not as yet unto Corinth, not that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers for your joy. For by faith ye stand. But I determined this within myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness. For if I make you sorrowful, who is he then who maketh me glad, but the same who is made sorrowful by me? And I wrote as I did unto you lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from those of whom I ought to rejoice, having confidence in you all that my joy is the joy of you all. For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears, not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly for you.
Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to the Galatians (5:22-6:2)
Brethren, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another and envying one another. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew (22:1-14)
The Lord said this parable: ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a certain king, who made a marriage for his son. And he sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding, and they would not come. Again he sent forth other servants, saying, ‘Tell them that are bidden, ‘Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come unto the marriage.’‘ But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his farm, and another to his merchandise, and the remnant took his servants and treated them spitefully and slew them. But when the king heard thereof he was wroth, and he sent forth his armies and destroyed those murderers and burned up their city. Then said he to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but they that were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.’ So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered all together as many as they found, both bad and good, and the wedding was furnished with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who did not have on a wedding garment. And he said unto him, ‘Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.’
Holy Gospel according to Luke (6:17-23a)
At that time, Jesus stood on the plain with the company of His disciples and a great multitude of people out of all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases, and those who were vexed with unclean spirits; and they were healed. And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for there went virtue out of Him and healed them all. And He lifted up His eyes on His disciples and said, ‘Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now, for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in Heaven.’
Troparia
Troparion of the Resurrection (Tone 5)
Let us, O faithful, praise and worship the Word Who is co-unoriginate with the Father and the Spirit, and Who was born of the Virgin for our salvation; for He was pleased to ascend the Cross in the flesh and to endure death, and to raise the dead by His glorious Resurrection.
Troparion of St Job of Pochaev (Tone 4)
Having acquired the patience of thy long-suffering forefather, and having resembled the Baptist in abstinence, and having shared the divine zeal of both, thou wast vouchsafed to receive their names, and thou wast a fearless preacher of the true Faith. In this way thou didst bring a multitude of monastics to Christ, and thou didst strengthen all the people in Orthodoxy, O Job, our holy father. Pray thou that our souls be saved.
Kontakion of the Resurrection (Tone 5)
Unto hades, O my Saviour, didst Thou descend, and having broken its gates as one omnipotent, Thou, as Creator, didst raise up the dead together with Thyself. And Thou didst break the sting of death, and didst deliver Adam from the curse, O Lover of mankind. Wherefore, we all cry unto Thee: Save us, O Lord.
Kontakion of St Job of Pochaev (Tone 4)
Thou wast a pillar of the true Faith, a zealot for the commandments of the Gospel, a convicter of pride, an intercessor and teacher of the humble; wherefore, ask for forgiveness of sins for them that bless thee; and do thou keep thy community unharmed, O Job, our father, who dost resemble the long-suffering patriarch.
THE VENERABLE JOB ABBOT OF POCHAEV
The future saint Job was born Ivan Zhelezo in 1551 to pious parents, Ioann and Agafia, in Pokut’a in Galicia, near the city of Kolomia. As a child he developed high spiritual aspirations, and used the lives of Ss Sava and John of Damascus as well as the “Ladder” of St John Climacus as models of virtuous life. At the age of ten, Ivan left his parents and asked the abbot of the Transfiguration Ugornits Monastery, in the village of Pidhora near the town of Terebovlya, to accept him so that he could serve his “brothers.” He was tonsured a monk two years later, at the age of 12, and was given the name Job. He lived a life of great piety and strict asceticism. About 1581, when he reached the age of 31, he was offered and accepted the dignity of the priesthood. At about the same time he accepted the urgings of Prince Constantine of Ostrozhsh, who was famed as a defender of Orthodoxy, to become abbot of the Monastery of the Elevation of the Holy Cross outside the city of Dubno. For the next twenty years, Hieromonk Job served as the the abbot (hegumen) of this monastery and engaged himself in writing and publishing theological works in an atmosphere of increased tensions. These tensions between the Orthodox and Roman Catholics heightened after the Union of Brest in 1596. His works were collected into The Book of the Venerable Job of Pochaev, Written by His Own Hand. The book contained 80 teachings, conversations, and sermons as well as excerpts of writings from the Holy Fathers. In his writings Fr. Job also defended Orthodoxy against the Protestant heresies presented by missionaries. In his works he presented the Orthodox view of the dogmas of the Trinity, the divinity of Christ, the Mother of God, Baptism, and other matters that particularly were rejected by Protestant missionaries.
THE VENERABLE MOSES THE BLACK
Moses was an Ethiopian by birth. In the world, he was a thief and the leader of a band of thieves, and yet he became a penitent and a great ascetic. Moses was once a slave, who escaped and joined the thieves. Because of his great physical strength and daring, the robbers chose him as their leader. Then one day he was suddenly overcome with pangs of conscience and repented for his misdeeds. He left the thieves, entered a monastery, and gave himself over completely to obeying his spiritual father and the monastic rule. He benefited much from the teachings of Saints Macarius, Arsenius and Isidore. Later he withdrew to solitude in a cell, where he dedicated himself completely to physical labor, prayer, vigils and contemplating God. Tormented by the demon of lust, Moses confessed to Isidore, his spiritual father, who gave him counsel to increase his fasting, and even when eating to avoid satisfying his appetite. When this regimen did not help, he was counseled to keep all-night vigil and to pray standing. Then he also began the practice of bringing water to the elderly monks from a distant well, all night long. After six years of terrible struggles, St. Isidore miraculously healed him of lustful thoughts, fantasies and dreams perpetrated on him by the demon. Moses was ordained a priest in old age. He founded his own monastery, had seventy-five disciples, and lived to the age of seventy-five. He foresaw his death: one day he told his disciples to flee, for the barbarians were about to attack the monastery. When the disciples urged him to escape with them, Moses said that he had formerly been violent, and had to suffer violence himself, according to the words: For all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword (Matthew 26:52). He remained at the monastery with six brethren, and the barbarians slew them. One of the brethren, hiding nearby, saw seven shining wreaths descend from heaven upon the seven martyrs
THE VENERABLE SAVA OF PSKOV AND KRYPETSK
Sava was a Serb by descent. He lived a life of asceticism in the Monastery of the Holy Theotokos in Pskov, and then became abbot of that monastery. But they praised him, and so, fleeing the glory of men, he withdrew to the shores of Lake Krypetsk, where he founded a new community dedicated to St. John the Theologian. Nevertheless, he was unable to conceal his fame and prominence even there. He was visited by Prince Yaroslav of Pskov and his wife. Sava would not allow the wife to enter the monastery, but he blessed her and prayed to God for her, and healed her of a disease outside the monastery. This saint of God found rest in the year 1495 A.D. and his relics have retained miracle-working power. Abbot Dositheus was one of his visitors at Krypetsk.
