Stand for the reading of the Synaxarion.
Synaxarion
On March 29 we commemorate the holy Martyrs Mark, Bishop of Arethusa; Cyril the deacon, of Heliopolis in Phoenicia; and men of priestly rank and consecrated virgins in Ascalon and Gaza.(†364)
On this day we also commemorate the holy Righteous Martyrs Jonas and Barachesius of Persia, and the nine Martyrs with them: Elias, Habib, Lazarus, Mares, Maruthas, Narses, Sabbas, Sebeëthes, and Zanithas.(†330)
On this day we also commemorate our righteous Father Diadochus, Bishop of Photica in Old Epirus.(†485)
On this day we also commemorate our righteous Father Hesychios the Sinaite, Abbot of Saint Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai (7th century)
On this day we also commemorate our righteous Father Eustathius the Confessor, Bishop of Kios in Bithynia.. (9th century
On this day we also commemorate the holy Confessors and Martyrs Armogastes the Count, Mascula, and Saturus, in North Africa.
On this day we also commemorate our righteous Father Eustasius, Abbot of Luxovium in Gaul.
On this day we also commemorate our righteous Fathers Jonas(1480) and Mark(15th century) of the Pskov Caves.
On this day we also commemorate our righteous Father Nicetas, desert-dweller of the Roslavl Forests, near Bryansk (1793)
On this day we also commemorate the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia: Paul Voinarsky, Priest of Yurievka, and his fellow Martyrs Paul and Alexis Kiryan, Anna Vasnetsova, Ivan Dementyev, Elena Kondratyeva,Vladimir Krivolutsky, Dmitry Krupnov, Sergey Krylov , Vladimir Lileev who suffered and received crowns of martyrdom from the godless satanic authorities of communism in Russia.
“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.” (Jer. 1:5)
The Compassion of God “Pursues” Sinners*
A certain family lived in Chalkidike [Greece] some forty years ago. They were well off and had two children, aged seven and five.
When the wife became pregnant with her third child, she was absolutely determined to terminate the pregnancy. Despite her husband’s fierce objections, she insisted and went surreptitiously to have an abortion.
“God will punish us, wife,” her husband then said.
“What God, old man? If there is a God, let Him show Himself now!”
One Sunday a month later, when her husband was sick, the mother took her older child on the tractor to go to their field. The tractor overturned, and the seven-year-old child was killed. You can imagine what wailing and lamentation took place then. The grief, despair, and insupportable feelings of guilt were unbearable for this mother, who held herself responsible for the death of her child.
Time passed, and the wife became pregnant again. She once again insisted on having an abortion. This time, however, her husband was adamant in his objection. He even caught her as she was entering a clinic in Thessalonica, and threatened her with divorce if she dared proceed with the abortion. Thus, she was forced to keep the child.
Out of spite, however, and her terrible egotism, since she could not get her way, and perhaps also to pique her husband, she cursed the fetus in her womb. What did she say? “May he die before his fifth birthday!” (By this curse, she was handing him over to the Devil!)
In spite of everything, the time came and she gave birth to a beautiful little boy, who grew ever more charming, full of grace, spirit, and wisdom, even from infancy. He infatuated everyone, and most of all his own mother.
Not long thereafter, their second child, a little girl, fell ill with galloping leukemia. She spent her last days in the city hospital of Thessalonica. It was during Great Lent, Friday evening. The Salutations to the Theotokos could be heard on the radio from a neighboring room. The mother was weeping, and as she sat in tears and despair, she looked up in prayer at the Icon of the Panagia hanging over her child’s pillow, when she suddenly saw an enormous black demon over the bed, which said to her: “Cry as you might, it is of no use calling out. This one will die, and so will the other one, which you promised me. I will take him on the day he turns five, just as you promised him to me!”
Upon seeing this—and it was visible only to her, of course— the mother fainted. When they were able to bring her back to consciousness, she recounted exactly what had taken place. At dawn, her little girl died. Such was the lamentation of the mother that she suffered a nervous breakdown and had to be hospitalized for a few days. An exceptional Christian doctor helped her a great deal during these difficult moments.
The mother recovered and returned home. One night, as she was sleeping, she saw an astonishing dream. (Though we should normally not pay attention to dreams, this one was of especial importance). She saw her two children—the older boy and the younger girl—in an exquisitely beautiful place, in Paradise. She heard them say to her:
“Do not cry, Mama! We are very well here, and for no reason whatsoever will we return to that world you live in, which is rotten” (if only the children could see the world today!) “and filthy, full of pain, sorrow, and deceit. You, as parents, of course, grieve. As for us, though, we live in a state of joy and bliss, together with the Angels and Archangels, the Cherubim and the Seraphim. But you, mama, must look after our little Mikey (the child had been baptized Michael). Be on your guard, because you vowed him to the Evil One. You gave him away, Mama, do you remember? You must go to Jerusalem during the days when he will turn five and ask around for an ascetic by the name of Father Prodromos. On the boy’s birthday, you must remain close to him, at his side.”
Thus, from that day forward the anguish, prayers of supplication, and the Divine Liturgies multiplied, that the mother might not lose her third child.
Now we come to the summer of 1968, when little Michael would be turning five. His beleaguered parents set off for Jerusalem. They searched for Father Prodromos and found him with great difficulty, since at that time Israel, Jordan, and Egypt were in a state of war and the times were critical in the extreme. It was not easy to go from one place to another—especially around Sinai—but they were finally able to get through, by means of diplomatic channels, and with help from the local Patriarchate they found Father Prodromos.
Father Prodromos kept them near him, and on the morning of August 12 (the boy’s birthday), he had arranged with fellow ascetics who were Priests that they would successively celebrate one Liturgy after another at various sketes until evening.
Father Prodromos took Deacon’s Oraria, tied them together, and with that bound little Michael to the Holy Table. And there, at the Holy Table where the boy was bound, Father Prodromos celebrated the Divine Liturgy. He had the parents— and in particular the mother— kneel in front of the Icon of the Mother of God on the Templon, where they read the Salutations unceasingly from morning until night. They would finish reading and then begin again, with copious tears. And when the first Liturgy ended, the second began in the next Church, followed by the third, and so on, without interruption. Around noon, then (to be precise, a little after noon), it seemed to them that there was a terrible earthquake; the place darkened and demons approached, howling and screaming, so as to snatch away little Michael.
Something similar is described in the Life of Father Sabbas the Confessor of the Holy Mountain, regarding a monk who was to be handed over to the demons. Precisely the same thing happened then, with the exception that the demons were now not able to do anything at all, since the child’s father and Father Prodromos saw Michael, who was bound to the Holy Table, covered by the Divine Mandyas of the Panagia. And thus was he saved! The Mother of God had answered the prayers, Divine Lit urgies, continuous Salutations, and the mother’s tears, and the miracle happend.
After many years, the parents reposed in piety, after having repented and changed their entire way of life. This change had been brought about by Father Prodromos and the miracle that their son had been saved. Michael is now a monk on Mt. Athos with the name Father Prodromos, in honor of the aforementioned ascetic, who has by now reposed.
* Source: Protopresbyter Stephanos K. Anagnostopoulos, Steps in the Christian Journey [in Greek] (Sergoula, Dorida: Ekdosis Hierou Gynaikeiou Hesychasteriou “To Genethlion tes Theotokou,” 2011).
***
Saint Paisios of Mount Athos
-Elder, one forty year-old woman, who has grown children, is three months pregnant. Her husband threatened that, if she does not have an abortion, he would leave her.
– If she has an abortion, her other children would pay with sicknesses and accidents. Today, parents kill their children with abortions and do not have the blessing from God. In olden times, if a small child was born sick, they would baptize him, and he would die like an angel, and was more secured.
Parents had other older children, but they also had the blessing of God. Today, they kill their older children through abortions, as they strive to keep them alive while they are sick. Parents run to England, to America to heal them. And they continue to bear children even more sick, because they, if they sought to make a family, they could again give birth to sick children, at which point, what would happen? If they bore a few children, they would not run so much for the one who is sick. He would die and go forth as a little angel.
–How many thousands of embryos are killed every day!
Abortion is a terrible sin. It is murder, and of course a very great murder, to kill unbaptized children. Parents must understand that life begins from the instant of conception.
One night, God allowed me to see a terrible vision, to inform me regarding this matter! It was the evening of the Tuesday of Bright Week 1984. I had lit two candles in two tin cans, as I always do even while asleep, for all those who suffer spiritually or bodily. To those I include the living and the reposed. At midnight, as I was saying the [Jesus] Prayer, I saw a great field surrounded by a fence, studded by wheat that had just begun to grow. I stood outside the field, and I lit candles for the reposed and placed them on the wall of the fence.
To the left there was a dry place, full of rocks and cliffs, which was shaking continuously from a very strong cry from thousands of voices that break your heart and make you shudder. And even the toughest man, if he would hear it, would be unable to remain unmoved. As I was experiencing these heartbreaking cries, I asked within where these voiced were coming from, and what was happening with all that I saw, and I heard a voice tell me: “The field studded with wheat that has just sprouted, is the Cemetery with the souls of the dead that would be raised. At the place which was shaking from the heartbreaking cries are found the souls of children who were killed through abortions!”
Following this vision, I was unable to rest from the great pain that I experienced for the souls of the children. I could neither lie down to rest, though I had been busy that whole day.
…When a man disobeys one commandment of the Gospel, he alone is responsible. When, however, something that clashes with the commandments of the Gospel becomes the law of the land, then the wrath of God falls upon the whole nation, that it may be chastened.
Apolytikion of Martyrs Jonas and Barachesius and Martyrs Plagal Tone 4
Since they had slain through their abstinence and struggles the fiery ragings and fierce motions of the passions, the staunch Martyrs of Christ God laid hold on the graces to drive off the pains and illnesses of the sick and work wonders both while living and after death. Strange indeed is the miracle! That these bare bones should pour forth such overflowing streams of cures. Glory be to our only God.
Troparion — Tone 4
Your holy martyrs, O Lord, / through their sufferings have received an incorruptible crown from You, our God. / For having Your strength, they laid low their adversaries, / and shattered the powerless boldness of demons. / Through their intercessions, save our souls!
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