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April 18/May
St. John (820), disciple of St. Gregory of Decapolis.
St. Cosmas, bishop of Chalcedon, and his fellow-ascetic St.
Auxentius (815-820). Martyrs Victor, Zoticus, Zeno, Acindynus,
and Severian, of Nicomedia (ca. 303). St. Naucratius, abbot of the
Studion (848). St. Basil (Ratishvili) the Georgian, of Iveron Monastery,
Mt. Athos (13th c.). St. Euthymius the Enlightener of Karelia
(1435), and righteous laymen Anthony and Felix of Karelia. New
Martyr John the Tailor, of Ioannina, at Constantinople (1526). New
Hieromartyr Alexis Krontenkov, priest, of Ekaterinburg (1930).
New Hieromartyrs Nicholas (1937) and Basil Derzhavin (1930),
priests, and martyred lay people of the city of Gorodets
(Nizhni-Novgorod). New Martyr Tamara (Satsi), abbess, of
Cheboksara (Chuvashia) (1942). (Gr. Cal.: Martyr Sabbas the Goth
at Buzau in Wallachia [372]. St. Athanasia the Wonderworker, abbess,
of Aegina [850].) Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos
“Glykophylousa” (“Sweet-kissing”).
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Tuesday
Acts 8:5-17
John 6:27-33
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Thoughts for Each Day of the Year
According to the Daily Church Readings from the Word of God
By St. Theophan the Recluse
Tuesday. [Acts 8:5–17; John 6:27–33]
Then Simon himself believed also:
and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip
(Acts 8:13). He both believed and was baptized, but
nothing came of him. One must think that there was
something not quite right in the formation of his faith.
Sincere faith is the renunciation of your mind. You must
bare your mind and present it to faith as a clean slate,
so that faith might inscribe itself on the mind as it is,
without any mixing in of alien definitions and tenets.
When one’s former beliefs remain in the mind, then a
mixture occurs in it after the tenets of faith are written
there. The consciousness will be confused between the
mind’s sophism and the operations of faith. Simon
was therefore a model for all heretics, as all who enter
the realm of faith thinking as they did as before. They
are confused in the faith and nothing comes of them other
than harm: for themselves—when they remain silent,
for others—when this confusion is not kept within
them alone, but breaks out to others, due to their thirst
to be teachers. Hence there always turns out to be a party
of people more or less sinning in the faith, with a
wretched surety of their correctness, and with a
calamitous drive to remake everyone their way.
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 SAINT THEOPHAN THE RECLUSE (1815–1894) was one of the most prolific and beloved spiritual writers of nineteenth-century Russia. His works, which comprise over twenty volumes, include such classics as The Path to Salvation and A Commentary on Psalm 118, as well as many volumes of letters. Although he lived the last twenty-eight years of his life as a hermit, his impact on his homeland was immense. His articles appeared in the popular spiritual journals of his time, his books were in great demand, and he personally replied to an average of thirty letters daily.
In the present book, Thoughts for Each Day of the Year, St. Theophan takes us through the yearly cycle of Gospel and Epistle readings, humbly and reverently offering us brief but powerful daily meditations on the word of God. He also addresses the problems of his day—lack of faith, coldness of heart, trust in the rational mind rather than in the revealed Truth of God—which are problems of our day as well.
Contemplating the sacred texts together with St. Theophan, the reader will learn to penetrate more deeply into Holy Scripture, and will receive answers to many dogmatic, moral, and spiritual questions which touch upon our salvation. Thoughts for Each Day of the Year can help us to more closely connect our lives with the life of Christ in His Holy Church, and to gain a better knowledge of how to fulfill His commandments. By reading St. Theophan's daily exhortations and taking them to heart, one can be changed by the grace-filled power of our Savior, in accordance with the teaching of the Apostle Paul: Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Rom. 11:2).
Thoughts for Each Day of the Year is published by St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood and Sretensky Monastery.
It is available at stherman.com/Catalog/Spiritual_Counsels/Daily_Thoughts_Book.html.
For further information on the Saint Herman Calendar contact St. Herman Press:
St. Herman Press, P.O. Box 70, Platina, CA 96076
http://www.stherman.com/Catalog/St_Herman_Calendar/sthermancalendar.htm
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