| Romans 3:21 Whether, therefore, in the law, or in the prophets, or in the gospel, the number forty is commended to our attention in the case of fasting. Now fasting, in its large and general sense, is to abstain from the iniquities and unlawful pleasures of the world, which is perfect fasting: That, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we may live temperately, and righteously, and godly in this present world. What reward does the apostle join to this fast? He goes on to say: Looking for that blessed hope, and the appearing of the glory of the blessed God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ. Titus 2:12–13 In this world, then, we celebrate, as it were, the forty days’ abstinence, when we live aright, and abstain from iniquities and from unlawful pleasures. But because this abstinence shall not be without reward, we look for that blessed hope, and the revelation of the glory of the great God, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ. In that hope, when the reality of the hope shall have come to pass, we shall receive our wages, a penny (denarius). For the same is the wages given to the workers laboring in the vineyard, Matthew 20:10 as I presume you remember; for we are not to repeat everything, as if to persons wholly ignorant and inexperienced. A denarius, then, which takes its name from the number ten, is given, and this joined with the forty makes up fifty; whence it is that before Easter we keep the Quadragesima with labor, but after Easter we keep the Quinquagesima with joy, as having received our wages. Now to this, as if to the wholesome labor of a good work, which belongs to the number forty, there is added the denarius of rest and happiness, that it may be made the number fifty. Hear also the apostle when he says, Love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 10:10 Whence the love? By the grace of God, by the Holy Spirit. For we could not have it from ourselves, as if making it for ourselves. It is the gift of God, and a great gift it is: for, says he, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which is given to us. |
| Let us now, therefore, fast and pray, since this is our day of labor. The whole Body of Christ, diffused through the entire world, that is, the whole Church, practices penance as that corporate unity which says in the psalm: To thee have I cried from the ends of the earth; when my heart was in anguish . Hence, light begins to dawn upon us as to why the Lenten season was inaugurated as the solemnity of this humiliation. For the [united Church] which cries from the ends of the earth when its heart is in anguish cries from those four regions of the earth which even the Scriptures often mention, that is, from the East and West, from the North and " the South. Through the entire area the Decalogue of the Law has been promulgated, not merely to be feared in its literal expression, but to be fulfilled in the grace of charity. Hence, when four has been multiplied by ten, we see the number forty rounded out. Yet, in the struggle with temptation, when there is pardon for sin, who fulfills perfectly the law, Thou shalt no covet ? For this reason, we must fast and pray, without, however, ceasing from good works. For such labor, that recompense called by the name of denarius is given eventually. Moreover, just as ternarius receives its name from “three,” and quaternarius from “four,” so denarius comes from “ten.” This number, associated with forty, is given as a reward for labor. The representation of the number fifty signifies the period of rejoicing which no one will take from us. In this life we do not yet have any experience of this joy. Nevertheless, after the commemoration of our Lord " s Passion, through the fifty days following His Resurrection on which we relax the fast, we proclaim this joy by singing “Alleluia” in the praises of the Lord. Now, therefore, in the name of Christ, I exhort you, my dearly beloved brethren, to propitiate God by daily fasts, by more generous almsgiving, and by more fervent prayers so that you may not be overcome by Satan. Now is the time for husbands to practice self-restraint with their wives and likewise for wives to do so with their husbands so that both may have more time for prayer. |
| The social and economic pattern in the Galilean narrative differs markedly from that of the Hellenistic world of Acts in a major respect. Something will be said later of the great part played in the municipal life of the eastern provinces by the men of moderate wealth, who formed the magisterial class of the cities – the honestiores and curiales of the late Empire, but present from the beginning under other guises. 507 These were a numerous and solid section of the population. The city councils were large, with 500 or 600 members apiece. The topmost stratum of this class contained a few families of immense wealth, which were gradually incorporated into the international hierarchy of the Roman State as Roman citizens, knights, and finally senators. This is a familiar pattern, much studied in recent years, which holds good for most of the Roman empire. It is the world as reflected, for example, in the civic orations of Dio of Prusa, and it is the world that appears in Acts. But the world of the Galilean narrative seems different. It is difficult to be precise, but one has the impression that the numerous and solid third estate of the magisterial class is absent, or much weaker in numbers and solidity. The narrative presents a world of two classes, the very rich and the poor. There is the Rich Man, or Prince, with his steward, and the peasantry who owe debts of a hundred measures of oil or wheat. 508 If the steward is dismissed his only alternative is to dig or to beg. There is the rich man wearing purple and fine linen, and the beggar Lazarus at his gate – admittedly an extreme contrast, but it recalls a phrase of Christ about the Baptist: ‘What went ye out for to see?... those that are clothed in fine raiment live in kings’ palaces.’ 509 At Antioch or Ephesus one would not need to look so far. There is the prince setting off for his kingdom who entrusts to his two servants in Luke’s version a mere hundred silver coins. 510 There is a nice contrast in the parable of the king and the two debtors in Matthew. The king’s debtor owes the king himself the enormous sum of 10,000 talents, while his own debtor owes him a mere hundred denarii. In the Lucan parable of the money-lender there are two debtors of 50 and 500 denarii. 511 |
| 1153D And perhaps this is the ‘whatever more you spend than the two denarii’ (see Luke 10.35) given by the Lord for the care of the one who had fallen among thieves at the inn where he was to be cared for: it is what the Lord, when He comes again, liberally undertakes to give, the complete negation of beings in those who are perfect, something that comes to be through faith (for the Lord says, whoever does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple: Luke 14:33). Accordingly one who gives up everything of his own –or to put it more appropriately: above all things gives up himself –such a one 1156A has made himself a lover of wisdom and is worthy to be with God alone. He has received the adopted sonship, proclaimed in the Gospels, after the manner of the holy and blessed Apostles, who stripped themselves completely of everything and cleaved to the one who is wholly and solely God and Word. They say to the maker of nature and the giver of help according to the law, Behold we have left all and followed you (Matt. 19:27), and possessing Him, that is the Lord, as the most singular light of truth instead of law and nature, they fittingly receive the unfailing knowledge of all that is after God. The knowledge of all that has come to be through Him is naturally and properly made known together with Him. For just as with the rising of the sensible sun all bodies are made known, so it is with God, the intelligible sun of righteousness, rising in the mind: although He is known to be separate from the 1156B created order, He wishes the true meanings of everything, whether intelligible or sensible, to be made known together with Himself. And this is shown on the mount of the Transfiguration of the Lord when both the brightness of his garments and the light of His face, made Him known, and drew to God the knowledge of those who were after Him and around Him. For as the eye cannot, without light, grasp sensible things, neither can the mind, apart from the knowledge of God, receive spiritual contemplation. For there light gives to sight the perception of visible things, and here the vision of God grants to the mind the knowledge of things intelligible. 28 Contemplation of Adam’s transgression |
| 259 Таков результата подробного анализа евангелия от Марка, сделанного Клостерманном Gött. 1867.. 260 Последнее может, по-видимому, опираться на свидетельстве Климента Алекс. (у Евсев. h. е. VI, 14: Προγεγρφϑαι λεγεν τν εαγγλιον τ περιχοντα τς γενεαλογας; при этом он ссылается на παρδοσιν τν ναϑεν πρεσβυτρων. 263 Λγεται δ, говорит Златоуст, α Ματϑαος… συνϑεναι το εαγγλιον α Μρος δ ν Αγπτ τν μαϑητν παριαλεσντων ατν ατ τοτο ποισαι. Потом он впрочем прибавляет: ενϑα μν ον αστος διατρβων γραεν, ο σφδρα μν δε σχυρσασϑαι. 265 Шторр основывает свое мнение на том, что у Марка 15, 21 . Симон Киренейский, который нес крест Спасителя, называется отцом Александра и Руфа, по свидетельству же книги Деяний 11, 20. Евангелие в Антиохии было возвещено в первый раз мужами кипрскими и киринейскими. Эти киринейские мужи, думает Шторр, были именно Александр и Руф, и Марк упомянул о них будто бы потому, что назначал свое Евангелие прежде всего для Антиохийцев. 266 Гл. 7, 2 и дал. объясняется иудейский обычай омовения рук; 11 ст. – слово ορβν ( στι δρον); гл. 12,18. – учение Саддукеев; гл. 13, 3, – положение масличной горы: гл. 14, 12. – обычай первого пасхального дня; гл. 15, 42 – значение слова παρασευ ( στι προσββατον). 267 Гл. 12, 42. выражение λεπτ δο объясняется словом οδρντης, римская монета Quadrans. Часто также у Марка встречаются латинские выражения: гл. 6, 27. употреблено латинское слово σπευλτωρ; гл. 15, 39. 44. 45. вместо ατοντρχης поставлено латинское слово εντυρων – centurio. Встречаются также слова: 5, 9. 15. λεγεν (legio); 6, 37 и 14, 5. δηνριον(denarius); 7, 4. 8. ξστης (sextarius); 12, 14. νσος (census); 15, 15. φραγελλω (flagello); 15, 16. πραιτριον (praetorium); встречаются наконец чисто латинские обороты (напр. 15, 15. τ χλω τ ανν ποισαι, populo satisfacere; 5, 23. σχτως χειν, in extremis esse). 269 «Он проповедовал в Риме по-римски». И в позднейшем Сирском переводе, так называемом Филоксеновом, на поле сделано такое же примечание (Asseman. Bibl. or, III, 1. p. 9). |
| 275 35. totam regulam om. Un Cyr Ti Gp Gs ud; .ле. : SinEuch; которыи : которы SinEuch; лоукаво : лют SinEuch; нищимъ : нищиимъ SinEuch; манастырь : монастырь J (32)41. Si quis ieiunare non potest, quando deЬim ieiunare, pro uno die in рапе et aqua cantit cum uenia psalrnos L et sine uenia LXX. (32)42. Si quis ieiunare non potest et psalmos nescit, per diem det denarium unum, et si non habit praecium, de cibum, quanto sumit, tantum porrigat. Pro uno anno in рапе et aqua det solidos XXVI. (32)41. totam regulam om. G; ieiunare : debet et add VaW; quando debit ieiunare om. VaW; cantit: canat VaW; uenia ... uenia: ueniam ... ueniam W; LXX: septuaginta Va (32)42. totam regulam om. G; Si quis ieiunare non potest et : Quodsi VaW; per diem : pro uno die VaW; unum: I VaW; non habit praecium: praetium non habet Va, precium non habet W; de cibum : de cibo Va, det cibum W; quanto : quantum Va, de quo W; tantum om. VaW; porrigat : pauperi erubescenti add. Va, om. W (33)44. Si quis mercidem accipit et ieiunaberit, si per ignorantiam hoc fecerit, ieiunet pro se, quantum se promisit pro illo ieiunare, et quod accipit, det pauperibus. Et qui aliena peccata super se suscipierit, non est dignus christianus. (33)44. totam regulam om. G; mercidem accipit et: pro mercede VaW; ieiunaberit : ieiunat VaW; si per ignorantiam hoc fecerit: et aliena peccata suscipit in se, non est dignus [nominari add. W] christianus VaW; quantum se : quantum VaW; quod accipit : quod accepit Va, quod ав ео accepit W; Et qui aliena peccata super se suscipierit, non est dignus christianus om. VaW (34)46. Si qua de mulieribus, que fomicantur, occiderit quod nascitur aut auortiuum facere festinat, Х annos peneteat. (34)46. totam regulam от. VaWG (35)47. Si quis laicus per cupiditatem periuraberit, tota res suas det pauperibus et tundatur, in monasterio seruiat diebus uitae suae. (35)47. totam regulam от. G; per cupiditatem: pro cupiditatem W; periuraberit : periurat VaW; tota: totas VaW; suas : ipsas W; det: reddat aut W; et tundatur : et tondetur Va, det et W; in monasterio seruiat : seruiat in monasterio Va, in monasterio deseruiat W; diebus uitae suae от. W |
| About Pages Проекты «Правмира» Raising Orthodox Children to Orthodox Adulthood The Daily Website on How to be an Orthodox Christian Today Twitter Telegram Parler RSS Donate Navigation Holy Week Day by Day: Holy Wednesday Holy and Great Wednesday, as set by the Fathers of the Church, commemorates the woman who was a harlot, but who anointed the Lord with myrrh before his Passion. admin 03 April 2007 Holy and Great Wednesday, as set by the Fathers of the Church, commemorates the woman who was a harlot, but who anointed the Lord with myrrh before his Passion. As Jesus was going to Jerusalem, He visited the house of Simon the leper. A woman came and poured precious myrrh on the head of Christ and wiped His feet with her hair, serving Him at great cost to herself. This event is described because, according to the Christ’s word, her act of great fervor shall be proclaimed to everyone everywhere. What moved her to do this? She had seen how merciful Christ was and how accessible to all; now, in particular, she saw Him enter the house of a leper, whom the Law deemed unclean and unfit for society. She thought to herself that He would heal the man’s leprosy and likewise the illness of her own soul. Thus, while He was seated, she poured on top of His head myrrh, which was worth about “three hundred thirteen denarii in silver coin,” that is, sixty assaria, and she wiped His feet with her hair.” She placed her head at His feet, showing her zeal for repentance, but the disciples scolded her, particularly Judas Iscariot. Christ, however, welcomed her, not allowing them to scare her away. We should know that today the deceitful Judas, that lover of money, Satan’s child, began the negotiations with the wicked Sanhedrin to betray the Lord for thirty pieces of silver. Being indignant after Christ rebuked him for showing concern for the cost of myrrh, he sought out the Jews who were at the court of Caiaphas. After taking council with the Jewish High Priests, he searched for an opportunity to betray the Lord when He was alone, for the Sanhedrin feared the multitude that followed Christ. |
| About Pages Проекты «Правмира» Raising Orthodox Children to Orthodox Adulthood The Daily Website on How to be an Orthodox Christian Today Twitter Telegram Parler RSS Donate Navigation Judas Loves Money Source: Glory to God for All Things It is very striking throughout the gospels how often the question of money comes up. Christ offers very little comfort on the topic. He generally says one of two things: share, or give it away. Archpriest Stephen Freeman 17 April 2014 Judas has always presented a problem for movie-makers. How do you create a believable character who carries out the greatest betrayal of all time? Some movies use a political motivation – this usually has Judas “accidentally” betraying Jesus in an attempt help Him politically. Others puzzle with him in other ways. The Scriptures are quite clear about the nature of Judas betrayal: he was a thief and he did it for money. Then one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. (Joh 12:4-6 NKJ) It’s fairly banal and prosaic. People do bad stuff for money all the time. The most common motive for betrayal of one’s country is – money. We often compromise our beliefs and practices for money, whether it is at work or elsewhere. If values cost us money, they quickly become too expensive for our taste. Righteousness is a luxury for most – one they can ill afford. I also think that it goes far to explain Judas. No one usually starts out with full-blown betrayal – we have to work our way up to it. Every act of pilfering from the common fund was an act of betrayal, but easily justified. “It’s not much…I deserve it…I’ll put it back…” A hymn from the Bridegroom Matins of Holy Week says, “Judas loved money with his mind (nous).” This declares a relationship that goes beyond the mere yielding to temptation. Judas became obsessed with money. Mammon was his God. |
| About Pages Проекты «Правмира» Raising Orthodox Children to Orthodox Adulthood The Daily Website on How to be an Orthodox Christian Today Twitter Telegram Parler RSS Donate Navigation On the Merciless Lender: Mercy Instead of Duty Archpriest Pavel Velikanov 04 September 2016 Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapter 18, Verses 23-35 23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. 28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. 32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ 34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. 35 “So My Heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” The parable you have just heard presents us with the most important lesson that any Christian ought to take away from studying the Gospel. |
| Be particularly mindful of the poor, so that what you take from yourself by living sparingly you may lay away in heavenly treasures. Let the needy Christ receive that of which the fasting Christian deprives himself. Let the self-restraint of the willing soul be the sustenance of the one in need. Let the voluntary neediness of the one possessing an abundance become the necessary abundance of the one in need. Let there be a merciful readiness to forgive in a conciliatory and humble soul. Let him who has done wrong seek pardon and let him who suffered the wrong give pardon, so that we may not be possessed by Satan who gloats over the disagreements of Christians. For this is a very profitable way of giving alms, namely, to cancel the debt of one " s fellow servant so that one’s own debt may be cancelled by the Lord. The heavenly Master commended both deeds as good when He said: Forgive, and you shall be forgiven; give, and it shall be given to you . Recall how that servant, whose entire debt had been cancelled by his master, received a double punishment because he did not show to a fellow servant owing him a hundred denarii the same mercy which he had received in regard to his debt of 10,000 talents. In this kind of good work, where good will is the sole requisite, there is no excuse possible. Some one may say: “I cannot fast without upsetting my stomach.: He may even say: “I wish to give to the poor, but I do not have the means to do so,” or I have so little that I run the risk of being in need myself if I give to others.” Even in these matters men sometimes make false excuses for themselves, because they do not find true ones. Nevertheless, who is there who would say: “I did not pardon the one seeking forgiveness from me because ill health prevented me,” or “because I had not a hand with which to embrace him”? Forgive, that you may be forgiven. Here there is no work of the body; no member of the body is lifted up to help a soul, so that what is asked may be granted. |
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