April 14
Tone of the week: Tone Four
First Eothinon
Reading:
The memory of this Saint is celebrated on March 30, where
his biography may be found. He is celebrated today because his book, The
Ladder of Divine Ascent, is a sure guide to the ascetic life, written
by a great man of prayer experienced in all forms of the monastic
polity; it teaches the seeker after salvation how to lay a sound
foundation for his struggles, how to detect and war against each of the
passions, how to avoid the snares laid by the demons, and how to rise
from the rudimental virtues to the heights of Godlike love and humility.
It is held in such high esteem that it is universally read in its
entirety in monasteries during the Great Fast.
Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
When the women Disciples of the Lord had learned from the Angel
the joyful message of the Resurrection and had rejected the ancestral
decision, they cried aloud to the Apostles triumphantly: Death has been
despoiled, Christ God has risen, granting His great mercy to the world.
Apolytikion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
With the rivers of your tears, you have made the barren desert
fertile. Through sighs of sorrow from deep within you, your labors have
borne fruit a hundred-fold. By your miracles you have become a light,
shining upon the world. O John, our Holy Father, pray to Christ our God,
to save our souls.
Seasonal Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
To you, Theotokos, invincible Defender, having been delivered
from peril, I, your city, dedicate the victory festival as a thank
offering. In your irresistible might, keep me safe from all trials, that
I may call out to you: "Hail, unwedded bride!"
SOURCE:
SAINT OR FEAST POSTED THIS DATE 2012(with 2011's link here also and further, 2010, 2009 and even 2008!):
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