Word Definitions:
ADULT: A person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now
growing in the middle.
BEAUTY PARLOR: A place where women curl up and dye.
CANNIBAL: Someone who is fed up with people.
CHICKENS: The only animals you eat before they're born and after they die.
COMMITTEE: A group that keeps minutes and wastes hours.
DUST: Mud with the juice squeezed out.
EGOTIST: Someone who is usually me-deep in conversation.
HANDKERCHIEF: Cold storage.
INFLATION: Cutting money in half without damaging the paper.
MOSQUITO: An insect that makes you like flies better.
RAISIN: Grape with a sunburn.
SECRET: Something you tell to one person at a time.
SKELETON: A bunch of bones with the person scraped off.
TOOTHACHE: The pain that drives you to extraction.
TOMORROW: One of the greatest labor-saving devices of today.
YAWN: An honest opinion openly expressed.
WRINKLES: Something other people have. You have character lines.
Web of Lies
When your online identity has been tarnished, Reputation Defender will help you clean it up.
By KEVIN SITES, FRI FEB 22, 2:26 PM PST
When Salina Rahim saw the MySpace page she nearly reeled back in her chair. The name and photograph were hers, but the profile description was complete fiction.
“I would have been horrified, absolutely horrified, if any family members had seen that,” Salina says from her tidy, one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles.
The profile described the exploits of a lusty “cougar” obsessed with sex and on the prowl. Even the book section read, “I’m too busy trying to please men to read books.”
It was piled on heavy enough, she said, to sound like it came from the imagination of a man — her rejected ex-boyfriend. To increase her torment, he took G-rated photos she had given him and added X-rated images of other women he found on porn sites.
Salina Rahim hired Reputation Defender to help her take on an online impersonator
Problems like Salina's are by no means limited to MySpace. With the explosion of social networking on the Web, many people maintain profiles on multiple sites, giving potential cyber-bullies plenty of targets.
And the task of removing unwanted personal information from the Web can be daunting. Just this month, a report in the New York Times highlighted the difficulties some users encountered in fully deleting their Facebook profiles.
For Salina, a modest 35-year-old fashion design student born in Great Britain to Indian parents, it was a devastating blow to her good name and reputation. It was also potentially dangerous — 75 MySpace users emailed her looking for a “good time.”
Salina confronted her ex-boyfriend and says he admitted to creating the profile. She decided to get a restraining order against him, which provided some protection against future harassment but did nothing to destroy the bogus MySpace account. We contacted the man named in her restraining order, but he claimed not to know her.
Next Salina emailed a generic MySpace customer service account but says the response left her confused and didn’t help bring down the page. That’s when she contacted a company she had heard about on a TV talk show: Reputation Defender.
Less than two years old, Reputation Defender is the brainchild of a savvy, shaggy-haired 29-year-old Harvard Law School graduate named Michael Fertik. He had the foresight to see potential value and profit in straining out some of the garbage that flows thick in the Internet’s information pipeline.
Michael Fertik founded Reputation Defender to help clients take control of their online identities
“A lot of the stuff that is put on the Web … that victimizes our clients has a strongly censoring impact on their lives,” says Fertik. “They don’t want to go out anymore, they don’t want to date, they don’t want to go to class, they don’t want to go to work.… It can take two or 20 minutes to destroy someone on the Web, and it can take hundreds of hours to repair it.”
In Salina’s case, Reputation Defender got the fake MySpace page destroyed within six weeks.
"Think of everything you put on the Web as a possible tattoo." — Michael Fertik
Fertik says the company uses a cooperative approach, finding the right person within an organization and appealing to them on a human level, rather than threatening litigation.
While some clients like Salina are trying to stop the spread of lies on the Internet, others are simply trying to clean up past indiscretions that have become part of their online identities — drunken or revealing photos, for example, that could torpedo future employment or relationships.
It works like this: Clients fill out a personal questionnaire that will be used in Reputation Defender’s deep search techniques. For a subscription of $9.95 a month, you get a monthly report of where and how you’re popping up on the Web. Don’t like what you see? For $29.95 per item, Reputation Defender will attempt to get it destroyed.
Reputation Defender employees scour the Internet for content about their clients
Not everything can be erased — government documents and media articles are off-limits as a matter of company policy. And if you’re a killer or sex offender trying to hide the trail of your shady past, no deal. Fertik says his company won’t take on convicted felons, but that doesn’t stop violent criminals and pedophiles from trying.
“Oh, every three days we get approached by some kind of crook or another who asks us to remove some evidence of past crime, and usually we just kick them off the system right away,” says Fertik.
He says the inquiries from the criminal sector of the population are a natural by-product of being a pioneer in the Internet clean-up business. And while Fertik’s company won’t help them, he believes there will be less ethical ones that will, either through illegal hacking of records or aggressive bullying and threats of litigation.
But to emphasize just how complex and fluid this field is, Fertik says he approves of some Internet companies who take on clients trying to clean up past episodes of juvenile delinquency.
“If you had an incident with alcohol when you were 15 or 16 and you know it was a mistake and you cleaned up your life and you moved on and now you’re very productive and you’re in graduate school and you’re on your way to a great career and then all of a sudden the Web remembers, this could end up hurting you.”
But this raises a serious question, one critics of Internet clean-up companies like Reputation Defender often pose: Does their work actually censor the Web’s defining characteristic — the free flow of information?
Fertik says he simply provides a level playing field for his clients. The Internet, he argues, provides an extraordinary long shelf life for unflattering words and images and gives attackers who know how to game search engine algorithms an advantage.
“I think that what we are doing is helping a search engine make sure it’s finding the best and most accurate and most reliable results -- instead of someone’s claim about the fact that maybe you smell bad,” says Fertik.
While a new Pew Research study shows that people are much more aware of their online identities than they were in the past — one in three Internet users will search his or her own name, for example — Fertik believes that really protecting ourselves means approaching the Web in a more thoughtful way.
“You should be really, really smart about what you put on the Web,” says Fertik. “Think of everything you put on the Web as a possible tattoo. Think of everything on the Web as a possible imprint on your forehead, as a possible scarlet letter for yourself that can just hang around your neck like an albatross.”
But for innocent victims like Salina Rahim, who get smeared by someone else, the offending material may be gone but its impact still lingers.
“I don’t really interact or participate in the social networking Web sites at all,” she says. “I just feel that that can come back and haunt you.”
Producer - Jamie Rubin
Video Editor - Steve Neilson
"California teen" photos courtesy of the Catsouras Family
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Dr. Carla Thomas
The American health delivery system does four things very well. Because of Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance, the American health delivery system provides basic medical care for the very young, very old, very rich and very poor. The segment of the population that suffers the most neglect of health is the 19-64 year old group. This group is also most often uninsured. It is this group that the Abba Moses Clinic serves. Like the Unmercenaries, Abba Moses is a desert father who was known for his works of mercy.
In 1985, I opened a medical practice in Anniston, Alabama. I wanted to live up to my baptized name of Panteleimona (after St. Panteleimon, 7/27). St. Panteleimon was an unmercenary, physician and great martyr who healed people of illnesses in the name of Jesus Christ. Thus, I wanted to be an unmercenary. An unmercenary is a saintly healer who charges no fees, in order to give glory unto God. Fr Jacob Myers of St John Wonderworker Orthodox Church in Atlanta, GA suggested that since I worked 40 hours a week, I should provide free care for 4 hours a week. At first, we had very little attendance. One strategic phone call changed everything. I told the case worker in the emergency room that I would be interested in seeing patients who were not true emergencies. From that point on, patients who were uninsured and not emergencies were referred to the clinic. The clinic has had a full roster ever since, serving 20-30 people a week. It was a double win situation. The emergency room wanted to treat only emergencies. We wanted to provide continuity of care to those who could not afford care. Because the patients were uninsured, other providers in the area did not object.
One housekeeper came for burns on 30% of her body. Because she did not want a big emergency room bill, she delayed getting medical attention. By the time we saw her, the wounds were infected but salvageable. We showed the daughter how to do wound care and gave her samples of antibiotics and burn cream. She healed completely. Another man is a struggling doctoral student in divinity. He comes for counseling. One woman is a mama-sitter. This means that she sits for elderly people. She has simple hypertension, follows a diet, exercises but cannot afford to do her basic laboratory body maintenance (e.g. cholesterol check). We supply her medication through patient assistance drug programs and samples. We also notify her when various agencies are doing free screening for cholesterol and other body maintenance checks. Another patient is an alcoholic who comes to learn how to cope with an overbearing mate. Another comes for a physical for college. One man comes because he can't afford his diabetic medication. He is legally blind because he has allowed his uncontrolled diabetes to cause irreversible damage to the retina (retinopathy). Another comes because she has recurring nightmares after being held at gun point at a gas station. She comes for prayer and counseling. Each patient is offered a chance for prayer during the visit. Most accept and ask for this service.
To introduce patients to Orthodoxy, icons are placed in the rooms and Orthodox materials designed for beginners are placed in the waiting room. Materials are often loaned out or can be bought in the Sts. Cosmas & Damian bookstore which resides in the office. The question I get the most is how does a doctor in a small town, where there is no Orthodox church, become Orthodox. For me, the journey begins and ends with the grace of God, who rides on Cherubim, whose ways cannot be known, whose blood my soul redeems, whose body turns my tares to wheat, whose love is so wide, you can't get around it, whose right hand finds and guides me though I “take up my wings towards the dawn, and make mine abode in the uttermost parts of the sea...” (Psalm 138, Septuagint).
The clinic was recently featured in an article by Long (2006) in BusinessAlabama. As a consequence, several providers called to find out how to set up an affordable clinic in their towns. One incredulous office manager inquired as to how I obtained such a large grant to support the clinic. In the words of Jesus Christ, I replied: “Freely ye have received, freely give...” (Matthew 10:8).
May the prayers of the Holy Unmercenaries and Abba Moses be with us.
Glory to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit +
Reference:
Long, L. (2005). Treating the uninsured: A chronic disease for healthcare facilities . BusinessAlabama, 21(5), 26-29.
Icon of St Panteleimon is from Orthodoxwiki.
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There has been some discussion recently about alcoholism and more than a few of us can attest to the addictiveness of blogging. Has anyone had a gambling problem? That is one vice that has never become problematic for me ,but I imagine in our society with the Lotto and legalized gambling that their our many temptations for those who have to struggle with this vice.
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The Reading is from St. John's First Universal Letter 3:21-24;4:1-11
Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who keep his commandments abide in him, and he in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given us.
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist, of which you heard that it was coming, and now it is in the world already. Little children, you are of God, and have overcome them; for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world, therefore what they say is of the world, and the world listens to them. We are of God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and he who is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
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Meatfare Wednesday
The Reading is from Mark 14:43-72; 15:1
At that time, while Jesus was speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "The one I shall kiss is the man; seize him and lead him away under guard." And when he came, he went up to him at once, and said, "Master!" And he kissed him. And they laid hands on him and seized him. But one of those who stood by drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear. And Jesus said to them, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled." And they all forsook him, and fled. And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body; and they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked. And they led Jesus to the high priest; and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes were assembled. And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the guards, and warming himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and the whole council sought testimony against Jesus to put him to death; but they found none. For many bore false witness against him, and their witness did not agree. And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, "We heard him say, 'I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.'" Yet not even so did their testimony agree. And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, "Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?" But he was silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" And Jesus said, "I am; and you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven." And the high priest tore his garments, and said, "Why do we still need witnesses? You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?" And they all condemned him as deserving death. And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to strike him, saying to him, "Prophesy!" And the guards received him with blows. And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the maids of the high priest came; and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him, and said, "You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus." But he denied it, saying, "I neither know nor understand what you mean." And he went out into the gateway. And the maid saw him, and began again to say to the bystanders, "This man is one of them." But again he denied it. And after a little while again the bystanders said to Peter, "Certainly you are one of them; for you are a Galilean." But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, "I do not know this man of whom you speak." And immediately the cock crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, "Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times." And he broke down and wept. And as soon as it was morning the chief priests, with the elders and scribes, and the whole council held a consultation; and they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him to Pilate.
The Epistle and Gospel readings are from the Revised Standard Edition as is published by Holy Cross Press in the Apostolos and the Holy and Sacred Gospel.
For those who have sons
And you also find out interesting things when you have sons, like...
1.) A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4 inches deep.
2.) If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.
3.) A 3-year old Boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.
4.) If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound Boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room.
5.) You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.
6.) The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.
7) When you hear the toilet flush and the words "uh oh", it's already too late.
8.) Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.
9..) A six-year old Boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old Man says they can only do it in the movies.
10.) Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a 4- year old Boy.
11.) Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.
12.) Super glue is forever.
13.) No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.
14.) Pool filters do not like Jell-O.
15.) VCR's do not eject "PB & J" sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.
16.) Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.
17.) Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.
18.) You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is.
19.) Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.
20.) The fire department in Austin, TX has a
5-minute response time.
21.) The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.
22.) It will, however, make cats dizzy.
23.) Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.
24.) 80% of Women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without kids.
25.) 80% of Men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid.
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A great music video from Johnny Cash +May God have mercy on him+
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The Reading is from St. John's First Universal Letter 1:8-10;2:1-6
Brethren, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. My little children, I am writing this to you so that you may not sin; but if any one does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the expiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we may be sure that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He who says "I know him" but disobeys his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps his word, in him truly love for God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him: he who says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
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Thursday of Prodigal Son
The Reading is from Mark 13:31-37: 14:1-2
The Lord said to his disciples, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Watch therefore -- for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning -- lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Watch." It was now two days before the Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth, and kill him; for they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be a tumult of the people."
The Epistle and Gospel readings are from the Revised Standard Edition as is published by Holy Cross Press in the Apostolos and the Holy and Sacred Gospel.
1. You need only two tools. WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD-40. If it moves and shouldn't, use the tape.
2. The five most essential words for a healthy, vital relationship : "I apologize" and "You are right."
3. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.
4. When you make a mistake, make amends immediately. It's easier to eat crow while it's still warm.
5. The only really good advice that your mother ever gave you was, "Go! You might meet somebody!"
6. If he/she says that you are too good for him/her. . . believe them.
7. Learn to pick your battles; ask yourself, 'Will this matter one year from
now? How about one month? One week? One day?'
8. Never pass up an opportunity to pee.
9. If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You have another chance!
10. Living well really is the best revenge. Being miserable because of a bad or former relationship just might mean that the other person was right about you.
11. Work is good, but it's not that important.
12. And finally... Be really nice to your friends and family. You never know when you are going to need them to empty your bedpan.
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The Reading is from St. Peter's Second Universal Letter 3:1-18
Beloved, this is now the second letter that I have written to you, and in both of them I have aroused your sincere mind by way of reminder; that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. First of all you must understand this, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own passions and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation." They deliberately ignore this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago, and an earth formed out of water and by means of water, through which the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist have been stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up.
Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be kindled and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire! But according to his promise we wait for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Therefore, beloved, since you wait for these, be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the forbearance of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, beware lest you be carried away with the error of lawless men and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
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Wednesday of Prodigal Son
The Reading is from Mark 13:24-31
The Lord said to his disciples, "In those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away before all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."
The Epistle and Gospel readings are from the Revised Standard Edition as is published by Holy Cross Press in the Apostolos and the Holy and Sacred Gospel.
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The Reading is from St. Peter's Second Universal Letter 1:20-21; 2:1-9
Beloved, first of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their licentiousness, and because of them the way of truth will be reviled. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words; from of old their condemnation has not been idle, and their destruction has not been asleep.
For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of nether gloom to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven other persons, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction and made them an example to those who were to be ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the licentiousness of the wicked (for by what that righteous man saw and heard as he lived among them, he was vexed in his righteous soul day after day with their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment.
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Monday of Prodigal Son
The Reading is from Mark 13:9-13
The Lord said to his disciples, "Take heed to yourselves; for they will deliver you up to councils; and you will be beaten in synagogues; and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear testimony before them. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. And when they bring you to trial and deliver you up, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say; but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. And brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved."
The Epistle and Gospel readings are from the Revised Standard Edition as is published by Holy Cross Press in the Apostolos and the Holy and Sacred Gospel.
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1. THE TWELVE HOLY MARTYRS WHO SUFFERED DURING THE REIGN OF EMPEROR DIOCLETIAN
Pamphilus, the first of the martyrs, was a presbyter of the church at Caesarea in Palestine. He was a learned and devout man who corrected the text of the New Testament from the errors of the various copiers. He alone, recopied this salvific book and gave it to those who desired it. The second was the Deacon Valentine, old in years and grey in wisdom. He was an excellent authority of Holy Scripture and knew them completely by heart. The third was Paul, an honorable and distinguished man who, during a previous persecution, was cast into the fire for Christ. Besides them, there were five brothers, according to the flesh and spirit, who were born in Egypt and were returning to their homeland after being forced to work in the mines of Cilicia. At the gates of Caesarea they declared that they were Christians for which they were brought to court. To the question: "What are your names?" They responded: "The pagan names which our mother gave to us, we discarded and we call ourselves: Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Samuel and Daniel." To the question: "Where are you from?" They responded: "From Jerusalem on High." All of them were beheaded and with them a young man Porphyrius who sought the bodies of the martyrs in order to bury them. Porphyrius they burned alive as well as Seleucus, formerly an officer who had approached and kissed the martyrs before the sword fell on their heads. Also the aged Theodulus, a servant of a Roman judge, who, during the funeral kissed one of the martyrs. Finally Julian, who reverenced and praised the lifeless bodies of the martyrs. And so they gave little for much, the inexpensive for the precious and mortality for immortality and took up habitation with the Lord in the year 308 A.D.
2. SAINT MARUTHAS
Maruthas was Bishop of Tagrith in Mesopotamia. He was known for his faith and goodness. Maruthas mitigated the anger of the Persian Emperor Yezdegeherd toward Christians, begged from him the relics of the four-hundred martyrs in Persia and founded a town called Martyropolis, where he reposed these holy relics. He ended his earthly course and took up habitation with the Lord in the year 422 A.D.
3. THE HOLY VENERABLE MARTYR ROMAN
Roman was a simple and illiterate peasant from Carpenesion. Learning of the heroism and glory of the martyrs of Christ, the young Roman desired martyrdom for himself. He went to Thessalonica were he began to praise the Faith of Christ on the streets and referred Islam as a fable. The Turks tortured him horribly and then sold him to a galley captain. Christians ransomed him from the captain and sent him to the Holy Mountain [Athos] where he was tonsured a monk by the illustrious Elder Acacius. But Roman further desired martyrdom for Christ. With the blessing of the Elder Acacius, Roman traveled to Constantinople pretending insanity and began to lead a dog along the Turkish streets. To the question: "What are you doing?" Roman responded that he is feeding the dog as Christians feed the Turks. The Turks threw him into a dry well, where he remained without bread for forty days. They then removed him from the well and beheaded him. A light emanated from his body for three days. An Englishman removed his body and took it to England. A certain monk dipped a towel in the blood of the martyr. This towel is preserved, even today, in the Dochiariu Monastery [Mt. Athos]. This glorious soldier of Christ suffered in the year 1694 A.D.
HYMN OF PRAISE
TO THE HOLY MARTYRS
Martyrs of Christ, flowers bountiful,
Which will never and forever not fade away.
Martyrs of Christ, an evergreen living in the winter,
You who stretched toward heaven stained with blood,
Martyrs of Christ, aromas of incense,
And the votive light of oil, illumined by God.
You ran the race for the beauty of Christ
In Paradise, met with Christ forever.
The world will be and then cease to be and you will always be
With the Lord in Paradise, to rejoice eternally.
REFLECTION
The most important thing in a meadow is grass. In a field, it is wheat. In a garden, it is vegetables. No one boasts about the enclosure of the meadow more than they do the hay in the meadow. Nor does anyone boast more about the shed in the field than they do the wheat in the field. Neither does anyone boast of the ditches more than they do the vegetables in the garden. Why do people boast about their countries; the roads throughout the country; the demarcations and boundaries of a country and cities throughout the country and everything else that is not more important from the enclosures of the meadows, neither the shed in the field, neither the ditches in the garden when it is compared to the main crop, i.e., with man? Men do not exist for the sake of the country but the country exists for the sake of men. Christ did not come to save countries, but men. A country receives its value from good citizens. And what do evil people receive from a great country? Thorns in a spacious field.
CONTEMPLATION
To contemplate the Lord Jesus how in the dark nights, alone in the mountains, He prays for my salvation, your salvation and for the salvation of all men:
1. How He lifts His hands up toward heaven; how He bends to the ground; how He kneels in prayer many nights; in prayer for my salvation, your salvation and for the salvation of all men;
2. How He sweats at prayer and weeps for my salvation, your salvation and for the salvation of all men;
3. How He kept watch and kept vigil in prayer and torments His body without sleep and rest for my salvation, for your salvation and for the salvation of all men.
HOMILY
About that awesome stone
"Everyone who falls onthat stone will be [dashed] smashed to pieces" (St. Luke 20:18).
The Lord Christ is the corner stone. Judas fell on that stone and was smashed. Herod fell on that stone and he was smashed. Julian the Apostate fell on that stone and he was smashed. Arius fell on that stone and he was smashed. The deniers and scoffers of Christ fell on that stone and were smashed as clay pots of a potter.
This stone fell on Sodom and Gomorrah and Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. This stone fell on Egypt and Egypt was destroyed. This stone fell on Jerusalem and Jerusalem was destroyed. This stone fell on the Jewish people and the Jewish people were scattered into pieces. This stone fell on many sinful generations and empires and those sinful generations and empires fell apart into dust and ashes.
The Lord forgave sinners seventy times seven but beyond that if sinners remain sinners, will the Lord save them against their will? He will not, for that is not the principle for the salvation of men. The principle of salvation is that men voluntarily consent to salvation on the part of God. If men seventy times seven and more do not desire to be saved by God, then God will not save them. Then men will be smashed against that stone around which they cannot pass and are destroyed by that stone, which they have raised to cast far away from themselves. Can it be said that God is unmerciful Who saved the penitent thief on the cross? Can it be said that He is unjust when He handed over the thief to destruction who mocked Him even in the last hour of death?
O Lord Almighty, save us!
To You be glory and thanks always. Amen.
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