Orthodox Calendar, November 10

The Holy Apostles of the Seventy: Olympas, Erastus, Rodion, Sosipater, Quartus and Tertius

They lived in the first century.

Saint Rodion, or Herodion (April 8), was a kinsman of the Apostle Paul (Romans 16:11), and left the bishop’s throne at Patras to go to Rome with the Apostle Peter. Saint Olympas was also a companion of the Apostle Peter. Saints Rodion and Olympas were beheaded on the very day and hour when Saint Peter was crucified.

Saint Olympas was mentioned by the holy Apostle Paul (Rom 16:15). He was also a companion of the Apostle Peter. He was beheaded on the very day and hour when Saint Peter was crucified.

The holy Apostles Sosipater (April 28), Erastus, Quartus and Tertius (October 30) were disciples of Saint Paul.

Saint Sosipater, a native of Achaia, was Bishop of Iconium, where also he died. Saint Paul mentions him in Romans 16:21.

The Apostle to the Gentiles speaks of Erastus and Quartus in the Epistle to the Romans, “And Erastus, the city treasurer, greets you, and Quartus, a brother” (Rom 16: 23).

Saint Quartus endured much suffering for his piety and converted many pagans to Christ, dying peacefully as a bishop in the city of Beirut.

Saint Tertius is mentioned in the Epistle to the Romans, “ I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord” (Rom 16:22).

Saint Tertius, to whom Saint Paul dictated the Epistle to the Romans, was the second Bishop of Iconium, where also he died.

Troparion, tone 3:
Holy Apostles, Erastus, Olympas, Herodion, Sosipater, Quartus and Tertius, entreat the merciful God, to grant our souls forgiveness of transgressions.

Martyr Orestes the Physician of Cappadocia

He lived at the end of the third century in the city of Tyana in Cappadocia in the time of the emperor Diocletian (284-311). He was an illustrious and capable soldier, and from childhood Saint Orestes was truly a good Christian.

By order of the emperor, the military officer Maximinus was sent to Tyana to deal with Christianity, which then had spread widely throughout Cappadocia. Orestes was among the first brought to trial to Maximinus. He bravely and openly confessed his faith in the Crucified and Risen Lord, Jesus Christ. The prosecutor offered the saint riches, honors and renown to renounce God, but Saint Orestes was unyielding.

At the order of Maximinus, they took Orestes to a resplendant pagan temple and again demanded that he worship idols. When he refused, forty soldiers, took turns one after the other, beating the holy martyr with lashes, with rods, with rawhide, and then they tormented him with fire. Saint Orestes cried out to the Lord, “Establish with me a sign for good, let those who hate me see it and be put to shame (Ps. 85/86:17). “And the Lord heard His true servant. The earth began to tremble, and the idols fell down and were smashed. Everyone rushed out of the temple, and when Saint Orestes came out, the very temple tumbled down.

Infuriated, Maximinus ordered the holy martyr to be locked up in prison for seven days giving him neither food nor drink, and on the eighth day to continue with the torture. They hammered twenty nails into the martyr’s legs, and then tied him to a wild horse. Dragged over the stones, the holy martyr departed to the Lord in the year 304. His relics were thrown into the sea.

In 1685, when Saint Demetrius, later the Bishop of Rostov, (October 28) was preparing the Life of Saint Orestes to be printed by the Kiev Caves Lavra, he became tired and fell asleep. The holy martyr Orestes appeared to him in a dream.

He showed him the deep wound in his left side, his wounded and severed arms, and his legs which had been cut off. The holy martyr looked at Saint Demetrius and said, “You see, I suffered more torments for Christ than you have described.” The humble monk wondered whether this was Saint Orestes, one of the Five Martyrs of Sebaste (December 13). The martyr said, “I am not that Orestes, but he whose Life you have just finished writing.”

Troparion, tone 4:
Your holy martyr Orestes, O Lord, through his sufferings has received an incorruptible crown from You, our God. For having Your strength, he laid low his adversaries, and shattered the powerless boldness of demons. Through his intercessions, save our souls!

Confessor Saint Bessarion, Abbot of Lainici Monastery

Saint Bessarion was born in Secuieni, Bacău County, on May 28, 1884. His parents, Gheorghe and Ilinca, were simple people, who loved God. At his baptism he received the name of his father, Gheorghe.

From an early age, loving the church, church services and church music, he attended the School for Church Chanters in Roman.

Growing spiritually, under the guidance of his spiritual father, Bishop Gherasim Safirin, he felt the calling of God and, not long after, he entered as a novice at the Holy Monastery of Frăsinei, being tonsured a monk with the name Bessarion.

Having received the angelic schema, Bessarion showed even more zeal in spiritual needs, in piety towards the holy things, in silence and obedience. Many times, when he chanted, his angelic voice penetrated the hearts of those who heard him, bringing tears of repentance.

Abbot Porfirie, seeing his growth in virtue, proposed him for the priesthood in 1922. From then on, he celebrated the Divine Liturgy with great piety and love, bringing a longing for God into the hearts of those who heard him. As a confessor, he was a great guide to monastics and pilgrims, praying for them and comforting them in their troubles and needs.

In the spring of 1929, Bessarion was appointed abbot of Lainici Monastery. His task was to rebuild Lainici Monastery, ruined by the war. He founded a community pleasing to God and, having the spiritual grace and experience, he established, in addition to the church services, the hesychastic rite of unceasing recitation of the Jesus prayer.

Also, every work was carried out with blessing, obedience and good will, so that the whole life of Lainici Monastery was conducted in an atmosphere of love, joy and hope of eternal life.

The love of Byzantine music did not leave St. Bessarion even in this obedience, he continued to share with his disciples the gift of church chanting, so that all with one heart and one mouth to praise God.

Although preoccupied with so many worries and burdened by so many sufferings, he respected his monastic duties, he did not miss the Divine Liturgy, he prayed and fasted, he kept vigil all night and read holy books for the benefit of his own soul and that of his disciples.

Because his heart was full of love for his fellow humans, he also helped to organize a hospital for those suffering on the construction sites on the banks of the Jiu River. At the same time, the monastery and the community grew in both spiritual and material terms. New cells were added, as well as land and dwellings for the inhabitants.

He also had the blessing to find the holy relics of his predecessor, St. Irodion, which he placed in a small coffin and hid them as a treasure of great price and deeper in the bowels of the earth, to protect them from the profanation of the unbelievers. Years later, these holy relics were to be rediscovered on the occasion of the canonization of Saint Irodion in 2011.

For his virtues and his labours, accompanied by great humility, God gave him the gift of spiritual guidance and marvelous healings. His deeds remained vivid in the memory of the monastery and of the faithful who came to this holy place for prayer.

The miracle of 1950, when a mute man heard in a dream a voice that told him to go to Lainici Monastery to be healed, is still recorded. He came to Abbot Bessarion, who read prayers of deliverance and healing, made three times the Divine Liturgy, confessed him and gave him many counsels useful to the soul.

At that time, Lainici Monastery came to be occupied by the soldiers of the communist regime, who disturbed the monastic life and the church services. One afternoon, however, the eldest of these soldiers, being overcome by drunkenness, beat the blessed abbot without guilt, asking him to leave his cell.

The saint tried to soothe him with kind words, but he beat him even more severely, trampling him underfoot and throwing him from the porch of his cell. He was knocked to the ground, broke his leg, and remained for a long time in a pool of blood.

Moreover, the officer threatened them that “if anyone in the monastery says anything about this, they will all be killed”. A few days after the ordeal, Father’s wounds and fractured leg became infected and the doctors had to amputate his leg. Sensing that his end was near, the Blessed Father asked to receive the great schema, and shortly afterwards, on November 8, 1951, at the age of 67, he fell asleep in the Lord. He was laid in the tomb next to St. Irodion, his predecessor.

Through his holy intercessions, Lord Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us. Amen.

Troparion – Tone 3

You showed a wonderful work at Lainici monastery, O Holy Father Bessarion, through fasting, vigils and prayer, through perfect love of God and your neighbor, you showed yourself a wonderworker. You suffered at the hands of unbelievers, and were crowned with glory in heaven. Therefore, intercede with Christ God to save our souls.

Sunday of the Good Samaritan

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”

So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ” And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.” But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”