Oblate Daily Saturday, December 20, 2014 / December 7, 2014 [East] St. Nilus of Stolbny Island St. Anthony, Abbot of Siya Monastery (Novgorod) St. Paul the Obedient St. John the Silent of St. Sabbas Monastery, Bishop of Colonia in Armenia St. John, Faster of the Kiev Caves St. Gregory the Hesychast, Disciple of St. Gregory the Sinaite and Founder of the Monastery of St. Nicholas (Gregoriou) on Mt. Athos and of the Gorniak Monastery in Serbia [West] St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan St. Diuma, Bishop of the Mercians and Middle Angles [SB: Holy Rule] Chapter 55 - Of the Clothing and the Footgear of the Brethren Let clothing be given to the brethren according to the circumstances of the place and the nature of the climate in which they live, because in cold regions more in needed, while in warm regions less. This consideration, therefore, resteth with the Abbot. We believe, however, that for a temperate climate a cowl and a tunic for each monk are sufficient, -- a woolen cowl for winter and a thin or worn one for summer, and a scapular for work, and stockings and shoes as covering for the feet. Let the monks not worry about the color or the texture of all these things, but let them be such as can be bought more cheaply. Let the Abbot, however, look to the size, that these garments are not too small, but fitted for those who are to wear them. Let those who receive new clothes always return the old ones, to be put away in the wardrobe for the poor. For it is sufficient for a monk to have two tunics and two cowls, for wearing at night and for washing. Hence, what is over and above is superfluous and must be taken away. So, too, let them return stockings and whatever is old, when they receive anything new. Let those who are sent out on a journey receive trousers from the wardrobe, which, on their return, they will replace there, washed. The cowls and the tunics should also be a little better than the ones they usually wear, which they received from the wardrobe when they set out on a journey, and give back when they return. [Lectio Divina] Luke 16:13 13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” [Daily thoughts from St. Theophan the Recluse] Readings: Eph. 1:16-23; Luke 12:32-40 Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning (Luke 12:35). We must be ready at every hour--one does not know when the Lord will come, either for the Last Judgment or to take you from here; for you they are the same. Death decides everything. After death comes the results of your life; whatever youve acquired, youll have to be satisfied with it for all eternity. If you have acquired what is good, your lot will be good; if you have acquired what is evil, then your lot will be evil. This is as true as the fact that you exist. All of this could be decided this moment--here at this very moment, as you read these lines--and then, the end of everything: a seal will be set to your existence, which no one can remove. This is something to think about! But one cannot be sufficiently amazed at how little people think about it. What is this mystery which is wrought upon us? We all know that death will come at any moment, that it is impossible to escape it, but meanwhile almost no one at all thinks about it--and it will come suddenly and seize us. Even then--even when a fatal disease seizes a person, he still does not think that the end has come. Let psychologists resolve this from a scientific aspect; from the moral aspect it is impossible not to see here an incomprehensible self-delusion, alien only to one who is heedful of himself.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 04:59:00 +0000
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