Saint Konon of Isauria

Isaiah 2:11-21

¹¹ The lofty looks of man shall be humbled,
The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down,
And the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
¹² For the day of the LORD of hosts
Shall come upon everything proud and lofty,
Upon everything lifted up—
And it shall be brought low—
¹³ Upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up,
And upon all the oaks of Bashan;
¹⁴ Upon all the high mountains,
And upon all the hills that are lifted up;
¹⁵ Upon every high tower,
And upon every fortified wall;
¹⁶ Upon all the ships of Tarshish,
And upon all the beautiful sloops.
¹⁷ The loftiness of man shall be bowed down,
And the haughtiness of men shall be brought low;
The LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
¹⁸ But the idols He shall utterly abolish.
¹⁹ They shall go into the holes of the rocks,
And into the caves of the earth,
From the terror of the LORD
And the glory of His majesty,
When He arises to shake the earth mightily.
²⁰ In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver
And his idols of gold,
Which they made, each for himself to worship,
To the moles and bats,
²¹ To go into the clefts of the rocks,
And into the crags of the rugged rocks,
From the terror of the LORD
And the glory of His majesty,
When He arises to shake the earth mightily.

Genesis 2:4-19

⁴ This is the history^[a] of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, ⁵ before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; ⁶ but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.
⁷ And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

⁸ The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. ⁹ And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. ¹⁰ Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads.¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. ¹³ The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴ The name of the third river is Hiddekel;^[b] it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
¹⁵ Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. ¹⁶ And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
¹⁸ And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” ¹⁹ Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.

Proverbs 3:1-18

¹ My son, do not forget my law,    But let your heart keep my commands;
² For length of days and long life
And peace they will add to you.
³ Let not mercy and truth forsake you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart,
⁴ And so find favor and high esteem
In the sight of God and man.
⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct^[a] your paths.
⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and depart from evil.
⁸ It will be health to your flesh,^[b]
And strength^[c] to your bones.
⁹ Honor the LORD with your possessions,
And with the firstfruits of all your increase;
¹⁰ So your barns will be filled with plenty,
And your vats will overflow with new wine.
¹¹ My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,
Nor detest His correction;
¹² For whom the LORD loves He corrects,
Just as a father the son in whom he delights.
¹³ Happy is the man who finds wisdom,
And the man who gains understanding;
¹⁴ For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver,
And her gain than fine gold.
¹⁵ She is more precious than rubies,
And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her.
¹⁶ Length of days is in her right hand,
In her left hand riches and honor.
¹⁷ Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
And all her paths are peace.
¹⁸ She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her,
And happy are all who retain her.

Traditionally, the word “heart is synonymous with the “spirit” of a man and closely related to what is called the “nous.” The three terms may be defined as “the essence of the soul,” or, better, as the place within man where God reveals Himself (Matthew 5:8) and, certainly, where God illumines each one of us (2 Corinthians 4:6).

St. Maximos the Confessor explicitly links “heart” and “nous,” exhorting us to “strive to cleanse the nous (which the Lord calls the ‘heart’) from hatred and dissipation. For these who defile the nous… do not allow it to see Christ, Who dwells in it by the grace of Holy Baptism.”

Venerable Gerasimos

Isaiah 2:3-11

³ Many people shall come and say,
“ Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
⁴ He shall judge between the nations,
And rebuke many people;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.

⁵ O house of Jacob, come and let us walk
In the light of the LORD.
⁶ For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob,
Because they are filled with eastern ways;
They are soothsayers like the Philistines,
And they are pleased with the children of foreigners.
⁷ Their land is also full of silver and gold,
And there is no end to their treasures;
Their land is also full of horses,
And there is no end to their chariots.
⁸ Their land is also full of idols;
They worship the work of their own hands,
That which their own fingers have made.
⁹ People bow down,
And each man humbles himself;
Therefore do not forgive them.
¹⁰ Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust,
From the terror of the LORD
And the glory of His majesty.
¹¹ The lofty looks of man shall be humbled,
The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down,
And the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

Genesis 1:24-2:3

²⁴ Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. ²⁵ And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
²⁶ Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all^[b] the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸ Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
²⁹ And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. ³⁰ Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. ³¹ Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. ¹ Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. ² And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

Proverbs 2:1-22

¹ My son, if you receive my words,
And treasure my commands within you,
² So that you incline your ear to wisdom,
And apply your heart to understanding;
³ Yes, if you cry out for discernment,
And lift up your voice for understanding,
⁴ If you seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
⁵ Then you will understand the fear of the LORD,
And find the knowledge of God.
⁶ For the LORD gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
⁷ He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;
⁸ He guards the paths of justice,
And preserves the way of His saints.
⁹ Then you will understand righteousness and justice,
Equity and every good path.
¹⁰ When wisdom enters your heart,
And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
¹¹ Discretion will preserve you;
Understanding will keep you,
¹² To deliver you from the way of evil,
From the man who speaks perverse things,
¹³ From those who leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ways of darkness;
¹⁴ Who rejoice in doing evil,
And delight in the perversity of the wicked;
¹⁵ Whose ways are crooked,
And who are devious in their paths;
¹⁶ To deliver you from the immoral woman,
From the seductress who flatters with her words,
¹⁷ Who forsakes the companion of her youth,
And forgets the covenant of her God.
¹⁸ For her house leads down to death,
And her paths to the dead;
¹⁹ None who go to her return,
Nor do they regain the paths of life—
²⁰ So you may walk in the way of goodness,
And keep to the paths of righteousness.
²¹ For the upright will dwell in the land,
And the blameless will remain in it;
²² But the wicked will be cut off from the earth,
And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.

Hieromartyr Theodoretos

Isaiah 1:19-2:4

¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;
²⁰ But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword”;
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

²¹ How the faithful city has become a harlot!
It was full of justice;
Righteousness lodged in it,
But now murderers.
²² Your silver has become dross,
Your wine mixed with water.
²³ Your princes are rebellious,
And companions of thieves;
Everyone loves bribes,
And follows after rewards.
They do not defend the fatherless,
Nor does the cause of the widow come before them.
²⁴ Therefore the Lord says,
The LORD of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel,

“ Ah, I will rid Myself of My adversaries,
And take vengeance on My enemies.
²⁵ I will turn My hand against you,
And thoroughly purge away your dross,
And take away all your alloy.
²⁶ I will restore your judges as at the first,
And your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.”
²⁷ Zion shall be redeemed with justice,
And her penitents with righteousness.
²⁸ The destruction of transgressors and of sinners shall be together,
And those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
²⁹ For they^[b] shall be ashamed of the terebinth trees
Which you have desired;
And you shall be embarrassed because of the gardens
Which you have chosen.
³⁰ For you shall be as a terebinth whose leaf fades,
And as a garden that has no water.
³¹ The strong shall be as tinder,
And the work of it as a spark;
Both will burn together,
And no one shall quench them.

¹ The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
² Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
Thatthe mountain of the LORD’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow to it.
³ Many people shall come and say,

“ Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
⁴ He shall judge between the nations,
And rebuke many people;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.

Genesis 1:14-23

¹⁴ Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; ¹⁵ and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. ¹⁶ Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. ¹⁷ God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
²⁰ Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” ²¹ So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ²³ So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

Proverbs 1:20-33

²⁰ Wisdom calls aloud outside;
She raises her voice in the open squares.
²¹ She cries out in the chief concourses,^[b]
At the openings of the gates in the city
She speaks her words:
²² “ How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
For scorners delight in their scorning,
And fools hate knowledge.
²³ Turn at my rebuke;
Surely I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.
²⁴ Because I have called and you refused,
I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,
²⁵ Because you disdained all my counsel,
And would have none of my rebuke,
²⁶ I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when your terror comes,
²⁷ When your terror comes like a storm,
And your destruction comes like a whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.
²⁸ “ Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.
²⁹ Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the LORD,
³⁰ They would have none of my counsel
And despised my every rebuke.
³¹ Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way,
And be filled to the full with their own fancies.
³² For the turning away of the simple will slay them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them;
³³ But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,
And will be secure, without fear of evil.”

Pure Monday

Isaiah 1:1-20

¹ The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

² Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth!
For the LORD has spoken:

“ I have nourished and brought up children,
And they have rebelled against Me;
³ The ox knows its owner
And the donkey its master’s crib;
But Israel does not know,
My people do not consider.”
⁴ Alas, sinful nation,
A people laden with iniquity,
A brood of evildoers,
Children who are corrupters!
They have forsaken the LORD,
They have provoked to anger
The Holy One of Israel,
They have turned away backward.
⁵ Why should you be stricken again?
You will revolt more and more.
The whole head is sick,
And the whole heart faints.
⁶ From the sole of the foot even to the head,
There is no soundness in it,
But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores;
They have not been closed or bound up,
Or soothed with ointment.
⁷ Your country is desolate,
Your cities are burned with fire;
Strangers devour your land in your presence;
And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
⁸ So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard,
As a hut in a garden of cucumbers,
As a besieged city.
⁹ Unless the LORD of hosts
Had left to us a very small remnant,
We would have become like Sodom,
We would have been made like Gomorrah.
¹⁰ Hear the word of the LORD,
You rulers of Sodom;
Give ear to the law of our God,
You people of Gomorrah:
¹¹ “ To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?”
Says the LORD.

“ I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of fed cattle.
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
Or of lambs or goats.
¹² “ When you come to appear before Me,
Who has required this from your hand,
To trample My courts?
¹³ Bring no more futile sacrifices;
Incense is an abomination to Me.
The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—
I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.
¹⁴ Your New Moons and your appointed feasts
My soul hates;
They are a trouble to Me,
I am weary of bearing them.
¹⁵ When you spread out your hands,
I will hide My eyes from you;
Even though you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of blood.
¹⁶ “ Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
Cease to do evil,
¹⁷ Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;^[a]
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.
¹⁸ “ Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the LORD,

“ Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.
¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;
²⁰ But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword”;
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Genesis 1:1-13

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was^[a] on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
³ Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. ⁴ And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
⁶ Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” ⁷ Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. ⁸ And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.
⁹ Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. ¹⁰ And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
¹¹ Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. ¹² And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ So the evening and the morning were the third day.

Proverbs 1:1-20

¹ The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
² To know wisdom and instruction,
To perceive the words of understanding,
³ To receive the instruction of wisdom,
Justice, judgment, and equity;
⁴ To give prudence to the simple,
To the young man knowledge and discretion—
⁵ A wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
⁶ To understand a proverb and an enigma,
The words of the wise and their riddles.
⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸ My son, hear the instruction of your father,
And do not forsake the law of your mother;
⁹ For they will be a graceful ornament on your head,
And chains about your neck.
¹⁰ My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.
¹¹ If they say, “Come with us,
Let us lie in wait to shed blood;
Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
¹² Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,^[a]
And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;
¹³ We shall find all kinds of precious possessions,
We shall fill our houses with spoil;
¹⁴ Cast in your lot among us,
Let us all have one purse”—
¹⁵ My son, do not walk in the way with them,
Keep your foot from their path;
¹⁶ For their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed blood.
¹⁷ Surely, in vain the net is spread
In the sight of any bird;
¹⁸ But they lie in wait for their own blood,
They lurk secretly for their own lives.
¹⁹ So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain;
It takes away the life of its owners.

²⁰ Wisdom calls aloud outside;
She raises her voice in the open squares.

The reading of Proverbs during the Great Fast encourages you ‘to fear the Lord’ as the first step toward wisdom, which you may learn in Christ. After all, being a child of the household of God, you already are a servant of Holy Wisdom Himself – our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ.

When the words of Proverbs prompt you to “Hear…the instruction of thy father, and reject not the rules of thy mother” (vs. 8), receive this at several levels of understanding. First, recall the godly voices of your grandparents and parents to the extent they reared you in what the Faith teaches. Second, listen to the preaching, teaching, and counsel of your Pastors. And finally, read the words of the Holy Fathers who form the two-thousand year, living stream of Holy Tradition that brings us the riches of Orthodoxy, and heed them. This includes all the Holy Gerondas, the Staretz, the Elders, and the Abbas speaking, writing, and praying for you even today. May God grant you the grace of attentive listening for salvation! Our Mother, the Church, serves a lavish feast of words for life, not to confine, constrict, or inhibit you except from unruly passions and the insidious, worldly, exhortations of “ungodly men” (vss. 10-14).

- from Dynamis