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Christ's second and final coming
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Rich
Dec 27, 2022, 4:36:11 AM12/27/22
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Christ's second and final coming
"Who are the 'all' to whom he says this if not his elect and his
beloved, the members of his body which is the church (Colossians
1:18,24)? Therefore, he said this not only to those who then heard him
speaking, but also to those who came after them and before us, as well
as to us and to those who will come after us until his final coming.
Is that day going to encounter only those currently living, or is
anyone likely to say that these words are also addressed to the dead,
when he says: 'Watch, lest he comes suddenly and finds you asleep'
(Mark 13:35-36)? Why, then, does he say to all what concerns only
those who will then be living? For that day will come to every single
one, when the day comes for him to leave this life, such as it is, to
be judged on the last day (John 12:48). For this reason, every
Christian ought to watch lest the coming of the Lord find him
unprepared. But the last day will find unprepared anyone whom this day
will find unprepared (Matthew 25:1-13). This at least was certainly
clear to the apostles. Even if the Lord did not come in their times,
while they were still living here in the flesh, yet who would doubt
that they watched most carefully and observed what he said to all,
lest coming suddenly he might find them unprepared?"
--St. Augustine--(excerpt from LETTER 199, TO HESYCHIUS 3)
<<>><<>><<>>
December 27th - Saint Theodorus of Apamea
Also known as, one of the Grapti from the Greek graptoi = “written
upon”, Theodorus the Branded, Theodorus the Lettered-Upon, Theodore….
Born c.775 at Kerak, Moab (Trans-Jordan) Died c.841 at Apamea,
Bithynia from the privations of prison life
THIS saint was of the country of the Moabites; but his parents, who
were rich and virtuous, went and settled at Jerusalem, in order to
procure him the advantages of a holy education. He was placed by them,
when he was very young, in the monastery of Sabas, and by his progress
in learning, the extraordinary purity of his manners, and the habitual
mortification of his senses, attained in a short time to an eminent
degree of virtue, and acquired a high reputation in the world. The
patriarch of Jerusalem obliged him to receive priestly orders, and
when Leo, the Armenian, waged a cruel war against holy images, sent
the saint to that emperor to exhort him not to disturb the peace of
the church. The tyrant, instead of relenting, caused St. Theodorus to
be scourged, and banished him, with his brother Theophanes, a monk of
the same monastery, and his companion, into an island in the mouth of
the Euxine sea, where they suffered much by hunger and cold. But they
had not staid long there before the emperor died, in 882, when they
returned to Constantinople, and St. Theodorus published some writings
in defence of the truth.
Michael the Stutterer, who succeeded in the imperial throne, and is
thought either to have had no religion, or to have leaned most to that
of the Manichees or Paulicians, was for steering a middle course
between the Catholics and the Iconoclasts. He cast St. Theodorus into
prison, and afterwards sent him into exile. His son and successor
Theophilus, a violent Iconoclast, and barbarous persecutor, who
ascended the throne in 829, caused the two brothers to be whipped;
then banished them into the island of Aphusia. Two years after, they
were brought back to Constantinople, buffeted in presence of the
emperor till they fell down quite stunned at his feet, then stripped
and publicly scourged. When they had lain some days in prison, and
still persisted in their refusal to communicate with the Iconoclasts,
the emperor commanded 12 Iambic verses, composed for that purpose by
an Iconoclast courtier, to be inscribed on their foreheads. The sense
of the verses was as follows: “These men have appeared at Jerusalem as
vessels of iniquity, full of superstitious error, and were driven
thence for their crimes; and having fled to Constantinople they
forsook not their impiety. Wherefore they have been again banished
from thence, and are stigmatized on their faces.” Though the wounds
which they had received by their stripes were yet much inflamed and
very painful, they were laid upon benches, whilst the letters which
composed those verses were cut or pricked upon their faces. The
operation was long and tedious, and interrupted by the coming on of
the night; and the confessors were sent back to prison, their faces
being still bloody.
They were soon after banished to Apamea, in Syria, where St. Theodorus
died of his sufferings. From the inscription cut in his forehead he is
surnamed Grapt, which signifies in Greek, marked or engraved.
Theophilus died about the same time, and the Empress Theodora, a
zealous Catholic, becoming regent for her son Michael, St. Methodius
was made patriarch, and restored holy images in 842. Theophanes was
then honoured for his glorious confession of the faith, and
constituted bishop of Nice, that he might more effectually concur in
overthrowing a heresy, over which he had already triumphed.
St. Theodorus Grapt is named in the Roman Martyrology with his brother
Theophanes on this day. The Greeks honour the former on the 27th of
December, and St. Theophanes, whom, on account of sacred hymns which
he composed, they style the poet, on the 11th of October.
See the authentic life of St. Theodorus Grapt, in Metaphrastes,
Baronius, and Fleury, l. 47, &c. The twelve iambic verses, which were
written on their foreheads, with a red-hot steel pencil, are recited
in the Greek Synaxary on this day.
Saint Quote:
"I fear the good opinion which my friends have formed of me: they will
believe me in Heaven and leave me to suffer."
--St. Francis de Sales
Bible Quote:
No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us and
His love is perfected in us. (1 John 4-12)
<><><><>
Novena in Honor of Jesus as True King
Over a period of 9 consecutive days:
Pray one Our Father
Pray one Hail Mary
Pray one Glory Be
O Lord our God, You alone are the Most Holy King and
Ruler of All Nations. We pray to You, Lord, in the great
expectation of receiving from You, O Divine King, mercy,
peace, justice and all good things.
Protect, O Lord our King, our families and the land of our
birth. Guard us, we pray, Most Faithful One! Protect us from
our enemies and from Your Just Judgement.
Forgive us, O Sovereign King, our sins against You. Jesus,
You are a King of Mercy. We have deserved Your Just
Judgement. Have mercy on us, Lord, and forgive us. We
trust in Your Great Mercy.
O Most Awe-inspiring King, we bow before You and pray;
may Your reign, Your kingdom, be recognized on earth!
Amen.
"Who are the 'all' to whom he says this if not his elect and his
beloved, the members of his body which is the church (Colossians
1:18,24)? Therefore, he said this not only to those who then heard him
speaking, but also to those who came after them and before us, as well
as to us and to those who will come after us until his final coming.
Is that day going to encounter only those currently living, or is
anyone likely to say that these words are also addressed to the dead,
when he says: 'Watch, lest he comes suddenly and finds you asleep'
(Mark 13:35-36)? Why, then, does he say to all what concerns only
those who will then be living? For that day will come to every single
one, when the day comes for him to leave this life, such as it is, to
be judged on the last day (John 12:48). For this reason, every
Christian ought to watch lest the coming of the Lord find him
unprepared. But the last day will find unprepared anyone whom this day
will find unprepared (Matthew 25:1-13). This at least was certainly
clear to the apostles. Even if the Lord did not come in their times,
while they were still living here in the flesh, yet who would doubt
that they watched most carefully and observed what he said to all,
lest coming suddenly he might find them unprepared?"
--St. Augustine--(excerpt from LETTER 199, TO HESYCHIUS 3)
<<>><<>><<>>
December 27th - Saint Theodorus of Apamea
Also known as, one of the Grapti from the Greek graptoi = “written
upon”, Theodorus the Branded, Theodorus the Lettered-Upon, Theodore….
Born c.775 at Kerak, Moab (Trans-Jordan) Died c.841 at Apamea,
Bithynia from the privations of prison life
THIS saint was of the country of the Moabites; but his parents, who
were rich and virtuous, went and settled at Jerusalem, in order to
procure him the advantages of a holy education. He was placed by them,
when he was very young, in the monastery of Sabas, and by his progress
in learning, the extraordinary purity of his manners, and the habitual
mortification of his senses, attained in a short time to an eminent
degree of virtue, and acquired a high reputation in the world. The
patriarch of Jerusalem obliged him to receive priestly orders, and
when Leo, the Armenian, waged a cruel war against holy images, sent
the saint to that emperor to exhort him not to disturb the peace of
the church. The tyrant, instead of relenting, caused St. Theodorus to
be scourged, and banished him, with his brother Theophanes, a monk of
the same monastery, and his companion, into an island in the mouth of
the Euxine sea, where they suffered much by hunger and cold. But they
had not staid long there before the emperor died, in 882, when they
returned to Constantinople, and St. Theodorus published some writings
in defence of the truth.
Michael the Stutterer, who succeeded in the imperial throne, and is
thought either to have had no religion, or to have leaned most to that
of the Manichees or Paulicians, was for steering a middle course
between the Catholics and the Iconoclasts. He cast St. Theodorus into
prison, and afterwards sent him into exile. His son and successor
Theophilus, a violent Iconoclast, and barbarous persecutor, who
ascended the throne in 829, caused the two brothers to be whipped;
then banished them into the island of Aphusia. Two years after, they
were brought back to Constantinople, buffeted in presence of the
emperor till they fell down quite stunned at his feet, then stripped
and publicly scourged. When they had lain some days in prison, and
still persisted in their refusal to communicate with the Iconoclasts,
the emperor commanded 12 Iambic verses, composed for that purpose by
an Iconoclast courtier, to be inscribed on their foreheads. The sense
of the verses was as follows: “These men have appeared at Jerusalem as
vessels of iniquity, full of superstitious error, and were driven
thence for their crimes; and having fled to Constantinople they
forsook not their impiety. Wherefore they have been again banished
from thence, and are stigmatized on their faces.” Though the wounds
which they had received by their stripes were yet much inflamed and
very painful, they were laid upon benches, whilst the letters which
composed those verses were cut or pricked upon their faces. The
operation was long and tedious, and interrupted by the coming on of
the night; and the confessors were sent back to prison, their faces
being still bloody.
They were soon after banished to Apamea, in Syria, where St. Theodorus
died of his sufferings. From the inscription cut in his forehead he is
surnamed Grapt, which signifies in Greek, marked or engraved.
Theophilus died about the same time, and the Empress Theodora, a
zealous Catholic, becoming regent for her son Michael, St. Methodius
was made patriarch, and restored holy images in 842. Theophanes was
then honoured for his glorious confession of the faith, and
constituted bishop of Nice, that he might more effectually concur in
overthrowing a heresy, over which he had already triumphed.
St. Theodorus Grapt is named in the Roman Martyrology with his brother
Theophanes on this day. The Greeks honour the former on the 27th of
December, and St. Theophanes, whom, on account of sacred hymns which
he composed, they style the poet, on the 11th of October.
See the authentic life of St. Theodorus Grapt, in Metaphrastes,
Baronius, and Fleury, l. 47, &c. The twelve iambic verses, which were
written on their foreheads, with a red-hot steel pencil, are recited
in the Greek Synaxary on this day.
Saint Quote:
"I fear the good opinion which my friends have formed of me: they will
believe me in Heaven and leave me to suffer."
--St. Francis de Sales
Bible Quote:
No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us and
His love is perfected in us. (1 John 4-12)
<><><><>
Novena in Honor of Jesus as True King
Over a period of 9 consecutive days:
Pray one Our Father
Pray one Hail Mary
Pray one Glory Be
O Lord our God, You alone are the Most Holy King and
Ruler of All Nations. We pray to You, Lord, in the great
expectation of receiving from You, O Divine King, mercy,
peace, justice and all good things.
Protect, O Lord our King, our families and the land of our
birth. Guard us, we pray, Most Faithful One! Protect us from
our enemies and from Your Just Judgement.
Forgive us, O Sovereign King, our sins against You. Jesus,
You are a King of Mercy. We have deserved Your Just
Judgement. Have mercy on us, Lord, and forgive us. We
trust in Your Great Mercy.
O Most Awe-inspiring King, we bow before You and pray;
may Your reign, Your kingdom, be recognized on earth!
Amen.
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