CATECHESIS & DAILY INSPIRATION
THE HOLY, GLORIOUS, AND ALL-PRAISED
APOSTLES PETER & PAUL
Reflections and Daily Inspiration
“Having read Holy Scripture very carefully, you should also read the holy Fathers who interpret the Scriptures. You will receive no less delight from reading the Fathers than you do from the Scriptures. The Fathers develop the hidden meanings in Scripture and with their own writings help us to understand what we did not before. Because of that philosophic axiom that all men by nature seek knowledge, we must say that great delight follows naturally when we learn about hidden and unknown matters. This is why there will be ineffable joy and gladness that will come to your soul from the interpretations and the words of the holy Fathers. You too will be shouting, as did David, those enthusiastic words in the Psalms.”

- St. Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain
TODAY'S RECOMMENDATION
Pursuing Education - Shaping the Image of Christ in Our Souls.

Deacon David Williams and Dr. Gaelan Gilbert (Reader Anthony), professors from St. Katherine University, a regionally-accredited Orthodox Christian institution of higher education in southern California, talk to Fr. Bratso Krsic about Orthodox education, challenges and opportunities in pursuing our goal – shaping image of Christ within our souls.
FROM THE NEWS
THE SONG OF THE HAGIA SOPHIA

God sounds out, the earth sounds out, the heavens sound out.
And the Hagia Sophia also sounds out, the great monastery,
With four hundred sounding-boards and sixty-two bells,
For each bell a priest, for each priest a deacon.
Sound for the Holies to come out, for the emperor to come out.
A voice came to them from heaven and from the mouth of an angel:
“Stop the Cherubic hymn and lower the Holy gifts,
Because it is God’s will that the City become Turkish.
Only send a word to France [the West] for three ships to come,
One to take the Cross, another the Gospel,
And the third one, the best one, our Holy Table.
Don’t let the dogs take them and defile them.”
Our Lady is shaken and weeps and cries.
“Be quiet, our Maiden Lady, don’t cry, don’t weep.
Again, in years and in time, again it will be yours.”

(The lament of the Hellenic people, which is full of hope, after the Fall of Constantinople 1453)
SAINT OF THE DAY

 JULY 12 / JUNE 29
The Holy, Glorious, and All-Praised Apostle Peter

Peter was the son of Jonah and the brother of Andrew the First-called. He was of the tribe of Simeon, from the town of Bethsaida. He was a fish- erman and was at first called Simon, but the Lord was pleased to call him Cephas, or Peter (John 1:42). He was the first of the disciples to clearly ex- press faith in the Lord Jesus, saying: Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God (Matthew 16:16). His love for the Lord was great, and his faith in the Lord became gradually stronger. When the Lord was brought to trial, Peter denied Him three times; but after only one glance into the face of the Lord, Peter’s soul was filled with shame and repentance. After the descent of the Holy Spirit, Peter showed himself to be a fearless and powerful preacher of the Gospel. Following one of his sermons in Jerusalem, three thousand souls were converted to the Faith. He preached the Gospel in Palestine, Asia Minor, Illyria and Italy. Peter worked many powerful mir- acles: he healed the sick and resurrected the dead, and the sick were healed even from his shadow. He had a great struggle with Simon the Magician, who proclaimed himself to be a god, but who was in reality a servant of Satan. Peter finally shamed and defeated him. By order of Simon’s friend, the evil Emperor Nero, Peter was condemned to death. Having conse- crated Linus Bishop of Rome, and having counseled and comforted the flock of Christ, Peter proceeded joyfully to his death. Seeing the cross before him, he begged his executioners to crucify him upside down, for he considered himself unworthy to die as had his Lord. Thus, this great servant of the Great Lord reposed and received a wreath of eternal glory.

The Holy, Glorious, and All-Praised Apostle Paul

Paul was born in Tarsus and was of the tribe of Benjamin. At first he was called Saul. He studied under Gamaliel, and was a Pharisee and a persecutor of Christianity. He was miraculously converted to the Christian Faith by the Lord Himself, Who appeared to him on the road to Damascus. He was baptized by the Apostle Ananias, named Paul and numbered in the service of the Great Apostles. With fiery zeal Paul preached the Gospel everywhere, from the borders of Arabia to Spain, among the Jews and among the Gentiles, and received the title “the Apostle to the Gentiles.” As horrible as his sufferings were, so much greater was his superhuman patience. Throughout all the years of his preaching, Paul hung from day to day as on a weak thread between life and death. Having filled all his days and nights with laborand suffering for Christ, having organized the Church in many places, and having attained such a degree of perfection, he was able to say: not I, but Christ liveth in me (Galatians 2:20). Paul was beheaded in Rome during the reign of Emperor Nero, at the same time as the martyrdom of the Apostle Peter.