October 15th - St. Euthymius the Younger, Abbot, Mystic
(also known as Euthymius the Thessalonian; Euthymius the New)
Born at Opso near Ankara, Turkey (then Ancrya, Galatia), c. 824; died on
Hiera,
886-898.
Baptized Nicetas, he married early and sired one daughter whom he named
Anastasia (means 'Resurrection'). In 842, after being married only a year,
he
left his wife and baby in order to become a monk on Mt. Olympus in
Bithynia by
entering a laura, where he took the name Euthymius.
Shortly, he entered the monastery of Pissidion. The community was very
disturbed
by the troubles between the patriarch Ignatius at Constantinople and his
rival
Saint Photius. Abbot Nicholas was removed as abbot for sup****ting
Patriarch
Ignatius, who was deposed in 858.
So, in 859 Euthymius sought a quieter life on Mt. Athos, where he became a
hermit with an in situ hermit, Joseph. Here he lived alone in a cave for
three
years.
In 863, Euthymius visited the tomb of a fellow ascetic from Olympus,
Theodore,
at Salonika and lived for a time in solitude on a tower (as a Stylite),
preaching to the crowds. He was ordained a deacon there, returned to Mount
Athos, but left to escape the crowds seeking him.
After a time on a small island with two companions, he returned to Mount
Athos
and lived there with Joseph until Joseph's death. In response to a dream
he had
of Joseph, he took two disciples, Ignatius and Ephrem, to Mount Peristera,
where
in 870 he re-founded the abbey of Saint Andrew at Peristera, east of
Salonika,
attracted numerous disciples, and served as their abbot for fourteen
years.
He built another double monastery (men and women), which he turned over to
the
metropolitan of Salonika. When these houses were firmly established he put
them
in charge of his grandson and granddaughter respectively, and returned to
Athos.
He remained in Athos until a few months before his death, when he went to
Hiera
(Holy) Island with George, a fellow monk, and died there.
Saint Euthymius was credited with miraculous powers and the gift of
prophecy, as
related by his biographer Saint Basil, who was one of his monks at Saint
Andrew's. He is called "the Younger" to distinguish him from Euthymius the
Great
(c. 378-473, Armenian) (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia)
Saint Quote:
He has great tranquility of heart who cares neither for the praises nor
the
fault-finding of men. He will easily be content and pacified, whose
conscience
is pure. You are not holier if you are praised, nor the more worthless if
you
are found fault with. What you are, that you are; neither by word can you
be
made greater than what you are in the sight of God.
-St. Thomas à Kempis
Bible Quote
And he said to them: You are they who justify yourselves before men, but
God
knoweth your hearts; for that which is high to men, is an abomination
before
God. (Luke 16:15)
<><><><>
The Little Office of the Holy Angels
AT VESPERS
Antiphon:
God hath given His Angels charge of thee, that they keep thee in all thy
ways.
Amen.
O God, incline unto my aid.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
Alleluia.
HYMN
Spirit of might! O Gabriel, display
Thy matchless power against our ancient foes.
Visit those sacred temples where we pray-----
'Twas at thy potent word those temples rose;
Whose wor****p raised these shrines throughout the earth;
Thou wert the herald of His future birth.
Antiphon:
O holy Angels, our Guardians, defend us in the combat, that we perish not
in the
dreadful judgment.
V. In sight of Thy Angels I will sing to Thee, my God.
R. I will adore at Thy holy temple, and confess to Thy name.
PRAYER
O God, Who, with unspeakable providence, hast vouchsafed to appoint Thy
holy
Angels to be our Guardians grant to Thy humble suppliants to be always
defended
by their protection, and to enjoy their everlasting society through Jesus
Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth, world without end.
Amen.
|
