| Sat Mar 28 | am: 137, 144 pm: 42, 43 | Exod 10:21-11:8 | 2 Cor 4:13-18 | Mark 10:46-52 |
FIFTH SATURDAY OF LENT – Saint Hilarion the New, 754
LITURGICAL THEME FOR THE DAY: The monk deeply venerated his God-bearing patron St. Hilarion the Great (October 21), and he strove to imitate his life, so he came to be called Hilarion the New. At the Dalmatus monastery, he was ordained presbyter. After the death of the igumen, the brethren wanted to elect St Hilarion to this position, but learning of this, he secretly fled to Constantinople.
Then the monks of Dalmatus monastery sent a petition to Patriarch Nicephorus, asking that St Hilarion be assigned as igumen. The Patriarch summoned the saint and persuaded him to give his assent. St Hilarion submitted out of holy obedience. For eight years, he peacefully guided the monastery, but in the year 813, the iconoclast Leo the Armenian (813-820) occupied the imperial throne. The saint refused to dishonor the holy icons, and he boldly accused the emperor of heresy, for which he endured many torments. They locked him up in prison for a while and vexed him with hunger and thirst. After the death of Theophilus, the holy empress St Theodora (February 11) gave orders to recall the confessors from exile. St Hilarion returned to the Dalmatus monastery, again agreeing to be igumen. He departed peacefully in the year 845.
BIBLICAL MEDITATION OF THE DAY: Psalm 137 is a powerful Lenten psalm of exile, capturing raw grief and longing for Zion, the Holy City. It reflects the human experience of being far from God, encouraging honest, unfiltered lament, anger, and pain to be brought before God, rather than suppressed. It serves as a reminder to turn toward repentance, seeking to find our true home and hope only in God during this penitential season.
PRAYER OF THE DAY: Lord, God, all that I am and everything I do comes from you, so I give it back to you. May I live only to do your will? May all my efforts have their beginning in you, and may they be brought to completion by your will.
ANCIENT WISDOM/PRESENT GRACE “The soul must long for God to be set aflame by God’s love; but if the soul cannot yet feel this longing, then it must long for the longing. To long for the longing is also from God.”— Meister Eckhart
LENTEN DISCIPLINE – Consider going to an orthodox church and meditating on the Icons there, and reflect on how they reflect the light of God.
SONG OF THE HEART, SONG OF THE SEASON – Fos Ilaron (Light Of Merry )