This is probably very wrong....

... and behavior not befitting a Christian, but I'd really like to celebrate St. Nicholas' feast day by punching an Arian in the face. :)


...


On the other hand, I'm glad that's a tradition that didn't catch on.

Enjoy the Feast Day everyone!

It's my (sort-of) Name Day!

Reprinted from OrthodoxWiki (title links to article):

The Holy Hieromartyr Justinian of Ramsey Island, originally from a Breton Celtic family, was the confessor and spiritual father of Saint David of Wales. Ramsey Island was the site of Justinian's hermitage, and lies just off the extreme southwest of Wales, near the city of St Davids. His feast day is celebrated on December 5.

Saint Justinian was martyred by three of his servants who had been possessed by demons. The servants were driven mad and refused to obey their master, who was entreating them to work and not to lead an idle life. The servants then threw him to the ground and cut off his head. The murderers of the saint were struck with leprosy, and recognized that this was God's vengeance on them. They lived by a rock still called "lepers' rock", and after loading their bodies with heavy penances were counted worthy of forgiveness through the prayers of St. Justinian.

St. Justinian's decapitated body rose and took the head in its arms and descended to the sea shore. Walking across the water, it came to the port named after the saint, which is today a lifeboat station, and to the church now dedicated in his name: Llanstinian, near Fishguard. The saint's relics are now contained in a shrine behind the high altar of St. David's Cathedral (St. David's, Wales), along with those of Saint David.

Thou Hast Deceived Me, O Lord!

20:7 Thou hast deceived me, O Lord, and I have been deceived: thou hast been strong, and has prevailed: I am become a laughing-stock, I am continually mocked every day.

20:8 For I will laugh with my bitter speech, I will call upon rebellion and misery: for the word of the Lord is become a reproach to me and a mockery all my days.

20:9 Then I said, I will by no means name the name of the Lord, and I will no more at all speak in his name. But it was a burning fire flaming in my bones, and I am utterly weakened on all sides, and cannot bear [up].

-Jeremiah 20:7-9

Some days, you just know what Jeremiah felt. When people you care about reject the Word of Truth, and you feel as if you can't bear to talk about it anymore because their hearts are hardened against it; it feels like the Lord is making a mockery of you, not giving you any rest from the arguments, nor making any apparent change in the heart of those with whom you are arguing. And when in my strong willed moments, I decide to clamp my mouth shut and say no more, I feel almost about to burst if I don't express the experience of the living Christ who is our God. What are we to do? We are not martyred for our faith, neither are all of us called to the white martyrdom on monastic life, yet we find ourselves often at a crux--at cross purposes between the desire to be silent when we know that our words will not be filled with the necessary humility, and the desire to shout from the rooftops of the joy and fulfillment we find in the path toward union with the unknowable God, through His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. What are we to do?

Most holy Theotokos, pray to your Son and our God, that we who are distressed in our hearts because of our own lack of wisdom are granted the knowledge to do His will, and that the law of Love that He has written upon our hearts will be made manifest to all those with whom we speak. Let us not presume to instruct, nor to crusade; let us instead be filled with the grace of the all-holy, pure, and life-creating Spirit, yea, even the Spirit of Truth, that we may know when to sow seed upon the ground of another's heart, rather than casting pearls among the swine. +Amen.

Prayer for Jared

+Through the prays of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, especially of St. Anthony the Great, St. John of Shanghai and San Fransisco, and of the blessed Fr. Seraphim of Platina, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

+Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, who art everywhere present and fillest all things, Treasury of Blessings and giver of Life, come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls O Good One.

+Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.
+Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.
+Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.

+Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages, Amen.

Our Father, who art in the heavens, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the Evil One.

Lord have mercy
Lord have mercy
Lord have mercy

+Most holy Theotokos, save us!

More honorable than the Cherubim and more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim, thou who without defilement gave birth to God the Word, True Theotokos, thee do we magnify.

O God of spirits and of all flesh, Who has trampled down Death and overthrown the Devil, and given life unto Thy world, give, we beseech Thee, eternal rest to the soul of Jared Rhea, in a place of brightness, in a place of verdure, in a place of repose, from whence all pain, sorrow, and sighing, have fled away.

Pardon, we beseech Thee, every transgression which may have been committed by him, whether by word or deed or thought. For there is no man who lives and does not commit a sin. Thou only are without sin, Thy righteousness is everlasting, and Thy word is the Truth.

For Thou art the Resurrection, and the Life, and the repose of Thy child, Jared Rhea, O Christ our God, and unto Thee we ascribe glory, together with eternal the +Father, and Thy Most Holy, and Good, and Life-giving +Spirit, both now and ever and unto the ages of ages. +Amen

May our gracious and merciful Lord, who rose from the dead, Christ, our True God, through the intercessions of His Holy Mother and of all the Saints, establish the soul of His departed child, Jared Rhea, in the mansions of the righteous; give him rest in the bosom of Abraham, and number his soul among the just, and have mercy upon us and save us, for as much as Thou art good and love mankind.

Lord have mercy
Lord have mercy
Lord have mercy

+Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, especially of St. Anthony the Great, St. John of Shanghai and San Fransisco, and of blessed Fr. Seraphim of Platina, have mercy on us and save us, for as much as Thou art good and love mankind. Amen.