13-е

The remembrance and solemn sacred meeting in honor of the Archangel Gabriel on this day was originally established in the 9th century in Constantinople on the occasion of the consecration of the church in this city in his name. Since the first council fell (March 26) during Lenten time, the Constantinople custom “for church celebrations” was adopted in other places. Venerable Stephen Savvait It is called so because he labored in the monastery of St. Savva the Sanctified. The nephew of John of Damascus, he entered the monastery at the age of ten (735) and spent his entire life in it, and partly in the desert. Died in 794. St. Julian, Bishop of Kenomania St. Julian, a disciple of the Apostle, was made a bishop by the Apostle Peter and sent to preach in Gaul, the so-called Cisalpine (that is, on this side of the Alps, now Lombardy), and founded an episcopal see in the city of Canoman (now Mantua). Zeal for the salvation of his neighbors, purity of life and teaching were accompanied by miracles and crowned his exploits. At first he lived on the outskirts in a small hut, but the gradual increase in believers gave him the opportunity to establish a house of prayer in the city itself. Before his death, he appointed presbyter Turibius as his successor. When the remains of the saint were carried for burial, one woman, who was washing the baby in a copper vessel, placing a fire under it to warm it, abandoned the child and ran to look at the procession. When the pallbearers passed her house, she remembered the baby and, returning, saw that the fire under the font had flared up and the water was boiling. She was horrified, but took the child out alive and unharmed. According to ancient information, the blessed virgin Sarah was the abbess of the maiden community 179. She lived for sixty years in her cramped cell on the banks of the Nile and never once looked at the river. Her spiritual strength was amazing. Many different temptations happened to her, sometimes illness, sometimes insults; she endured, remaining faithful to her vow. The annoying images of worldly vanity, sometimes charming and enchanting, were driven away by the fear of God. She struggled with the passion of fornication for 13 years and never asked for an end to the struggle, but only prayed: “Give me, Lord, strength.” Once, when the temptation was stronger and more persistent, she, in deep contrition and awe of Gehenna, ascended to the roof of her cell and indulged in intense, fervent prayer. The demon, appearing to her in human form, bowed to her and said: “You have defeated me, Sarah.” She, understanding the meaning of his praise, answered: “The Lord Jesus defeated you, and not I, a sinner” 180. The fame of her high asceticism called visitors to her. Two famous ascetics came from the Pelusian desert to see Sarah. After talking with her about spiritual benefits, they said goodbye: let’s teach the old woman humility. “See,” they told her, “don’t be proud of your mind; Don’t say: “Here are the hermits who come to me to women.” Sarah answered: “Yes, I’m definitely a weak, poor woman; but I try, as much as I can, to keep my soul cheerful and courageous.” She said this in those thoughts that the weakness of the sex does not relieve anyone from the duty of Christian struggle and that the title of servant of Christ obliges the wife, as well as the man, to spiritual zeal. She said: “If I want all people to be pleased with me, then I will have to stand with bows at everyone’s door. But I’d rather pray that my heart is pure and in front of everyone.” She especially often thought about death and urged herself to be ready to stand at God’s judgment, not with shame and useless tension. “When I lift my foot to go up the stairs, I imagine death, and then I go up the stairs.” Among the instructions heard from her, the most common was her insistence on being merciful to the poor. “It’s good,” she said, to give alms to people; let it be given out of love for mankind, but repeated, it will turn into a matter of pure love for God” 181. Memory of St. Sarah is also celebrated on Cheese Saturday, when all the great ascetics are remembered 182. Vitae patr. lib. V, p. 7, n. 19. Dicebant de abbatissa beatae memoriae virgine Sarra et cet. Lib. V, c. 5, n. 10. Narraverunt de abbatissa Sarra et cet. Vitae patr. lib. V. c. 5.n. 10. 11. Vitae patr. lib. V, c. 7, n. 18, lib. VI, c. 4, n. 23. Memorable sayings of the fathers, pp. 319–320. Prefabricated Patericon sl. 6 and 8. Among the Copts, St. Sarah March 15 (11) and Apr. 25 (20). Ludolfi Comm. r. 411. 414. Francof 1691.