The Pharisees were an ancient and outstanding sect among the Jews known for their diligent observance of the outward matters of the Law. Although, according to the word of our Lord, they "did all their works to be seen of men" (Matt. 23:5), and were hypocrites (ibid. 23: 13, 14, 15, etc.), because of the apparent holiness of their lives they were thought by all to be righteous, and separate from others, which is what the name Pharisee means. On the other hand, Publicans, collectors of the royal taxes, committed many injustices and extortions for filthy lucre's sake, and all held them to be sinners and unjust. It was therefore according to common opinion that the Lord Jesus in His parable signified a virtuous person by a Pharisee, and a sinner by a Publican, to teach His disciples the harm of pride and the profit of humble-mindedness.

Since the chief weapon for virtue is humility, and the greatest hindrance to it is pride, the divine Fathers have set these three weeks before the Forty-day Fast as a preparation for the spiritual struggles of virtue. This present week they have called Harbinger, since it declares that the Fast is approaching; and they set humility as the foundation for all our spiritual labors by appointing that the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee be read today, even before the Fast begins, to teach, through the vaunting of the Pharisee, that the foul smoke of self-esteem and the stench of boasting drives away the grace of the Spirit, strips man of all his virtue, and casts him into the pits of Hades; and, through the repentance and contrite prayer of the Publican, that humility confers upon the sinner forgiveness of all his wicked deeds and raises him up to the greatest heights.

All foods are allowed the week that follows this Sunday.

Saint Martinian, who was from Caesarea of Palestine, flourished about the beginning of the fifth century. He struggled in the wilderness from his youth. After he had passed twenty-five years in asceticism, the devil brought a temptation upon him through a harlot, who when she heard the Saint praised for his virtue, determined to try his virtue, or rather, to undo it. Coming to his cell by night as it rained, and saying she had lost her way, she begged with pitiful cries to be admitted in for the night, lest she fall prey to wild beasts. Moved with compassion, and not wishing to be guilty of her death should anything befall her, he allowed her to enter. When she began to seduce him, and the fire of desire began to burn in his heart, he kindled a fire and stepped into it, burning his body, but saving his soul from the fire of Gehenna. And she, brought to her senses by this, repented, and, following his counsel, went to Bethlehem to a certain virgin named Paula, with whom she lived in fasting and prayer; before her death, she was deemed worthy of the gift of wonder-working. Saint Martinian, when he recovered from the burning, resolved to go to some more solitary place, and took a ship to a certain island, where he struggled in solitude for a number of years. Then a young maiden who had suffered a shipwreck came ashore on his island. Not wishing to fall into temptation again, he departed, and passed his remaining time as a wanderer, coming to the end of his life in Athens.

Saint Cyril was born in Thessaloniki in the early 9^th century to pious parents. His family was one of only a few Byzantines in Thessaloniki at that time since it was largely populated by Slavs. Growing up in this situation, Cyril learned the Slavonic language, which later in life would serve him and the Church at large. He continued his education in Constantinople with his brother Methodios (see May 11^th), each taking to their particular interests: Methodios in politics, and Cyril in philosophy and teaching.

The two brothers were approached in 850 by Saint Photios the Great (see February 6^th) to lead a diplomatic mission to the Khazars, the people who inhabited the western shore of the Caspian Sea. Cyril and Methodios accepted this mission and departed to the North. After the success of this trip, the brothers lived for a time in a monastery on Mount Olympus where Methodios became a monk. At this time the brothers utilized their childhood Slavonic education to develop a written alphabet for the Slavonic language, which to this time had never existed. This alphabet became known as the Glagolithic Alphabet. On their own instigation, the brothers began translating the Gospels and liturgical service books into Slavonic.

Providentially, Cyril and Methodios were again called upon for a mission, this time to travel to Moravia to spread the Christian faith to King Rostislav (see May 11^th) and his people. The brothers departed in 862, bringing with them their Slavonic alphabet and service books. After five years of service, the brothers made their way to Rome in 867 to have members of their company ordained to the priesthood to aid in the missionary journey. The group of missionaries celebrated the Divine Liturgy in Rome in the Slavonic language for the very first time with members of their party being ordained as they intended. While in Rome, Cyril fell deathly ill. He was tonsured a monk and died. His brother Methodios continued their missionary work, utilizing the Glagolthic Alphabet. Cyril and his brother Methodios are commemorated together on May 11^th.

Saint Anthimos (Argyrios K. Bagianos) was born on July 1, 1869 in the vicinity of Saint Luke at Livadion, Chios. His righteous and virtuous parents, Constantine and Argyro, took care to give their child a Christian education. The young Argyrios was endowed by the Holy Spirit with the spirit of wisdom; he was foreordained by God to shine forth as a chosen vessel and to become a great guide who would lead others to Christ. His entire childhood development and upbringing was apparently due to the strong and profound influence of his Christian family environment.

On Sundays Argyrios and his family attended services at the Monastery of Nea Moni.1 When he was eight years old he met Saint Nektarios, who was a Deacon at the time. After conversing with young Argyrios, he said to Igumen Pachomios, "Elder, do you see that child? Someday he will become a Saint."

Argyrios had little formal education, and was limited to simple elementary school knowledge. So with no theoretical knowledge of worldly acclaim, but with a good disposition, spiritual discernment, and with a particularly intense desire for the spiritual life, he advanced unwaveringly in the virtuous life with the precious gift of unshakable faith.

Divine love led him to renounce the world and its noisy turmoil, and to enter the monastic state where his virtues shone forth. The starting point for him to follow the path of monasticism was his visit to the Skete of the Holy Fathers of Chios for the restoration of his own wonderworking icon of the All Holy Virgin the Helper (Παναγία Βοηθεία), which he had received from his mother. Since that time, this icon remained an integral part of his entire life. The Theotokos became a source of inexhaustible strength for him in his later difficult struggles, and she was also a fount of refreshment and respite.

His guide in the ascetical life was the venerable Elder Pachomios of Sketis, by whom he was tonsured into the small Schema, and who renamed him Anthimos.

He submitted to Elder Pachomios and through unceasing prayer and fasting, and by the harsh struggles which he undertook with God’s good will, he grew great in asceticism and in virtue. His physical and spiritual struggles left him exhausted and ill. So, with the blessing of Father Pachomios, he returned to his home in order to recuperate. Saint Anthimos, however, did not abandon his struggles. Once his health was partially restored he retired to a small isolated cell on his father’s estates in Livadia, Chios, and continued his spiritual contests. At the same time he worked as a shoemaker in order to help his poor parents, and to show mercy to those who were afflicted.

In his cell, by unceasing prayer, and by studying the lives of the great ascetics, he was strengthened and he made progress in his spiritual formation, but he also provoked the demonic rage of the Evil One. He struggled severely and effectively, conducting multifaceted and victorious contests against the Evil One with ardent prayer, and each day he ascended the blessed Ladder of virtues and holiness. In 1909, at the age of forty, he was tonsured into the Great Schema by Hieromonk Andronikos, the successor of Father Pachomios.

The virtuous ascetic Anthimos was a chosen vessel and was ready for the office of the priesthood, but the local bishop refused to ordain him because of his lack of education. In 1910, he was invited to Adramyttium in Asia Minor by his godfather, Stephen Diomataris, for this purpose. The saint’s ordination by the Bishop of Smyrna was not a typical event.

In his case, there were signs of divine approval following the ordination. Earthquake, lightning, thunder, and a cataclysmic rainfall occurred at that sacred hour. The vigil lamps swayed, and one of them fell down. After the ordination there was calm, stillness, and joy from God. These physical phenomena revealed and bore witness to the fact that God was pleased by his ordination.

As long as he remained in Adramyttium, he shone forth in a dazzling way because of his virtue and holiness, by which he healed those in the region who were possessed by demons, something his fellow priests were unable to do. His spiritual radiance stirred up the passion of jealousy in his concelebrants. Wishing to free them from this passion, the Saint left Adramyttium in 1911 and went to Mount Athos, where the Hagiorite monks freely bestowed many honors upon him.

Returning to Chios, he was assigned as the priest for the home for lepers, which became a new setting for his virtues and charitable activities. The icon of the Panagia Ypapanti (the Meeting of the Lord), the protectress of the hospital for lepers, focuses on all her acts of kindness.

The Lady Theotokos, through the prayers of Saint Anthimos, performed countless miracles of healing the infirmities of the faithful, both those whose names are known and those who remain anonymous. This institution for unfortunate lepers became a spiritual center of physical and mental health. His entire ministry at the home for lepers shows his deepest faith and his very valuable contributions.

Here the greatness of the Saint is revealed. As the priest of that church, Saint Anthimos was always found with the lepers: he ate with them, he talked to them, and he communed them with the Spotless Mysteries. After the Divine Liturgy he rested.

In that hallowed atmosphere, he envisioned the establishment of a Monastery to shelter nuns who had fled there from Asia Minor following the exchange of populations (1922-1924).2 So his dreams moved forward toward their fulfillment. In 1927, after he had a vision of the Theotokos, he received permission to build such a monastery. He also built the magnificent temple dedicated the icon of the Mother of God the Helper (Παναγία Βοηθεία) in 1930. From that time he settled in the Monastery filled with devotion to the Most Holy Theotokos, and there he advanced in his life of asceticism, filled with a multitude of virtues and holiness through the intercession and help of the Theotokos, and he shepherded his flock with great affection and love, strengthening and consoling them with his sweet and simple speech, healing the sicknesses and afflictions of those who had recourse to him.

After his life-long ministry, now at the age of 90, fully ripe and full of days, with a dignity which was reminiscent of the great ascetics of the desert, he celebrated his last Divine Liturgy on January 27, 1960. A few days later he reposed in peace.

Saint Anthimos was glorified by the Church of Constantinople on August 13, 1992.

According to some, this Saint was born in Rome, but according to others in Tyrrenia (Tuscany), and was consecrated to the archiepiscopal throne of Rome in 440. In 448, when Saint Flavian, Archbishop of Constantinople, summoned Eutyches, an archimandrite in Constantinople, to give account for his teaching that there was only one nature in Christ after the Incarnation, Eutyches appealed to Saint Leo in Rome. After Saint Leo had carefully examined Eutyches's teachings, he wrote an epistle to Saint Flavian, setting forth the Orthodox teaching of the person of Christ, and His two natures, and also counseling Flavian that, should Eutyches sincerely repent of his error, he should be received back with all good will. At the Council held in Ephesus in 449, which was presided over by Dioscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria (and which Saint Leo, in a letter to the holy Empress Pulcheria in 451, was the first to call "The Robber Council"), Dioscorus, having military might behind him, did not allow Saint Leo's epistle to Flavian to be read, although repeatedly asked to do so; even before the Robber Council was held, Dioscorus had uncanonically received the unrepentant Eutyches back into communion. Because Saint Leo had many cares in Rome owing to the wars of Attila the Hun and other barbarians, in 451 he sent four delegates to the Fourth Ecumenical Council, where 630 Fathers gathered in Chalcedon during the reign of Marcian, to condemn the teachings of Eutyches and those who supported him. Saint Leo's epistle to Flavian was read at the Fourth Council, and was confirmed by the Holy Fathers as the Orthodox teaching on the incarnate person of our Lord; it is also called the "Tome of Leo." The Saint wrote many works in Latin; he reposed in 461. See also Saint Anatolius, July 3.

Saint Philothei was born in Athens in 1522 to an illustrious family. Against her will, she was married to a man who proved to be most cruel. When he died three years later, the Saint took up the monastic life and established a convent, in which she became a true mother to her disciples. Many women enslaved and abused by the Moslem Turks also ran to her for refuge. Because of this, the Turkish rulers became enraged and came to her convent, dragged her by force out of the church, and beat her cruelly. After a few days, she reposed, giving thanks to God for all things. This came to pass in the year 1589. She was renowned for her almsgiving, and with Saints Hierotheus and Dionysius the Areopagite is considered a patron of the city of Athens.