The Holy Great Martyr Menas of Egypt,

 The Holy Great Martyr Menas of Egypt,an Egyptian by birth, was a military officer and served in the Kotyaeion region of Phrygia under the centurion Firmilian during the reign of the emperors Diocletian (284-305) and Maximian (305-311). When the emperors began the fiercest persecution against Christians in history, the saint refused to serve these persecutors. He removed his soldier's belt (a sign of military rank) and withdrew to a mountain, where he lived an ascetic life of fasting and prayer.

Once he happened to arrive in the city during a pagan festival. At the climax of the games the saint's accusing voice rang out, preaching faith in Christ, the Savior of the world. At his trial before the prefect Pyrrhus, the saint bravely confessed his faith, saying that he had come to denounce the impious. The prefect was angered, and had Menas arrested.

Pyrrhus offered to restore the saint's former rank if he would offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. When he refused, he was put to cruel tortures, then he was beheaded. This occurred in the year 304. Christians gathered up the martyr's relics by night and hid them until the end of the persecution. Later, they were brought to Egypt and placed in a church dedicated to St Menas southwest of Alexandria.

The saint received grace from God to work miracles, and to help those in need. St Menas is noted for healing various illnesses, delivering people from possession by demons, and as a protector, especially during times of war. We also ask his help in finding lost objects.

Prayer of Saint John Chrysostom Hourly Prayers of the Day and Night

01. O Lord, deprive me not of Thy heavenly blessings;

02. O Lord, deliver me from eternal torment;

03. O Lord, if I have sinned in my mind or thought, in word deed, forgive me.

04. O Lord, deliver me from every ignorance and heedlessness, from pettiness of the soul and stony hardness of heart;

05. O Lord, deliver me from every temptation;

06. O Lord, enlighten my heart darkened by evil desires;

07. O Lord, I, being a human being, have sinned; do Thou, being God, forgive me in Thy loving kindness, for Thou knowest the weakness of my soul.

08. O Lord, send down Thy grace to help me, that I may glorify Thy holy Name;

09. O Lord Jesus Christ, inscribe me, Thy servant, in the Book of Life, and grant me a blessed end;

10. O Lord my God, even if I have done nothing good in Thy sight, yet grant me, according to Thy grace, that I may make a start in doing good.

11. O Lord, sprinkle on my heart the dew of Thy grace;

12. O Lord of heaven and earth, remember me, Thy sinful servant, cold of heart and impure, in Thy Kingdom.

13. O Lord, receive me in repentance;

14. O Lord, leave me not;

15. O Lord, save me from temptation;

16. O Lord, grant me pure thoughts;

17. O Lord, grant me tears of repentance, remembrance of death, and the sense of peace;

18. O Lord, grant me mindfulness to confess my sins;

19. O Lord, grant me humility, charity, and obedience;

20. O Lord, grant me tolerance, magnanimity, and gentleness;

21. O Lord, implant in me the root of all blessings: the fear of Thee in my heart;

22. O Lord, vouchsafe that I may love Thee with all my heart and soul, and that I may obey in all things Thy will;

23. O Lord, shield me from evil persons and devils and passions and all other lawless matters;

24. O Lord, Who knowest Thy creation and that which Thou hast willed for it; may Thy will also be fulfilled in me, a sinner, for Thou art blessed forever and ever. Amen

O Pure Virgin

By St. Nektarios of Aegina
Translated by Bishop Basil (Essey)

O pure and virgin Lady, O spotless Theotokos:
... Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
O Virgin Queen and Mother, O dewy Fleece most sacred:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
O height transcending heaven above, O beam of light most radiant:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
O joy of chaste and virgin maids, surpassing all the angels:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
O brilliant light of heaven above, most clear and most radiant:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
Commanding Chief of heavenly hosts, O holiest of holies:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
O ever virgin Mary, O Mistress of creation:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
O Bride all pure and spotless, O Lady all holy:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
O holy Mary, Bride and Queen, O cause of our rejoicing:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
O Maiden Queen honorable, O Mother most holy:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
More precious than the Cherubim, and more glorious than the Seraphim:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
Surpassing Principalities, Dominions, Thrones, and Powers:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
Rejoice, song of the Cherubim; Rejoice, hymn of the Angels:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
Rejoice, ode of the Seraphim, and joy of the Archangels:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
Rejoice, O peace, Rejoice, O joy, and haven of salvation:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
O bridal chamber of the Word, unfading, fragrant blossom:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
Rejoice, delight of paradise, Rejoice, life everlasting:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
Rejoice, O holy Tree of Life, and Fount of immortality:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
I supplicate thee, Lady, I humbly call upon thee!
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
O Queen of all, I beg thee, to grant me thy favor:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
O spotless and most honored Maid, O Lady all holy:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
I call upon thee fervently, thou temple most holy:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
O thou my help, deliver me from harm and all adversity:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
And by thy prayers show me to be an heir of immortality:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

Daily readings from scriptures November 2011

1 1Co 12:27‐13:8 Mt 10:1,5‐8

2 Col 1:18‐23 Lk 11:42‐46

3 Col 1:24‐29 Lk 11:47‐12:1

4 Col 2:1‐7 Lk 12:2‐12

5 2Co 3:12‐18 Lk 9:1‐6

6 Gal 2:16‐20 Lk 8:41‐56

7 Col 2:13‐20 Lk 12:13‐15,22‐31

8 Heb 2:2‐10 Lk 10:16‐21

9 Col 3:17‐4:1 Lk 12:48‐59

10 2Co 4:9‐16 Lk 13:1‐9

11 2Co 4:6‐15 Lk 13:31‐35

12 2Co 9:6‐11 Mt 5:14‐17

13 Heb 7:26‐8:2 Lk 10:25‐37

14 1Co 4:9‐16 Jn 1:44‐51

15 1Thess 1:6‐10 Lk 14:25‐35

16 Rom 10:11‐11:2 Mt 9:9‐13

17 1Co 12:7‐11 Lk 16:1‐9

18 1Thess 2:14‐19 Lk 16:15‐18;17:1‐4

19 2Co 8:1‐5 Lk 9:57‐62

20 Eph 2:4‐10 Lk 12:16‐21

21 Exod 40:1‐35; 1Kg 7:51‐8:11; Ezek 43:27‐44:4

Heb 9:1‐7 Lk 10:38‐42;11:27‐28

22 Philemon 1:1‐25 Lk 17:26‐37

23 1Thess 4:1‐12 Lk 18:15‐17,26‐30

24 Php 3:20‐4:3 Lk 18:31‐34

25 Gal 3:23‐4:5 Mk 5:24‐34

26 2Co 11:1‐6 Lk 10:19‐21

27 Eph 2:14‐22 Lk 18:18‐27

28 2Thess 1:1‐10 Lk 19:37‐44

29 2Thess 1:10‐2:2 Lk 19:45‐48

30 1Co 4:9‐16 Jn 1:36‐51

† Holy New Martyr Helen of Sinope (18th c.) November 1

She was a maiden of fifteen who lived with her parents in the Christian enclave of Sinope in Pontus during the 1700s. One day, as she went to the marketplace, she passed by the house of the local Pasha (governor), who, seeing her beauty, was seized by lust for her. He ordered his servants to bring her to him, and made two attempts to defile her; each time, however, he was prevented by a mysterious power that kept him from her like an invisible wall. Determined to have his way for her, he kept her prisoner in his house; but she was able to slip away and run home to her parents' house.

Enraged that his prey had escaped, the Pasha called together the leaders of the Christian community and promised that, unless Helen were handed over to him, all the Christians in the town would be massacred. Grief-stricken and fearful, the leaders persuaded Helen's father to return the girl to the palace. The vile Pasha made several more attempts to rape the Saint, but once again he was restrained as if by an invisible wall as she recited the Six Psalms and all the prayers that she knew by heart. Realizing that he was powerless against her, the Pasha had her thrown in the common jail, then ordered that she be tortured to death. The executioners subjected the maiden to several cruel torments before killing her by driving two nails into her skull and beheading her. They then put her body in a sack and threw it in the Black Sea.

Some Greek sailors followed a heavenly light to the place where the sack had sunk, and divers retrieved the Saint's relics, which immediately revealed themselves as a source of healing for many. Her body was taken to Russia; her head was placed in the church in Sinope, where it continued to work miracles, especially for those who suffered from headaches. When the Greeks were driven from Sinope in 1924, refugees took the head with them. It is venerated today in a church near Thessalonika.