{"id":26752,"date":"2024-07-16T01:21:26","date_gmt":"2024-07-16T01:21:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stpeterorthodoxchurch.com\/?p=26752"},"modified":"2024-07-16T01:22:24","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T01:22:24","slug":"st-peter-news-july-16-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stpeterorthodoxchurch.com\/st-peter-news-july-16-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Peter News July 16, 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
\nThe Fourth Sunday of Matthew<\/h2>\n

Righteous Father John of Edessa in Mesopotamia and Simeon of Homs (Emesa), the Fool-for-Christ<\/h4>\n
\n\"St.<\/p>\n

St. Simeon the Fool for Christ and Father John of Edessa in Mesopotamia<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Monks Simeon, Fool-for-Christ, and his Fellow-Ascetic John were Syrians, and they lived in the sixth century at the city of Edessa. From childhood they were bound by close ties of friendship. The older of them, Simeon, was unmarried and lived with his aged mother. John, however, although he was married, lived with his father (his mother was dead) and with his young wife. Both friends belonged to wealthy families. When Simeon was thirty years old, and John twenty-four, they made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Venerable and Life-Creating Cross of the Lord. On the journey home the friends spoke of the soul\u2019s path to salvation. Dismounting their horses, they sent the servants on ahead with the horses, while they continued on foot.<\/p>\n

Passing through Jordan, they saw monasteries on the edge of the desert. Both of them were filled with an irrepressible desire to leave the world and spend their remaining life in monastic struggles. They turned off from the road, which their servants followed to Syria, and they prayed zealously that God would guide them to the monasteries on the opposite side. They besought the Lord to indicate which monastery they should choose, and they decided to enter whichever monastery had its gates open. At this time the Lord informed Igumen Nikon in a dream to open the monastery gates, so that the sheep of Christ could enter in.<\/p>\n

In great joy the comrades came through the open gates of the monastery, where they were warmly welcomed by the igumen, and they remained at the monastery. In a short while they received the monastic tonsure.<\/p>\n

After remaining at the monastery for a certain time, Simeon desired to intensify his efforts, and to go into the desert to pursue asceticism in complete solitude. John did not wish to be left behind by his companion, and he decided to share with him the work of a desert-dweller. The Lord revealed the intentions of the companions to Igumen Nikon, and on that night when Saints Simeon and John intended to depart the monastery, he himself opened the gates for them. He prayed with them, gave them his blessing and sent them into the wilderness. <\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

Read the entire history on the Orthodox Church of America<\/a> website.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Services and Events This Week<\/h2>\n