Eastern Rite - Feasts of 1 May AM 7531

Today is the Feasts of the Holy Prophet Jeremias, of the Coronation of the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God,  and of the Passing into Eternal Life of Blessed Hieromartyr Klymentii Sheptytsky, Archimandrite of the Studites.

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The Holy Prophet Jeremias, one of the four great Old Testament prophets, was son of the priest Helkias from the city of Anathoth near Jerusalem, and he lived 600 years before the Birth of Christ, under the Israelite king Josias and four of his successors. He was called to prophetic service at the age of fifteen when the Lord revealed to him that even before his birth the Lord had chosen him to be a prophet. Jeremias refused, citing his youth and lack of skill at speaking, but the Lord promised to be always with him and to watch over him.

He touched the mouth of the chosen one and said, “Behold, I have put My words into your mouth. Behold, I have appointed you this day over nations and kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to rebuild, and to plant” (Jer. 1:9-10). From that time Jeremias prophesied for twenty-three years, denouncing the Jews for abandoning the true God and worshipping idols, predicting sorrows and devastating wars. He stood by the gates of the city, and at the entrance to the Temple, everywhere where the people gathered, and he exhorted them with imprecations and often with tears. The people, however, mocked and abused him, and they even tried to kill him.

Depicting for the Jews their impending enslavement to the king of Babylon, Jeremias first placed on his own neck a wooden, and then an iron yoke, and thus he went about among the people. Enraged at the dire predictions of the prophet, the Jewish elders threw the Prophet Jeremias into a pit filled with horrid, slimy creatures, where he almost died. Through the intercession of the God-fearing royal official Habdemelek, the prophet was pulled out of the pit, but he did not cease his prophecies, and for this, he was carted off to prison. Under the Jewish king Zedechias, his prophecy was fulfilled.

Nabuchodonosor came, slaughtered many people, carried off a remnant into captivity, and Jerusalem was pillaged and destroyed. Nabuchodonosor released the prophet from prison and permitted him to live where he wanted. The prophet remained at the ruins of Jerusalem and bewailed his nation’s misfortune. According to Tradition, the Prophet Jeremias took the Ark of the Covenant with the Tablets of the Law and hid it in one of the caves of Mount Nabath (Nebo), so that the Jews could no longer find it (2 Mac. 2). Afterwards, a new Ark of the Covenant was fashioned, but it lacked the glory of the first.

Among the Jews remaining in their fatherland there soon arose internecine clashes: Hodolias, Nabuchodonosor’s viceroy, was murdered. The Jews, fearing the wrath of Babylon, decided to flee into Egypt. The Prophet Jeremias disagreed with their intention, predicting that the punishment which they feared would befall them in Egypt. The Jews would not listen to the prophet, however, and taking him along by force, they went into Egypt and settled in the city of Tathnis. There the prophet lived for four years and was respected by the Egyptians because by his prayers he killed crocodiles and other creatures infesting these parts. When Jeremias prophesied that the King of Babylon would invade Egypt and annihilate the Jews living there, the Jews murdered him. In that very same year the saint’s prophecy was fulfilled. There is a tradition that 250 years later, Alexander the Great transported the relics of the holy Prophet Jeremias to Alexandria.

The Prophet Jeremias wrote his Book of Prophecies and also the Book of Lamentations about the desolation of Jerusalem and the Exile. The times in which he lived and prophesied are described in 4 Kings (Ch. 23-25) and in the Second Book of Paralipomenon (36:12) and in 2 Machabees (Ch. 2).

In the Gospel of Matthew, it is said that the betrayal of Judas was foretold by the Prophet Jeremias, “And they took thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom the sons of Israel had set a price, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me” (Mt. 27:9-10). Perhaps Jeremias 32:6-15 is meant.

Even after his death, the Prophet Jeremias was regarded as a wonderworker. Dust from his tomb was believed to cure snake bite, and many Christians pray to him for this purpose.

Troparion — Tone 2

Celebrating the memory / of Your Prophet Jeremias, O Lord, / for his sake, we entreat You to save our souls.

Kontakion — Tone 3

Cleansing your radiant heart through the Spirit, / O great Prophet and Martyr, / glorious Jeremias, / you received from on high the gift of prophecy. / You cried out with a great voice to the nations: / This is our God, and there is none other besides Him / Who became incarnate and appeared on earth.

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The Icon of the Mother of God “The Footprint” at Pochaev was recognised by Clement XIV, Pope of Rome, as miraculous and was Papally Crowned on his orders.

The history of Our Lady of Pochaiv (pronounced Po-cha-yiv) begins in 1198 at the top of Mount Pochayiv in the Carpathian Mountains, about two centuries after Christianity became institutionalized in Ukraine following the conversion of St. Volodymyr.

On April 17, 1198, a monk in the region of Ternopil Oblast ascended Mount Pochaiv to pray. After beginning his prayers, a pillar of fire appeared to him and to some shepherds nearby. The flames withdrew to reveal the Blessed Virgin standing upon the mountain. The apparition left behind a single footprint upon the rock where she stood, and from this rock, a healing spring began to flow.

News of this supernatural event spread to the people of the region, and many who visited the place told of receiving healing from the waters of the spring. The imprint on the rock became known as the Healing Unshod Footprint, while the spring became known for its miraculous healing ability. The previously uninhabited mountain became the site of a monastery dedicated to the miracle, and a song about the apparition has been passed down through generations:

Shepherds on a hill tended their flock;
They beheld the Mother of God on the rock,
And in remembrance of her good
Leaving a footprint where she stood.
Water there now flows from a spring,
Good health, to those who believe, to bring.

Hundreds of years later, the Greek bishop Neophit visited the monastery and left behind a gift — an icon of the Theotokos from Constantinople — for Anna Hoyska, a rich widow who owned the local town and lands. Soon after, the icon reportedly started glowing, and Anna Hoyska’s blind brother is said to have regained his sight after praying in front of it. Donated to the monastery after Hoyska’s death, the icon eventually came to bear the mountain’s name: the Pochaiv Icon of the Mother of God or the Theotokos of Pochaiv (Ukrainian: Почаївська ікона Пресвятої Богородиці). Painted in a late Byzantine style, the image is an Eastern Orthodox icon of the Eleusa, or “tenderness madonna,” iconographic type. The icon shows Our Lady wearing a crown and holding the infant Jesus. In her other hand, she holds the end of her veil. This being a “tenderness” icon, it shows the faces of Jesus and Mary touching while Jesus gives a blessing with his hand. Mary’s face is sad yet beautiful, and her head leans toward her son, a sign of her loving concern and readiness to help.

The monastery’s chronicles record hundreds of miracles during the icon’s stay, one regarding the invasion of the Turks during the Zbarazh War in 1675. At this time, the people of Pochaiv gathered at the monastery in order to weather the attack. Facing certain death at the hands of the invaders, they prayed and sang hymns to Mary, pleading for protection and help. Legend tells that the Blessed Virgin appeared in the sky along with a host of angels and St. Job of Pochaiv. Mary’s white mantle (or Pokrova) spread over the monastery and terrified the besieging army. The Turks fired arrows into the sky at the apparition, but the arrows fell back and wounded the attackers who shot them. This caused enough confusion among the invaders that they scattered, allowing the people of Pochaiv to turn their enemies back. Against overwhelming odds, the people of Pochaiv achieved victory.

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Blessed Hieromartyr Archimandrite Klymentii Sheptytsky was born in 1869 on the Prylbychi estate outside Rava Ruska. He was the younger brother of the Venerable Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky and the Archimandrite of the Order of Studite monks of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. He was educated at home; graduated from St. Anne Gymnasium in Kraków and then from the law department of the university in Kraków. He worked as a lawyer and later became a member of parliament. In 1909 he entered the Order of St. Benedict in Beuron, Germany. In 1910 he enrolled in Innsbruck University (Austria) where he studied philosophy and theology. In 1915 he was ordained a priest of the Eastern Rite in Krizhevci, Croatia. He made his perpetual vows taking the name “Klymentiy.” He was a priest-monk, abbot of Sknyliv Monastery of Studites outside Lviv. In 1919 – during the Civil War – the monastery was burned down. Fr. Klymentiy along with the monastic community managed to make it to Holy Dormition Lavra in Univ; in 1921, to the monastery in Zarvanytsia outside Berezhany, and then later to Lviv. In December 1939 – during the Soviet occupation of Lviv, the monastery was closed and its property confiscated. In the summer of 1941, during the German occupation, under the leadership of Fr. Klymentiy the monastery was reopened and the life of the monastic community reestablished. In October 1944, he gave communion [to the community] and on November 5 along with a group of Basilian Fathers, he took part in the funeral of his brother, Metropolitan Andrey. In the middle of November 1944 Metropolitan Josyf Slypyi appointed him archimandrite of the Studites. In 1947, after the establishment of the Soviet regime in Lviv, Fr. Klymentiy was arrested and charged with “hiding in his monastery partisans who had fought the Soviet regime.” He was transported to Vladimir, then transferred to Kiev Prison and later to Poltava Prison, where, in 1950 (?) he was sentenced to ten years in a corrective labour camp. He died May 1, 1951, in Vladimir Central Prison. Beatified on June 27, 2001, by Pope John Paul II and awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel for saving Jews.