Below are two excerpts taken from The Prologue from Ochrid for todays reading.
I love reading the Prologue. I can't image the struggles so many Christians have gone through (and continue to go through) to preserve the faith. It really puts my life as a Christian in perspective. The demons never sleep.
Go here to finish reading about these two great men or to start reading the lives of the saints daily, go here.
SAINT CYRIL, ARCHBISHOP OF JERUSALEM
Cyril was born in Jerusalem during the reign of Constantine the Great and died during the reign of Theodosius the Great [315-386 A.D.] He was ordained a priest in 346 A.D. and succeeded to the throne of Blessed Maximus, Patriarch of Jerusalem in 350 A.D. On three occasions he was dethroned and banished into exile until finally, during the reign of Theodosius, he was restored and lived peacefully for eight years and then gave up his soul to the Lord. He underwent two difficult struggles: one, against the Arians, who became powerful under Constantius, the son of Constantine, and the other during the reign of Julian the Apostate [this turncoat] and with the Jews.
ANINUS, THE WONDER-WORKER
When Pionius, a stylite,was attacked and badly beaten by robbers some distance away from Aninus, Pionius decided to descend from the pillar and proceed to complain to the judges. St. Aninus "discerned the soul" of this stylite and his intention. He sent a letter to Pionius, by his lion, counseling him to abandon his intention, to forgive his assailants and to continue in his asceticism.
