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| Righteous Abraham and Lot (Feast Day - October 9) |
Verses
To Abraham.
When Abraham died, what abode did he go to?
For there is no other bosom, than the abode of Lazarus.
For there is no other bosom, than the abode of Lazarus.
To Lot.
For Lot heaven was like a new Zoar,
Which he arrived at after fleeing the fire of this life.
Which he arrived at after fleeing the fire of this life.
The holy Patriarch Abraham, born a pagan, ten generations after Noah, when the knowledge of God had perished from among men, became the beginning of God's dispensation for the universal renewal and salvation of man. He was called by God out of his country -- the land of the Chaldees, that is, Mesopotamia -- to the land of Canaan, and received the promise that through his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed. Through his singular faith in the promises of God, he was justified before the giving of the Law and the coming of Grace; through his willingness to sacrifice Isaac, he portrayed the love wherewith God loved the world in sacrificing His only-begotten Son. The greatness of Abraham, and the trials that he and his righteous nephew Lot underwent, are set forth in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament, chapters twelve through twenty-five. See also the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers, which falls between December 11-17.
Apolytikion in Plagal of the First Tone
In the night universal of ignorance towards God, and in that starless, profound gloom bereft of heavenly light, thou, O Abraham, wast kindled in the firmament, burning with bright far-shining faith in the Everlasting Light, Who shone forth to us from thy seed. Do thou entreat Him with fervour, that He enlighten us and save our souls.
Kontakion in the Second Tone
The servant wast thou, a mortal fashioned from the earth; thy master was God, creation's Lord and Fashioner; yet, well-pleased to glorify thy celestial greatness, the Lord of all called Himself the God of Abraham. Procure for us mercies from thy merciful Lord.
