Ordination Anniversary

Today is the anniversary of my diaconal ordination, being the Feast Day of St. Barnabas. Barnabas, thus, has a special place in my heart because that is really the only Saint day I get an anniversary on, as my priestly ordination was on the Feast of the Ascension, which is a floating holy day.


The Collect Prayer for St. Barnabas Day:


Grant, O God, that we may follow the example of your faithful servant Barnabas, who, seeking not his own renown but the well being of your Church, gave generously of his life and substance for the relief of the poor and the spread of the Gospel; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


The imagery of the icon has to do with the legend of his death. According to the History of the Cyprus Church, in 478 Barnabas appeared in a dream to the Archbishop of Constantia (Salamis, Cyprus) Anthemios and revealed to him the place of his sepulchre beneath a carob-tree. The following day Anthemios found the tomb and inside it the remains of St. Barnabas with a manuscript of St. Matthew's Gospel on his breast, hence the scroll in his hand in the icon. 

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