Paschaltide, day 10 · 9 days since Pascha
Day of Rejoicing (Radonitsa)
Saints commemorated
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Apostles Jason and Sosipater of the Seventy
Jason and Sosipater are two apostles of the Seventy, disciples and kinsmen of the Apostle Paul, whom the Church honours together as the enlighteners of Corfu (Kerkyra). Both are greeted by name in the New Testament — Jason as Paul's host at Thessalonica whose house was stormed by the mob (Acts 17:5–9), and both as those who send greeting from Corinth, "Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen" (Romans 16:21). The tradition makes Jason a native of Tarsus, its first-fruits and its bishop, and Sosipater a man of Achaia and bishop of Iconium. Leaving their sees, the two sailed west to the island of Corfu, built there the first church in the name of the Protomartyr Stephen, and were imprisoned by the island's ruler; from that prison they converted seven condemned robbers and the gaoler who guarded them, and at last the king's own daughter Kerkyra and the ruler himself, who was baptised Sebastian. They ended their days on the island in great old age, and Corfu keeps them as its apostles to this day.
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The Nine Martyrs at Cyzicus (3rd c.)
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Cyril of Turov
Cyril, Bishop of Turov, is the greatest preacher of Kievan Rus and one of the finest writers in the whole of Old East Slavonic literature — called by his own contemporaries "a Russian Chrysostom" and, in the troparion of his feast, "the golden-tongued teacher" whose learning "enlightened the ends of the Russian land." Born in the 1130s to a wealthy family in Turov on the river Pripyat, he refused his inheritance, was tonsured in the Turov monastery of Saints Boris and Gleb, and afterwards shut himself up on a pillar — the first named stylite of the Russian Church — where he wrote and expounded the Scriptures. Drawn from the pillar to the episcopate, he ruled the see of Turov, took part in the council of 1169 that condemned the schismatic bishop Theodore of Vladimir, and wrote letters of admonition to Prince Andrew Bogolyubsky. About 1182 he resigned his see for the sake of writing, and reposed on April 28, about 1183. There survive from his hand sermons for the feasts of the Lord through the year, allegorical parables, treatises on the monastic life, canons and a cycle of daily prayers — some forty pieces, gathered in the collected edition of 1880.
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Kerkyra and the martyrs of Corfu
Kerkyra was, by the received account, the daughter of Kerkyllinos, the ruler of the island of Corfu in the first century, who confessed Christ when she learned why the apostles Jason and Sosipater and their fellow-prisoners were suffering in her father's gaol. She gave away her jewels and her goods to the poor, withstood her father's rage and his attempt to shame her, and was at the last hung upon a tree and shot to death with arrows. With her the Church keeps on this day the whole company of the island's first martyrs: the seven condemned robbers whom the apostles converted in prison and who were boiled in a cauldron of pitch, the gaoler who confessed Christ at the sight of their end and was mutilated and beheaded, the robber set upon Kerkyra who believed instead of harming her, and the martyrs Zenon, Vitalis, Eusebius and Neon, perfected by fire. They are the first-fruits of Corfu, and the company from which the church of the island grew.
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Maximus, Quintilian and Dadas
Maximus, Quintilian (Kyntilianos) and Dadas were three kinsmen of the region of Dorostolum on the lower Danube (in Roman Moesia, now Silistra), martyred about the year 286 in the persecution of Diocletian and Maximian. Arrested for refusing to sacrifice at the pagan festival, they confessed Christ under interrogation and torture, and were beheaded at a place called Ozovia. The Church keeps their memory together on April 13.
British Isles and Ireland
- St. Cronan, abbot of Roscrea (7th C)
- St. Gerard the Pilgrim (639)
- SS. Probe and Germaine (4th C)
Readings
Epistle
Acts 4.1-10
1And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, 2Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide. 4Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand. 5And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes, 6And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. 7And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this? 8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, 9If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; 10Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
Gospel
John 3.16-21
16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Troparia & kontakia
Apolytikion — Tone 3
Holy apostles, intercede with the merciful God, that he may grant our souls forgiveness of offences.
Kontakion — Tone 8 (common of a hierarch)
Having shone as a lamp upon the pillar and upon the episcopal throne alike, and having fed the Church with the honey of your words, O father Cyril, you were shown to be a second Chrysostom to the Russian land; wherefore we cry to you: Rejoice, O golden-worded teacher of Turov.
Kontakion — Tone 2
Illumined by the teachings of Paul, you became luminaries of the whole inhabited earth, O thrice-blessed ones; for you enlighten the world unceasingly with wonders — Jason, the fountain of healings, and Sosipater, the glory of the martyrs of Christ. O God-bearing apostles, protectors of those in distress, entreat God that our souls may be saved.
Kontakion — Tone 2 (common of several martyrs)
You who are the source of all light and the crown of those who contend, have strengthened the first-fruits of the island of Kerkyra: a king's daughter, and prisoners loosed from their chains, and men refined in the fire. By their prayers, O Christ, grant your mercy to us who honour them.
Oikos
O apostles who speak of God, heralds of true worship, teachers and ever-venerable protectors of the devout, who stand before God and are filled with the divine light and adorned with crowns: enlighten us, we pray, that we may keep your all-festal feast in reverence and in songs of praise. For we are all your flock, ransomed from error by grace; and since you are saviours of the faithful, hasten to the Creator, to plead with boldness that our souls may be saved.
Stichera
You left behind all that is pleasant, having loved Christ, and clave to him with your souls, O glorious ones, and followed in his footsteps in faith, all-wise Jason and Sosipater; wherefore intercede with him, that peace and great mercy be granted to our souls. Jason and Sosipater, enlighten my soul that is darkened by the passions — you who lit up the whole earth with your godly teachings, and lessened the darkness of the idols, and brought the whole human race, saved, to Christ our God.
Synaxarion
Learning that a robber's portion was Eden, the robbers made haste to obtain that same portion through burning pitch. Pierced with the shots of arrows, the king's daughter shone out from her wounds as from pearls. Do not be afraid before the flame, O Vitalios: for I will lead the way, and Zenon will enter first. What filth could that fire of yours scour away, O Eusebius, refined gold of Christ?
Troparion — Tone 4
Zealot and lover of true piety, praise of monks and of stylites, most glorious hierarch of the flock of Turov, golden-tongued teacher, who with the shining doctrine of your knowledge of God enlightened the ends of the Russian land, gracious helper of sinners in prayer to God: O Cyril, wise in God, entreat Christ God that we, your countrymen, may be established in Orthodoxy, in piety and in oneness of mind.
Troparion — Tone 4 (common of a virgin-martyr)
Your ewe-lamb Kerkyra cries out to you with a great voice, O Jesus: I love you, my Bridegroom, and in seeking you I contend; I am crucified and buried together with you in your baptism, and I suffer for your sake, that I may reign with you; I die for you, that I may live in you. Receive me as a spotless sacrifice, offered to you in love. By her intercessions, as you are merciful, save our souls.
Troparion — Tone 4 (common of several martyrs)
Thy martyrs Maximus, Quintilian and Dadas, O Lord, in their contest received incorruptible crowns from Thee, our God; for possessing Thy strength, they cast down the tyrants and shattered the feeble insolence of the demons. By their intercessions save our souls.