Apostles' Fast, day 7
All Saints of America, All Saints of Russia
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Saints commemorated
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Martyr Leontius and Companions
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Aetherius of Nicomedia
Aetherius is a martyr of the Diocletianic persecution, kept on June 18 in the Greek and Slavonic books beside the martyrs of Tripoli. Of his life the synaxarion transmits nothing but the fact of his constancy: arrested, offered the usual mixture of threats and promises, and then beaten, scourged and left bleeding, he would not yield, and died faithful. His name — from αἰθήρ, the upper air — supplied the hagiographer with the one thing the notice really contains: the couplet of the day says that he endured many torments and received their reward in the breadth of the aether.
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Hypatius and Theodulus
Hypatius, a tribune, and Theodulus, a soldier under him, were sent by the governor Hadrian to arrest the Christian officer Leontius at Tripoli in Phoenicia, and were converted on the road: Hypatius, struck down by fever, was healed after calling three times on "the God of Leontius" as an angel had told him in his sleep, and Theodulus was won by what he had watched. They came into the city as catechumens instead of captors, were baptised by the man they had come to seize, and when Hadrian tried them refused to sacrifice. Hypatius was torn with the iron claws and Theodulus beaten with rods; both were then beheaded, dying before Leontius, who was beaten to death after them.
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Leontius of the Kiev Caves
Leontius, called the Canonarch, was a boy or very young monk of the Kiev Caves Lavra in the fourteenth century who was given the office of canonarch — the singer who intones the verses and gives out the tone for the choirs — because of the unusual beauty of his voice. He was taught the Scriptures, kept the office faithfully, and died young. His relics rest in the Far (Theodosian) Caves, and he is commemorated on June 18, the day of his heavenly patron Leontius of Tripoli, and with the fathers of the Far Caves on August 28.
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Leontius of Tripoli
Leontius, a Greek by birth and an officer of the Roman army stationed at Tripoli in Phoenicia — the coastal city that is now Ṭarābulus in Lebanon, and to this day a metropolitan see of the Patriarchate of Antioch — is the great soldier-martyr of the Antiochian patriarchal territory. The Passion makes him a commander of exemplary courage and open-handed charity who turned many of the city from idols; the governor Hadrian, sent to suppress the Christians, dispatched the tribune Hypatius and the soldier Theodulus to arrest him, and they were converted on the road and baptised by his hand. All three were tortured; Hypatius and Theodulus were beheaded, and Leontius, hung up with a stone about his neck and beaten, gave up his soul under the blows. His martyrion at Tripoli became one of the notable shrines of the Phoenician coast: it was there, in 488, that the future patriarch Severus of Antioch was baptised.
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Leontius the Athonite
Leontius, born at Argos in the Peloponnese in 1520, took the monastic habit at seventeen in a hermitage of the Argolid, and after the Turkish capture of Nauplion in 1540 crossed to the Holy Mountain and entered the Monastery of Dionysiou. There he remained for sixty years without once passing outside the monastery's gate — the detail on which his whole tradition turns — and there he was given the gifts of discernment and of prophecy. He reposed on 16 March 1605, aged eighty-five; his relics streamed myrrh, from which he is called Myroblytes, the Myrrh-streamer. He is commemorated on June 18, the day of his patron the martyr Leontius of Tripoli.
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Leontius the Shepherd
A monk called Leontius the Shepherd, commemorated in the Greek books on June 18 — the fourth Leontius of a day that is crowded with them — of whom the synaxarion records only that he reposed in peace. The Greek heading places his monastery or cell beyond the city (πέραν τοῦ ἄστεος), and the couplet of the day plays his epithet against the Chief Shepherd before whom he now stands: being a shepherd, thou standest now before the Shepherd, before the Chief of shepherds, O right-minded Leontius.
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Two Martyrs of Cyprus
Two Christians of Cyprus, whose names have not been transmitted, are commemorated on June 18. All that the synaxarion records of them is the manner of their death: their feet were burned, and they were perfected. The metrical couplet of the day sets the brevity of the torment against the length of its reward — having endured the burning of their feet for a single hour, the two martyrs rejoice eternally — and that antithesis is, in effect, the whole of what the Church has kept about them.
Troparia & kontakia
Apolytikion — Tone 4
Thy martyr Aetherius, O Lord, in his striving has received from Thee our God the crown that does not wither; for holding fast Thy might he threw down the tyrants, and shattered the feeble insolence of the demons. At his entreaties save our souls.
Apolytikion — Tone 4
O ye who bore the sword of the emperor and were found bearing the cross of Christ, Hypatius and Theodulus, ye came to bind a martyr and were loosed by him; and being washed in the rain of heaven ye were made worthy of the crown. Entreat the merciful God to grant our souls forgiveness of sins.
Apolytikion — Tone 8
In thee, O Father, was preserved unimpaired that which is according to the image; for taking up the cross thou didst follow after Christ, and by thy deeds thou didst teach us to overlook the flesh, which passes away, and to attend to the soul, which is a thing immortal. Wherefore, O venerable Leontius, thy spirit rejoices with the angels.
Apolytikion — Tone 4
Thy martyr Leontius, O Lord, in his striving has received from Thee our God the crown that does not wither; for holding fast Thy might he threw down the tyrants, and shattered the feeble insolence of the demons. At his entreaties save our souls.
Apolytikion — Tone 8
In thee, O Father, was preserved unimpaired that which is according to the image; for taking up the cross thou didst follow after Christ, and by thy deeds thou didst teach us to overlook the flesh, which passes away, and to attend to the soul, which is a thing immortal. Wherefore, O venerable Leontius, thy spirit rejoices with the angels.
Apolytikion — Tone 8
In thee, O Father, was preserved unimpaired that which is according to the image; for taking up the cross thou didst follow after Christ, and by thy deeds thou didst teach us to overlook the flesh, which passes away, and to attend to the soul, which is a thing immortal. Wherefore, O venerable Leontius, thy spirit rejoices with the angels.
Apolytikion — Tone 4
The fire that was set beneath your feet, O blessed pair, could hold you but an hour, and could not turn you back one step from Christ; wherefore, having run the short course, ye have entered into the rest that has no end. O holy martyrs of Cyprus, entreat the merciful God to grant our souls forgiveness of sins.
Kontakion — Tone 3
Thou didst appear standing to the God-loving prince, holding in thy hand the writing of thy prayer for the world, and thou didst choose thyself a dwelling in this land; wherefore we cry to thee: as thou didst stay the plague and the sword, so stay every evil from us who honour thine image, O Mother of God who lovest mankind.
Kontakion — Tone 3
The soldier of the earthly king was found a soldier of the King of heaven, and the body that was beaten became an anvil on which no stroke could tell; wherefore Tripoli holds thy grave in honour, O Leontius, and the faithful cry to thee: pray that our souls may be saved.
Troparion — Tone 1
All-hymned and most glorious Queen, Mother of God, receive this hymn of praise from thine unworthy servants, and cease not to pray to thy Son and our God for the city and for the people that hope in thee, but be a wall of defence and a shelter, granting to the faithful peace and great mercy.
Readings
Vespers
Isaiah 43.9-14
9Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth. 10Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. 11I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. 12I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God. 13Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it? 14Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.
Wisdom of Solomon 3.1-9
1But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them. 2In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure is taken for misery, 3And their going from us to be utter destruction: but they are in peace. 4For though they be punished in the sight of men, yet is their hope full of immortality. 5And having been a little chastised, they shall be greatly rewarded: for God proved them, and found them worthy for himself. 6As gold in the furnace hath he tried them, and received them as a burnt offering. 7And in the time of their visitation they shall shine, and run to and fro like sparks among the stubble. 8They shall judge the nations, and have dominion over the people, and their Lord shall reign for ever. 9They that put their trust in him shall understand the truth: and such as be faithful in love shall abide with him: for grace and mercy is to his saints, and he hath care for his elect.
Wisdom of Solomon 5.15-6.3
15But the righteous live for evermore; their reward also is with the Lord, and the care of them is with the most High. 16Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom, and a beautiful crown from the Lord’s hand: for with his right hand shall he cover them, and with his arm shall he protect them. 17He shall take to him his jealousy for complete armour, and make the creature his weapon for the revenge of his enemies. 18He shall put on righteousness as a breastplate, and true judgment instead of an helmet. 19He shall take holiness for an invincible shield. 20His severe wrath shall he sharpen for a sword, and the world shall fight with him against the unwise. 21Then shall the right aiming thunderbolts go abroad; and from the clouds, as from a well drawn bow, shall they fly to the mark. 22And hailstones full of wrath shall be cast as out of a stone bow, and the water of the sea shall rage against them, and the floods shall cruelly drown them. 23Yea, a mighty wind shall stand up against them, and like a storm shall blow them away: thus iniquity shall lay waste the whole earth, and ill dealing shall overthrow the thrones of the mighty. 1Hear therefore, O ye kings, and understand; learn, ye that be judges of the ends of the earth. 2Give ear, ye that rule the people, and glory in the multitude of nations. 3For power is given you of the Lord, and sovereignty from the Highest, who shall try your works, and search out your counsels.
2nd Matins Gospel
Mark 16.1-8
1And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. 2And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. 3And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? 4And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. 5And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. 6And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. 7But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. 8And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.
Epistle
Romans 2.10-16
10But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: 11For there is no respect of persons with God. 12For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; 13(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. 14For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) 16In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
Hebrews 11.33-12.2 (Saints)
33Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 36And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 37They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 38(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 40God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. 1Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Gospel
Matthew 4.18-23
18And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 19And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 20And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. 21And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. 22And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him. 23And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
Matthew 4.25-5.12 (Saints)
25And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan. 1And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 2And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, 3Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. 5Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 6Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 7Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 8Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 9Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. 10Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.