Hieromartyr Antipas, Bishop of Pergamum

Saints commemorated

Saint of the day

Hieromartyr Antipas, Bishop of Pergamum

Antipas, Bishop of Pergamum, is the "faithful martyr" (ὁ μάρτυς μου ὁ πιστός) whom the risen Christ names by his own mouth in the Revelation of St John — "Antipas my faithful witness, who was slain among you, where Satan dwells" (Rev. 2:13). A disciple of the Apostle John and, by tradition, one of the Seventy, he was made bishop of the great pagan city of Pergamum in Asia Minor, and about the year 92, in the persecution under Domitian, was roasted to death inside a heated brazen bull. He is honoured as a hieromartyr and wonderworker, and is invoked especially against diseases of the teeth.
Holy Martyrs Processus and Martinian (1st c.)
Pharmuthius of Egypt

Pharmuthius was a solitary of the Egyptian desert in the fourth century, remembered among the anchorites of the Thebaid for his obedience, humility and gift of feeding the hidden servants of God. The tradition links him with the ascetics John, Mark and Serapion, and tells how, by God's command, he carried bread to a holy hermit whom the Lord had shown him in a vision. He reposed in peace in old age.

British Isles and Ireland

St. Machai, disciple of St. Patrick (5th C)
St. Maedhog, abbot of Clonmore (6th C)
St. Guthlac, Hermit and Wonderworker of Crowland (714)

Troparia & kontakia

Apolytikion — Tone 4

As a sharer in the ways and a successor to the thrones of the Apostles, O divinely-inspired one, thou didst find in contemplation the means to ascend to divine heights; rightly dividing the word of truth, thou didst struggle for the faith even unto blood, O hieromartyr Antipas: intercede with Christ God that our souls may be saved.

Kontakion — Tone 4

A worthy priest of Christ and a most honoured martyr, an unfailing fount of healings, thou dost pour out cures upon the faithful, O all-praised Antipas; wherefore we honour thy holy memory, and glorify the Lord who crowned thee.

Troparion — Tone 8 (common of an ascetic)

By a flood of tears thou didst make the barren desert fruitful, and by thy sighs from the depths thou didst bear fruit a hundredfold in labours; and thou becamest a beacon, shining upon the world by thy miracles, O Pharmuthius our father: intercede with Christ God that our souls may be saved.

Readings

6th Hour

Isaiah 28.14-22

¹⁴Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. ¹⁵Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: ¹⁶Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. ¹⁷Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. ¹⁸And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. ¹⁹From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report. ²⁰For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. ²¹For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act. ²²Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.

Vespers

Genesis 10.32-11.9

³²These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood. ¹And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. ²And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. ³And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. ⁴And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. ⁵And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. ⁶And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. ⁷Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. ⁸So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. ⁹Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

Proverbs 13.19-14.6

¹⁹The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil. ²⁰He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. ²¹Evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repayed. ²²A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. ²³Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment. ²⁴He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. ²⁵The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want. ¹Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands. ²He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the LORD: but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him. ³In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them. ⁴Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox. ⁵A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies. ⁶A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not: but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth.

Saints commemorated