Apostles' Fast, day 7
All Saints of America, All Saints of Russia
Saints commemorated
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Hieromartyr Eusebius, Bishop of Samosata
Eusebius, bishop of Samosata on the Euphrates from about 361, was the strongest Nicene hierarch of the Syrian provinces in the generation of the Arian ascendancy, and the closest episcopal ally in the East of Basil the Great, some twenty of whose surviving letters are addressed to him. He refused, at the threat of losing his right hand, to surrender the record of the election of Meletius of Antioch; exiled to Thrace by the Arian emperor Valens in 374, he crossed Syria, Phoenicia and Palestine in the dress of a soldier, secretly ordaining presbyters, deacons and bishops for the orphaned Orthodox churches. Restored after Valens's death, he was killed at Doliche by a roof-tile flung by an Arian woman, and died forbidding under oath that anyone avenge him. The Church keeps him as a hieromartyr on June 22.
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St Alban, First Martyr of Great Britain (early 3rd c.)
Alban is the protomartyr of Britain: a citizen of the Romano-British town of Verulamium who sheltered a Christian priest fleeing persecution, was converted by him, and when the soldiers came exchanged cloaks with him and gave himself up in his place. Refusing to sacrifice, he was led out of the town and beheaded on the hill above the river Ver, where a church stood over his grave by the fifth century and where St Albans Abbey stands today. He is the earliest named Christian of the British Isles, attested by Gildas in the sixth century and told at length by Bede; the year of his death is disputed among the Severan, Decian and Diocletianic persecutions. He is commemorated on June 22 in Orthodox usage.
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Galacteon, Juliana and Saturninus
Three martyrs of Constantinople whom the synaxaria join on June 22 and of whom they transmit almost nothing but the manner of their deaths: Galacteon was drowned in the sea, and Juliana was burned alive together with her son Saturninus, for no cause but that they were Christians. No reign, no magistrate, no year and no connection between the two executions is given. They are among the many companies of the fixed calendar preserved by a single line, and are recorded here at the length the record actually supports.
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Gregory of Wallachia
Gregory the Teacher — Grigorie Dascălul — was a monk of Neamț formed in the Paisian tradition, one of the great translators of the Greek Fathers into Romanian, who was drawn out of the monastery in 1823 to be Metropolitan of Ungro-Wallachia in the wreckage left by the revolution of 1821. He filled the empty sees with Romanian bishops, revived the schools and the press, and in 1829 was deposed and exiled to Chișinău by the Russian military administration whose demands upon the clergy he had refused. He returned in 1833 to a Church he had barely a year left to serve, and died on 22 June 1834. The Romanian Orthodox Church glorified him in October 2005; his relics rest at the monastery of Căldărușani.
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Nicetas of Remesiana
Nicetas, bishop of Remesiana in Dacia Mediterranea — the modern Bela Palanka in south-eastern Serbia, on the road from Naissus to Serdica — was the apostle of the Bessi, a Thracian mountain people whom he brought to Christ and taught to sing the psalms in their own tongue, "turning wolves into sheep" in the phrase of his friend Paulinus of Nola. He was a catechetical writer of real weight: his surviving Instruction for Candidates for Baptism is the earliest text known to use the phrase "the communion of saints," and a long tradition, now contested, ascribed to him the Te Deum. He is commemorated on June 22, on which day the calendars also carry a Martyr Nicetas the Dacian who is very probably himself.
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Zeno and Zenas of Philadelphia
Zeno was a man of substance in Philadelphia in Arabia — the old Ammonite capital, the modern Amman — who, when the persecution of Diocletian and Maximian reached the province, freed his servant Zenas, gave away his property to the poor, and went with him to confess Christ before the governor. Master and servant were tortured together and beheaded about the year 304. The pair are a favourite of the synaxaria precisely for the order of the acts: the manumission and the almsgiving come first, and the confession follows from them, so that the martyrdom is presented as the last step of a life already surrendered.
British Isles and Ireland
- St. Aaron the Hermit (c.552)
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 Eusebius: intercede with Christ God that our souls may be saved.
Apolytikion — Tone 4 (common of a hierarch)
The truth of things hath revealed thee to thy flock as a rule of faith, an icon of meekness and a teacher of abstinence; therefore thou hast achieved the heights by humility, riches by poverty. O Father and Hierarch Gregory, intercede with Christ God that our souls may be saved.
Apolytikion — Tone 4 (common of a hierarch)
The truth of things hath revealed thee to thy flock as a rule of faith, an icon of meekness and a teacher of abstinence; therefore thou hast achieved the heights by humility, riches by poverty. O Father and Hierarch Nicetas, intercede with Christ God that our souls may be saved.
Kontakion — Tone 4
Thou didst shine in the priesthood and wast made radiant in thy contest, O all-blessed Eusebius; thou didst quench the raging of the ungodly and guard the flock entrusted to thee. Wherefore we honour thee, and cry aloud: deliver us from dangers by thine intercessions.
Troparion — Tone 4 (common of a martyr)
Thy martyr Alban, O Lord, in his contest received an incorruptible crown from Thee, our God; for possessing Thy strength, he cast down the tyrants and shattered the feeble insolence of the demons. By his intercessions save our souls.
Troparion — Tone 4 (common of martyrs)
Thy martyrs Galacteon, Juliana and Saturninus, 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.
Troparion — Tone 4 (common of martyrs)
Thy martyrs Zeno and Zenas, 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.
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.