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Tuesday 31 March 2026

Repose St Innocent, Metr. Moscow and Apostle to Americas

Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Lent

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Lenten Fast Tone 1

Great Lent, day 37 · 12 days until Pascha

Saints commemorated

Hieromartyr Hypatius, Bishop of Gangra (326)

Hypatius was bishop of Gangra in Paphlagonia and one of the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (325), a wonderworker famed for healing and for the casting-out of demons. Returning from Constantinople some years after the Council, he was set upon by a band of Novatian (or, in some accounts, Arian) heretics and stoned and clubbed to death; a woman who cast the final stone was afterward tormented until she repented at his tomb. He is honoured as a hieromartyr and a protector against serpents and the assaults of demons.
St Jonah, Metropolitan of Moscow (1461)

Jonah (†1461) was the last Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia to be styled by the old title and the first to be consecrated in Moscow by Russian bishops alone — the hinge on which the Russian Church turned from dependence on Constantinople to self-government. Tonsured at twelve in a monastery of his native Galich, and afterwards a monk of the Simonov monastery at Moscow, where the Metropolitan Photius found him asleep in the bakery with his right hand set in the gesture of blessing and prophesied that he would be a great hierarch, he was made Bishop of Ryazan and Murom, was twice passed over for the metropolitanate, and finally received it in 1448 after the Russian Church had deposed Isidore for accepting the union of Florence. He governed thirteen years, was credited with the deliverance of Moscow from the Tatar raid of 1451, and reposed in 1461; his relics were found incorrupt in 1472 and lie in the Dormition Cathedral of the Kremlin. He was glorified by the Council of 1547.
Acacius the Confessor

Acacius the Confessor was bishop of Melitene in Armenia in the middle of the third century. Arrested in the persecution of Decius (249–251) and brought before the governor Marcianus, he confessed Christ boldly under torture but was not put to death; released, he bore the marks of his sufferings for the rest of his life and died in peace. His memory is kept on March 31, and the uncovering of his relic — whose year is not transmitted — on September 15.
Benjamin of Persia

Benjamin of Persia (†c. 424) was a deacon of the Persian church and a tireless evangelist who converted many Zoroastrian Persians to Christ during the great persecution that broke out at the end of the reign of Yazdegerd I. Imprisoned two years for his preaching, he was released at the intercession of a Roman envoy on the pledge that he would keep silence — a pledge he declared himself unable to keep, for he could not hide the light entrusted to him — and when he resumed his preaching he was put to death under Bahram V with tortures of studied cruelty. His story is told by the church historian Theodoret of Cyrrhus, nearly a contemporary. He is commemorated on October 13 and again on March 31.
Innocent of Alaska

Innocent (John Veniaminov, 1797–1879) was the great apostle of Orthodoxy in Alaska and the Russian Far East — a married priest of Siberia who volunteered for the missions of the Aleutian Islands, learned the languages of the peoples he served, translated the Scriptures and services into Aleut and other tongues, and, after his wife's death, was consecrated the first Orthodox bishop of Kamchatka, the Kurils and the Aleutians. He crossed and re-crossed a diocese larger than a continent by kayak and dog-sled, and ended his days as Metropolitan of Moscow and founder of the Orthodox Missionary Society. He is honoured as Equal-to-the-Apostles.

Troparia & kontakia

Kontakion — Tone 8

Having accomplished the ascetic life by desire of the Spirit, and having received a flock as bishop, thou wast kept incorrupt in body also for thy bodily purity by Christ the Master, who made thee the heir of Peter the wonderworker; and thou didst follow his manner of life, and Christ gave thee as a teacher to His own flock. There where thy healing relics lie they are fragrant as with sweet incense, and grant healing to the infirm who come with faith. O hierarch Jonah, pray unceasingly to Christ God for us all.

Troparion — Tone 4 (from the common of a hierarch)

A rule of faith and an image of meekness, a teacher of temperance did the truth of things show thee to thy flock; therefore thou didst gain by humility the things on high, by poverty the things that are rich: O Father and hierarch Acacius, intercede with Christ God that our souls may be saved.

Troparion — Tone 4 (from the common of martyrs)

Thy martyr Benjamin, 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, O Christ God, save our souls.

Troparion — Tone 4 (common of a hieromartyr)

And by thy manner of life thou didst attain unto the reward of the wise, O hieromartyr Hypatius: for by teaching well thou hast gained the talents entrusted to thee; thou wast not silent in the midst of trials, but didst offer thyself unto death for Christ. Wherefore, intercede with Him that our souls may be saved.

Troparion — Tone 4

O Father Innocent, in truth thou didst prove to be an apostle to the peoples, and a herald of the Gospel of Christ: for thou didst give thyself to the enlightening of the far-off tribes, translating for them the words of life and gathering them into the Church. Wherefore, as thou didst then labour without ceasing, so now intercede that our souls may be saved.

Troparion — Tone 3

Taking up the yoke of the Lord from thy youth, thou didst follow in His footsteps with a desire that never turned back, and didst attain the labour of the priesthood; receiving a flock as bishop, thou didst receive also from God the gift of wonders, and to those who come with faith to the shrine of thy relics thou givest unstinting healing of every sickness. O our father Jonah, hierarch of Christ, pray to Christ God to grant us great mercy.

Readings

Matins Gospel

John 10.1-9 (St Innocent)

¹Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. ²But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. ³To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. ⁴And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. ⁵And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. ⁶This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. ⁷Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. ⁸All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. ⁹I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

6th Hour

Isaiah 49.6-10

⁶And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. ⁷Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee. ⁸Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; ⁹That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. ¹⁰They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.

Vespers

Genesis 31.3-16

³And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee. ⁴And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock, ⁵And said unto them, I see your father’s countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father hath been with me. ⁶And ye know that with all my power I have served your father. ⁷And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me. ⁸If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle bare speckled: and if he said thus, The ringstraked shall be thy hire; then bare all the cattle ringstraked. ⁹Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me. ¹⁰And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled. ¹¹And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I. ¹²And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. ¹³I am the God of Beth-el, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred. ¹⁴And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house? ¹⁵Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money. ¹⁶For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our children’s: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.

Proverbs 21.3-21

³To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. ⁴An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin. ⁵The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want. ⁶The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death. ⁷The robbery of the wicked shall destroy them; because they refuse to do judgment. ⁸The way of man is froward and strange: but as for the pure, his work is right. ⁹It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house. ¹⁰The soul of the wicked desireth evil: his neighbour findeth no favour in his eyes. ¹¹When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise: and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge. ¹²The righteous man wisely considereth the house of the wicked: but God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness. ¹³Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard. ¹⁴A gift in secret pacifieth anger: and a reward in the bosom strong wrath. ¹⁵It is joy to the just to do judgment: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. ¹⁶The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead. ¹⁷He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich. ¹⁸The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous, and the transgressor for the upright. ¹⁹It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman. ²⁰There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up. ²¹He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honour.

Epistle

Hebrews 7.26-8.2 (St Innocent)

²⁶For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; ²⁷Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. ²⁸For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore. ¹Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; ²A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

Gospel

John 10.9-16 (St Innocent)

⁹I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. ¹⁰The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. ¹¹I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. ¹²But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. ¹³The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. ¹⁴I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. ¹⁵As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.