Thursday 17 December 2026
Holy Prophet Daniel and Three Holy Youths
Thursday of the 29th week after Pentecost
Nativity Fast, day 33
Saints commemorated
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Saint of the day
Holy Prophet Daniel and Three Holy Youths
Ananias, Azarias and Misael — by their Hebrew names Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, and by the Babylonian names given them in exile Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego — were three youths of the royal house of Judah, companions of the prophet Daniel in the Babylonian captivity. Refusing to worship the golden image set up by Nebuchadnezzar, they were cast into a furnace heated sevenfold, and were preserved unburnt by an angel, "the fourth… like a son of God," walking with them in the flame. Their hymn of praise from the fire — the Song of the Three Youths — became one of the biblical canticles of the Church and the foundation of the seventh and eighth odes of every canon. The furnace that could not consume them is read as an image of the Virgin Womb that bore the fire of the Godhead unconsumed, and their feast on December 17 stands with Daniel's at the gate of the Nativity.
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Saint of the day
Daniel the Prophet
Daniel, of the royal seed of Judah, was carried to Babylon as a youth in the first deportation under Nebuchadnezzar (c. 605 BC) and rose to serve four kings of Babylon and Persia while remaining faithful to the God of Israel. The last of the four Great Prophets, he is known for interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the great statue shattered by "a stone cut without hands," for his night among the lions from which God delivered him unharmed, and for the apocalyptic visions of the four beasts and the Son of Man coming on the clouds. The Church reads him as a foremost prophet of the Incarnation and commemorates him, together with the Three Holy Youths his companions, on December 17, eight days before the Nativity of Christ his visions foretold.
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Our Holy Father Dionysius the New of Zakinthos (1624)
Dionysius (c. 1547–1622) was a nobleman of the Ionian island of Zakynthos who became a monk and then Archbishop of Aegina, but soon resigned his see to return to the monastic quiet of his native islands. He is remembered above all for one act of Gospel forgiveness: when the man who had murdered his own brother fled to him for refuge, not knowing whose house it was, Dionysius sheltered and released him rather than deliver him to justice. His incorrupt relics remain on Zakynthos, of which he is the patron saint and heavenly protector, and he is venerated across the Greek world as "the saint of forgiveness."
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Patermuthius, Coprius and Alexander
Three Egyptians who suffered under Julian the Apostate (361–363): Patermuthius, in his youth the captain of a band of robbers, who repented, was baptised, went into the desert and gave the rest of his life to nursing the sick and burying the dead; Coprius, the priest who was his disciple and the eyewitness who wrote down his deeds — the man who walked unhurt into a fire to confound a Manichaean; and Alexander, a soldier of the guard who, watching Coprius tortured, confessed Christ on the spot and was burnt alive. Coprius, deceived by the emperor's plea that he too had once served Christ, denied the faith and then, brought to himself by his elder's tears, confessed it again and died for it. Patermuthius and Coprius were beheaded. Their memory is kept on July 9 in the Slavonic and American calendars and on December 17 in the received Greek books.
British Isles and Ireland
- St. Tydecho (6th C)
- St. Briach, disciple of St. Tudwal (6th C)
Troparia & kontakia
Apolytikion — Tone 4 (common of martyrs)
Thy martyrs, 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.
Kontakion — Tone 6
You would not worship the image made by hands, but, armed with the Being that no hand can portray, O thrice-blessed ones, you were glorified in the contest of fire; and standing in the midst of the unmastered flame you called upon God: Hasten, O compassionate One, and speed, O merciful One, to our help, for Thou canst do all that Thou willest.
Kontakion — Tone 3
Purified in heart by the Spirit, thou didst become a shining vessel of great prophecy: for thou beholdest as present the things that are far off, and, shut in among the lions, thou didst muzzle them. Therefore we honour thee, O blessed and ever-praised, glorious prophet Daniel.
Kontakion — Tone 3
Let us praise Dionysius, the boast of Zakynthos and the newly-shining star of the Church, who forgave his own brother's slayer and by that mercy conquered the passions; for he intercedes unceasingly with the Lord on behalf of us all.
Kontakion — Tone 2
The robber became a physician of the sick and a burier of the dead, and the fire had no power upon his disciple; and a soldier, beholding their endurance, was himself enrolled in the ranks of the martyrs. Wherefore we honour Patermuthius with Coprius and Alexander, and glorify Christ who crowned them.
Troparion — Tone 2
Great are the achievements of faith! In the fountain of flame, as by the waters of rest, the three holy Youths rejoiced; and the Prophet Daniel was shown to be a shepherd of lions as though of sheep. By their intercessions, O Christ God, save our souls.
Troparion — Tone 2
Great are the achievements of faith! In the fountain of flame, as by the waters of rest, the three holy Youths rejoiced; and the Prophet Daniel was shown to be a shepherd of lions as though of sheep. By their intercessions, O Christ God, save our souls.
Troparion — Tone 1
O offspring of Zakynthos and protector of Aegina, guardian of the Strophades and boast of the Church, let us the faithful honour Dionysius; for he pours forth healings of every kind on those who cry to him with faith: Glory to Christ who glorified thee, glory to Him who made thee wondrous, glory to Him who through thee works healing for all.
Readings
Epistle
Hebrews 7.1-6
1For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; 2To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; 3Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually. 4Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. 5And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham: 6But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.
Gospel
Mark 9.10-16
10And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean. 11And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come? 12And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought. 13But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him. 14And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them. 15And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him. 16And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?