Fathers of the 1st Six Ecumenical Councils
About Commemoration of the Fourth Ecumenical Council →
Saints commemorated
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Martyr Emilian of Silistria
Emilian was a young man of servile condition in Dorostolum (Durostorum) on the lower Danube — the Roman legionary city that is now Silistra in Bulgaria — who was burned to death there on 18 July 362, in the brief pagan restoration of the emperor Julian the Apostate. Learning that the imperial commissioner had come to enforce sacrifice, he went by night into the city's temple, shattered the idols and overturned the altars; and when an innocent countryman was seized for the deed, he came forward and claimed it as his own rather than let another suffer. Scourged before the vicar Capitolinus and condemned to the flames, he was, the passion relates, untouched by the fire that killed the pagans standing near it, and lay down of his own will upon the embers to die. The wife of his master, a secret Christian, buried him. He is one of the very last martyrs of the Roman persecutions and one of the chief saints of the Danubian church.
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St Pambo, hermit of Egypt (374? 386?)
Pambo (c. 303 – c. 375) was one of the founding fathers of the desert of Nitria, the great monastic settlement south-west of the Delta, and one of the most quoted elders of the Apophthegmata Patrum. He came to the desert unlettered, asked a brother to teach him a psalm, heard the verse "I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue" — and refused to be taught the next verse until he had learned to do that one, which by his own account he was still learning nineteen years later. Out of that beginning came the two things for which the desert remembered him: an absolute economy of speech, so that he would sometimes take months to answer a question, and a face that shone, which the fathers set beside the face of Moses. Antony the Great said of him that by the fear of God he had made the Holy Spirit dwell in him. He taught Dioscorus, Ammonius, Eusebius and Euthymius — the "Tall Brothers" of the Origenist controversy — received Melania the Elder when she came out of Rome to the desert, and died weaving a basket, saying that he was going to the Lord as one who had not yet begun to serve God.
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Hyacinth of Amastris
Hyacinth was a martyr of Amastris in Paphlagonia — the Black Sea port that is now Amasra in northern Turkey — whose short notice in the synaxaria is remembered chiefly for two things: that he was named by an angel, and that as a child of three he prayed a dead infant back to life. Grown up in the ascetic life together with the child he had raised, he came upon his townsmen worshipping a sacred tree and cut it down. For this he was seized and tortured: his teeth were struck out, he was bound with ropes and dragged along the ground, and he was thrown into prison, where he died of his wounds. His memory is kept on July 18.
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John the Long-suffering of the Kiev Caves
John the Long-suffering (†18 July 1160) was a recluse of the Near Caves of the Monastery of the Caves at Kiev whose whole ascetic life was one prolonged war against the passion of the flesh. Denied relief by fasting, thirst and iron chains, he shut himself into a cave beside the relics of Antony of the Kiev Caves, stayed there thirty years, and in one Great Lent had himself buried standing in the earth up to the shoulders for the whole of the fast, his legs burning as though in fire. On the night of Pascha a fiery serpent that had tormented him for days took his head into its jaws; he cried out, and at a flash of lightning it vanished, and a voice told him that the trial had been sent to purify him as gold is purified, and that heavy work is given to strong servants. He is the saint to whom the Orthodox traditionally turn in temptations of impurity, and his relics lie in the cave where he fought.
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Pambo of the Kiev Caves
Pambo the Recluse was a hieromonk of the Caves monastery at Kiev who was taken captive by the Tatars in the years of the Mongol conquest, held and tortured for refusing to renounce Christ, and — the tradition of the Lavra says — carried back miraculously into his own cell. He ended his life in enclosure and reposed in 1241, the year after the fall of Kiev. His relics rest in the Far Caves, those of St Theodosius, and he is commemorated on July 18, the same day as his namesake Pambo of Nitria, for whom he was named.
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Stephen II of Constantinople
Stephen II, metropolitan of Amasea in Pontus and afterwards Ecumenical Patriarch, held the throne of Constantinople from 925 until his death on 18 July 928, in the ascendancy of the emperor Romanos I Lekapenos. He succeeded Nicholas Mystikos and inherited a church only just healed of the schism over the fourth marriage of Leo the Wise, which the Tomos of Union of 920 had closed. The Greek synaxaria keep his memory on the day of his repose together with John, Metropolitan of Chalcedon, a confessor of whom almost nothing survives beyond the fact of his confession.
British Isles and Ireland
- St. Theneva of Glasgow, mother of St. Kentigern (Mungo) (6th C)
- SS Edburgh of Bicester and Edith, virgins (c.650)
- St. Minnborinus of Cologne (986)
Troparia & kontakia
Apolytikion
Most glorified art Thou, O Christ our God, who hast set our Fathers as beacons upon the earth, and by them hast guided us all into the true faith: O greatly merciful One, glory to Thee.
Apolytikion — Tone 4
As a divine offering and a whole burnt-sacrifice thou wast brought to the Master through fire, O glorious Emilian; for thou didst cast down the altars of the demons and take upon thyself alone the anger of the ungodly, that no innocent man might suffer. Wherefore, lying down upon the coals as upon a bed, thou didst yield thy spirit to God: entreat Him that our souls may be saved.
Apolytikion — Tone 8
Thou didst crucify thyself to the world, O father Pambo, and taking one word of the Psalm for thy whole rule, thou didst learn it not with the tongue but with the deed; wherefore thy face shone like the face of Moses, and thou wast a light to the mountain of Nitria. 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 image of meekness and a teacher of abstinence; therefore thou hast achieved the heights by humility, and riches by poverty. O father and hierarch Stephen, intercede with Christ God that our souls may be saved.
Kontakion
The preaching of the Apostles and the definitions of the Fathers have sealed the one faith of the Church; and she, wearing the garment of truth woven from the theology that comes from above, rightly divides and glorifies the great mystery of godliness.
Kontakion — Tone 2
Thou didst break in pieces the idols of the temple and quench the fire upon their altars, and by fire thou didst thyself ascend to the Lord as a sweet-smelling sacrifice; wherefore the Danube's land keeps thy memory, O martyr Emilian, and cries to thee: rejoice, thou boast of Dorostolum.
Kontakion — Tone 2
Named by an angel before men knew thee, and raising the dead while yet a child at the breast, thou didst cut down the tree of error and wast dragged in bonds for the love of Christ; wherefore, O Hyacinth, having ended thy course in the prison, thou dost intercede unceasingly for us all.
Kontakion — Tone 2
Buried alive in the earth for the love of purity, and unconsumed by the fire that rose about thy feet, thou didst cry out in the jaws of the serpent, and the lightning of God delivered thee; wherefore, O long-suffering John, thou art a help to all who are burned by the passions, and a witness that the crown is given, not seized.
Kontakion — Tone 4
Silent before men that thou mightest speak with God, and eating no bread but that of thine own hands, thou didst count all the silver of the world as nothing beside the widow's mite; and going to the Lord thou didst say, *I have not yet begun to serve Him.* O Pambo, teach us to take heed to our ways.
Troparion — Tone 4 (common of a martyr)
Thy martyr Hyacinth, 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 8
In thee, O Father, was preserved unimpaired that which is according to the image; for taking up thy cross thou didst follow Christ, and by thy deeds thou didst teach us to despise the flesh, for it passeth away, but to care for the soul, a thing immortal. Wherefore, O venerable John, thy spirit rejoiceth with the angels.
Troparion — Tone 8
In thee, O Father, was preserved unimpaired that which is according to the image; for taking up thy cross thou didst follow Christ, and by thy deeds thou didst teach us to despise the flesh, for it passeth away, but to care for the soul, a thing immortal. Wherefore, O venerable Pambo, thy spirit rejoiceth with the angels.
Readings
Vespers
Genesis 14.14-20 (Fathers)
14And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. 15And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. 16And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. 17And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale. 18And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. 19And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
Deuteronomy 1.8-11, 15-17 (Fathers)
8Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them. 9And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone: 10The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. 11(The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!) 15So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. 16And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. 17Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.
Deuteronomy 10.14-21 (Fathers)
14Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD’s thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is. 15Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day. 16Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked. 17For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: 18He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. 19Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. 20Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. 21He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.
4th Matins Gospel
Luke 24.1-12
1Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. 2And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. 3And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. 4And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: 5And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? 6He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, 7Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. 8And they remembered his words, 9And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. 10It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. 11And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. 12Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.
Epistle
Romans 6.18-23
18Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. 19I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. 20For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. 21What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. 22But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. 23For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Hebrews 13.7-16 (Fathers)
7Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. 8Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. 9Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. 10We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. 11For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. 12Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. 13Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. 14For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. 15By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. 16But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
Gospel
Matthew 8.5-13
5And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, 6And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 7And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. 8The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. 9For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. 10When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 11And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. 12But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 13And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.
John 17.1-13 (Fathers)
1These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: 2As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. 3And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. 4I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. 5And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. 6I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. 7Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. 8For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. 9I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. 10And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. 11And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. 12While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.