Saints commemorated
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Martyrs Eulampius and Eulampia at Nicomedia
Eulampius and Eulampia (†c. 303–311) were a brother and sister of Nicomedia, the chief martyrs of October 10. A young man seized after reading aloud the imperial edict against the Christians posted in the city, Eulampius confessed Christ under torture and by his prayer cast down the idol in the temple of Mars; his sister Eulampia, seeing his sufferings, declared herself a Christian of her own accord and suffered beside him. Preserved unharmed in a cauldron of boiling matter and in the flames, they won some two hundred onlookers to Christ, who were beheaded with them; Eulampius died by the sword, and Eulampia, by the witness of the Greek verses, gave up her soul from her torments before the blade could fall.
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Blessed Fool for Christ Andrew of Totma (1637)
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Ambrose of Optina
Ambrose of Optina (1812–1891) is the most celebrated of the elders of the Optina hermitage and one of the best-loved saints of nineteenth-century Russia. A Tambov priest's-family son who entered Optina in 1839 after a sickbed vow, he was formed by the elders Leonid and Macarius, and from 1860 until his death was the spiritual father to whom all Russia came — peasants, merchants, bishops, and writers, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy among them. Bedridden for much of his life, he received the stream of visitors daily for three decades, answered thousands of letters, helped prepare Optina's famous patristic translations, and founded the Shamordino convent for women whom no other monastery would take. He reposed at Shamordino on October 10, 1891, and was glorified in 1988, the first of the Optina elders to be canonised.
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Bassian of Constantinople
Bassian of Constantinople (fifth century) was a Syrian-born ascetic who settled in the imperial capital in the days of the emperor Marcian (450–457) and founded there the monastery that long bore his name, governing as igumen a community the tradition numbers at three hundred monks. His house is remembered above all as the refuge of Matrona of Perge, who lived there disguised as the eunuch-monk Babylas until her sanctity was discovered. Famed for his virtues and miracles, Bassian reached old age and reposed in peace; the Greek, Slavic, and OCA calendars keep his memory on October 10.
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Stephen of the Kiev Caves
Stephen was a disciple of Theodosius of the Kiev Caves, whom the dying founder named as his own successor at the request of the brotherhood, and who as abbot completed the great church of the Dormition at the Caves monastery and reorganised its life around the new church. Deposed in 1078 by a faction within the community, he answered the injury by praying for those who had driven him out, and founded a new monastery on the Klov stream near Kiev, dedicating its church to the Placing of the Robe of the Theotokos at Blachernae in thanksgiving for the Mother of God's protection of the Caves. About 1091 he was made bishop of Vladimir in Volhynia, took part that same year in the translation of the relics of Theodosius, and for three years governed his see with a reputation for meekness and mercy before his repose on 27 April 1094. He is commemorated on April 27 and among the Saints of Volhynia on October 10.
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Theotecnus of Antioch
Theotecnus of Antioch (†c. 305–311) was a soldier-martyr of the last great persecution: a renowned military commander at Antioch who refused the emperor Maximian's command to sacrifice to the gods. Mocked by being dressed in women's clothing and set among the slave women, he held his confession; tortured, and cast into a cauldron of boiling pitch which was cooled at his entry, he was imprisoned, helped a fellow confessor named Alexander to escape, and was finally drowned in the sea with a stone about his neck. His relics were later recovered on the Cilician coast and given Christian burial. The Slavic calendars and the OCA keep his memory on October 10.
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Twenty-six Martyrs of Zographou
The Twenty-six Martyrs of Zographou — twenty-two monks of the Bulgarian monastery of Zographou on Mount Athos, led by their abbot Thomas, together with four laymen — were burned alive in the monastery's tower in 1276, in the persecution that followed the Union of Lyons. Refusing the command of the emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos and the unionist patriarch John Bekkos to accept the union with Rome, they shut themselves in the tower, denounced the Latinizers from its height as lawless men and heretics, and were given to the flames. They are commemorated on September 22, and at Zographou and in the Bulgarian Church on October 10, the anniversary of the burning.
British Isles and Ireland
- St. Paulinus, archbishop of York (644)
- St. Patrician, bishop of Man (5th C)
Troparia & kontakia
Kontakion — Tone 3
Let us honour the noble martyrs, brother and sister in the flesh, the wise Eulampius and Eulampia; for by the might of the Crucified they put to shame the contrivances of the tyrants, and therefore have been shown forth as the glory and the boast of martyrs.
Kontakion — Tone 6
The enemy, envying thy honourable life, thrust thee out by his craft from the headship of the flock; yet thou, being driven forth, didst raise up in another place also a church of the Theotokos, for which she herself honoured thee with the rank of the hierarchy; and having therein well shepherded the sheep entrusted to thee, thou didst pass over in gladness unto Christ, O Stephen. Pray thou unto Him for us thy servants.
Stichera
Likeness of name was tempered with love of kin, and purity was joined with dispassion, and kept the vigour of their purpose unharmed; for where God is the one desired, the whole world is despised. O wonder! the serpent is slain, and he that spoke unrighteousness on high has fallen beneath the earth before the brother-and-sister martyrs, Eulampius the wise and Eulampia. To them let us cry with well-aimed songs: O ye who finished the course nobly in Christ, ask for the world peace, and for our souls great mercy.
Troparion — Tone 8
In thee, O father, that which was made according to the image of God was preserved exactly; for taking up the cross, thou didst follow Christ, and by thy deeds thou hast taught us to disdain the flesh, for it passeth away, but to care for the soul, which is a thing immortal: wherefore thy spirit, O venerable Bassian, rejoiceth with the angels.
Troparion — Tone 4
Thy martyrs, O Lord, in their sufferings received incorruptible crowns from thee, our God; for possessing thy strength they cast down the tyrants and broke the feeble insolence of the demons. By their prayers save our souls.
Troparion — Tone 8
Obedient to the teaching of the God-bearing Theodosius, thou wast appointed by him to be the guide of his holy flock; and having shepherded it well, thou didst complete in comeliness the church of the Theotokos, founded in wonder by her own will, O ever-memorable Stephen. Therein entreat of Christ God great mercy for us who pray.
Troparion — Tone 4
Thy martyr, O Lord, in his suffering received an incorruptible crown from thee, our God; for possessing thy strength he cast down the tyrants and broke the feeble insolence of the demons. By his prayers save our souls.
Troparion — Tone 4
Thy martyrs, O Lord, in their sufferings received incorruptible crowns from thee, our God; for possessing thy strength they cast down the tyrants and broke the feeble insolence of the demons. By their prayers save our souls.
Readings
5th Matins Gospel
Luke 24.12-35
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. 13And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. 14And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. 16But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. 17And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? 18And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? 19And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: 20And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. 21But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. 22Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; 23And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. 24And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. 25Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 27And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 28And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. 29But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. 30And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. 31And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. 32And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? 33And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, 34Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. 35And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.
Epistle
2 Corinthians 6.1-10
1We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 2(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) 3Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: 4But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, 5In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; 6By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, 7By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 8By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; 9As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; 10As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
Gospel
Luke 7.11-16
11And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. 12Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. 13And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. 14And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. 15And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. 16And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people.