Pre-Lenten Triodion, day 17 · 54 days until Pascha
About Finding of the Relics of the Holy Martyrs at the Gate of Eugenius →
Saints commemorated
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Saint of the day
Unc. Rel. Holy Martyrs at Gate of Eugenius
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Andronicus and Junia
Andronicus and Junia are the two Christians of the first generation whom the Apostle Paul greets at Romans 16:7 as "my kinsmen and my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me" — the only persons in the New Testament of whom that last phrase is said. The Byzantine tradition numbers Andronicus among the Seventy and makes him bishop of Pannonia, and honours Junia with him as his synergos, his fellow-labourer in the Gospel; both are remembered as having suffered for Christ. Their relics, hidden in the persecutions and long anonymous, were brought to light outside Constantinople at the Gate of Eugenius, and identified there by revelation. They are kept on May 17, and again on February 22 with the finding of those relics, and Andronicus a third time on July 30 with his fellow-apostles of the Seventy.
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Athanasius the Confessor of Paulopetrion
Athanasius the Confessor (died 821) was a monk and abbot of the Paulopetrion monastery — the house "of Paul and Peter," near Nicomedia in Bithynia — who suffered for the veneration of the holy icons in the second iconoclast persecution. Born at Constantinople of wealthy and pious parents and drawn from childhood to the service of God, he became renowned for his ascetic life, so that his fame reached the imperial court. In the reign of the iconoclast emperor Leo V the Armenian (813–820) he was seized, tortured, and sent into exile for his defence of the sacred images; and having confessed the Orthodox faith to the end, he reposed in peace in the year 821. He is kept on February 22 as a venerable confessor.
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Maurice of Apamea and his Companions
Maurice (died c. 305) was the commander of the garrison of Apamea on the Orontes in Syria, martyred under the emperor Galerius Maximian together with his son Photinus and the seventy soldiers of his command — of whom only two names, Theodore and Philip, are remembered. Denounced as Christians and refusing to sacrifice, they were subjected to a torture of studied cruelty: led to a marshy place swarming with mosquitoes, wasps and gadflies, stripped, smeared with honey, and bound to stakes, they were left for ten days to be stung and consumed by the insects under the sun, tormented by thirst and hunger, while they prayed and glorified God. The commander was made to watch his son die before him. At the last the martyrs were beheaded. They are a company of Antiochian Syria, kept on February 22.
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Thalassius, Limnaeus and Baradates
Thalassius, Limnaeus and Baradates were three Syrian solitaries of the fifth century, ascetics of the hill-country around Cyrrhus and Antioch whose lives are recorded at first hand by Theodoret, bishop of Cyrrhus, in his Religious History. Thalassius passed thirty-eight years on a bare hill near the village of Targala, without roof or cell, in a simplicity, gentleness and humility that drew the gift of healing. His disciple Limnaeus learned that same simplicity, joined the great Maron, and settled in a roofless stone enclosure, where — though a solitary — he gathered the blind and the crippled about him and cared for them. Baradates shut himself in a stone cell too cramped to stand upright in, and later stood exposed to sun and rain wrapped head to foot in leather, until Theodoret himself persuaded him to relent. The three are kept together on February 22.
British Isles and Ireland
- St. Elwin (Elwyn) the Martyr, Missionary to Cornwall (5th C)
Troparia & kontakia
Apolytikion — Tone 3
Holy apostles Andronicus and Junia, intercede with the merciful God, that he may grant to our souls the forgiveness of transgressions.
Kontakion
As stars that the Church has found shining in the earth, the treasure of your holy relics, O martyrs of Christ, enlightens the faithful who keep your memory; for by your hidden struggles you were made manifest, and you pour out healings on them that draw near.
Kontakion — Tone 2
Kinsmen of Paul and sharers of his bonds, who were in Christ before him and laboured with him in the Gospel: Andronicus, adornment of the hierarchs, and Junia, of note among the apostles — intercede unceasingly for those who honour your memory.
Troparion
Thy martyrs, O Lord, in their contest received crowns of incorruption from Thee our God; for possessed of Thy might, they cast down the tyrants and shattered the powerless insolence of demons. By their supplications, O Christ our God, save our souls.
Troparion
In thee, O Father, was the divine image kept secure; for taking up the Cross thou didst follow after Christ, and by thy deeds thou didst teach us to despise the flesh, for it passes away, but to care for the soul, a thing immortal. Therefore, O venerable Athanasius, thy spirit rejoices with the Angels.
Troparion
Thy martyrs, O Lord, in their contest received crowns of incorruption from Thee our God; for possessed of Thy might, they cast down the tyrants and shattered the powerless insolence of demons. By their supplications, O Christ our God, save our souls.
Troparion
In thee, O Father, was the divine image kept secure; for taking up the Cross thou didst follow after Christ, and by thy deeds thou didst teach us to despise the flesh, for it passes away, but to care for the soul, a thing immortal. Therefore, O venerable one, thy spirit rejoices with the Angels.
Readings
Epistle
Jude 1-10
1Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called: 2Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied. 3Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. 4For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. 5I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. 6And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. 7Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. 8Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. 9Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. 10But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
Gospel
Luke 22.39-42, 45-23.1
39And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. 40And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. 41And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, 42Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 45And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow, 46And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. 47And while he yet spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. 48But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss? 49When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword? 50And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. 51And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him. 52Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves? 53When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness. 54Then took they him, and led him, and brought him into the high priest’s house. And Peter followed afar off. 55And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them. 56But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also with him. 57And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not. 58And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not. 59And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilæan. 60And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. 61And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. 62And Peter went out, and wept bitterly. 63And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote him. 64And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee? 65And many other things blasphemously spake they against him. 66And as soon as it was day, the elders of the people and the chief priests and the scribes came together, and led him into their council, saying, 67Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe: 68And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go. 69Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God. 70Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am. 71And they said, What need we any further witness? for we ourselves have heard of his own mouth. 1And the whole multitude of them arose, and led him unto Pilate.