Saturday, 13 July 2024

Saturday of the 3rd week after Pentecost

69 days after Pascha · Tone 1 · Black squigg (6-stich typikon symbol) · No Fast

Saints commemorated

★ Synaxis of the holy archangel Gabriel

The synaxis of the holy archangel Gabriel is celebrated by the Orthodox Church on 13 July, in addition to its principal observance on 26 March, the day after the Annunciation. This second feast was instituted on the Holy Mountain of Athos in the ninth century, in the reign of the emperor Basil and the empress Constantina Porphyrogenitus, during the patriarchate of Nicholas Chrysoverges, in commemoration of a remarkable miracle worked by the archangel near the cell of an elder at Karyes.

According to the ancient account, an aged ascetic and his disciple lived in a cell dedicated to the Dormition near Karyes. One Saturday evening the elder departed for the all-night vigil at the church of the Protaton, leaving the disciple alone to keep his prayer rule. While he was singing the canon to the Mother of God, an unknown monk arrived and joined him in the chanting. When they came to the ninth ode and the disciple began the irmos "More honourable than the cherubim," the visiting monk sang first a different opening: "It is truly meet to bless you, the Theotokos, ever blessed and most pure, and the mother of our God." On hearing these words, the icon of the Mother of God in the cell shone with a wonderful light, and the disciple, marvelling, asked the stranger to write the verses down so that he might remember them.

Finding no paper or ink at hand, the stranger took up a stone slab and inscribed the words upon it with his finger as easily as if it had been wax. He then revealed himself as the archangel Gabriel, charged him to sing the hymn in this manner, saying, "And let all the Orthodox sing it likewise," and at once vanished from sight. The slate was carried in solemn procession to the Protaton and thence to Constantinople, and from that time the hymn Axion Estin has been chanted in the Divine Liturgy throughout the Orthodox Church. The icon before which the angel sang is also called the Axion Estin and is kept to this day in the sanctuary of the Protaton on Mount Athos.

Holy martyr Serapion

The holy martyr Serapion suffered for the name of Christ during the reign of the emperor Severus (193-211). A faithful Christian who openly confessed his faith in a time of bitter persecution, he was apprehended and brought to judgment before the governor Achilles. Standing fearless before his judge, he proclaimed Christ as the true God and condemned the worship of idols. The enraged governor subjected him to inhuman torments. The saint was stretched out and beaten, his flesh torn with hooks of iron, and his body broken in many ways, yet through all his sufferings he continued to confess Christ and to give thanks to God. Cast into the depths of a foul prison, half-dead from his wounds, he was visited by the Lord Jesus himself, who healed his body completely. When Serapion was brought out again to the tribunal, the judge and the assembled crowd were astonished to see him standing before them whole and unscarred, glorifying God. The governor, refusing to acknowledge the manifest miracle, condemned him to death by fire. The holy martyr stepped joyfully into the great pyre, and in the midst of the flames he gave up his soul to God around the year 205. The Lord glorified his martyr with the gift of working miracles after his death, and his memory has been kept by the Orthodox Church on 13 July from ancient times.

Saint Julian, bishop of Le Mans

Saint Julian, the apostle and first bishop of Le Mans (Cenomanis) in Gaul, is venerated in the Christian East and West as a hierarch of the apostolic age. According to ancient tradition, preserved in the Acta of Le Mans and recounted by later Latin and Byzantine sources, Julian was sent forth from Rome by the holy apostles to preach the Gospel to the pagan peoples of northern Gaul. Some traditions identify him with Simon the leper of the Gospels, who was healed by Christ; others place him among the disciples of the seventy. Arriving among the Cenomani, Julian found a population devoted to the worship of idols and the rituals of the druids. By his preaching, accompanied by signs and wonders, he gradually converted the leading citizens and the common people. He raised a dead man to life, healed the sick, and caused a spring of pure water to gush forth on a dry hill at the request of those who had no water; this spring became known as the fountain of Saint Julian. He is recorded as having received the local prince Defensor and his household into the Church, and to have established the first bishopric of Le Mans, ordaining priests and deacons and building churches. Having governed his flock for many years and confirmed it in the apostolic faith, he reposed in peace at a great age and was buried in the place where the cathedral of Le Mans now stands. His relics worked many miracles, and he is venerated as the patron of the city. The Orthodox Church commemorates Saint Julian among the apostolic hierarchs of the Western lands on 13 July.

Venerable Stephen of Mar Sabbas

794

Saint Stephen of Mar Sabbas, called the wonderworker, entered the great lavra of Saint Sabbas the Sanctified in the desert of Judaea at the age of ten and remained there for half a century, until his peaceful repose. He was the nephew of Saint John of Damascus, who himself dwelt in the same monastery, and from his early years he was placed under the spiritual guidance of his renowned uncle, who reared him in the love of Christ, the discipline of the monastic life, and the study of the sacred letters. Saint Stephen passed through every degree of monastic obedience with humility and zeal. After his uncle's repose he embraced an even stricter rule of life, withdrawing for periods of solitary struggle into a cave near the monastery, where he gave himself to unceasing prayer, fasting, and the contemplation of God. He was renowned for his angelic purity, his deep humility, and the abundance of his tears in prayer. The Lord granted him the gift of clairvoyance and the power of working miracles: he healed the sick, cast out demons, and foretold things to come. Although he loved silence above all, the saint did not refuse to receive those who came to him for spiritual counsel. Many monks, clergy, and laymen sought him out, and he sent none away empty. He bore the burdens of his brethren with patience, often interceding for them with tears, and the spiritual sons whom he begot through the gospel were many. Saint Stephen reposed in peace at the lavra of Saint Sabbas in the year 794. He should not be confused with another Stephen the Sabbaite, the hymnographer and a kinsman of Saint John of Damascus, whose memory is kept on 28 October.

Holy Martyr Golinduc of Persia

6th c.

She was a Persian noblewoman during the reign of Chosroës II (590-628). Through a vision of an angel, she came to belief in Christ and received holy baptism; her name in baptism was Maria. Her furious husband reported her to King Chosroës, who had her thrown into a foul dungeon known as Oblivion for eighteen years. During these years she was repeatedly told to renounce Christ and was tormented in many ways. She was thrown to venomous snakes, which refused to harm her. Some lawless young men were sent to her cell to defile her, but God made her invisible to them. Many Persians, amazed and inspired by her patient sufferings, accepted Christ. She was finally set free through the visitation of an angel, traveled to Jerusalem and Constantinople, and reposed in peace. She is commemorated July 12 on the Slavic calendar. Oddly, she is called a Martyr in all accounts, though she died free and in peace; presumably her eighteen years of cruel imprisonment earned her the title.

Repose of Photios Kontoglou

1965

He is called “Blessed Photios” by many, but has not yet been officially glorified. In the twentieth century, he almost singlehandedly restored the practice of true Byzantine iconography to the Church. He was born in 1895 in one of the many Greek towns of Asia Minor. He and his family fled to Greece during the “exchange of populations” of 1923, when more than a million Greeks were driven from Turkey and resettled in Greece. He studied to be a secular artist, but was increasingly drawn to Byzantine iconography, the practice of which had almost disappeared: he learned the iconographic ethos and technique by copying ancient models and studying with the few monks on the Holy Mountain who still practiced true iconography. Initially his work was scorned, since secular western standards had come to dominate even the art of the Church. Slowly, through his tireless labors, an understanding of Orthodoxy iconography was restored to the Church, not only in Greece, but throughout the world. Though married, he lived his life in poverty, often donating his work to churches or performing it for nominal fees. His deeply spiritual writings are greatly honored in Greece, though most remain untranslated into English.

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

Romans — Romans 3.28-4.3

²⁸Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. ²⁸We reckon therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. ²⁹Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: ²⁹Or is God the God of Jews only? is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yea, of Gentiles also: ³⁰Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. ³⁰if so be that God is one, and he shall justify the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith. ³¹Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

³¹Do we then make the law of none effect through faith? God forbid: nay, we establish the law.

¹What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?

¹What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, hath found according to the flesh? ²For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. ²For if Abraham was justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not toward God. ³For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. ³For what saith the scripture? And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Matthew — Matthew 7.24-8.4

²⁴Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

²⁴Every one therefore that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them, shall be likened unto a wise man, who built his house upon the rock: ²⁵And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. ²⁵and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon the rock. ²⁶And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: ²⁶And every one that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand: ²⁷And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. ²⁷and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and smote upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall thereof.

²⁸And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these words, the multitudes were astonished at his teaching: ²⁸And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: ²⁹for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. ²⁹For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

¹And when he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.

¹When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. ²And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. ²And behold, there came to him a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. ³And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. ³And he stretched forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou made clean. And straightway his leprosy was cleansed. ⁴And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. ⁴And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.