Monday, 22 July 2024

Monday of the 5th week after Pentecost

78 days after Pascha · Tone 3 · Black squigg (6-stich typikon symbol) · No Fast

Saints commemorated

★ Holy myrrh-bearer and equal-of-the-apostles Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene came from the town of Magdala on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, between Capernaum and Tiberias. The Gospels record that the Lord cast seven demons out of her, and from that hour she became one of his most devoted disciples, following him through Galilee and Judea and ministering to him from her own substance. She stood by the Cross at Golgotha when most of the apostles had fled, and she watched as Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus laid the Lord's body in the tomb. She returned with the other myrrh-bearing women at dawn on the first day of the week, and the risen Christ appeared first to her, calling her by name in the garden. She is therefore named "equal-of-the-apostles" because she was the first to proclaim the Resurrection, saying to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord."

Holy Tradition relates that after Pentecost she travelled with the apostles preaching the Gospel. Going to Rome, she gained an audience with the emperor Tiberius and spoke to him of the Resurrection. According to the tradition preserved by Saint Modestus of Jerusalem and others, she presented him with a red egg and the words "Christ is risen," giving rise to the Paschal custom of dyed eggs. She also testified before Tiberius against Pilate and the Jewish leaders for their unjust condemnation of the Lord. Later she went to Ephesus to assist Saint John the Theologian in his preaching, and there she fell asleep in peace. Her relics were translated to Constantinople in the ninth century by the emperor Leo the Wise and laid in the monastery of Saint Lazarus.

Holy apostle Cornelius the centurion

Saint Cornelius was a Roman centurion of the Italian Cohort stationed at Caesarea Maritima in Palestine in the first century. The Acts of the Apostles describes him as "a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always." An angel appeared to him in a vision while he was praying at the ninth hour and instructed him to send for Simon Peter, who was lodging in Joppa. While his messengers were on the way, Peter received his own vision of the great sheet let down from heaven containing all manner of creatures, and the divine command, "What God has cleansed, do not call common." When Peter came to the house of Cornelius and preached the Gospel, the Holy Spirit descended on Cornelius, his household and friends, and they spoke in tongues and magnified God. Astonished, the apostle commanded that they be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ, the first uncircumcised Gentiles to be received into the Church. Cornelius was thus the first-fruits of the Gentile world. Holy Tradition records that he later became bishop of Skepsis in Mysia, where he overthrew the temple of Apollo by his prayers and converted the prince of the city. He reposed in peace in old age. His principal commemoration is on 13 September, with an additional remembrance on 22 July in some calendars.

Holy virgin-martyr Markella of Chios

Saint Markella was born on the island of Chios, traditionally placed in the fourteenth century, the only daughter of a pagan or recently lapsed local lord. Her mother, a devout Christian, raised her in piety and taught her the Scriptures, but died while Markella was still young. Growing in beauty and virtue, the maiden consecrated her virginity to Christ. After her mother's death her father conceived an unnatural and incestuous passion for her. When she resisted his advances and fled, he pursued her into the hills of north-western Chios. At a place called Volissos he overtook her by the sea, and when she had no further refuge he struck her down with his sword. Tradition relates that as she ran a rock opened to receive part of her body and then closed again, leaving only her head and shoulders exposed, which her father then severed. The waters of the cove where she suffered are said to grow warm at the time of her feast and to give forth a sweet fragrance, and many healings are reported there. A great pilgrimage church built over the spot is one of the most beloved shrines of the Aegean.

Translation of the relics of hieromartyr Phocas, bishop of Sinope

Saint Phocas was bishop of Sinope on the Black Sea coast of Pontus in the late first or early second century. He is celebrated for his pastoral zeal, his care of the poor and seafarers, and the boldness with which he confessed Christ. During the persecution under the emperor Trajan, the governor Africanus arrested him and demanded that he sacrifice to idols. Saint Phocas refused, was tortured at length, and was finally cast into a heated bath where he gave up his soul to God around the year 117. His principal feast is kept on 22 September, the day of his martyrdom. The present commemoration on 22 July marks the translation of his holy relics from Sinope to Constantinople, which took place in either 403 or 404 during the reign of the emperor Arcadius. The relics were received with great solemnity and laid in a church built in his honour. Saint Phocas is widely venerated as the protector of seafarers, and Black Sea sailors traditionally set aside a portion of their food at meals as the saint's share, which was then given as alms to the poor in his name.

Venerable Cornelius of Pereyaslavl

1693

Saint Cornelius, in the world Conon, was born into a merchant family of Ryazan in the seventeenth century. As a young man he secretly left his home and went to the monastery of Saints Boris and Gleb at Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, where he was tonsured a monk. He devoted himself to silence, manual labour, and unremitting prayer, taking the most demanding obediences of the community: he tilled the garden, drew water, and chopped firewood for the brethren. For thirty years he kept a complete vow of silence, communicating only by gesture, so that many supposed him to be mute. He wore the same coarse garment in summer and winter, slept little, and stood at the prayers of the night services as if made of stone. After many years of this hidden ascetic struggle, he was tonsured to the great schema. Saint Cornelius reposed in 1693 and was buried in the monastery church. When his grave was opened in 1701, his relics were found incorrupt and a new tomb was prepared for them. He was glorified for the gifts of unceasing prayer and discernment which God granted him in reward for his hidden labours.

Also commemorated: Holy Myrrhbearer Mary Magdalene, Equal-to-the-Apostles

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

Romans — Romans 12.4-5, 15-21

⁴For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: ⁴For even as we have many members in one body, and all the members have not the same office: ⁵So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. ⁵so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and severally members one of another. ¹⁵Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. ¹⁵Rejoice with them that rejoice; weep with them that weep. ¹⁶Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. ¹⁶Be of the same mind one toward another. Set not your mind on high things, but condescend to things that are lowly. Be not wise in your own conceits. ¹⁷Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. ¹⁷Render to no man evil for evil. Take thought for things honorable in the sight of all men. ¹⁸If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. ¹⁸If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men. ¹⁹Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. ¹⁹Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath of God: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord. ²⁰Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. ²⁰But if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him to drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. ²¹Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. ²¹Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Matthew — Matthew 12.9-13

¹⁰And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. ¹⁰and behold, a man having a withered hand. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? that they might accuse him. ¹¹And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? ¹¹And he said unto them, What man shall there be of you, that shall have one sheep, and if this fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? ¹²How much then is a man of more value than a sheep! Wherefore it is lawful to do good on the sabbath day. ¹²How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. ¹³Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, as the other. ¹³Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.