Tuesday, 30 July 2024

Tuesday of the 6th week after Pentecost

86 days after Pascha · Tone 4 · Liturgy · No Fast

Saints commemorated

Holy apostles Silas, Silvanus, Crescens, Epenetus and Andronicus of the Seventy

The five holy apostles commemorated on this day were among the seventy whom the Lord chose and sent out two by two before his face into every city and place where he was about to come. Silas was a leading man of the church of Jerusalem, named at the apostolic council in Acts 15 as one of the chief brethren, and was sent with Saint Paul on his second missionary journey. He shared in the apostle's imprisonment and beating at Philippi, and laboured with him at Thessalonica, Beroea and Corinth. Tradition relates that he was at length consecrated bishop of Corinth and ended his life in peace.

Silvanus, in some traditions identified with Silas himself, became bishop of Thessalonica, where he reposed after labouring much for the faith. Crescens, named by Saint Paul at the end of his second letter to Timothy, preached in Galatia and afterwards in Gaul, where he was bishop of Vienne and the Lyonnais and suffered martyrdom under the emperor Trajan. Epenetus, called by Paul "the first-fruits of Achaia for Christ" in Romans 16, served as bishop of Carthage. Andronicus, also greeted in Romans 16 as a kinsman of the apostle and "of note among the apostles," became bishop of Pannonia and is honoured separately on 17 May with his fellow worker Junia. The five are commemorated together on 30 July as labourers of the apostolic age.

Holy hieromartyr Polychronius, bishop of Babylon

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Saint Polychronius lived in the third century and was raised to the see of Babylon, the ancient city which still in his day held a Christian community sprung from the apostolic preaching. From his youth he had been distinguished for fasting, the keeping of vigil, and a complete renunciation of worldly things; he was also known as a labourer with his own hands, supporting himself rather than being a burden to his flock. As bishop he gathered great numbers from idolatry to the worship of the true God. In the persecution under the emperor Decius, the governor brought him to the public square and demanded that he sacrifice. The saint, for his answer, took up a great stone idol and broke it before the crowd. He was bound, struck repeatedly upon the mouth, and was killed by the breaking of his teeth and the wounds he received, sealing his confession with his blood. With him three of his presbyters and two leading men of the city were also put to death. The Church remembers him with his fellow-confessors on 30 July.

Holy hieromartyr Valentine, bishop of Interamna

Saint Valentine was bishop of Interamna in central Italy, the modern Terni, in the third century. He governed his church with diligence and was renowned for his gift of healing. Through the recommendation of the philosopher Craton, three young Greek students who were studying at Rome, Proculus, Apollonius, and Ephebus, brought to him Craton's son Cherimon, who was severely ill with a curvature of the spine. Saint Valentine prayed all night over the youth, and at dawn the boy was made whole and stood up straight. The whole household was baptised, and Craton became a disciple of the bishop. Through this conversion the prefect of Rome's son Abundius also was won to the faith, and many others. The pagan magistrates, alarmed at the spread of the Gospel, arrested Saint Valentine, beat him, and at length had him beheaded outside the city of Rome around the year 273. The three students, returning sadly to Interamna with the body of their teacher, were themselves seized and put to death there a few days later. The relics of Saint Valentine rest at Terni, where they have always been honoured. Some of the calendars also commemorate him on the day of his death, 14 February, and on this day, 30 July, as one of the holy bishops of the Italian Church.

Holy righteous John the soldier

Saint John lived at Constantinople in the latter part of the fourth century and served in the army of the emperor Julian the Apostate. Although outwardly enrolled in the persecuting forces sent against the Christians of the empire, he was secretly a believer and used his position to warn his brethren of impending raids, to free those who had been arrested, and to relieve the poor and the captive from his own pay. By many such hidden labours he saved the lives and souls of his fellow Christians, taking on himself the danger which threatened them. After the death of Julian and the restoration of the Christian emperors, John continued to live in great simplicity, devoting his time and substance to the works of mercy: visiting the sick and those in prison, burying the dead, and assisting widows and orphans. He died in old age in Constantinople and was buried in a place which was forgotten until in a vision he revealed it to a devout woman who had been praying to find his relics. His tomb thereafter became a place of healing and of help to the wronged. He is widely invoked by Orthodox Christians for the recovery of stolen goods, the deliverance of the falsely accused, and as the protector of soldiers.

Holy righteous Julitta of Caesarea in Cappadocia

Saint Julitta was a wealthy Christian widow of Caesarea in Cappadocia in the early fourth century. She is to be distinguished from another Julitta whose son was the holy child-martyr Cyricus. The present saint suffered for Christ in the time of the emperor Diocletian. A pagan neighbour, taking advantage of the persecution, seized a great part of her property by force; when she sought redress in the courts, her opponent demanded that she first prove her standing as a Roman citizen by sacrificing to the gods, on the grounds that as a Christian she had no rights at law. Saint Julitta refused to deny her Lord even at the cost of her property and her life, declaring before the judge that the soul is more precious than gold and that to gain even the whole world by such a denial would profit her nothing. She was sentenced to death by burning, embraced the flames willingly, and gave up her soul to God praising him. Her relics were buried by faithful Christians and worked many miracles; Saint Basil the Great preached a homily in her praise, holding her up as a pattern of single-hearted love for Christ. The Church remembers her on 30 July.

Venerable Angelina, Princess of Albania.

She was the daughter of Scanderbeg, Albania’s national hero. She married Stefan, Prince of Serbia, a kinsman of Scanderbeg who sought refuge in his court. Stefan, a gentle, God-fearing man, had been blinded by the Turkish Sultan. Princess Angelina, loving him despite his loss of his vision and his worldly kingdom, married him with her father’s blessing. Together they had two sons, George and John. When their sons were grown, Albania was ravaged by an invasion of the Turks. Stefan, with Angelina and their sons, fled to Italy, where they lived until his repose in 1468. The widowed Angelina buried her husband in his Serbian homeland and devoted her remaining years to good works. Her elder son George gave up his princely title and entered monastic life. John married but died without children in 1503. When Angelina had outlived her two sons as well as her husband she too entered monastic life. She was buried with her sons at Krušedol monastery in northern Serbia. There her miracle-working relics are venerated to this day, and a service is held each year in her memory. She, her husband and her two sons are all glorified as saints of the Church.

Also commemorated: Apostles Silas and Silvanus of the Seventy

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

1 Corinthians — 1 Corinthians 1.1-9

¹Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,

¹Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, ²Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: ²unto the church of God which is at Corinth, even them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, their Lord and ours: ³Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. ³Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;

⁴I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus; ⁵That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; ⁵that in everything ye were enriched in him, in all utterance and all knowledge; ⁶even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: ⁶Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: ⁷so that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ; ⁷So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: ⁸Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁸who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye be unreproveable in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. ⁹God is faithful, through whom ye were called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Matthew — Matthew 13.24-30

²⁴Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

²⁴Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man that sowed good seed in his field: ²⁵But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. ²⁵but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. ²⁶But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. ²⁷So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? ²⁷And the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it tares? ²⁸He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? ²⁸And he said unto them, An enemy hath done this. And the servants say unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? ²⁹But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. ²⁹But he saith, Nay; lest haply while ye gather up the tares, ye root up the wheat with them. ³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. ³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.