Wednesday, 21 August 2024

Wednesday of the 9th week after Pentecost

108 days after Pascha · Tone 7 · Red squigg (doxology typikon symbol) · Fast

Saints commemorated

Holy Apostle Thaddeus of the Seventy

The Holy Apostle Thaddeus of the Seventy was a Hebrew by descent, born in the Syrian city of Edessa. He is to be distinguished from Saint Jude (also called Thaddeus or Lebbaeus), who was one of the Twelve and is commemorated on 19 June. While still a young man Thaddeus came to Jerusalem for one of the great feasts, where he heard the preaching of Saint John the Forerunner. Receiving baptism at his hands in the Jordan, he remained in Palestine; he saw the Saviour, listened to His teaching, and was numbered by the Lord among the Seventy Disciples whom He sent out two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to come.

After the Ascension of the Lord, Saint Thaddeus returned to his native Edessa and there fulfilled the promise made by Christ to King Abgar, who had once written to the Lord asking for healing. Edessa had received the Holy Image of Christ "Not Made by Hands", and the king had been healed of leprosy by venerating it; but full instruction in the faith came through the apostle. Thaddeus preached Christ in Edessa, baptising King Abgar, his household, and the people of the city. He overthrew the pagan idols and ordained presbyters, organising the Church of Edessa.

From Edessa Saint Thaddeus journeyed to other cities of Mesopotamia and Syria, including Amida and Beirut, preaching everywhere the Gospel of Christ, healing the sick, and exhorting all to repentance. He founded churches and ordained clergy, and many believed at his word. The Slavonic Menaion records that he peacefully reposed at Beirut in the year 44; according to other sources he reposed in Edessa, while an ancient Armenian tradition relates that after various tortures he was beheaded by the sword on 21 December in the Artaz region in the year 50.

The Holy Apostle Thaddeus of the Seventy is commemorated by the Orthodox Church on 21 August, and his memory is kept also in the Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles on 4 January.

Holy Martyr Bassa of Edessa and her sons Theognis, Agapius and Pistus

The Holy Martyr Bassa, with her three sons Theognis, Agapius and Pistus, lived in the city of Macedonian Edessa during the persecution of the emperor Maximian Galerius at the beginning of the fourth century. Saint Bassa was married to a pagan priest named Valerius, but from her childhood she had been raised in the Christian Faith, and she instructed her sons in it secretly so that they too were grounded in piety from a tender age.

When her household refused to take part in the worship of idols, Valerius himself denounced his wife and his children to the governor. Brought before the tribunal, the saints fearlessly confessed Christ. The governor, hoping that the suffering of her sons would shake the resolve of the mother, ordered them to be tortured first before her eyes. The eldest, Saint Theognis, was raked with iron claws and then beheaded. Saint Agapius was flayed alive from his head to his chest, but he did not utter a sound. The youngest, Saint Pistus, was tortured and likewise beheaded. The mother stood beside them and encouraged them to endure unto the end for the love of Christ.

Saint Bassa was then thrown into prison and weakened by hunger, but an angel of the Lord came and strengthened her with heavenly food. Brought out for further tortures, she remained unharmed by fire, by water, and by wild beasts. When she was led into a pagan temple to be made to sacrifice, she shattered the statue of Zeus with her own hands. At last she was taken to the island of Halonisus and there beheaded by the sword, receiving the crown of martyrdom and being reunited with her children.

A church was built over the relics of Saint Bassa at the harbour of the city of Chalcedon, and she was greatly venerated throughout Asia Minor. The Holy Martyrs Bassa, Theognis, Agapius and Pistus are commemorated together on 21 August.

Holy Martyrs Donatus the Deacon, Romulus the Priest, Silvanus the Deacon and Venustus

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The Holy Martyrs Donatus the Deacon, Romulus the Priest, Silvanus the Deacon and Venustus were Christians of the city of Cibalae (modern Vinkovci) in the Roman province of Pannonia, near Sirmium. They suffered for Christ in the year 304 during the great persecution of Diocletian, in the same region and at about the same time as the celebrated bishop and martyr Saint Eusebius of Cibalae. Romulus was a presbyter who fearlessly proclaimed the Gospel and ministered the Holy Mysteries to the faithful even after the imperial decrees forbidding Christian assembly. With him laboured the deacons Silvanus and Donatus, who served the altar and assisted in the instruction of the catechumens. Donatus's brother Venustus, a layman, was bound to them by ties of blood and of common faith. When the persecution intensified the four were arrested together and brought before the magistrates. They were ordered to surrender the sacred Scriptures and to offer incense before the statues of the gods, but they refused with one voice to do either. After cruel tortures, by which the persecutors hoped to break their resolve, they were condemned to death and beheaded by the sword on 21 August, receiving together the unfading crowns of martyrdom. Their memory is preserved in the ancient Synaxaria of the Eastern Church and in the Roman Martyrology, and they are commemorated together with the Holy Apostle Thaddeus and Saint Bassa and her sons on 21 August.

Saint Abraham, Archimandrite of Smolensk

Saint Abraham of Smolensk was a Russian monk, priest and teacher of repentance who lived in the latter half of the twelfth century and the early years of the thirteenth. He was born to noble parents in the city of Smolensk who had long prayed for a child, and he was the only surviving son after twelve daughters. From childhood he was inclined to the things of God, frequenting the divine services and abstaining from the games of his peers. After the death of his parents he distributed his inheritance to monasteries, churches and the poor and entered the Monastery of the Theotokos at Selische, six versts outside Smolensk, where he was tonsured a monk and given the name Abraham. He gave himself to fervent ascesis, spending whole nights in prayer, and he became a noted scholar of the Holy Scriptures and of patristic writings, copying out books with his own hand. His knowledge of the Last Judgement and his power as a preacher of repentance drew great crowds of laity to him for confession and counsel. His popularity, however, drew upon him the envy of certain of the Smolensk clergy, who accused him of being a false prophet, of seducing women through confession, and of reading forbidden books. Saint Abraham was tried, suspended from priestly service and confined to his original monastery. Soon afterwards a great drought afflicted the region; the harvest failed and people began to die. The pious bishop Ignatius, after fasting and prayer, recognised that the calamity had come because of the unjust treatment of the saint. Abraham was restored to his priesthood, the abbot of the Monastery of the Holy Cross resigned, and Saint Abraham was appointed archimandrite there. As he prayed for the city, the Lord sent abundant rain. For the rest of his life Saint Abraham continued to lead the brethren and to instruct the people in repentance, the unceasing prayer of the heart and faithful Christian life. He reposed in great old age, around the year 1222. He is venerated as a wonderworker and a witness to the Orthodox tradition of pre-Mongol Rus'. His memory is kept on 21 August.

Holy Forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

They are also commemorated on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers, before Nativity.

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

1 Corinthians — 1 Corinthians 13.4-14.5

⁴Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, ⁴Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, ⁵doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; ⁵Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; ⁶rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; ⁶Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; ⁷beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. ⁷Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. ⁸Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. ⁸Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away. ⁹For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. ⁹For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; ¹⁰but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. ¹⁰But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. ¹¹When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things. ¹¹When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. ¹²For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known. ¹²For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. ¹³And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. ¹³But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

¹Follow after love; yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.

¹Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy. ²For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. ²For he that speaketh in a tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God; for no man understandeth; but in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. ³But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. ³But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men edification, and exhortation, and consolation. ⁴He that speaketh in a tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church. ⁴He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church. ⁵I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying. ⁵Now I would have you all speak with tongues, but rather that ye should prophesy: and greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Matthew — Matthew 20.1-16

¹For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.

¹For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that was a householder, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. ²And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ²And when he had agreed with the laborers for a shilling a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, ³And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing in the marketplace idle; ⁴And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. ⁴and to them he said, Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. ⁵Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. ⁵Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. ⁶And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing; and he saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? ⁶And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? ⁷They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. ⁷They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard. ⁸So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. ⁸And when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the laborers, and pay them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. ⁹And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a shilling. ⁹And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. ¹⁰But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. ¹⁰And when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received every man a shilling. ¹¹And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, ¹¹And when they received it, they murmured against the householder, ¹²Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. ¹²saying, These last have spent but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat. ¹³But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? ¹³But he answered and said to one of them, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a shilling? ¹⁴Take up that which is thine, and go thy way; it is my will to give unto this last, even as unto thee. ¹⁴Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. ¹⁵Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? ¹⁵Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? or is thine eye evil, because I am good? ¹⁶So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. ¹⁶So the last shall be first, and the first last.