Tuesday, 10 September 2024

Tuesday of the 12th week after Pentecost

128 days after Pascha · Tone 2 · Liturgy · No Fast

Saints commemorated

Holy Apostles of the Seventy Apelles, Lucius, and Clement

The three apostles Apelles, Lucius, and Clement are numbered among the Seventy whom Christ chose and sent forth to preach the Kingdom of God. They are mentioned in the Epistles of Saint Paul: Apelles, whom the Apostle calls "approved in Christ" (Romans 16:10); Lucius, whom he names with Jason and Sosipater as his kinsmen (Romans 16:21); and Clement, of whom Paul writes, "with Clement also, and with other my fellow-labourers, whose names are in the book of life" (Philippians 4:3). According to the tradition of the Church, Apelles served as bishop of Heraklea in Thrace, where he proclaimed the Gospel and converted many pagans before completing his course in peace. Lucius is identified with Lucius of Cyrene, mentioned in the Book of Acts among the prophets and teachers at Antioch (Acts 13:1), and is said to have become bishop of Laodicea in Syria. Clement, distinct from Clement of Rome, laboured in the company of Saint Paul and is said to have been bishop of Sardica. All three sealed their apostolic ministry by faithful service to the end and are remembered together on this day.

Holy Martyrs Menodora, Metrodora, and Nymphodora

The three sisters Menodora, Metrodora, and Nymphodora were natives of Bithynia who suffered martyrdom under the emperor Maximian around the year 305 or 311. From their youth they had vowed virginity to Christ and withdrew to a deserted place near the hot springs of Pythia, where they lived a life of prayer, fasting, and works of mercy. The fragrance of their sanctity drew many to seek their counsel, and miraculous healings were granted through their prayers. When their reputation reached the governor Frontonus, he had them brought before him in chains. He first attempted to win Menodora, the eldest, by flattery and promises of marriage and wealth; when she rejected him with the words that she was already betrothed to Christ, she was beaten and tortured for many hours until she gave up her soul. Metrodora, brought to see her sister's body, refused likewise to deny Christ and was burned with torches and beaten to death. Nymphodora, the youngest, was offered her freedom and rich gifts if only she would sacrifice; she too remained steadfast and was beaten with iron rods until she received the crown of martyrdom. Their bodies were cast into a furnace, but a thunderstorm extinguished the fire and Christians recovered the relics. Their tomb at the hot springs of Pythia became a famous place of pilgrimage and healing.

Saint Pulcheria the Empress

453

Saint Pulcheria was born in 399, the daughter of the emperor Arcadius and the empress Eudoxia and the elder sister of Theodosius the Younger. Orphaned in childhood, she was proclaimed Augusta in 414 at the age of fifteen and effectively governed the Eastern Roman Empire on behalf of her younger brother. Together with her sisters Arcadia and Marina she dedicated her virginity to Christ in the great church of Constantinople, transforming the imperial palace into a virtual monastery filled with prayer, fasting, the chanting of the psalms, and works of charity. She built churches, hospices, and homes for the poor; she received the relics of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste with great honour; and she is credited with the construction of three of the most famous churches of Constantinople dedicated to the Mother of God: the Hodegetria, the Blachernae, and the Chalkoprateia. A determined defender of Orthodoxy, she opposed the Nestorian teaching and supported the calling of the Third Ecumenical Council, and after the death of Theodosius she married the senator Marcian on condition that her virginity be preserved, in order to secure the Orthodox faith on the throne. With Marcian she convened the Fourth Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon in 451, which condemned the Monophysite teaching and confessed Christ as one Person in two natures. Saint Pulcheria reposed in 453 and was honoured by the Council of Chalcedon as "the new Helen."

Saints Peter and Paul, bishops of Nicaea

Saints Peter and Paul were bishops of Nicaea in Bithynia who lived in the ninth century during the second period of iconoclasm. Each in his turn occupied the see of Nicaea, an ancient Christian city famous for the First Ecumenical Council, and each suffered persecution at the hands of the iconoclast emperors for upholding the veneration of the holy icons. Saint Peter, a man of great learning and ascetic life, was deposed and exiled for refusing to abandon the icons; he endured imprisonment and many privations, and after the restoration of Orthodoxy continued to guide his flock until his peaceful repose. Saint Paul, his successor or near-contemporary, likewise confessed Christ before the iconoclasts, was deprived of his see, and bore witness to the truth that the honour given to the icon passes to the prototype, in accordance with the teaching of the Seventh Ecumenical Council. Both are remembered on this day as confessors who, though they did not shed their blood, gave up their freedom and their comfort for the sake of the right confession of the Incarnation, since to deny the icon of Christ is to deny that the Word truly took flesh.

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

2 Corinthians — 2 Corinthians 5.15-21

¹⁵and he died for all, that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for their sakes died and rose again. ¹⁵And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. ¹⁶Wherefore we henceforth know no man after the flesh: even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know him so no more. ¹⁶Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. ¹⁷Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new. ¹⁷Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. ¹⁸But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁸And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses, and having committed unto us the word of reconciliation. ¹⁹To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

²⁰We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God. ²⁰Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. ²¹Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him. ²¹For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Mark — Mark 1.16-22

¹⁶Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

¹⁶And passing along by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishers. ¹⁷And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. ¹⁷And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. ¹⁸And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him. ¹⁸And straightway they left the nets, and followed him. ¹⁹And when he had gone a little further thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. ¹⁹And going on a little further, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending the nets. ²⁰And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him. ²⁰And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after him. ²¹And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught.

²¹And they go into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue and taught. ²²And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes. ²²And they were astonished at his teaching: for he taught them as having authority, and not as the scribes.