Friday, 27 September 2024

Friday of the 14th week after Pentecost

145 days after Pascha · Tone 4 · Red squigg (doxology typikon symbol) · Fast

Saints commemorated

★ Holy Martyr Callistratus and his forty-nine companions

Saint Callistratus was a native of Carthage; an ancestor of his named Neochorus had served under Pontius Pilate in Palestine and had been a witness of the Lord's Crucifixion and Resurrection, and the family had ever after kept the Christian faith. The saint's father was a Christian and brought up his son in piety, and he in his turn became a soldier and excelled among his pagan comrades by his good conduct and gentle disposition. The companions of his unit, hearing him praying at night, denounced him to the commander, who summoned him and sought to compel him to offer sacrifice to idols. After many tortures Saint Callistratus was sewn up in a leather sack and cast into the sea, but the sack struck a sharp rock and was torn open, and the saint was carried to dry land unharmed by dolphins. Beholding such a wonder, forty-nine of his fellow soldiers came to faith in Christ. They were all bound and thrown into a lake behind a dam, where their bonds broke and the water became to them a font of holy baptism. By night, by order of the commander, they were brought out and beheaded with the sword; the surviving soldiers, one hundred and thirty-five in number, who had also believed, took up the holy relics and gave them honourable burial. They suffered in Rome under Diocletian about the year 304.

Holy Apostles Mark, Aristarchus and Zenas of the Seventy

The Holy Apostles Mark, Aristarchus and Zenas were each numbered among the Seventy whom the Lord Jesus Christ chose and sent forth two by two to proclaim the Gospel of the kingdom. The Apostle Mark, surnamed John, was the cousin of the Apostle Barnabas; the upper room in his mother Mary's house in Jerusalem was where the apostles gathered for prayer, as is recorded in the twelfth chapter of the Book of Acts. He was a fellow labourer of the great apostles Peter and Paul, and afterwards became Bishop of Byblos in Phoenicia, where he preached the Gospel and worked many miracles, his very shadow healing the sick, and there fell asleep in peace. The Apostle Aristarchus accompanied Saint Paul on his journeys and shared his labours and his bonds, being mentioned in Acts and in several Epistles, and afterwards became Bishop of Apamea in Syria, where he ended his apostolic ministry. The Apostle Zenas, called the Lawyer in the Epistle of Saint Paul to Titus, was a learned man trained in the law; commended by the Apostle to the brethren in Crete, he afterwards became Bishop of Diospolis, also called Lydda, in Palestine, where he preached the Gospel and reposed in peace. The three are commemorated together on this day, together with the holy martyrs Callistratus and his companions.

Holy New Martyr Akylina of Thessalonica

Saint Akylina, the holy New Martyr of Christ, was from the village of Zagliveri near Thessalonica, in the diocese of Ardameri. Her father, in a moment of weakness, had denied the Christian faith and embraced the religion of the Turks, but her mother, Vasiliki, secretly raised her in the Orthodox faith. When Akylina came of age, her father sought to compel her to follow him into Islam, and on her firm refusal handed her over to the Turkish authorities, who at his own urging condemned her to be beaten to death. Strengthened by the prayers of her mother, the holy maiden endured the cruel scourging with great courage, confessing her Christ to the last, and gave up her soul to the Lord on 27 September 1764, being then about eighteen years of age. The Christians of the place took her holy relics and gave them honourable burial, and her name is recorded with honour among the New Martyrs of the Greek lands who suffered under the Ottoman yoke.

Our Venerable Father Sabbatius, Founder of the Monastery of Solovki

1435

He lived for many years as a monk at the Monastery of St Cyril of White Lake, where his ascetic struggles won him the respect of his brethren. To flee from the admiration of men he moved further north to Valaam Monastery. But he still attracted the good opinion of his community, so he secretly headed still further north, planning to reach the uninhabited Solovki Island in the White Sea (a large bay of the Arctic Ocean). When he reached the coast, everyone who might take him tried to dissuade him from living in such a harsh place. He answered ‘My children, I have a Master who has the power to renew the strength of the old and to enfeeble the young if He so wills. He makes the poor rich, clothes the naked, provides for the destitute and satisfies the starving with a measure of food as he fed five thousand men in the desert.’ While waiting for seasonable sailing weather he met St Germanus (July 30) who lived nearby as a hermit. Together they found a fishing boat and, casting all their trust on the Lord, made the dangerous two-day voyage and set up a hermitage on the island. It became known as a holy place, and thenceforth those living in the world knew not to settle on Solovki, or even to set foot there without good reason. After six years, St Germanus departed, and Sabbatius was left alone. When he was old, he began to fear that he would die without receiving the life-giving Mysteries, of which he had not partaken since he left Valaam. So he returned to the mainland where he met an abbot Nathanael just as he was taking Holy Communion to a sick man. Sabbatius persuaded the abbot to hear his confession and grant him the priceless gift of Holy Communion. He then settled in a nearby chapel and made ready for his departure from this life. A wealthy merchant from Novgorod visited him to ask for his blessing. The Saint said to him, ‘Spend the night here and you will see the grace of God.’ The next morning the merchant came to Sabbatius’ cell and found that he had reposed during the night; his cell was suffused with a beautiful scent. The following year, St Germanus, along with St Zosimas (April 17), returned to Solovki island and founded a monastery there, which proved to be the nurturing ground of many Saints.

Holy New Martyr Aquilina

1764

She lived in the village of Zangliverion near Thessalonika. When she was still an infant, her father killed a Turkish neighbor in an argument and, to save his life, denied his Christian faith. To compound his apostasy he promised that when his daughter came of age she too would convert. Aquilina’s mother, however, held fast to her faith in Christ, and brought up her daughter to love her Savior fervently. When Aquilina reached the age of eighteen, her father told her that the time had come to formally embrace Islam; he was dismayed when she replied that she would rather suffer any torment than deny Christ. Fearing for his own life, her father handed her over to the Turkish authorities. When the usual threats and promises had no effect, she was viciously beaten three times. Some pious Christians returned her, dying, to her mother, to whom she said ‘I have done as you told me, and kept the confession of our faith. Surely you didn’t think I would do anything else?’ With this, the holy Martyr died. The Synaxarion relates, ‘As her body was taken to be buried, every place that it passed was filled with a delightful scent, and a brilliant light came forth from her grave during the night.’

Also commemorated: Ven. Sabbatius of Solovetsk

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

Galatians — Galatians 2.6-10

⁶But from those who were reputed to be somewhat (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth not man’s person)—they, I say, who were of repute imparted nothing to me: ⁶But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: ⁷but contrariwise, when they saw that I had been intrusted with the gospel of the uncircumcision, even as Peter with the gospel of the circumcision ⁷But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; ⁸(for he that wrought for Peter unto the apostleship of the circumcision wrought for me also unto the Gentiles); ⁸(For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) ⁹And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. ⁹and when they perceived the grace that was given unto me, James and Cephas and John, they who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go unto the Gentiles, and they unto the circumcision; ¹⁰only they would that we should remember the poor; which very thing I was also zealous to do. ¹⁰Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Luke — Luke 6.17-23

¹⁷and he came down with them, and stood on a level place, and a great multitude of his disciples, and a great number of the people from all Judæa and Jerusalem, and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases;

¹⁷And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judæa and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases; ¹⁸and they that were troubled with unclean spirits were healed. ¹⁸And they that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed. ¹⁹And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all. ¹⁹And all the multitude sought to touch him; for power came forth from him, and healed them all.

²⁰And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed are ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.

²⁰And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. ²¹Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. ²¹Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. ²²Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. ²²Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. ²³Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. ²³Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy: for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for in the same manner did their fathers unto the prophets.