Sunday, 20 October 2024

17th Sunday after Pentecost

168 days after Pascha · Tone 8 · Black squigg (6-stich typikon symbol) · No Fast

Saints commemorated

★ Holy Great Martyr Artemius at Antioch

362

Saint Artemius was a distinguished general under the holy emperor Constantine the Great and his son Constantius, present at the battle of the Milvian Bridge where he saw the sign of the Cross in heaven, and afterwards entrusted by Constantius with the high office of viceroy of Egypt and commander of its armies. In Egypt he laboured for the strengthening of the Orthodox faith, casting down idols, building churches and translating the relics of the holy apostles Andrew and Luke from Patras and Thebes to Constantinople. When upon the death of Constantius the imperial purple was assumed by his cousin Julian, called the Apostate, who renounced the Christian faith and undertook to restore the worship of the gods, Artemius came to Antioch and openly rebuked him before all the people for his impiety, reminding him of the wonders that had been wrought before his uncle Constantine. Stripped of his rank and possessions, he was scourged with cords reinforced with iron, broken upon a great stone, and at last beheaded outside the city, in the year 362, foretelling at the moment of his death that the apostate himself should perish miserably in his Persian campaign, as indeed came to pass within a few months. His relics were translated to Constantinople and laid up in the church of the Forerunner in Oxeia, and many sick persons received healing from his shrine, especially of bodily ruptures, on which account he is commonly invoked.

Righteous Artemius the Child of Verkola

1532

The righteous Artemius was born in the year 1532 in the village of Verkola in the far north of Russia, in the country of the river Pinega, the only son of pious peasants Cosmas and Apollinaria. From his fifth year the boy was distinguished by quietness, piety and obedience, refusing the games of his playmates and giving himself to prayer and to work in the fields with his father. In his thirteenth year, on the twenty-third of June 1545, while harrowing in a field beside his father, he was killed by a sudden flash of lightning out of a great thunderstorm; and the simple villagers, supposing such a death to be a punishment for hidden sins, left his body unburied in the forest, covered only with a heap of brushwood and birch bark. Thirty-two years later, in 1577, a deacon named Agathonik, drawn by a strange light shining over the place, found the boy's body uncorrupt and bearing no mark of decay, and a wonderful fragrance arose from it. The relics were taken with reverence to the church of Saint Nicholas in Verkola, where many sick persons, especially children stricken with fever, were healed by his prayers. The Russian Church glorified him among the saints, and a monastery later arose at the place of his finding, which preserved his shrine until the days of the Soviet persecution. The twentieth of October commemorates the uncovering of his relics; his repose is kept upon the twenty-third of June.

Saint Gerasimus the New of Cephalonia

Saint Gerasimus was born about the year 1506 in the village of Trikkala in the Peloponnese, of the noble and ancient family of the Notaras, and from his youth was inflamed with the love of God. After receiving instruction in piety and letters he travelled to Zakynthos, then to Mount Athos, where he was tonsured a monk and learned the way of hesychasm under the elders of the Holy Mountain. Thence he set out as a pilgrim, visiting Constantinople, Antioch, Damascus, Alexandria and the holy places of Egypt and Sinai, and dwelt for twelve years in Jerusalem, where the patriarch Germanus ordained him deacon and priest. Returning to Greece, he laboured for some time in Crete and Zakynthos and at last in 1555 settled upon the island of Cephalonia, where for five years he lived as a recluse in a cave at Lassi near Argostoli. Removing afterwards to the plain of Omala, he restored an ancient ruined church under the name of the Holy Theotokos and gathered there a community of nuns under the title of "the New Jerusalem", which he guided as their spiritual father for thirty years. Renowned for fasting, all-night vigils and the gift of casting out unclean spirits, he reposed in peace on the fifteenth of August 1579. Two years later his grave was opened and his body was found whole and incorrupt, fragrant and shining with grace. The twentieth of October commemorates the second uncovering of his relics in 1581, and his incorrupt body remains to this day in the monastery of Omala, the chief shrine of Cephalonia.

St Jonah, Bishop of Manchuria

1925

Note: St Jonah’s commemoration is October 7 on the Old Calendar, which falls on this day of the New Calendar. He was orphaned in Russia at a young age, and, after attending the seminary in his home town of Kaluga, was tonsured as a monk at Optina Monastery. He was later ordained a priest, and taught in Kazan. In his thirtieth year (1918) the Bolsheviks seized power and he was forced to flee. After many persecutions and sufferings, he joined a large party of Russians who fled across Turkestan and the Gobi Desert into China. There he was made Bishop, and immediately began working tirelessly to encourage his flock and to provide for their material needs (most had arrived in China with only the clothes on their backs). He established churches, opened soup kitchens and an orphanage, cared personally for the sick, and in every way personified a true Minister of Christ. When his death approached (from an infection acquired while caring for the sick) he donned his epitrachelion, read the Canon for the Departure of the Soul, lay down on his bed and said ‘God’s will be done. Now I shall die.’ Within minutes he was dead. On the night of his funeral the Bishop appeared to a paralyzed ten-year-old boy, who was miraculously healed.

Daily readings

6th Matins Gospel

Luke — Luke 24.36-53

³⁶And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

³⁶And as they spake these things, he himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. ³⁷But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they beheld a spirit. ³⁷But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. ³⁸And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and wherefore do questionings arise in your heart? ³⁸And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? ³⁹Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. ³⁹See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye behold me having. ⁴⁰And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. ⁴⁰And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. ⁴¹And while they still disbelieved for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here anything to eat? ⁴¹And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? ⁴²And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. ⁴²And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish. ⁴³And he took it, and did eat before them. ⁴³And he took it, and ate before them.

⁴⁴And he said unto them, These are my words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me. ⁴⁴And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. ⁴⁵Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, ⁴⁵Then opened he their mind, that they might understand the scriptures; ⁴⁶And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: ⁴⁶and he said unto them, Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day; ⁴⁷and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁷And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸Ye are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁸And ye are witnesses of these things.

⁴⁹And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. ⁴⁹And behold, I send forth the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city, until ye be clothed with power from on high.

⁵⁰And he led them out until they were over against Bethany: and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.

⁵⁰And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. ⁵¹And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. ⁵¹And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. ⁵²And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: ⁵²And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: ⁵³and were continually in the temple, blessing God. ⁵³And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.

Epistle

weekly cycle

2 Corinthians — 2 Corinthians 6.16-7.1

¹⁶And what agreement hath a temple of God with idols? for we are a temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ¹⁶And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ¹⁷Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

¹⁷Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you,

¹⁸And will be to you a Father, And ye shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. ¹⁸And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

¹Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

¹Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Luke — Luke 16.19-31

¹⁹There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

¹⁹Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, faring sumptuously every day: ²⁰And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, ²⁰and a certain beggar named Lazarus was laid at his gate, full of sores, ²¹And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. ²¹and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table; yea, even the dogs came and licked his sores. ²²And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; ²²And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and that he was carried away by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: and the rich man also died, and was buried. ²³And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. ²³And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. ²⁴And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame. ²⁴And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. ²⁵But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. ²⁵But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things: but now here he is comforted, and thou art in anguish. ²⁶And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. ²⁶And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that they that would pass from hence to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from thence to us. ²⁷Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: ²⁷And he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house; ²⁸for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. ²⁸For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. ²⁹But Abraham saith, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. ²⁹Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. ³⁰And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. ³⁰And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one go to them from the dead, they will repent. ³¹And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, if one rise from the dead. ³¹And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.