Wednesday, 30 October 2024

Wednesday of the 19th week after Pentecost

178 days after Pascha · Tone 1 · Liturgy · Fast

Saints commemorated

Holy apostles Tertius, Mark, Justus and Artemas of the seventy

Four members of the Lord's seventy apostles are commemorated together on 30 October. Saint Tertius is the disciple mentioned at the close of the Epistle to the Romans (Romans 16:22), who wrote down that letter at the dictation of the apostle Paul; he succeeded Saint Sosipater as bishop of Iconium, where he laboured to convert the pagans and ended his life as a martyr. Saint Mark, called also John (Acts 12:12), was the cousin of Saint Barnabas, accompanied Paul and Barnabas on missionary journeys, and was bishop of Apollonia in Asia Minor (he is to be distinguished from the evangelist Mark of the Seventy commemorated on other dates). Saint Justus, called Barsabas, is the disciple put forward with Matthias to take the place of Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:23); afterwards he was bishop of Eleutheropolis in Judea, where he sealed his apostolic preaching with martyrdom. Saint Artemas was bishop of Lystra in Lycaonia and is mentioned by Paul in his Epistle to Titus (Titus 3:12). All four reposed in the apostolic age, and their joint memory is kept on this day, with separate commemorations elsewhere in the year.

Holy hieromartyr Marcian, bishop of Syracuse

Saint Marcian was a disciple of the holy chief apostle Peter, who, after the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, sent him to preach the gospel in Sicily. Marcian settled in a cave near the city of Syracuse, where he laboured in prayer and preaching, baptising large numbers of pagans and overthrowing the worship of idols. He is venerated as the first bishop of Syracuse and indeed as the first bishop of Sicily. Tradition relates that he was eventually seized by Jews who were enraged at his successful conversion of their pagan neighbours, and he was put to death by them, sealing his episcopate with martyrdom; another account says he was strangled with a rope. His relics were greatly venerated, first at Syracuse and afterwards translated to Gaeta on the mainland for safe-keeping during the Saracen invasions of the ninth century. His memory is kept on 30 October in the Eastern Orthodox calendar and on 14 June in the Western tradition.

Holy hieromartyr Zenobius and his sister Zenobia of Aegae

Saints Zenobius and Zenobia were brother and sister, born of devout Christian parents at Aegae in Cilicia in the third century. Left orphans while still young, they distributed their inheritance to the poor and gave themselves to a life of prayer, almsgiving and the care of the sick. Zenobius received from God the gift of healing, treating diseases without pay, often by simply laying his hands upon the sufferer. The Christians of Aegae elected him their bishop, and he ruled the church there with great zeal. When the persecution of Diocletian broke out about 285, Zenobius was arrested and brought before the prefect Lysias. After being tortured he was sentenced to death, and his sister Zenobia, hearing of his sufferings, came to the tribunal and openly confessed Christ, that she might suffer with him. The two were tortured together on a red-hot iron bed, then cast into a boiling cauldron, from which they emerged unharmed, and finally beheaded together. Their relics work many miracles. Their memory is kept on 30 October.

Holy martyr Eutropia of Alexandria

Saint Eutropia was a Christian woman of Alexandria who suffered for Christ in the third century, in the time of the persecution of Maximian. Out of love for the holy martyrs of her city, she made it her practice to visit the prisons and bring food, clothing and consolation to the confessors of Christ, kissing their wounds and exhorting them to perseverance. Her devotion drew the attention of the persecutors, and she was herself denounced as a Christian. After being subjected to severe tortures and remaining steadfast in her confession of Christ, she gave up her soul to God, joining in heaven those whom she had served on earth. Her memory is kept on 30 October.

Holy Apostle Cleopas

He is numbered among the Seventy. On the day of the Resurrection, Cleopas and St Luke were walking on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus when the Risen Christ appeared to them, as recounted in the twenty-fourth chapter of St Luke’s Gospel. The Gospel account does not name St Cleopas’ companion, but the holy tradition of the Church tells us that it was St Luke himself, and thus that the story is a first-hand account.

St Joseph I, Patriarch of Constantinople

1283

Once a married priest, he entered monastic life when his wife died, and became the spiritual father of the Emperor Michael VIII Paleologus, during whose reign he was elevated to the Patriarchate. Despite this patronage, St Joseph’s integrity was inviolable: At his first Divine Liturgy as Patriarch, he required the Emperor publicly to confess and repent of several sins before admitting him to Communion. He fiercely opposed the Emperor’s expedient policy of union with Rome, and was therefore deposed, retiring once more to monastic life. In old age, he was restored to the Patriarchal throne upon the death of Emperor Michael, but died a few months later.

Holy Martyr Hermengild, Prince of the Visigoths

486

He was the son and appointed heir of Leuvgild, King of the Visigoths, who had embraced the Christianity of the Arian heretics. But through the teaching of Bishop Leander of Seville (February 27), Hermengild was converted to the fullness of the Orthodox faith, for which his father the King had him thrown in prison. On the day of Pascha 486, the King sent one of his priests to give his son communion. But Hermengild refused, proclaiming that to commune with heretics is to assent to their belief and to sink into their error; going further, he told the priest that the heretics’ communion was nothing but bread and wine, for the Body and Blood of Christ are found only in the Offering made by the Church. The enraged King sent soldiers, who at his orders put his own son to death. Later, the King repented of this inhuman deed and asked Bishop Leander to instruct his youngest son Recared in the Orthodox faith. Thus the Visigoth people was brought into the Faith.

Holy Hieromartyr John Kochurov, First Hieromartyr of the Russian Revolution

1917

He was born in Russia in 1871, and as a young priest was sent to America as a missionary. There he worked zealously (he was instrumental in the building of the Orthodox cathedral in Chicago) until he was called back to Russia just before the October Revolution in 1917. Only six days after the Bolsheviks seized power, he was beaten to death in the street by a gang of Bolshevik sailors in Tsarskoye Selo near St Petersburg. Thus he became the first of countless Priest-Martyrs of Russia’s atheist yoke.

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

Philippians — Philippians 1.12-20

¹²Now I would have you know, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the progress of the gospel;

¹²But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; ¹³so that my bonds became manifest in Christ throughout the whole prætorian guard, and to all the rest; ¹³So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; ¹⁴and that most of the brethren in the Lord, being confident through my bonds, are more abundantly bold to speak the word of God without fear. ¹⁴And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. ¹⁵Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: ¹⁵Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: ¹⁶the one do it of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel; ¹⁶The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: ¹⁷But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. ¹⁷but the other proclaim Christ of faction, not sincerely, thinking to raise up affliction for me in my bonds. ¹⁸What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. ¹⁸What then? only that in every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and therein I rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. ¹⁹For I know that this shall turn out to my salvation, through your supplication and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, ¹⁹For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, ²⁰according to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing shall I be put to shame, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death. ²⁰According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Luke — Luke 11.42-46

⁴²But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

⁴²But woe unto you Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and every herb, and pass over justice and the love of God: but these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. ⁴³Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. ⁴³Woe unto you Pharisees! for ye love the chief seats in the synagogues, and the salutations in the marketplaces. ⁴⁴Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them. ⁴⁴Woe unto you! for ye are as the tombs which appear not, and the men that walk over them know it not.

⁴⁵And one of the lawyers answering saith unto him, Teacher, in saying this thou reproachest us also.

⁴⁵Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also. ⁴⁶And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. ⁴⁶And he said, Woe unto you lawyers also! for ye load men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.