Sunday, 24 November 2024

22nd Sunday after Pentecost

203 days after Pascha · Tone 5 · Black squigg (6-stich typikon symbol) · Nativity Fast (Fish, Wine and Oil are Allowed)

Saints commemorated

★ Holy Great Martyr Catherine of Alexandria

Saint Catherine was born about the year 287 in Alexandria, the daughter of Constus, governor of the city under the Emperor Maximian, and was renowned both for her remarkable beauty and for an excellent education in philosophy, rhetoric, medicine, and the works of the greatest teachers of antiquity. Refusing all the suitors who sought her hand because of her wealth and rank, she declared that she would only marry a man who surpassed her in birth, beauty, wealth, and wisdom. A holy elder gave her an icon of the Mother of God and the Christ Child, and after fervent prayer she beheld the Lord in a vision and was instructed in the Christian faith. Baptised by the elder, she received from the hands of the Lord himself a ring as a sign of their mystical betrothal. When the Emperor Maximian came to Alexandria for a great pagan festival, Saint Catherine boldly approached him and rebuked him for his cruelty toward the Christians. Unable to answer her, he summoned fifty of the most learned philosophers and rhetoricians of the empire to dispute with her, but the saint by the grace of the Holy Spirit overcame them all, and they confessed Christ and were burned alive by the emperor's order. The empress herself, the commander Porphyrius, and two hundred of his soldiers were also converted by Catherine and gave their lives for Christ. The emperor then commanded that the saint be tortured upon four wheels set with iron spikes, but an angel shattered the wheels into pieces, killing many pagans nearby. At last she was beheaded, in about the year 305, and her body was carried by angels to Mount Sinai, where it was found centuries later by monks of the monastery that bears her name.

★ Holy Great Martyr Mercurius of Caesarea in Cappadocia

Saint Mercurius was a Scythian by descent, born about the year 225 in Cappadocia into a family that had long served in the Roman army. At the age of seventeen he too enlisted as a soldier, and during the reign of the Emperor Decius (249 to 251) he distinguished himself for his courage and fidelity. In one battle against an invading barbarian army an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the form of a noble man and presented him with a sword, with which the saint cut through the ranks of the enemy and slew their king, winning the victory for Rome. The grateful emperor honoured him richly and appointed him commander of the entire army. When the same emperor began his persecution of the Christians, the angel appeared to Saint Mercurius again and reminded him of the true God who had given him the victory. Cast down in repentance, the saint hastened to the emperor, removed the sword and the military belt that had been given him as honours, threw them down at the emperor's feet, and openly confessed himself a Christian. He was subjected to long and savage torments, scourged, hung up, slashed with iron hooks, and burned with fire, yet he remained unshaken and was healed each time by an angel. At last he was beheaded at Caesarea in Cappadocia about the year 251. Saint Basil the Great later prayed before an icon of the Mother of God on which Saint Mercurius was depicted with a spear, asking that the apostate Julian be prevented from returning to oppress the Church, and tradition holds that the great martyr was the soldier who slew Julian during his Persian campaign.

Holy Hieromartyr Clement, Bishop of Rome

c. 100

He was instructed in the Faith of Christ by St Peter himself, and may be the Clement mentioned by the Apostle Paul as a fellow-worker in Philippians 4:3. He was consecrated Bishop of Rome about the year 91; some traditions call him the first Bishop of Rome, others the third after Sts Linus and Anacletus. (This is not necessarily inconsistent: in the Apostolic age, the offices of Elder and Bishop were not strictly distinguished, and the three bishops may have served at the same time or by turns.) He is the author of the Epistle of Clement, which was so highly esteemed in the early Church that it is often found in early versions of the New Testament. The holy Bishop effected countless conversions in Rome, even bringing the Prefect Sisinius and his wife Theodora to the Faith after miraculously healing them of blindness. The bishop’s success so angered the Emperor Trajan that he had Clement exiled to the Crimea, on the far eastern frontier of the Empire. There the holy bishop continued to work wonders of evangelism, founding seventy-five churches in one year and bringing countless pagans to faith in Christ. Finally, to put a stop to the Saint’s work, the Governor of the region had him cruelly tortured, then thrown into the Black Sea with an anchor around his neck. More than 700 years later, in 860, St Cyril (commemorated May 11) arrived in the Crimea, sent by St Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople. He found the relics of St Clement faithfully preserved there and brought part of them back to Constantinople.

Holy Martyrs Augusta the Empress, Porphyrius the Stratelates, and the two hundred soldiers

These holy martyrs suffered together with the Great Martyr Catherine of Alexandria during the persecution of the Emperor Maximian about the year 305. While Saint Catherine lay in prison after her dispute with the philosophers, the Empress Augusta, who is also called Faustina in some accounts, was moved by reports of her wisdom and holiness and went secretly by night, accompanied by the imperial commander Porphyrius and a guard of two hundred soldiers, to visit her in her cell. There they beheld a wondrous light shining about the saint and angels tending her wounds, and Saint Catherine instructed them in the truth of the faith. Believing in Christ, the empress, the commander, and the two hundred soldiers all received the seal of holy baptism. When the emperor learned what had happened he was filled with rage. He commanded that his wife and Porphyrius and the soldiers be beheaded for refusing to deny Christ, and they all received the unfading crown of martyrdom on the same day. Saint Augusta is honoured as a model of imperial repentance, Saint Porphyrius as a noble soldier of Christ, and the two hundred as a witness that the gospel can shine even within the prison cell.

Holy Hieromartyr Peter of Alexandria

312

Saint Peter was Bishop of Alexandria for twelve years. It was he who excommunicated Arius. When some of Arius’ followers appealed to the Bishop to restore Arius to the communion of the Church, they were surprised by the bishop’s vehement refusal, for the heretic had not yet clearly and publicly made known his blasphemous teaching that the Son is a creation of the Father. The holy bishop then revealed to these followers a vision he had seen, in which Christ appeared to him as a child wearing a garment torn in half from head to foot. When St Peter asked the Lord who had rent His garment, he said that it was Arius, who must not be received back into communion. The holy bishop was beheaded during the reign of Maximinus. He is called the “Seal of the Martyrs” because he was the last Bishop of Alexandria to suffer martyrdom under the pagan Emperors.

Holy Martyr Mercurius of Smolensk

1238

He was a soldier from Byzantium, one of the defenders of Smolensk when it was besieged by the Tatars in 1238. One day the Mother of God appeared to Mercurius and told him that the Tatars were preparing a surprise attack — and, further, that he must take up arms and attack the enemy singlehandedly. Placing all his trust in God, the lone soldier threw himself against the Tatar host crying ‘Most Holy Mother of God, help me!’ He was quickly surrounded and cut down, and it appeared that his action had been as foolhardy as it had seemed, when a woman at the head of a glorious host, all of them surrounded by light, appeared and threw back the Tatar army. The next morning the people of Smolensk found the ground covered with the bodies of their enemies. They buried Mercurius in the Cathedral, where he has been venerated as a Martyr ever since.

Daily readings

11th Matins Gospel

John — John 21.15-25

¹⁵So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

¹⁵So when they had broken their fast, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. ¹⁶He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. ¹⁶He saith to him again a second time, Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Tend my sheep. ¹⁷He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. ¹⁷He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. ¹⁸Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. ¹⁸Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. ¹⁹This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. ¹⁹Now this he spake, signifying by what manner of death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. ²⁰Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; who also leaned back on his breast at the supper, and said, Lord, who is he that betrayeth thee? ²⁰Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? ²¹Peter therefore seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? ²¹Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? ²²Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. ²²Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. ²³Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? ²³This saying therefore went forth among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, that he should not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? ²⁴This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.

²⁴This is the disciple that beareth witness of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his witness is true. ²⁵And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

²⁵And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that should be written.

Epistle

weekly cycle

Galatians — Galatians 6.11-18

¹¹See with how large letters I write unto you with mine own hand. ¹¹Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand. ¹²As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they compel you to be circumcised; only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. ¹²As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. ¹³For not even they who receive circumcision do themselves keep the law; but they desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. ¹³For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. ¹⁴But far be it from me to glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world hath been crucified unto me, and I unto the world. ¹⁴But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. ¹⁵For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. ¹⁵For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. ¹⁶And as many as shall walk by this rule, peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. ¹⁶And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. ¹⁷From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.

¹⁷Henceforth let no man trouble me; for I bear branded on my body the marks of Jesus.

¹⁸The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen. ¹⁸Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Luke — Luke 13.10-17

¹⁰And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.

¹⁰And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath day.

¹¹And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. ¹¹And behold, a woman that had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years; and she was bowed together, and could in no wise lift herself up. ¹²And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. ¹²And when Jesus saw her, he called her, and said to her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. ¹³And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. ¹³And he laid his hands upon her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. ¹⁴And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day. ¹⁴And the ruler of the synagogue, being moved with indignation because Jesus had healed on the sabbath, answered and said to the multitude, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the day of the sabbath. ¹⁵The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? ¹⁵But the Lord answered him, and said, Ye hypocrites, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? ¹⁶And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound, lo, these eighteen years, to have been loosed from this bond on the day of the sabbath? ¹⁶And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? ¹⁷And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him. ¹⁷And as he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame: and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.