Thursday, 16 January 2025

Thursday of the 30th week after Pentecost

256 days after Pascha · Tone 4 · Black squigg (6-stich typikon symbol) · No Fast

Saints commemorated

★ Veneration of the Precious Chains of the Holy Apostle Peter

On 16 January, the Orthodox Church commemorates the veneration of the precious chains with which the Apostle Peter was bound during his imprisonment by King Herod Agrippa around the year 42 AD. According to the Acts of the Apostles (12:1–11), Peter was imprisoned and fastened with two iron chains by Herod, who had begun to persecute the Christian community in Jerusalem following the martyrdom of James the Greater.

During the night before his trial, when he was to be executed, an angel of the Lord appeared to Peter in the prison. The chains fell away from him, and the angel led him miraculously out of the prison to safety. This deliverance became one of the most celebrated episodes demonstrating God's protection of the apostles during the era of persecution.

For nearly three centuries after Peter's deliverance, the chains were carefully preserved in Jerusalem. They became a source of great spiritual power, and those who suffered from illness and approached them with sincere faith received healing. The chains were revered as powerful relics of the apostolic age.

In the fifth century, during the reign of Emperor Theodosius the Younger, the Patriarch Juvenal of Jerusalem presented the chains as a gift to Eudokia, the wife of the emperor. Eudokia then transferred them from Jerusalem to Constantinople, either in 437 or 439, where they were publicly venerated and housed in a church dedicated to their honour.

The veneration of Peter's chains exemplifies the Orthodox tradition of honouring the relics and spiritual legacy of the apostles, celebrating their faithfulness and God's providence in protecting His Church during its earliest trials.

Holy Martyrs Speusippus, Eleusippus and Meleusippus, and their Grandmother Leonilla

The holy martyrs Speusippus, Eleusippus and Meleusippus were three brothers born to a devout Christian family in Asia Minor during the era of imperial persecution against the Church. They were reared in the Christian faith by their grandmother, Leonilla, an elderly woman of great spiritual wisdom and unwavering commitment to Christ. Under her guidance and example, the three brothers developed a profound devotion to the Lord, studying the teachings of the Gospel and preparing themselves for potential suffering for the faith. When persecution against Christians intensified, the brothers refused to participate in pagan worship and publicly confessed their allegiance to Christ. Rather than renounce their Saviour to appease the authorities, they endured torture and ultimately suffered martyrdom for their faith. Their grandmother Leonilla witnessed their steadfast courage and devotion, offering them spiritual encouragement and prayers throughout their trial. She herself is also venerated as a saint for her faithful witness, her maternal love, and her role in forming these three holy martyrs in the faith. The Church celebrates their memory together on 16 January, honouring the unity of faith that bound them across generations and their collective witness to Christ. Their lives demonstrate the power of Christian family formation and the grace that flows from one generation of believers to the next.

Saint Priscilla of Rome

Saint Priscilla of the Roman Glabrio family was an early Christian saint of the first century who is commemorated on 16 January in the Orthodox Church. She is remembered as a devout Christian and generous benefactor who hosted the Apostle Peter in Rome around the year 42 AD, providing him sanctuary during his apostolic ministry. Saint Priscilla's villa near the Roman catacombs became an important centre of Christian worship and fellowship during the apostolic age. Tradition holds that Peter established his headquarters within her household, conducting his ministry and pastoral care for the fledgling Christian community in Rome from her home. Her hospitality and support were vital to Peter's work in spreading the Gospel amongst the pagans of the Roman capital. The historical legacy of Saint Priscilla is preserved in the Catacomb of Priscilla, the ancient Christian burial place that still bears her name to this day. These catacombs contain some of the earliest Christian art and inscriptions, providing archaeological evidence of early Christian life and worship during the first and second centuries. Her generosity and willingness to risk her status and security as a Roman noblewoman to support the apostles demonstrates her deep faith and commitment to Christ. Saint Priscilla exemplifies the role of wealthy and influential women in the early Church who used their resources and position to advance the Gospel and provide safe spaces for Christian community and worship during the era of persecution.

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

Hebrews — Hebrews 10.35-11.7

³⁵Cast not away therefore your boldness, which hath great recompense of reward. ³⁵Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. ³⁶For ye have need of patience, that, having done the will of God, ye may receive the promise. ³⁶For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. ³⁷For yet a very little while, He that cometh shall come, and shall not tarry. ³⁷For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. ³⁸But my righteous one shall live by faith: And if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him. ³⁸Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. ³⁹But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

³⁹But we are not of them that shrink back unto perdition; but of them that have faith unto the saving of the soul.

¹Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.

¹Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ²For by it the elders obtained a good report. ²For therein the elders had witness borne to them. ³By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which appear. ³Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. ⁴By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, God bearing witness in respect of his gifts: and through it he being dead yet speaketh. ⁴By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. ⁵By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God translated him: for he hath had witness borne to him that before his translation he had been well-pleasing unto God: ⁵By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. ⁶But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. ⁶and without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him. ⁷By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. ⁷By faith Noah, being warned of God concerning things not seen as yet, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Mark — Mark 9.10-16

¹⁰And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean. ¹⁰And they kept the saying, questioning among themselves what the rising again from the dead should mean.

¹¹And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come? ¹¹And they asked him, saying, How is it that the scribes say that Elijah must first come? ¹²And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought. ¹²And he said unto them, Elijah indeed cometh first, and restoreth all things: and how is it written of the Son of man, that he should suffer many things and be set at nought? ¹³But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him. ¹³But I say unto you, that Elijah is come, and they have also done unto him whatsoever they would, even as it is written of him.

¹⁴And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them.

¹⁴And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great multitude about them, and scribes questioning with them. ¹⁵And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him. ¹⁵And straightway all the multitude, when they saw him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him. ¹⁶And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them? ¹⁶And he asked them, What question ye with them?