Wednesday, 2 April 2025

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

18 days before Pascha · Tone 7 · Presanctified · Lenten Fast (Wine and Oil are Allowed)

Presanctified Liturgy

Saints commemorated

Holy Martyrs Amphianus and Edesius of Lycia

The Holy Martyrs Amphianus (Apphianus) and Edesius (Aedesius) were brothers from Patara in Lycia, sons of a pagan governor. Sent to Beirut to study the pagan sciences, they were instead drawn to the Christian faith. Returning home they found their pagan family unwilling to receive their new convictions, and so they left and travelled to Caesarea in Palestine, where they entered the school of the priest and martyr Pamphilius. Under his guidance they advanced in prayer, ascetic struggle and the study of the sacred Scriptures.

When the emperor Maximinus Daia (305 to 313) ordered all the inhabitants of Caesarea to offer public sacrifice, Saint Amphianus, fired with zeal, went into the temple where the city prefect Urban was preparing to offer sacrifice. He seized the prefect's hand and rebuked him, calling him to abandon his error and to confess Christ. He was at once arrested. After cruel tortures, in which his legs were wrapped in oil-soaked cloths and set ablaze, he was thrown into the sea with a stone tied around his neck. The sea cast his body back upon the shore at Caesarea, where Christians buried it. He was about twenty years old.

Saint Edesius, who had also confessed Christ, was condemned to hard labour in the copper mines of Palestine and afterwards sent in chains to Egypt. At Alexandria, learning that the prefect Hierocles was forcing consecrated virgins and pious Christian women into brothels, he could not bear it: he came forward, struck Hierocles in the face and rebuked him publicly. For this he was tortured and, like his brother, drowned in the sea. They suffered around the year 306. Their martyrdom is recorded by Eusebius of Caesarea in his book On the Martyrs of Palestine.

Venerable Gregory the Sinaite

Saint Gregory the Sinaite (c. 1265 to 27 November 1346) was a Greek monk and one of the principal teachers of the Hesychast renewal of the fourteenth century. Born in Klazomenai near Smyrna in Asia Minor of a wealthy family, he was captured as a young man during a Turkish raid and taken to Laodicea, but the local Christians ransomed him. He travelled first to Cyprus, where he received the rason from a hermit, and then to the Monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai (whence his epithet "the Sinaite"), where he was tonsured and laboured for many years in obediences as cook, baker and copyist of sacred manuscripts. Leaving Sinai for Jerusalem, and afterwards passing to Crete, he was instructed there by the elder Arsenios in the watchful prayer of the heart. Around 1310 he settled on Mount Athos, dwelling at the skete of Magoula near the monastery of Philotheou. There he taught many disciples the practice of unceasing noetic prayer and the inner watchfulness of the mind, and gathered around himself the future leaders of the hesychast movement, among them the Patriarchs Isidore and Kallistos and Saint Theodosius of Tarnovo. Driven from Athos by Turkish raids, he withdrew with his disciples to Paroria in the Strandzha mountains of southeastern Bulgaria, where, under the protection of the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Alexander, he founded a monastery and several cells. From Paroria the hesychast tradition spread to Bulgaria, Serbia, the Romanian lands and Russia. He reposed at Paroria on 27 November 1346. The Philokalia preserves five of his works, including On Commandments and Doctrines, On Stillness and Prayer, and On the Signs of Grace and Delusion. He is also commemorated on 6 and 8 August. Greek calendars frequently keep his memory together with Saint Titus the Wonderworker on 2 April.

Venerable Theodora of Thessalonica

Saint Theodora of Thessalonica (812 to 892), known in the world as Agape, was born in the village of Paliachora on the island of Aegina, the third child of the priest Anthony and his wife Chrysanthi. At the age of seven her father betrothed her to a pious young man named Theodorinos, and when Saracen raids forced the family from Aegina they settled in Thessalonica, where Agape married. After the early deaths of her husband and of two of her three children, at the age of about twenty-five she distributed all her possessions to the poor and entered the monastery of Saint Stephen the Protomartyr in Thessalonica, where she received tonsure with the name Theodora. There she lived for fifty-five years in strict obedience, fasting and silence, hidden from the world. The longest hagiography of any holy woman in Byzantium, written shortly after her repose by the priest Gregory of Thessalonica, records her unceasing struggle against the passions, her loving service of the sisters, and her gift of tears. She reposed in peace on 29 August 892. A year after her repose myrrh began to flow from her tomb, and many were healed by it. The community took her name, and the Monastery of Saint Stephen was renamed the Monastery of Saint Theodora in 893; the monastery still stands in the centre of Thessalonica with her relics enshrined there. Although her primary commemoration in the Greek synaxaria is fixed at 29 August (the day of her repose), her uncovering and translation, with associated wonders, is also kept on 3 April; the New Calendar Slavonic and Antiochian usage commemorates her on 2 April with Saint Titus the Wonderworker.

Venerable Titus the Wonderworker

Saint Titus the Wonderworker labored in asceticism in the ninth century at the Studion Monastery near Constantinople. From his youth he displayed zeal for the monastic life, and at the Studion he gave himself to fasting, vigil and meekness of disposition, gaining the love of the brethren. At their request he was ordained hieromonk, and in time became abbot of his monastery.

Because of the purity of his soul and his virtuous life, God granted him the gift of working miracles. During the renewed iconoclast persecution he stood unswervingly for the holy icons, encouraging the brethren of the Studion and of other communities not to yield to the heresy. He remained steadfast in the Orthodox faith until the end of his life, and reposed in peace in old age in the ninth century. The synaxaria of Constantinople and of the Stoudios style him "the Wonderworker" both for his miracles in life and for the healings worked through his relics.

Daily readings

6th Hour

weekly cycle

Isaiah — Isaiah 41.4-14

⁴Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he. ⁴Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, Jehovah, the first, and with the last, I am he. ⁵The isles have seen, and fear; the ends of the earth tremble; they draw near, and come. ⁵The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came. ⁶They help every one his neighbor; and every one saith to his brother, Be of good courage. ⁶They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage. ⁷So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved. ⁷So the carpenter encourageth the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smiteth the anvil, saying of the soldering, It is good; and he fasteneth it with nails, that it should not be moved. ⁸But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.

⁸But thou, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend, ⁹Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. ⁹thou whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called from the corners thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee and not cast thee away; ¹⁰fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

¹⁰Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. ¹¹Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. ¹¹Behold, all they that are incensed against thee shall be put to shame and confounded: they that strive with thee shall be as nothing, and shall perish. ¹²Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contend with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. ¹²Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. ¹³For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. ¹³For I, Jehovah thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. ¹⁴Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. ¹⁴Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith Jehovah, and thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

Vespers

weekly cycle

Genesis — Genesis 17.1-9

¹And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.

¹And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be thou perfect. ²And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. ²And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. ³And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, ³And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,

⁴As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. ⁴As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be the father of a multitude of nations. ⁵Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. ⁵Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for the father of a multitude of nations have I made thee. ⁶And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. ⁶And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. ⁷And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee.

⁷And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. ⁸And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. ⁸And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

⁹And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.

⁹And God said unto Abraham, And as for thee, thou shalt keep my covenant, thou, and thy seed after thee throughout their generations.

Vespers

weekly cycle

Proverbs — Proverbs 15.20-16.9 (LXX)

²⁰A wise son maketh a glad father; But a foolish man despiseth his mother. ²⁰A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish man despiseth his mother. ²¹Folly is joy to him that is void of wisdom; But a man of understanding maketh straight his going. ²¹Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom: but a man of understanding walketh uprightly. ²²Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established. ²²Where there is no counsel, purposes are disappointed; But in the multitude of counsellors they are established. ²³A man hath joy in the answer of his mouth; And a word in due season, how good is it! ²³A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it! ²⁴To the wise the way of life goeth upward, That he may depart from Sheol beneath. ²⁴The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath. ²⁵The LORD will destroy the house of the proud: but he will establish the border of the widow. ²⁵Jehovah will root up the house of the proud; But he will establish the border of the widow. ²⁶The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD: but the words of the pure are pleasant words. ²⁶Evil devices are an abomination to Jehovah; But pleasant words are pure. ²⁷He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live. ²⁷He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; But he that hateth bribes shall live. ²⁸The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things. ²⁸The heart of the righteous studieth to answer; But the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things. ²⁹The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous. ²⁹Jehovah is far from the wicked; But he heareth the prayer of the righteous. ³⁰The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart; And good tidings make the bones fat. ³⁰The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart: and a good report maketh the bones fat. ³¹The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise. ³¹The ear that hearkeneth to the reproof of life Shall abide among the wise. ³²He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding. ³²He that refuseth correction despiseth his own soul; But he that hearkeneth to reproof getteth understanding. ³³The fear of Jehovah is the instruction of wisdom; And before honor goeth humility. ³³The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility.

¹The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD. ¹The plans of the heart belong to man; But the answer of the tongue is from Jehovah. ²All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; But Jehovah weigheth the spirits. ²All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits. ³Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established. ³Commit thy works unto Jehovah, And thy purposes shall be established. ⁴The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. ⁴Jehovah hath made everything for its own end; Yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. ⁵Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to Jehovah: Though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished. ⁵Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished. ⁶By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil. ⁶By mercy and truth iniquity is atoned for; And by the fear of Jehovah men depart from evil. ⁷When a man’s ways please Jehovah, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. ⁷When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. ⁸Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right. ⁸Better is a little, with righteousness, Than great revenues with injustice. ⁹A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps. ⁹A man’s heart deviseth his way; But Jehovah directeth his steps.