Monday, 2 June 2025

Monday of the 7th Sunday of Pascha

43 days after Pascha · Tone 6 · Liturgy · No Fast

Saints commemorated

★ Holy Great Martyr John the New of Suceava

Saint John the New was born about the year 1300 at Trebizond on the Black Sea coast and followed his father's trade as a merchant. Devout in the Orthodox faith and generous to the poor, he travelled by sea to Cetatea Alba (Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi) in what is now Ukraine, then under Tatar rule. On the voyage a Venetian shipowner named Reiz, who had often disputed with John about the faith and been bested in argument, conceived a hatred for him. On reaching port the Venetian denounced John to the Tatar governor as one who wished to embrace the Persian religion. Brought before the ruler, the saint refused to deny Christ and was scourged so cruelly that the flesh fell from his body in pieces. He was then tied to the tail of a wild horse and dragged through the streets of the town, where a Jewish man cut off his head. Christians buried him secretly, and when miracles began to occur at the grave the relics were taken up and venerated openly. In 1402 they were translated to Suceava, the capital of the Moldavian voievod Alexander the Good, where they remain a chief treasure of the Romanian Church.

New Martyr Constantine of the Hagarenes

The New Martyr Constantine was a Muslim by birth, of a noble family of the island of Mytilene, who served as an officer under the Ottomans. Drawn to the Christian faith by the example of the Orthodox Christians among whom he lived, and by a vision of the Mother of God, he travelled to Mount Athos and was baptised at the skete of Saint Anne, taking the name Constantine. Returning openly to his homeland to confess the faith he had embraced, he was arrested as an apostate from Islam, imprisoned and beaten in an effort to make him recant. He stood firm in his confession of Christ and was hanged at Constantinople in 1819, glorifying God to the end. The Church numbers him among the new martyrs who suffered under the Turkish yoke and commemorates him with Saint Nicephorus and Saint John the New on this day.

Saint Erasmus, bishop of Formia

Saint Erasmus was bishop of Formia in Campania during the persecutions of Diocletian and Maximian at the close of the third century. According to ancient tradition he was first arrested in Antioch, where he confessed Christ and was tortured, and afterwards travelled by way of the Balkans to the West, preaching the Gospel and confirming the faithful in the regions of Lychnidos in Illyricum (modern Ohrid), where his memory has been kept from time immemorial on this day. Reaching Italy he was again seized, suffered fresh torments and reposed peacefully of his wounds at Formia about the year 303. His relics were later transferred to Gaeta, where his cathedral church preserves them. He is one of the most widely venerated Western martyrs in the Eastern calendars and is invoked especially by sailors, who know him as Saint Elmo.

Saint Nicephorus the Confessor, patriarch of Constantinople

He was born in Constantinople around 758, of pious parents: his father had been exiled under Constantine Copronymus for his steadfast veneration of the holy icons. Nikephoros served in the imperial palace as a secretary, but later renounced worldly success to struggle in monastic life near Constantinople. He built and administered a monastery which soon became filled with monks; but he himself never took the monastic habit, feeling himself unworthy. Though a layman, he took part in the Seventh Ecumenical Council at the request of the Emperor and Patriarch because of his remarkable knowledge of Holy Scripture. Much against his will, he was made Patriarch of Constantinople at the death of Patriarch Tarasios. He was made a monk, then elevated through all the priestly orders in a few days, then enthroned at St Sophia in 806.

A few years later, the Emperor Leo the Armenian took the throne. Patriarch Nikephoros, as was customary, sent him a Confession of the Orthodox Faith to sign. Leo put off signing the document until his coronation, then revealed himself to be an Iconoclast heretic. The Patriarch tried quietly to bring him back to the Orthodox faith, but to no avail. When the Emperor, in his turn, tried to make the holy Nikephoros bow to iconoclasm, the Patriarch clearly and publicly upheld the veneration of the holy Icons. For this he was deposed and driven into exile at the Monastery of St Theodore, which he himself had founded. Here he reposed, having served for nine years as Patriarch, and thirteen years in exile and privation.

Holy New Martyr Constantine

1819

He was born a Muslim on the island of Lesbos (Mitylene), but became convinced of the truth of Christ after he was healed of a serious illness by the aid of holy water in a church. He traveled to the Holy Mountain and was baptised at the monastery of Kapsokalyvia. Later, he was seized by the Turks, who first tortured him viciously and, when he would not deny the Faith, hanged him in Constantinople.

Hieromartyr Erazmo of Ochrid

303

“This saint was born in Antioch and lived in the reigns of Diocletian and Maximian. He lived in strict asceticism on Mount Lebanon, and was endowed by God with great wonderworking gifts. As a bishop, he set out to preach the Gospel. Arriving at the city of Ochrid, he restored the son of a man called Anastasius to life by his prayers, and baptised him. At this time, Erazmo baptised many other pagans and tore down the idolatrous altar in Ochrid. For this he was denounced to the Emperor Maximian, who was at that time staying in Illyria. The Emperor brought him before the copper image of Zeus, and ordered him to bring sacrifices and worship the idol. St Erazmo, by his power, caused a terrible dragon to come out of the statue, which terrified all the people. The saint then worked another wonder, and the dragon died. Then the saint preached Christ and baptised 20,000 souls. The furious Emperor commanded that all 20,000 be beheaded, and put Erazmo to harsh torture, before throwing him into prison. But an angel of God appeared to him, as once to the Apostle Peter, and led him out of the prison. After that, this servant of God went to Campania, where he preached the Gospel to the people, then returned again to the town of Hermelia, where he withdrew to a cave and lived in asceticism for the rest of his days. At the time of his death, he prostrated three times towards the East and, with upraised hands, prayed to God to forgive and give eternal life to all those who would, with faith, call upon his name. At the end of his prayer, a voice was heard from heaven: ‘Let it be as thou hast asked, My little healer Erazmo!’ The saint looked up once more to heaven with great joy and saw a wreath of glory descending upon him, and a choir of angels, prophets, apostles and martyrs waiting to receive his holy soul. He finally cried: ‘Lord, receive my spirit!’, and breathed his last, in about the year 303. The cave and chapel of St Erazmo stand to this day not far from Ochrid, and from there is proclaimed to this day the great power of the man of God, Erazmo the hieromartyr.” (Prologue) Note: St Erazmo is commemorated on May 4th in the Slavonic Menaion, but St Nikolai Velomirovich gives today as the date on which he was been commemorated in Ochrid “from time immemorial”.

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

Acts — Acts 21.8-14

⁸And the next day we that were of Paul’s company departed, and came unto Cæsarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him. ⁸And on the morrow we departed, and came unto Cæsarea: and entering into the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we abode with him. ⁹And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy. ⁹Now this man had four virgin daughters, who prophesied. ¹⁰And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judæa a certain prophet, named Agabus. ¹⁰And as we tarried there some days, there came down from Judæa a certain prophet, named Agabus. ¹¹And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. ¹¹And coming to us, and taking Paul’s girdle, he bound his own feet and hands, and said, Thus saith the Holy Spirit, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. ¹²And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹²And when we heard these things, both we and they of that place besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹³Then Paul answered, What do ye, weeping and breaking my heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁴And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done. ¹⁴And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.

Gospel

weekly cycle

John — John 14.27-15.7

²⁷Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. ²⁷Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful. ²⁸Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. ²⁸Ye heard how I said to you, I go away, and I come unto you. If ye loved me, ye would have rejoiced, because I go unto the Father: for the Father is greater than I. ²⁹And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. ²⁹And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe. ³⁰Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. ³⁰I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world cometh: and he hath nothing in me; ³¹but that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence. ³¹But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.

¹I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

¹I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. ²Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh it away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he cleanseth it, that it may bear more fruit. ²Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. ³Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. ³Already ye are clean because of the word which I have spoken unto you. ⁴Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. ⁴Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; so neither can ye, except ye abide in me. ⁵I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. ⁵I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for apart from me ye can do nothing. ⁶If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁶If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you. ⁷If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.