Sunday, 8 June 2025

Holy Pentecost

8th Sunday of Pascha

49 days after Pascha · Tone 7 · Major feast Lord · No Fast

Saints commemorated

★ Translation of the relics of the Holy Greatmartyr Theodore the Stratelates

The Holy Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates suffered for Christ at Heraclea Pontica on 8 February 319, during the persecution under Emperor Licinius. Of Greek origin, Theodore had been appointed military commander, or stratelates, of the city of Heraclea on account of his bravery, and from that office he openly confessed his faith in Christ. After enduring crucifixion and miraculous preservation, he refused to flee a martyr's death and was beheaded by the sword. Before his passion he charged his servant Varus to bury his body on the family estate at Euchaita in Asia Minor, the city of his birth.

The translation of his relics from Heraclea to Euchaita took place on 8 June 319, and from that time the saint's tomb at Euchaita became a centre of pilgrimage and miracles. On this day the Church also recalls a celebrated miracle of his icon at Karsat near Damascus, where during the early Muslim incursions an arrow loosed at the painted face of the saint caused blood to flow from the image, after which judgement fell upon the assailants. Theodore is venerated together with Theodore the Tyro as a great patron of Christian armies and is depicted as a soldier on horseback transfixing a serpent.

Saint Ephraim, Patriarch of Antioch

545

“During the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius, Ephraim was governor of the eastern regions. He was famed for his great piety and compassion, and was much esteemed for these virtues. When the rebuilding of Antioch, which had been destroyed by earthquake and fire, was put in hand, the Emperor ordered Ephraim to oversee the work. Ephraim performed this work with dilegence and love. There was among the ordinary workers a certain bishop who had left his see for unknown reasons and was working as a labourer. Not a soul knew that the man was a bishop. One day he lay down to take a rest from the exhausting work with the other labourers, and fell asleep. Ephraim glanced at him, and saw a flaming pillar rising above the man and reaching up to heaven. Amazed and frightened, Ephraim summoned him and bound him under oath to reveal who he was. The man hesitated a long time, but finally admitted that he was a bishop and foretold that Ephraim whould shortly be consecrated Patriarch of Antioch (the patriarchal throne having been empty since the old Patriarch, Euphrasius, perished in the earthquake). Ephraim was indeed elected and consecrated as Patriarch. For his goodness, purity and zeal for Orthodoxy, a great gift of wonderworking was given him by God. Once, in order to convince some heretic that Orthodoxy is the true Faith, he placed his omophor in the flames and prayed to God. The omophor remained unharmed in the fire for three hours. When the heretic saw this, he was afraid and cast his heresy aside. Ephraim entered peacefully into rest in 546.” (Prologue)

Saint Naucratius the Monk, brother of Saint Basil the Great

Naucratius was the son of Basil the Elder and the holy Emmelia of Caesarea, the younger brother of Macrina the Younger and Basil the Great, and the elder brother of Gregory of Nyssa and Peter of Sebaste. Among Basil's siblings, four are venerated as saints: Macrina, Naucratius, Peter and Gregory. Naucratius excelled in natural endowments and physical beauty, and when he reached his twenty-first year, having demonstrated his scholarly abilities publicly in Caesarea, he was drawn by divine providence to despise the prospects of worldly advancement. Renouncing all that lay within his reach, he withdrew to a life of solitude and poverty in the wilderness near the river Iris in Pontus, taking with him only his faithful servant Chrysapius. There he supported in his hut a number of aged people who were sick or destitute, providing for them by hunting and fishing and serving them with his own hands. About the year 357, on one of these expeditions made to feed the poor, Naucratius and Chrysapius perished in a hunting accident. The depth of his sister Macrina's grief for him, recorded in Saint Gregory of Nyssa's Life of Macrina, marked a turning point in the conversion of the family, and his brother Basil dated the beginning of his own serious turn to the ascetic life from this loss.

Venerable Melania the Elder of Rome

Melania the Elder was a Roman noblewoman of the Antonine gens, born about 350 and a member of one of the wealthiest senatorial families of her age. Married young to the patrician Valerius Maximus, she was widowed at twenty-two and lost two of her three sons soon after. Reading her bereavement as a divine summons, she gave herself to the ascetic life. Around 372 she sailed to Alexandria with her remaining son entrusted to a guardian and visited the desert fathers of Nitria and the Cells, sitting at the feet of Pambo, Macarius and Isidore. When the Arian persecution under Valens scattered the orthodox monks, Melania accompanied many of them into exile in Palestine, ministering to the confessors at her own expense. Settling on the Mount of Olives about 378, she founded with Rufinus of Aquileia a double monastery, one for fifty virgins under her own rule and another for monks under his. There she received pilgrims, ransomed captives, and copied and circulated the works of Origen and the Cappadocian fathers. After twenty-seven years on the Mount of Olives she returned to Italy in 400 to recall her granddaughter, the younger Melania, and her family to the ascetic life. Driven once more from Italy by the Gothic invasions, she returned to Jerusalem and reposed there about 410. Her life is preserved in Palladius's Lausiac History, of which she was a principal benefactress.

Our Holy Mother Melania the Elder

410

She was a wealthy and noble lady, born in Spain. Her husband and two of her children died and, seeing the vanity of worldly things, she travelled to Egypt to visit the monks at Nitria. She gave away most of her great wealth to the needy, and to Egyptian Christians being persecuted by the Arians. It is said that in three days she fed some 5,000 people. When the Orthodox in Egypt were exiled to Palestine, she went with them to Jerusalem, where she built a convent for virgins; she entered the convent herself, and reposed there in 410. Her grand-daughter, Melania the Younger, is commemorated on December 31.

St Zosimas, monk, of Phoenicia

6th c.

He labored in asceticism at a monastery near Tyre. Through his exceptional purity of life, he was granted the gift of prophecy. He foresaw the destruction of Antioch by earthquake and, like Abraham pleading for Sodom, prostrated himself on the ground and prayed that the city not be completely destroyed. Once he was traveling in a remote place and a lion attacked and killed his mule. He commanded the lion to serve him in the mule’s place; the lion immediately took up Zosimas’ pack and carried it to Caesarea, where Zosimas released it. St Zosimas reposed in peace.

Also commemorated: Trans. Rel. Theodore Stratelates

Daily readings

Vespers

Numbers — Numbers 11.16-17, 24-29

¹⁶And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.

¹⁶And Jehovah said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with thee. ¹⁷And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone. ¹⁷And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.

²⁴And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle.

²⁴And Moses went out, and told the people the words of Jehovah: and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the Tent. ²⁵And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease. ²⁵And Jehovah came down in the cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and put it upon the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, but they did so no more. ²⁶But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp.

²⁶But there remained two men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the Spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but had not gone out unto the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. ²⁷And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. ²⁸And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them. ²⁸And Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them. ²⁹And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD’s people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them! ²⁹And Moses said unto him, Art thou jealous for my sake? would that all Jehovah’s people were prophets, that Jehovah would put his Spirit upon them!

Vespers

Joel — Joel 2.23-32

²³Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. ²³Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in Jehovah your God; for he giveth you the former rain in just measure, and he causeth to come down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain, in the first month. ²⁴And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. ²⁴And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. ²⁵And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. ²⁵And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer-worm, my great army which I sent among you. ²⁶And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. ²⁶And ye shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and shall praise the name of Jehovah your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you; and my people shall never be put to shame. ²⁷And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am Jehovah your God, and there is none else; and my people shall never be put to shame. ²⁷And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.

²⁸And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

²⁸And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: ²⁹and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit. ²⁹And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. ³⁰And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. ³⁰And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. ³¹The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. ³¹The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh. ³²And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. ³²And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of Jehovah shall be delivered; for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those that escape, as Jehovah hath said, and among the remnant those whom Jehovah doth call.

Vespers

Ezekiel — Ezekiel 36.24-28

²⁴For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. ²⁴For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.

²⁵Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. ²⁵And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. ²⁶A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. ²⁶A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep mine ordinances, and do them. ²⁷And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. ²⁸And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. ²⁸And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Matins Gospel

John — John 20.19-23

¹⁹Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

¹⁹When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. ²⁰And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. ²⁰And when he had said this, he showed unto them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord. ²¹Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. ²¹Jesus therefore said to them again, Peace be unto you: as the Father hath sent me, even so send I you. ²²And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit: ²²And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: ²³Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. ²³whose soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them; whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

Epistle

weekly cycle

Acts — Acts 2.1-11

¹And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

¹And when the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in one place. ²And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. ²And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. ³And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. ³And there appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat upon each one of them. ⁴And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. ⁴And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. ⁵And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.

⁵Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. ⁶And when this sound was heard, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speaking in his own language. ⁶Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. ⁷And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying, Behold, are not all these that speak Galilæans? ⁷And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilæans? ⁸And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? ⁸And how hear we, every man in our own language wherein we were born? ⁹Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judæa, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, ⁹Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, in Judæa and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, ¹⁰in Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and sojourners from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. ¹¹Cretans and Arabians, we hear them speaking in our tongues the mighty works of God.

Gospel

weekly cycle

John — John 7.37-52, 8.12

³⁷In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

³⁷Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. ³⁸He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. ³⁸He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water. ³⁹(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) ³⁹But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him were to receive: for the Spirit was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified.

⁴⁰Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet. ⁴⁰Some of the multitude therefore, when they heard these words, said, This is of a truth the prophet. ⁴¹Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, What, doth the Christ come out of Galilee? ⁴¹Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? ⁴²Hath not the scripture said that the Christ cometh of the seed of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was? ⁴²Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was? ⁴³So there was a division among the people because of him. ⁴³So there arose a division in the multitude because of him. ⁴⁴And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him. ⁴⁴And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him.

⁴⁵The officers therefore came to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why did ye not bring him?

⁴⁵Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him? ⁴⁶The officers answered, Never man spake like this man. ⁴⁶The officers answered, Never man so spake. ⁴⁷Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived? ⁴⁷The Pharisees therefore answered them, Are ye also led astray? ⁴⁸Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? ⁴⁸Hath any of the rulers believed on him, or of the Pharisees? ⁴⁹But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed. ⁴⁹But this multitude that knoweth not the law are accursed. ⁵⁰Nicodemus saith unto them (he that came to him before, being one of them), ⁵⁰Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,) ⁵¹Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth? ⁵¹Doth our law judge a man, except it first hear from himself and know what he doeth? ⁵²They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. ⁵²They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and see that out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.

¹²Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

¹²Again therefore Jesus spake unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.