Tuesday, 10 June 2025

Third Day of the Trinity

Tuesday of the 1st week after Pentecost

51 days after Pascha · Tone 7 · Liturgy · No Fast (Fast Free)

Saints commemorated

Hieromartyr Timothy, Bishop of Prussa

Saint Timothy was bishop of the city of Prussa in Bithynia in the middle of the fourth century. From his early years he had given himself to a strict ascetic life, and on account of the purity of his soul and his prayer he received from the Lord the gift of working miracles. As bishop he laboured zealously in his city and the surrounding country, healing the sick, casting out unclean spirits and turning many pagans to faith in Christ. Among the wonders ascribed to him is the slaying with prayer of a great serpent that was devouring the inhabitants of a region near Prussa.

When the emperor Julian the Apostate (361 to 363) renewed the persecution of Christians and tried to restore the worship of the gods, the fame of Saint Timothy and of the multitudes he had baptised reached his ears. Julian had him brought to Constantinople and cast into prison, forbidding him to teach or to name the name of Jesus Christ. Timothy paid no heed to the imperial command but continued to preach the Gospel within the prison itself. The emperor at length ordered the executioner to behead the saint in his cell, and so Timothy received the crown of martyrdom about the year 362. His holy relics, found to work miracles, were afterwards translated to Constantinople and laid in a church bearing his name.

Holy Martyrs Alexander and Antonina the Virgin

Saint Antonina was a young Christian virgin from Cardamon, sometimes given as Crodamon, in Asia Minor, who in the persecution under Maximian Galerius about the year 313 was denounced to the governor Festus and brought before his tribunal. He at first attempted to win her by flattery, promising to make her a priestess of Artemis, then by threats; but Antonina firmly confessed Christ and rebuked the worship of demons in idols. She was struck on the face, scourged, and shut up in prison, where she ate and drank nothing but consoled herself in unceasing prayer until she heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Antonina, take food and be brave, for I am with thee."

When the governor at last gave the order that she be handed over to be defiled by his soldiers, an angel appeared to one of the guards, a Christian named Alexander, and told him to save her. Coming into the cell, Alexander threw his soldier's cloak about her and bade her bow her head and pass through the gate as though she were a man, while he remained behind. Antonina escaped, but was at length traced and brought back. Alexander was tortured for her rescue, and the two were judged together. Their hands were cut off, their bodies scourged and their wounds burned with candles, and at last they were cast into a pit of fire and earth heaped upon them. Their relics were later translated to Constantinople and enshrined in the monastery of Maximus.

Saint Bassian, Bishop of Lodi in Lombardy

Saint Bassian was born about 320 to a noble pagan family in Sicily, his father being a high official of the imperial government in Syracuse. Sent to Rome to be educated for a public career, the young man fell in with Christians and asked to be instructed in the faith, receiving holy baptism in secret from a priest named Gordianus. When his Christianity was discovered, he left his father's house, withdrew to Ravenna, and gave himself to prayer and works of mercy. Around 373 the priest Clement of the cathedral of Lodi (then called Laus Pompeia, in northern Italy) received a revelation that Bassian was to be the next bishop of the diocese. He was sought out, and although he resisted the calling, he was consecrated to that see by Bishop Ursus, with the participation of Saint Ambrose of Milan. From Lodi, Bassian governed his flock for thirty-five years. He built the basilica of the holy Apostles, planted churches throughout the surrounding countryside, freed many slaves, and was a tireless almsgiver. He took part with Saint Ambrose in the Council of Aquileia in 381 against the Arians and stood beside him in defending the Catholic faith in Lombardy. Bassian and Ambrose remained the closest of friends, exchanging letters of spiritual counsel, and Bassian was at his friend's bedside when Ambrose died at Milan in 397, helping to lay him to rest. Saint Bassian himself fell asleep in the Lord on 19 January 409, but his memory in the Eastern calendar is kept on 10 June.

Venerable Theophanes and Saint Pansemne of Antioch

The Venerable Theophanes lived as an ascetic at Antioch in the latter part of the third century. From boyhood he had despised the world and given himself to fasting, prayer and the wearing of a hair shirt, dwelling in a small cell on the outskirts of the city. Hearing that a notorious harlot named Pansemne was destroying the souls of many men in Antioch, he was wounded with compassion both for her victims and for the woman herself. He prayed long for guidance and was inwardly enlightened to seek her out, ransom her from her trade, and present her with the choice of marriage and the Christian faith. Putting off his hair shirt, Theophanes dressed in costly clothes and approached his father, who, mistaking the request, gladly furnished him with ten pieces of gold to buy a wife. Theophanes went to Pansemne and offered to take her in marriage on condition that she renounce her former life and be baptised. The grace of God overcame her at the words of the future judgement, and after seven days of catechesis and tears she received holy baptism. From that moment she was wholly transformed: she gave away the wealth her sins had heaped up, settled in a hut beside the saint's cell, and entered upon a life of strict asceticism. By her prayers she received the gifts of healing and of casting out demons. She lived only fourteen months in this new life, and on the same day she rendered her soul to her heavenly Bridegroom, the venerable Theophanes also fell asleep in the Lord.

Hieromartyr Metrophanes, first Chinese priest, and the Chinese New Martyrs of the Boxer Uprising

1900

“The Holy Martyrs of China were native Chinese Orthodox Christians brought up in piety at the Russian Orthodox Mission in Peking, which had been founded in 1685. During the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 against the foreign powers occupying China, native Chinese Christians were commanded by the Boxers to renounce Christianity or be tortured to death. Two hundred and twenty-two members of the Peking Mission, led by their priest Metrophanes Tsi-Chung and his family, refused to deny Christ, and were deemed worthy of a martyric death.” ( Great Horologion)

Also commemorated: St John Maximovitch, Metropolitan of Tobolsk

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

Romans — Romans 1.1-7, 13-17

¹Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,

¹Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, ²(Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) ²which he promised afore through his prophets in the holy scriptures, ³Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; ³concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, ⁴And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: ⁴who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead; even Jesus Christ our Lord, ⁵By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name: ⁵through whom we received grace and apostleship, unto obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name’s sake; ⁶Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ: ⁶among whom are ye also, called to be Jesus Christ’s: ⁷To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. ⁷to all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ¹³Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. ¹³And I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you (and was hindered hitherto), that I might have some fruit in you also, even as in the rest of the Gentiles. ¹⁴I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. ¹⁴I am debtor both to Greeks and to Barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. ¹⁵So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. ¹⁵So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you also that are in Rome.

¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. ¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. ¹⁷For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. ¹⁷For therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Matthew — Matthew 4.25-5.13

²⁵And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan. ²⁵And there followed him great multitudes from Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judæa and from beyond the Jordan.

¹And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

¹And seeing the multitudes, he went up into the mountain: and when he had sat down, his disciples came unto him: ²And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, ²and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, ³Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

³Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. ⁴Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

⁵Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. ⁵Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. ⁶Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

⁶Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. ⁷Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

⁷Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

⁸Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. ⁸Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

⁹Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God. ⁹Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

¹⁰Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹⁰Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹¹Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. ¹¹Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. ¹²Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. ¹²Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you.

¹³Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men.

¹³Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.