Wednesday, 11 June 2025

Holy Apostles Bartholomew and Barnabas

Wednesday of the 1st week after Pentecost

52 days after Pascha · Tone 7 · Red cross (polyeleos typikon symbol) · No Fast (Fast Free)

Saints commemorated

★ Holy Apostles Bartholomew and Barnabas

Saint Bartholomew was one of the Twelve Apostles, a Galilean; the Gospel accounts say little more about him. It is said that, after receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, he traveled in the service of the Gospel to Arabia and Persia, and brought to India a translation of the Gospel according to Matthew. Eusebius writes that one hundred years later Pantaenus, an illustrious Alexandrian scholar, found this gospel when he traveled in India. By most accounts Bartholomew ended his life in Armenia, where he met his martyrdom by crucifixion. According to many, he and Nathaniel are the same person: the Gospel accounts that speak of Bartholomew do not mention Nathaniel; and St John’s Gospel,which mentions Nathanael as one of the Twelve, does not mention Bartholomew. But according to the Greek Synaxarion, Bartholomew and Simon the Zealot are one and the same. Saint Barnabas was one of the Seventy, from Cyprus, a Levite and at one time a fellow-student with St Paul under Gamaliel. After Christ’s Ascension, he led the Seventy until the Apostle Paul’s conversion. He is mentioned often in the Acts of the Apostles, which describes some of his travels as a companion of St Paul. By all accounts, he was the first to preach the Gospel of Christ in Rome and in Milan. His wonder-working relics were discovered on the island of Cyprus in the time of the Emperor Zeno; on this basis the Church of Cyprus was established as an independent Church, since it had an apostolic foundation.

Holy Apostle Barnabas of the Seventy

478

Barnabas, born Joseph, was a Levite of the island of Cyprus and the cousin of Saint Mark the Evangelist. He had been sent to Jerusalem to study the Law under the celebrated rabbi Gamaliel, and there became a fellow disciple of the future Apostle Paul. He was numbered among the Seventy whom the Lord chose and sent forth, and after Pentecost he sold a field that he possessed and laid the price at the feet of the Apostles, as is recorded in the Acts. Because of the encouragement he gave to the brethren, the Apostles called him Barnabas, "son of consolation." When Saul of Tarsus came to Jerusalem after his conversion, the disciples feared him; Barnabas brought him to the Apostles and bore witness to the genuineness of his calling. He was sent by the church of Jerusalem to confirm the new community of believers at Antioch, where for the first time the disciples were called Christians, and there he sought out Paul to share the work. Together they were set apart by the Holy Spirit for the first apostolic journey through Cyprus, Pamphylia, Pisidia and Lycaonia, and Barnabas was named with Paul as an apostle in chapter fourteen of the Acts. After parting from Paul over the question of John Mark, Barnabas returned with Mark to Cyprus to preach the Gospel. He is honoured as the founder of the Church of Cyprus and was stoned to death at Salamis by the unbelieving Jews. Mark buried him in a cave with a copy of Saint Matthew's Gospel laid upon his breast, by which his tomb was identified in the year 478 in the reign of the emperor Zeno, securing for the Church of Cyprus its autocephaly.

Holy Apostle Bartholomew

Bartholomew, identified by ancient tradition with the Nathaniel of Saint John's Gospel, was one of the Twelve Apostles, born at Cana of Galilee. Saint Philip brought him to Jesus, who saluted him with the words, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile." After Pentecost the lot of his apostolic mission fell upon distant lands. The fathers record that he preached the Gospel in India, in Mesopotamia and Persia, in Lycaonia and along the shores of the Black Sea, and that he carried with him a Hebrew copy of the Gospel of Saint Matthew, which Pantaenus of Alexandria found still being read among Indian Christians a century later. With the Apostle Philip he laboured at Hierapolis in Phrygia, where Philip was martyred, and Bartholomew himself was crucified head downwards but taken alive from the cross at the prayers of the Christian community. Released from Hierapolis, Bartholomew journeyed to Greater Armenia, where he converted the king Polymius and many of his court. The royal brother Astyages, stirred up by the priests of the idols, seized the apostle at Albanopolis, sometimes identified with the city of Albanus near the Caspian Sea, and after grievous tortures had him flayed and beheaded about the year 71. The faithful gathered his relics and laid them in a stone coffin in the city. The translation of his relics, kept on this day in some calendars, recalls how during the persecution of the Christians under the Persians the chest containing his body was cast into the sea and miraculously borne by the waves to the island of Lipari, west of Italy, and afterwards carried to Beneventum, where he is venerated to this day. The Eastern Church keeps his memory together with that of the Apostle Barnabas on 11 June.

Saint Luke the Confessor, Archbishop of Simferopol and Crimea

Saint Luke was born Valentin Felixovich Voyno-Yasenetsky on 27 April 1877 at Kerch in the Crimea, of an old Polish Catholic family long settled in Russia. After studying art he turned to medicine out of love for the poor, took his degree at Kiev, and during the Russo-Japanese war served as a frontline surgeon. His pioneering work on local anaesthesia and on the surgery of suppurative wounds, set out in a treatise of 1934 which was crowned by the Stalin Prize, made him one of the foremost surgeons of the Russian-speaking world. The death of his wife in 1919 deepened the faith he had received from his mother, and in 1921 he was ordained priest at Tashkent while continuing to teach and operate. In 1923 he received monastic tonsure and was consecrated bishop of Tashkent under the name of Luke. From that moment until the end of his life, Saint Luke combined the labours of an active diocesan bishop, a confessor of the faith and a working surgeon. He spent eleven years in three exiles to Siberia and the far north, in prisons, in transit camps and in the icy Yenisei region, refusing every demand to lay aside his rank or his cassock. During the Second World War he served in the military hospitals of Krasnoyarsk and was named Archbishop of Krasnoyarsk, then of Tambov, and from 1946 of Simferopol and the Crimea. Though almost blind in his last years, he continued to preach, to write, to receive the sick and to reconcile penitents, leaving behind volumes of sermons and the work "Spirit, Soul and Body." He fell asleep in the Lord on 11 June 1961 at Simferopol and was glorified as a Confessor by the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2000.

Commemoration of the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel to a monk on Mt Athos, and the revelation of the hymn "It is Truly Meet" (Axion Estin

980

A monk on the Holy Mountain was chanting the ancient hymn to the Most Holy Theotokos, “More honorable than the Cherubim…” (composed by St Cosmas the Hymnographer) in his cell, when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to him, disguised as a monk. The angel chanted the same hymn, but began it differently: “It is truly meet to call thee blessed, the Theotokos, the ever-blessed and most pure and Mother of our God. More honorable than the Cherubim…” Amazed at the hymn’s beauty, the monk asked the stranger to write it down for him: the Angel inscribed it on a stone tablet with his finger, then vanished from sight. The tablet was brought to Constantinople and shown to the Emperor and the Patriarch as proof of the miracle. From that time, this version of the hymn began to be sung in the Divine Liturgy, as it is to this day.

Daily readings

Vespers

1 Peter — 1 Peter 1.3-9

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, ⁴To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, ⁵who by the power of God are guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁵Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, ye have been put to grief in manifold trials, ⁶Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: ⁷that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold that perisheth though it is proved by fire, may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ: ⁷That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: ⁸whom not having seen ye love; on whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory: ⁸Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: ⁹receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. ⁹Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

Vespers

1 Peter — 1 Peter 1.13-19

¹³Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

¹³Wherefore girding up the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; ¹⁴as children of obedience, not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts in the time of your ignorance: ¹⁴As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: ¹⁵but like as he who called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living; ¹⁵But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; ¹⁶Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. ¹⁶because it is written, Ye shall be holy; for I am holy. ¹⁷And if ye call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to each man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear: ¹⁷And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: ¹⁸knowing that ye were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers; ¹⁸Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; ¹⁹but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of Christ: ¹⁹But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Vespers

1 Peter — 1 Peter 2.11-24

¹¹Beloved, I beseech you as sojourners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

¹¹Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; ¹²having your behavior seemly among the Gentiles; that, wherein they speak against you as evil-doers, they may by your good works, which they behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. ¹²Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

¹³Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether to the king, as supreme;

¹³Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; ¹⁴or unto governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evil-doers and for praise to them that do well. ¹⁴Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. ¹⁵For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: ¹⁵For so is the will of God, that by well-doing ye should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: ¹⁶As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. ¹⁶as free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God. ¹⁷Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. ¹⁷Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.

¹⁸Servants, be in subjection to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. ¹⁸Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. ¹⁹For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. ¹⁹For this is acceptable, if for conscience toward God a man endureth griefs, suffering wrongfully. ²⁰For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. ²⁰For what glory is it, if, when ye sin, and are buffeted for it, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye shall take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. ²¹For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: ²¹For hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps: ²²Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: ²²who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: ²³who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: ²³Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: ²⁴Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. ²⁴who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed.

Matins Gospel

John — John 21.15-25

¹⁵So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

¹⁵So when they had broken their fast, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. ¹⁶He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. ¹⁶He saith to him again a second time, Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Tend my sheep. ¹⁷He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. ¹⁷He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. ¹⁸Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. ¹⁸Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. ¹⁹This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. ¹⁹Now this he spake, signifying by what manner of death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. ²⁰Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; who also leaned back on his breast at the supper, and said, Lord, who is he that betrayeth thee? ²⁰Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? ²¹Peter therefore seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? ²¹Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? ²²Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. ²²Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. ²³Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? ²³This saying therefore went forth among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, that he should not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? ²⁴This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.

²⁴This is the disciple that beareth witness of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his witness is true. ²⁵And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

²⁵And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that should be written.

Epistle

weekly cycle

Romans — Romans 1.18-27

¹⁸For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

¹⁸For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hinder the truth in unrighteousness; ¹⁹Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. ¹⁹because that which is known of God is manifest in them; for God manifested it unto them. ²⁰For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: ²⁰For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse: ²¹Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. ²¹because that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened. ²²Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, ²²Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, ²³and changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. ²³And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

²⁴Wherefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts unto uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves:

²⁴Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: ²⁵Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. ²⁵for that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. ²⁶For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

²⁶For this cause God gave them up unto vile passions: for their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature: ²⁷And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. ²⁷and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was due.

Epistle

— Apostles

Acts — Acts 11.19-26, 29-30

¹⁹Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.

¹⁹They therefore that were scattered abroad upon the tribulation that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia, and Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to none save only to Jews. ²⁰But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus. ²⁰And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. ²¹And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord. ²¹And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number that believed turned unto the Lord. ²²And the report concerning them came to the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas as far as Antioch:

²²Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. ²³Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. ²³who, when he was come, and had seen the grace of God, was glad; and he exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord: ²⁴For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord. ²⁴for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord. ²⁵Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul: ²⁵And he went forth to Tarsus to seek for Saul; ²⁶and when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that even for a whole year they were gathered together with the church, and taught much people; and that the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. ²⁶And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. ²⁹Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judæa: ²⁹And the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren that dwelt in Judæa: ³⁰Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. ³⁰which also they did, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Matthew — Matthew 5.20-26

²⁰For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.

²¹Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

²¹Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: ²²But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. ²²but I say unto you, that every one who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire. ²³Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; ²³If therefore thou art offering thy gift at the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, ²⁴Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. ²⁴leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. ²⁵Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. ²⁵Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art with him in the way; lest haply the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. ²⁶Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. ²⁶Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou have paid the last farthing.

Gospel

— Apostles

Luke — Luke 10.16-21

¹⁶He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me. ¹⁶He that heareth you heareth me; and he that rejecteth you rejecteth me; and he that rejecteth me rejecteth him that sent me.

¹⁷And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.

¹⁷And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us in thy name. ¹⁸And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. ¹⁸And he said unto them, I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven. ¹⁹Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. ¹⁹Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you. ²⁰Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. ²⁰Nevertheless in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

²¹In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.

²¹In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes: yea, Father; for so it was well-pleasing in thy sight.