Colossians 4.2-9 (Epistle)

2Da vam se ne dosadi molitva; i stražite u njoj sa zahvaljivanjem, 3Moleæi se i za nas ujedno da nam Bog otvori vrata rijeèi, da propovijedamo tajnu Hristovu, za koju sam i svezan, 4Da je javim kao što mi treba govoriti. 5Mudro živite prema onima koji su napolju, pazeæi na vrijeme. 6Rijeè vaša da biva svagda u blagodati, solju zaèinjena, da znate kako vam svakome treba odgovarati. 7Za mene kazaæe vam sve Tihik ljubazni brat i vjerni sluga i drugar u Gospodu, 8Kojega poslah k vama za to isto da razbere kako ste vi, i da utješi srca vaša, 9S Onisimom vjernijem i ljubaznijem bratom našijem, koji je od vas. Oni æe vam sve kazati kako je ovdje.

Luke 11.47-12.1 (Gospel)

47Teško vama što zidate grobove prorocima, a vaši su ih ocevi pobili. 48Vi dakle svjedoèite i odobravate djela otaca svojijeh; jer ih oni pobiše, a vi im grobove zidate. 49Zato i premudrost Božija reèe: poslaæu im proroke i apostole, i od njih æe jedne pobiti, a druge protjerati; 50Da se ište od roda ovoga krv sviju proroka koja je prolivena od postanja svijeta, 51Od krvi Aveljeve tja do krvi Zarijne, koji pogibe meðu oltarom i crkvom. Da, kažem vam, iskaæe se od roda ovoga. 52Teško vama zakonici što uzeste kljuè od znanja: sami ne uðoste, a koji šæadijahu da uðu, zabraniste im. 53A kad im on ovo govoraše, poèeše književnici i fariseji vrlo navaljivati k njemu i mnogijem pitanjem zabunjivati ga, 54Vrebajuæi i pazeæi na njega ne bi li što ulovili iz usta njegovijeh da ga okrive.

1Kad se na njih skupiše hiljade naroda da stadoše gaziti jedan drugoga, onda poèe najprije govoriti uèenicima svojijem: èuvajte se kvasca farisejskoga, koji je licemjerje.

Paul the Confessor, Archbishop of Constantinople (ca. 350)

A native of Thessalonica, he rose from secretary to Alexander, Patriarch of Constantinople (commemorated August 30), to deacon, then succeeded St Alexander as Patriarch around 337. For his virtue and his zeal for Orthodoxy he was hated by the Arians, who were still powerful in the Empire. The Arian Emperor Constantius, learning of Paul’s election, exiled him and made the Arian Eusebius Patriarch in his place. St Paul went to Rome, where he joined St Athanasius the Great in exile. Furnished with letters from Pope Julius, he was able to ascend the Patriarchal throne once again upon the death of Eusebius. But once again the Arians were able to put one of their party on the Patriarchal throne: Macedonius, who even went beyond the Arian heresy and denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Once again the legitimate, Orthodox Patriarch found himself in exile in Rome. In succeeding years St Paul stood firm for Orthodoxy while complex political and military intrigues swirled around him, with the Orthodox Constans, Emperor of the West (and Constantius’ brother) supporting him while Constantius continued to oppose him. For a time Constans was able to enforce Paul’s place on the Patriarchal throne, but when he died, Constantius banished St Paul to Cucusus on the Black Sea. There, while he was celebrating the Divine Liturgy in the house where he was kept prisoner, the Arians strangled him with his own omophorion. His relics were brought back to Constantinople by the Emperor Theodosius the Great.

Saint Germanus, Archbishop of Kazan (1568)

He was born in Tver to a princely family. Drawn to a life of holiness from his earliest childhood, he became a monk at the age of twenty-five, at the Monastery of St Joseph of Volokolamsk. In time he became Archimandrite of the Monastery of the Dormition at Staritsk; but after a few years he returned to Volokolamsk to live in solitude. When his teacher St Gurias (October 4), first Archbishop of Kazan, reposed, Germanus succeeded him as Archbishop, but continued to live as ascetically as when he was a hermit. He was offered the office of Metropolitan of Moscow, but refused. As a faithful shepherd of his church, he fearlessly confronted Tsar Ivan the Terrible for his many and various cruelties; for this he was killed in 1568 by the Tsar’s assassins.

Note: Recently, a bizarre movement has arisen among some nationalist sectarians in Russia to canonize Ivan the Terrible. Among the many obvious reasons against such an action (which has been firmly rejected by the Patriarch of Moscow), we could list the Tsar’s murder of some of the Church’s own Saints, Germanus among them.