1 John 1.8-2.6 (Epistle)

8Dacă zicem că n-avem păcat, ne înşelăm singuri, şi adevărul nu este în noi. 9Dacă ne mărturisim păcatele, El este credincios şi drept ca să ne ierte păcatele şi să ne cureţe de orice nelegiuire.

10Dacă zicem că n-am păcătuit, Îl facem mincinos, şi Cuvântul Lui nu este în noi. 1Copilaşilor, vă scriu aceste lucruri ca să nu păcătuiţi. Dar, dacă cineva a păcătuit, avem la Tatăl un Mijlocitor, pe Isus Hristos, Cel Neprihănit. 2El este jertfa de ispăşire pentru păcatele noastre; şi nu numai pentru ale noastre, ci pentru ale întregii lumi. 3Şi prin aceasta ştim că Îl cunoaştem, dacă păzim poruncile Lui. 4Cine zice: „Îl cunosc”, şi nu păzeşte poruncile Lui, este un mincinos, şi adevărul nu este în el. 5Dar cine păzeşte Cuvântul Lui, în el dragostea lui Dumnezeu a ajuns desăvârşită; prin aceasta ştim că suntem în El. 6Cine zice că rămâne în El trebuie să trăiască şi el cum a trăit Isus.

Mark 13.31-14.2 (Gospel)

31Cerul şi pământul vor trece, dar cuvintele Mele nu vor trece. 32Cât despre ziua aceea sau ceasul acela, nu ştie nimeni, nici îngerii din ceruri, nici Fiul, ci numai Tatăl. 33Luaţi seama, vegheaţi şi rugaţi-vă; căci nu ştiţi când va veni vremea aceea. 34Se va întâmpla ca şi cu un om plecat în altă ţară, care îşi lasă casa, dă robilor săi putere, arată fiecăruia care este datoria lui şi porunceşte portarului să vegheze. 35Vegheaţi, dar, pentru că nu ştiţi când va veni stăpânul casei: sau seara, sau la miezul nopţii, sau la cântarea cocoşilor, sau dimineaţa. 36Temeţi-vă ca nu cumva, venind fără veste, să vă găsească dormind.

37Ce vă zic vouă, zic tuturor: Vegheaţi!” 1După două zile era praznicul Paştilor şi al Azimelor. Preoţii cei mai de seamă şi cărturarii căutau cum să prindă pe Isus cu vicleşug şi să-L omoare. 2Căci ziceau: „Nu în timpul praznicului, ca nu cumva să se facă tulburare în norod.”

St Martinian, monk, of Caesarea in Palestine (422)

“The life of this saint is wonderful beyond measure and is worth reading in full. What did he not endure to fulfil the Law of God? At the age of eighteen, he went off into a mountain in Cappadocia called the Ark and spent 25 years in fasting, vigils and prayer, and struggling with manifold temptations. When a woman came to tempt him and he saw that he would fall into sin with her, he leapt barefoot into the fire and stood in it until the pain brought forth tears from his eyes and he had killed all lust within himself. When other temptations arose, he fled to a lonely rock in the sea and lived there. When, though, in a shipwreck, a woman swam to the rock, he leapt into the sea intending to drown himself. But a dolphin took him upon its back and brought him, by God’s providence, to the shore. He then decided to make nowhere his permanent home but to travel incessantly. Thus he passed through 164 towns in two years, exhorting and advising the people. He finally arrived in Athens, where he died in 422.” (Prologue)

Holy Apostles and Martyrs Priscilla and Aquila

Aquila and his wife Priscilla (or Prisca) were Jews from Pontus who settled in Rome, where they worked as tent-makers. When the Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome in 49-50, they moved to Corinth. (They may already have been Christians; at that time the Empire made no distinction between Christians and Jews.) In Corinth they hosted the Apostle Paul, who lived and worked with them for awhile (Acts 18:1-3). They worked diligently with the Apostle, traveled with him, and were considered worthy to bring Apollos (December 8) to a full knowledge of the Faith (Acts 18:26)

Priscilla and Aquila returned to Rome around 58, and later went to Ephesus; they were living there when St Paul asked his disciple Timothy, Bishop of Ephesus, to greet them (2 Tim. 4:19). It was probably in Ephesus that they were martyred by the pagans.

St Symeon the Myrrh-streamer, founder of the Chilandar Monastery (1200)

He was born in 1114. In the world, he ruled the kingdom of Serbia as Stephen Nemanja; after ruling wisely and mercifully for many years, he renounced all worldly wealth and glory in 1196 to become a monk. Traveling to the Holy Mountain, he took for his spiritual father his own son Sava, who had preceded him in renouncing royal honor for a life of prayer. Together Symeon (as he was named in monastic life) and his son founded Hilandar monastery. His wife Anna became a nun, taking the name Anastasia; she is also commemorated as a saint of the Church. After his repose, St Symeon’s relics exuded a fragrant and healing myrrh. Saint Sava brought his father’s holy relics back to Serbia. The Synaxarion says “From Saint Symeon’s empty tomb at Chilandar, a vine miraculously sprang up whose dried grape seeds are to this day sent all over the world as a blessing for childless married couples.”