1 John 4.20-5.21 (Epistle)

20Ako ko reèe: ja ljubim Boga, a mrzi na brata svojega, laža je; jer koji ne ljubi brata svojega, koga vidi, kako može ljubiti Boga, koga ne vidi? 21I ovu zapovijest imamo od njega: koji ljubi Boga da ljubi i brata svojega.

1Koji god vjeruje da je Isus Hristos, od Boga je roðen; i koji god ljubi onoga koji je rodio, ljubi i onoga koji je roðen od njega. 2Po tom znamo da ljubimo djecu Božiju kad Boga ljubimo i njegove zapovijesti držimo. 3Jer je ovo ljubav Božija da zapovijesti njegove držimo; i zapovijesti njegove nijesu teške. 4Jer svaki koji je roðen od Boga pobjeðuje svijet; i vjera je naša ova pobjeda koja pobijedi svijet. 5Ko je koji svijet pobjeðuje osim onoga koji vjeruje da je Isus sin Božij? 6Ovo je Isus Hristos što doðe vodom i krvlju i Duhom, ne samo vodom nego vodom i krvlju; i Duh je koji svjedoèi, jer je Duh istina. 7Jer je troje što svjedoèi na nebu: Otac, Rijeè, i sveti Duh; i ovo je troje jedno. 8I troje je što svjedoèi na zemlji: duh, i voda, i krv; i troje je zajedno. 9Kad primamo svjedoèanstvo èovjeèije, svjedoèanstvo je Božije veæe; jer je ovo svjedoèanstvo Božije što svjedoèi za sina svojega. 10Koji vjeruje sina Božijega ima svjedoèanstvo u sebi; koji ne vjeruje Bogu naèinio ga je lažom, jer ne vjerova svjedoèanstvu koje svjedoèi Bog za sina svojega. 11I ovo je svjedoèanstvo da nam je Bog dao život vjeèni; i ovaj život vjeèni u sinu je njegovom. 12Ko ima sina Božijega ima život; ko nema sina Božijega nema života. 13Ovo pisah vama koji vjerujete u ime sina Božijega, da znate da imate život vjeèni i da vjerujete u ime sina Božijega. 14I ovo je sloboda koju imamo k njemu da ako što molimo po volji njegovoj posluša nas. 15I kad znamo da nas sluša što god molimo, znamo da æe nam dati što ištemo u njega. 16Ako ko vidi brata svojega gdje griješi grijeh ne k smrti, neka moli, i daæe mu život, onima koji griješe ne k smrti. Ima grijeh k smrti: za taj ne govorim da moli. 17Svaka je nepravda grijeh; i ima grijeh ne k smrti. 18Znamo da nijedan koji je roðen od Boga, ne griješi, nego koji je roðen od Boga èuva se, i neèastivi ne dohvata se do njega. 19Znamo da smo od Boga i sav svijet leži u zlu. 20A znamo da sin Božij doðe, i dao nam je razum da poznamo Boga istinoga, i da budemo u istinome sinu njegovom Isusu Hristu. Ovo je istini Bog i život vjeèni. 21Djeèice! èuvajte se od neznaboštva. Amin.

Mark 15.1-15 (Gospel)

1I odmah ujutru uèiniše vijeæu glavari sveštenièki sa starješinama i književnicima, i sav sabor, i svezavši Isusa odvedoše ga i predadoše Pilatu. 2I upita ga Pilat: jesi li ti car Judejski? A on odgovarajuæi reèe mu: ti kažeš. 3I tužahu ga glavari sveštenièki vrlo. 4A Pilat opet upita ga govoreæi: zar ništa ne odgovaraš? Gledaj šta svjedoèe na tebe. 5Ali Isus više ne odgovori ništa tako da se divljaše Pilat. 6A o svakom prazniku puštaše im po jednoga sužnja koga iskahu. 7A bijaše jedan zatvoren, po imenu Varava, sa svojijem drugarima koji su u buni uèinili krv. 8I povikavši narod stade iskati što im svagda èinjaše. 9A Pilat im odgovori govoreæi: hoæete li da vam pustim cara Judejskoga? 10Jer znadijaše da su ga iz zavisti predali glavari sveštenièki. 11Ali glavari sveštenièki podgovoriše narod bolje Varavu da ištu da im pusti. 12A Pilat opet odgovarajuæi reèe im: a šta hoæete da èinim s tijem što ga zovete carem Judejskijem? 13A oni opet povikaše: raspni ga. 14A Pilat im reèe: a kakvo je zlo uèinio? A oni iza glasa vikahu: raspni ga. 15A Pilat želeæi ugoditi narodu pusti im Varavu, a Isusa šibavši predade da ga razapnu.

St Leo, bishop of Catania in Sicily (ca. 780)

He lived at the time of the first persecutions of the holy icons. He was born in Ravenna to a noble family, and became bishop of his native city. Soon his reputation as a true shepherd of Christ’s flock spread, and he was elected Bishop of Catania in Sicily. As is so often true even today, the city, though nominally Christian, was plagued by superstition and paganism. The holy bishop set about to turn the people away from error: by his prayers he caused a pagan temple to collapse and built a church on its site, dedicated to the Forty Maryrs of Sebaste. At that time the entire island was under the oppressive rule of a magus named Heliodorus, who used all his magical skills to oppress the people and advance himself. Though he had been taken captive by Imperial order, and condemned to death, he was always able to escape his captors by his occult skills. Saint Leo, who sought the conversion of everyone, did his best to turn the magus to Christ, but to no effect. One day Heliodorus entered the church during the Divine Liturgy, mocking the Mysteries of Christ. The Saint came out of the sanctuary and, casting his omophorion over the mocker, instantly deprived him of his demonic powers. The Prefect of Sicily ordered the magus to be burnt alive. Bishop Leo went to the stake with him, but emerged unmarked without even the smell of fire upon him, while Heliodorus was burnt to ashes.

Saint Leo’s fierceness in defense of the Faith was matched by his love and compassion for the poor and defenseless, for whom he poured himself out unceasingly with prayers, alms and visitation. By his prayers he restored sight to the blind and healed the paralyzed. After his repose, his holy relics, which exuded a fragrant myrrh, were venerated in a church that he had founded in honor of Saint Lucia.

St Bessarion the Great, wonder-worker of Egypt (466)

“An Egyptian by birth, Abba Bessarion was initiated into the angelic life by Saint Anthony the Great. He later became a disciple of Saint Macarius, the founder of Scetis (19 Jan.), and then set out to lead the life of a wanderer, borne hither and thither by Providence like a bird by the wind. All his wealth lay in the Gospel, which he always had in his hand. Living in the open air, he patiently endured all weathers, untroubled by care for a dwelling or for clothing. Fortified by the strength of the faith, he thus remained untouched by all the passions of the flesh.

“On coming to a monastery where the brethren led the common life, he would sit weeping at the gate. A brother once offered him hospitality and asked why he was distressed. ‘I cannot live under a roof, until I have regained the wealth of my house,’ he replied, meaning the heavenly inheritance lost since Adam. ‘I am afflicted, in danger of death every day, and without rest because of my huge misfortunes, which oblige me ever to travel on in order to finish my course.’

“He wandered for forty years without ever lying down to sleep, and he spent all of forty days and forty nights standing wide awake in a thorn bush. One winter’s day, he was walking through a village when he came upon a dead man. Without hesitation, he took off his own coat and covered the body. A little further on, he gave his tunic to a poor man who was shivering in the cold. An army officer, who happened to be passing, saw the naked ascetic and wanted to know who had stripped him of his clothing. ‘He did!’ replied Bessarion, holding up the Gospel Book. On another occasion, he met with a poor man and, having nothing to give him in alms, he hurried to the market in order to sell his Gospel Book. On his disciple’s asking him where the Book was, he replied cheerfully, ‘I have sold it in obedience to the words which I never cease to hear: Go, sell what you possess and give to the poor‘ (Matt. 19:21).

“Through this evangelic way of life he became a chosen vessel of Grace, and God wrought many miracles through him. One day, for example, he made sea water sweet through the sign of the Cross, to quench his disciple’s thirst. When the latter wanted to keep some for the remainder of the journey, he prevented him, saying, ‘God is here, God is everywhere!’ At another time, having stood for two weeks in prayer with hands raised to heaven, he brought about rain enough to fill a thirsty brother’s coat. Then there was the time when he stopped the sun from setting until he reached the cell of an elder whom he wished to meet; and the time when he walked across the waters of a river. Through these and many other wonders wrought by the Saint, God showed, as He did with Moses, Joshua and Elias, that He grants His servants mastery even over natural phenomena. Through the power of Christ, he raised a paralytic, drove out demons and showed himself truly to be a ‘god’ upon the earth.

“When, having reached his goal, he was at the point of regaining that dwelling in heaven which he had sought throughout his wanderings, he said to those about him, ‘The monk ought, like the cherubim, to be all eye.’

“In answer to a brother who asked what a monk living in community ought to do, he replied: ‘Keep silence and do not measure yourself.’ Indeed, this is how even in the midst of people one can obtain the grace of the great anchorites.” (Synaxarion)

Thirty-four Holy Martyrs of the Monastery of Valaam (1578)

These thirty-four venerable fathers of the Monastery of the Transfiguration at Valaam on Lake Ladoga were massacred by a party of converts to Lutheranism who besieged the monastery and attempted to make the brethren renounce the Orthodox Faith.