Acts 17.1-15 (Epistle)

1Prošavši pak Amfipolj i Apoloniju doðoše u Solun, gdje bješe zbornica Jevrejska. 2I Pavle po obièaju svome uðe k njima, i tri subote razgovara se s njima iz pisma, 3Pokazujuæi i dokazujuæi im da je trebalo Hristos da postrada i vaskrsne iz mrtvijeh, i da ovaj Isus kojega ja, reèe, propovijedam vama, jest Hristos. 4I neki od njih vjerovaše, i pristaše s Pavlom i sa Silom, i od pobožnijeh Grka mnoštvo veliko, i od žena gospodskijeh ne malo. 5Ali tvrdovrati Jevreji zaviðahu, i uzevši neke zle ljude od prostoga naroda, i sabravši èetu, uzbuniše po gradu, i napadoše na kuæu Jasonovu, i tražahu ih da izvedu pred narod. 6A kad njih ne naðoše, povukoše Jasona i neke od braæe pred starješine gradske vièuæi: ovi što zamutiše vasioni svijet doðoše i ovdje, 7Koje Jason primi; i ovi svi rade protiv æesarevijeh zapovijesti, govoreæi da ima drugi car, Isus. 8I smutiše narod i starješine gradske koji ovo èuše. 9Ali kad ih Jason i ostali zadovoljiše odgovorom, pustiše ih. 10A braæa odmah noæu opraviše Pavla i Silu u Veriju. Došavši onamo uðoše u zbornicu Jevrejsku. 11Ovi pak bijahu plemenitiji od onijeh što žive u Solunu; oni primiše rijeè sa svijem srcem, i svaki dan istraživahu po pismu je li to tako. 12Tako vjerovaše mnogi od njih, i od poštenijeh Grèkijeh žena i od ljudi ne malo. 13A kad razabraše Jevreji Solunski da Pavle u Veriji propovjedi rijeè Božiju, doðoše i onamo te uzdigoše i pobuniše narod. 14A braæa onda odmah opraviše Pavla da ide u primorje; a Sila i Timotije ostaše ondje. 15A pratioci dovedoše Pavla do Atine; i primivši zapovijest na Silu i Timotija da doðu k njemu što brže, vratiše se.

John 11.47-57 (Gospel)

47Onda glavari sveštenièki i fariseji sabraše skupštinu, i govorahu: šta æemo èiniti? Èovjek ovaj èini mnoga èudesa. 48Ako ga ostavimo tako, svi æe ga vjerovati; pa æe doæi Rimljani i uzeti nam zemlju i narod. 49A jedan od njih, po imenu Kajafa, koji one godine bješe poglavar sveštenièki, reèe im: vi ne znate ništa; 50I ne mislite da je nama bolje da jedan èovjek umre za narod, negoli da narod sav propadne. 51A ovo ne reèe sam od sebe, nego, buduæi poglavar sveštenièki one godine, proreèe da Isusu valja umrijeti za narod; 52I ne samo za narod, nego da i rasijanu djecu Božiju skupi ujedno. 53Od toga dakle dana dogovoriše se da ga ubiju. 54A Isus više ne hoðaše javno po Judejcima, nego odande otide u kraj blizu pustinje u grad po imenu Jefrem, i ondje hoðaše s uèenicima svojima. 55A bješe blizu pasha Jevrejska, i mnogi iz onoga kraja doðoše u Jerusalim prije pashe da se oèiste. 56Tada tražahu Isusa, i stojeæi u crkvi govorahu meðu sobom: šta mislite vi zašto ne dolazi na praznik? 57A glavari sveštenièki i fariseji izdaše zapovijest ako ga ko opazi gdje je, da javi da ga uhvate.

Holy Apostle Carpus of the Seventy

He was one of the Seventy and a companion of St Paul, who mentions him in 2 Timothy 4:13. He became a Bishop in Thrace (the Great Horologion says in Berea, the Prologue in Varna), where he suffered martyrdom. St Dionysius the Areopagite met and wrote about him, stating that Carpus never began the Liturgy without first receiving a heavenly vision.

From the Prologue: “We must not desire the death of a sinner, but his repentance. Nothing so saddens the Lord who suffered on the Cross for sinners as when we pray to Him for the death of a sinner and his removal from our path. It once happened that the Apostle Carpus lost patience and began to pray God to send death upon two sinful men, the one pagan and the other an apostate from the Faith. The Lord appeared to him and said: ‘Behold, here I am; ready to be crucified again for the salvation of men.’ St Carpus related this event to St Dionysius the Areopagite, who wrote it down as a lesson for all in the Church that we must pray for the salvation of sinners and not for their destruction. For the Lord ‘is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance’ (II Peter 3:9).”

Saint Augustine of Canterbury, evangelizer of England (ca. 605)

He is the founder of the Church in southern England, which at that time was almost entirely pagan, though Christianity thrived in the Celtic lands of Ireland, Wales and parts of Scotland. Augustine, a monk at the monastery of St Andrew in Rome, was chosen by Pope Gregory I to lead a mission to England. He and a party of about forty monks landed in England in 597; they were received warmly by King Aethelbert, who was baptised by Augustine and thus became the first Christian king of the Anglo-Saxon people. In 601 Pope Gregory made Augustine Archbishop of Britain, and he established his cathedral at Canterbury, where he also established a monastery. Saint Augustine worked unsuccessfully to unite his churches with those of the Irish monks and hierarchs, who followed different liturgical practices, kept a different date of Pascha, and disapproved of the less severe Roman monastic practices introduced by the Archbishop. He reposed in peace.

Holy New Martyr Alexander of Thessalonica (1794)

He was born in Thessalonica and, though baptised a Christian, he accepted Islam as a young man, eventually becoming a Sufi (one of a mystical sect among the Muslims). But in time he began to repent, and concluded that martyrdom was the only way for him to cleanse himself from the stain of his denial of Christ. Having repented, he presented himself to the Turks dressed as a Christian. He was thrown into prison and tortured, but in response to every enticement, threat or torment, he would only say ‘I was born a Christian, and as a Christian I shall die.’ Finally he was sentenced to death, which Alexander joyfully accepted as a sign of God’s forgiveness. He was slain by the sword in Smyrna in 1794.