Orthodox Calendar

25. јун 2025.
Wednesday of the 3rd week after Pentecost

Apostles Fast

Commemorations

  • Virgin-Martyr Febronia of Nisibis (310)
  • Our Holy Father Dionysios, founder of the Monastery of St John the Forerunner on Mt Athos (1380)

Scripture Readings

Romans 8.2-13 (Epistle)

2Jer zakon duha koji oživljava u Hristu Isusu, oprostio me je od zakona grjehovnoga i smrti. 3Jer što zakonu bješe nemoguæe, jer bješe oslabljen tijelom, posla Bog sina svojega u oblièju tijela grjehovnoga, i za grijeh osudi grijeh u tijelu, 4Da se pravda zakona ispuni u nama koji ne živimo po tijelu nego po duhu; 5Jer koji su po tijelu tjelesno misle, a koji su po duhu duhovno misle. 6Jer tjelesno mudrovanje smrt je, a duhovno mudrovanje život je i mir. 7Jer tjelesno mudrovanje neprijateljstvo je Bogu, jer se ne pokorava zakonu Božijemu niti može. 8A koji su u tijelu ne mogu Bogu ugoditi. 9A vi nijeste u tijelu nego u duhu; jer Duh Božij u vama živi. A ako ko nema Duha Hristova, on nije njegov. 10A ako je Hristos u vama, onda je tijelo mrtvo grijeha radi a Duh živ pravde radi. 11A ako li živi u vama Duh onoga koji je vaskrsao Isusa iz mrtvijeh, onaj koji je podigao Hrista iz mrtvijeh oživljeæe i vaša smrtna tjelesa Duhom svojijem koji živi u vama. 12Tako dakle, braæo, nijesmo dužni tijelu da po tijelu živimo. 13Jer ako živite po tijelu, pomrijeæete; ako li duhom poslove tjelesne morite, življeæete.

Matthew 10.16-22 (Gospel)

16Eto, ja vas šaljem kao ovce meðu vukove: budite dakle mudri kao zmije i bezazleni kao golubovi. 17A èuvajte se od ljudi; jer æe vas oni predati sudovima, i po zbornicama svojijem biæe vas. 18I pred vlastelje i careve vodiæe vas mene radi za svjedoèanstvo njima i neznabošcima. 19A kad vas predadu, ne brinite se kako æete ili šta æete govoriti; jer æe vam se u onaj èas dati šta æete kazati. 20Jer vi neæete govoriti, nego Duh oca vašega govoriæe iz vas. 21A predaæe brat brata na smrt i otac sina; i ustaæe djeca na roditelje i pobiæe ih. 22I svi æe mrziti na vas imena mojega radi; ali koji pretrpi do kraja blago njemu.

Commemorations

Virgin-Martyr Febronia of Nisibis (310)

Though the daughter of a Roman senator and a great beauty, she fled the world and entered a monastery in Mesopotamia. (So great was her beauty that the abbess had her stand behind a screen while reading to her monastic sisters.) At that time the Emperor Diocletian sent a certain Selenus, along with his nephew Lysimachus, on a mission to find and destroy Christians in the East. Though Selenus was a fierce persecutor of the Christians, Lysimachus felt sympathy for them and secretly protected them whenever he could. Selenus and his party came to Nisibis, where Febronia’s virtue and holiness had already become well-known, though she was still only twenty years old. Selenus summoned her and made every effort to convince her to renounce her faith. When she stood firm, she was first viciously dismembered then beheaded. Lysimachus gathered her relics and took them to the monastery for burial. At the monastery he, together with many soldiers, were baptized. The holy Febronia’s relics worked many healings, and she herself appeared to the other nuns on the anniversary of her repose, standing in her usual place among her sisters. Her relics were translated to Constantinople in 363.

Our Holy Father Dionysios, founder of the Monastery of St John the Forerunner on Mt Athos (1380)

He was born in Koritza in Albania. His elder brother Theodosius went to the Holy Mountain and in time became abbot of the monastery of Philotheou. A few years later Dionysios followed his brother and became a monk under him at Philotheou. A heavenly light began to appear to Dionysios every night at the same place, some distance from his monastery. Believing that the light was a divine sign that he was to build a monastery, Dionysios left the Holy Mountain to seek the help of his brother (now Metropolitan of Trebizond) and the Emperor Alexios Comnenis. From the Emperor he received both money and a Royal Charter, which is still kept at the Monastery of St John the Forerunner, which Dionysios founded in 1380, and which is often referred to as the Dionysiou Monastery. Later, pirates plundered the monastery, and Dionysius went to Trebizond, where he reposed at the age of seventy-two.