Romans 3.28-4.3 (Epistle)

28Mislimo dakle da æe se èovjek opravdati vjerom bez djela zakona. 29Ili je samo Jevrejski Bog, a ne i neznabožaèki? Da, i neznabožaèki. 30Jer je jedan Bog koji æe opravdati obrezanje iz vjere i neobrezanje vjerom. 31Kvarimo li dakle zakon vjerom? Bože saèuvaj! nego ga još utvrðujemo.

1Šta æemo dakle reæi za Avraama, oca svojega, da je po tijelu našao? 2Jer ako se Avraam djelima opravda, ima hvalu, ali ne u Boga. 3Jer šta govori pismo? Vjerova Avraam Bogu, i primi mu se u pravdu.

Matthew 7.24-8.4 (Gospel)

24Svaki dakle koji sluša ove moje rijeèi i izvršuje ih, kazaæu da je kao mudar èovjek koji sazida kuæu svoju na kamenu: 25I udari dažd, i doðoše vode, i dunuše vjetrovi, i napadoše na kuæu onu, i ne pade; jer bješe utvrðena na kamenu. 26A svaki koji sluša ove moje rijeèi a ne izvršuje ih, on æe biti kao èovjek lud koji sazida kuæu svoju na pijesku: 27I udari dažd, i doðoše vode, i dunuše vjetrovi, i udariše u kuæu onu, i pade, i raspade se strašno. 28I kad svrši Isus rijeèi ove, divljaše se narod nauci njegovoj. 29Jer ih uèaše kao onaj koji vlast ima, a ne kao književnici.

1A kad siðe s gore, za njim iðaše naroda mnogo. 2I gle, èovjek gubav doðe i klanjaše mu se govoreæi: Gospode! ako hoæeš, možeš me oèistiti. 3I pruživši ruku Isus, dohvati ga se govoreæi: hoæu, oèisti se. I odmah oèisti se od gube. 4I reèe mu Isus: gledaj, nikomu ne kazuj, nego idi i pokaži se svešteniku, i prinesi dar koji je zapovjedio Mojsije radi svjedoèanstva njima.

Sts Sergius and Herman (1353), abbots of Valaam

After helping to establish Orthodoxy among the Karelian Finns, they founded the famous Valaam Monastery on Lake Ladoga in northern Russia. Both reposed in the same year.

Synaxis of the Icon of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos "Of the Three Hands"

Saint John of Damascus (December 4), the great defender of Orthodoxy against the iconoclasts, was falsely accused of plotting against the Caliph of Damascus through the intrigues of the iconoclast Emperor Leo the Isaurian (reigned 717-741). The Caliph ordered St John’s hand to be cut off for his suspected treachery. The saint asked for the severed hand, and passed the night praying fervently for aid before an icon of the most holy Theotokos. Waking in the morning, he found his hand miraculously restored, with only a scar around the wrist where it had been completely severed. In thanksgiving, St John had a silver hand mounted on the icon. When he became a monk in the monastery of St Sabbas in the Holy Land, he took the icon with him. It remained there until it was given to St Sabbas (Sava) of Serbia (January 14), who brought it to Serbia. Later it was miraculously taken to the Hilandar Monastery on the Holy Mountain (carried, according to legend, from Serbia to Mt Athos by an unguided donkey), where it may now be found.

Translation of the Relics (412)of the Holy and Wonderworking Unmercenaries Cyrus & John

They are counted among the Unmercenary Physicians. For their lives, see January 31.

Our Holy Father Sennuphius the Standard-Bearer (4th c.)

“A great ascetic and wonderworker of the Egyptian desert, he was a contemporary of Patriarch Theophilus and the Emperor Theodosius the Great. He is called ‘the Standard-Bearer’ because he once helped the Emperor Theodosius to gain a victory over enemy forces by his prayers. When the Emperor summoned him to Constantinople, he replied that he was unable to go, but sent his torn and patched monastic habit and his staff. Going out to battle, the Emperor put on Sennuphius’s habit and carried his staff in his hand, and returned victorious from the battle.” (Prologue)