2 John 1.1-13 (Epistle)

1Od starješine izbranoj gospoði i djeci njezinoj, koju ja ljubim vaistinu, i ne samo ja nego svi koji poznaše istinu, 2Za istinu koja u nama stoji i biæe s nama dovijeka: 3Da bude s vama blagodat, milost, mir od Boga oca i od Gospoda Isusa Hrista, sina oèina, u istini i u ljubavi. 4Obradovah se vrlo što naðoh neke od tvoje djece koji hode u istini, kao što primismo zapovijest od oca. 5I sad molim te, gospoðo, ne kao da ti novu zapovijest pišem, nego koju imamo ispoèetka, da imamo ljubav meðu sobom. 6I ova je ljubav da živimo po zapovijestima njegovijem. Ova je zapovijest, kao što èuste ispoèetka, da u njoj živite. 7Jer mnoge varalice iziðoše na svijet koji ne priznaju Isusa Hrista da je došao u tijelu; ovo je varalica i antihrist. 8Èuvajte se da ne izgubimo što smo zaradili, nego da primimo platu potpuno. 9Koji god prestupa i ne stoji u nauci Hristovoj onaj nema Boga; a koji stoji u nauci Hristovoj onaj ima i oca i sina. 10Ako ko dolazi k vama i ove nauke ne donosi, ne primajte ga u kuæu, i ne pitajte se s njim; 11Jer ko se upita s njim, prima dijel u njegovijem zlijem djelima. 12Mnogo bih vam imao pisati, ali ne htjedoh hartijom i mastilom; jer se nadam da æu doæi k vama i iz usta govoriti, da radost vaša bude ispunjena. 13Pozdravljaju te djeca tvoje sestre izbrane. Amin.

Mark 15.22, 25, 33-41 (Gospel)

22I dovedoše ga na mjesto Golgotu, koje æe reæi: košturnica. 25A bijaše sahat treæi kad ga razapeše. 33A u šestome sahatu bi tama po svoj zemlji do sahata devetoga. 34I u devetome sahatu povika Isus iza glasa govoreæi: Eloi! Eloi! lama savahtani? koje znaèi: Bože moj! Bože moj! zašto si me ostavio? 35I neki od onijeh što stajahu ondje èuvši to govorahu: eno zove Iliju. 36A jedan otrèa te napuni sunðer octa, pa nataknuvši na trsku pojaše ga govoreæi: stanite da vidimo hoæe li doæi Ilija da ga skine. 37A Isus povika iza glasa, i izdahnu. 38I zavjes crkveni razdrije se nadvoje s vrha do na dno. 39A kad vidje kapetan koji stajaše prema njemu da s takom vikom izdahnu, reèe: zaista èovjek ovaj sin Božij bješe. 40A bijahu i žene koje gledahu izdaleka, meðu kojima bješe i Marija Magdalina i Marija Jakova maloga i Josije mati, i Solomija, 41Koje iðahu za njim i kad bješe u Galileji, i služahu mu; i druge mnoge koje bijahu došle s njim u Jerusalim.

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.”