Acts 8.40-9.19 (Epistle)

40A Filip se obrete u Azotu; i prolazeæi propovijedaše jevanðelje svima gradovima, dok ne doðe u Æesariju.

1A Savle još dišuæi prijetnjom i smræu na uèenike Gospodnje pristupi k poglavaru sveštenièkome, 2I izmoli u njega poslanice u Damask na zbornice, ako koga naðe od ovoga puta, i ljude i žene svezane da dovede u Jerusalim. 3A kad bješe na putu i doðe blizu Damaska, ujedanput obasja ga svjetlost s neba, 4I padnuvši na zemlju èu glas gdje mu govori: Savle! Savle! zašto me goniš? 5A on reèe: ko si ti, Gospode? A Gospod reèe: ja sam Isus, kojega ti goniš: teško ti je protivu bodila praæati se. 6A on drkæuæi od straha reèe: Gospode! šta hoæeš da èinim? I Gospod mu reèe: ustani i uði u grad, pa æe ti se kazati šta ti treba èiniti. 7A ljudi koji iðahu s njim stajahu i èuðahu se, jer èujahu glas a ne viðahu nikoga. 8A Savle usta od zemlje, i otvorenijem oèima svojijem nikoga ne viðaše. A oni ga uzeše za ruku i uvedoše u Damask. 9I bješe tri dana slijep, i ne jede, niti pi. 10A u Damasku bješe jedan uèenik, po imenu Ananija, i reèe mu Gospod u utvari: Ananija! A on reèe: evo me, Gospode! 11A Gospod mu reèe: ustani i idi u ulicu koja se zove Prava, i traži u domu Judinom po imenu Savla Taršanina; jer gle, on se moli Bogu, 12I vidje u utvari èovjeka, po imenu Ananiju, gdje uðe i metnu ruku na nj da progleda. 13A Ananija odgovori: Gospode! ja èuh od mnogijeh za toga èovjeka kolika zla poèini svetima tvojima u Jerusalimu; 14I ovdje ima vlast od glavara sveštenièkijeh da veže sve koji prizivaju ime tvoje. 15A Gospod mu reèe: idi, jer mi je on sud izbrani da iznese ime moje pred neznabošce i careve i sinove Izrailjeve. 16A ja æu mu pokazati koliko mu valja postradati za ime moje. 17I poðe Ananija, i uðe u kuæu, i metnuvši ruke na nj reèe: Savle, brate! Gospod Isus, koji ti se javi na putu kojijem si išao, posla me da progledaš i da se napuniš Duha svetoga. 18I odmah otpade od oèiju njegovijeh kao krljušt, i odmah progleda, i ustavši krsti se. 19I pošto pojede okrijepi se; i bi Savle nekoliko dana s uèenicima koji bijahu u Damasku.

John 6.48-54 (Gospel)

48Ja sam hljeb života. 49Ocevi vaši jedoše manu u pustinji, i pomriješe. 50Ovo je hljeb koji silazi s neba: da koji od njega jede ne umre. 51Ja sam hljeb živi koji siðe s neba; koji jede od ovoga hljeba življeæe vavijek; i hljeb koji æu ja dati tijelo je moje, koje æu dati za život svijeta. 52A Jevreji se prepirahu meðu sobom govoreæi: kako može ovaj dati nama tijelo svoje da jedemo? 53A Isus im reèe: zaista, zaista vam kažem: ako ne jedete tijela sina èovjeèijega i ne pijete krvi njegove, neæete imati života u sebi. 54Koji jede moje tijelo i pije moju krv ima život vjeèni, i ja æu ga vaskrsnuti u pošljednji dan:

Holy Prophet Jeremiah (583 BC)

He is the author of the Old Testament book that bears his name and of the Book of Lamentations; and Baruch, his scribe and disciple, composed the Old Testament book that bears his own name. Jeremiah was the son of Helkiah, of the tribe of Levi, from the city of Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. He prophesied for thirty years, from 613 to 583 BC. When the Hebrew people were taken into captivity in the reigh of Zedekiah, the Prophet remained behind and mourned the downfall of the Jerusalem: this is the origin of the book of Lamentations. The Jews who remained fled into Egypt, forcibly taking Jeremiah and his scribe Baruch with them. In Egypt, his prophecies continued to disturb his own people, who stoned him to death by in 583.

His name means “The Lord is exalted.” He is ranked second among the great Prophets, after Isaiah.

The holy Prophets and Forefathers, who lived before Christ’s coming in the flesh are counted as Saints of the Church because they foresaw His coming, spoke of it in their prophecies, looked forward to it with Joy, and greeted Jesus as their Savior when he descended into Hades before his Resurrection.

Saint Tamara (Tamar), Queen of Georgia (1212)

‘Saint Tamara was the only child of King George III. Upon his death in 1184, she became Queen at the age of twenty-four. Despite her youth, she ruled the country with such wisdom and godliness — leading it to unprecedented military triumphs over the neighboring Moslem countries in defence of her kingdom, fostering arts and letters, and zealously strengthening Orthodoxy — that her reign is known as the Golden Age of Georgia. After her coronation, she convoked a local council to correct disorders in church life. When the bishops had assembled from all parts of her kingdom, she, like Saint Constantine at the First Ecumenical Council, honoured them as if she were a commoner, and they Angels of God; exhorting them to establish righteousness and redress abuses, she said in her humility, “Do away with every wickedness, beginning with me, for the prerogative of the throne is in no wise that of making war against God.” Saint Tamara called herself “the father of orphans and the judge of widows,” and her contemporaries called her “King” instead of “Queen.” She herself led her army against the Moslems and fearlessly defeated them; because of the reverence that even the enemies of Georgia had for her, entire mountain tribes renounced Islam and were baptized. She built countless churches and monasteries throughout her kingdom, and was a benefactress also to the Holy Land, Mount Athos, and holy places in Greece and Cyprus. She has always been much beloved by her people, who have memorialized her meekness, wisdom, piety, obedience, and peace-loving nature in innumerable legends, ballads, and songs; the poem written in her honor by Shota Rustaveli, “The Knight of the Panther Skin,” is the masterpiece of Georgian literature. The great Queen Tamara departed the earthly kingdom for the heavenly in the year 1212.’ (Great Horologion)

Synaxis of the Three New Righteous Martyrs of the Holy Mountain, Euthymius, Ignatius, and Acacius (1814-1815)

All three were monks on Mt Athos. All three had renounced Christ in their youth and embraced Islam, but had repented and pursued the Christian life with fervor. All three, at different times, returned to Constantinople and declared themselves Christians, dooming themselves to death under Islamic law. Acacius’s poor and pious mother told him, ‘As you voluntarily denied the Lord, so you must now voluntarily and courageously receive martyrdom for our sweet Jesus.’ All three were beheaded in Constantinople. The holy relics of all three are kept at the Skete of the Venerable Forerunner on the Holy Mountain, where they had been monks.