25. јун 2026.
Thursday of the 4th week after Pentecost

Apostles Fast — Wine and Oil are Allowed

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 11.13-24 (Epistle)

13Jer vama govorim neznabošcima; jer, buduæi da sam ja apostol neznabožaca, hoæu da hvalim svoju službu; 14Ne bih li kako razdražio svoj rod, i spasao koga od njih. 15Jer kad je odmet njihov primirenje svijetu, šta bi bilo primljenje, osim život iz mrtvijeh? 16Ako je kvasac svet, to je i tijesto; i ako je korijen svet, to su i grane. 17Ako li se neke od grana odlomiše, i ti, koji si divlja maslina, pricijepio si se na njih, i postao si zajednièar u korijenu i u masti od masline; 18Ne hvali se granama; ako li se pak hvališ, ne nosiš ti korijena nego korijen tebe. 19A reæi æeš: odlomiše se grane da se ja pricijepim. 20Dobro! nevjerstvom odlomiše se, a ti vjerom stojiš; ne ponosi se, nego se boj. 21Jer kad Bog roðenijeh grana ne poštedje, da i tebe kako ne nepoštedi. 22Gledaj dakle dobrotu i nepošteðenje Božije: nepošteðenje na onima što otpadoše, a na sebi dobrotu Božiju, ako ostaneš u dobroti; ako li pak ne, i ti æeš biti otsjeèen. 23A i oni, ako ne ostanu u nevjerstvu, pricijepiæe se; jer ih je Bog kadar opet pricijepiti. 24Jer kad si ti otsjeèen od roðene divlje masline, i pricijepio se na neroðenu pitomu maslinu; akamoli ovi koji æe se pricijepiti na roðenu svoju maslinu!

Matthew 11.27-30 (Gospel)

27Sve je meni predao otac moj, i niko ne zna sina do otac; niti oca ko zna do sin i ako kome sin hoæe kazati. 28Hodite k meni svi koji ste umorni i natovareni, i ja æu vas odmoriti. 29Uzmite jaram moj na sebe, i nauèite se od mene; jer sam ja krotak i smjeran u srcu, i naæi æete pokoj dušama svojijem. 30Jer je jaram moj blag, i breme je moje lako.

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.