Romans 16.1-16 (Epistle)

1Preporuèujem vam pak Fivu sestru našu, koja je sluškinja kod crkve u Kenhreji, 2Da je primite u Gospodu kao što prilikuje svetima, i da joj budete u pomoæi u svakoj stvari koju od vas zatreba; jer je ona mnogima pomogla, i samome meni. 3Pozdravite Priskilu i Akilu, pomoænike moje u Hristu Isusu, 4Koji za dušu moju svoje vratove položiše, kojima ne ja jedan zahvaljujem, nego i sve crkve neznabožaèke, i domašnju crkvu njihovu. 5Pozdravite Epeneta, meni ljubaznoga, koji je novina iz Ahaje u Hrista. 6Pozdravite Mariju, koja se mnogo trudila za nas. 7Pozdravite Andronika i Juniju, rodbinu moju, i moje drugare u sužanjstvu, koji su znameniti meðu apostolima, koji i prije mene vjerovaše Hrista. 8Pozdravite Amplija, meni ljubaznoga u Gospodu. 9Pozdravite Urbana, pomoænika našega u Hristu, i Stahija, meni ljubaznoga. 10Pozdravite Apelija, okušanoga u Hristu. Pozdravite domaæe Aristovulove. 11Pozdravite Irodijona, roðaka mojega. Pozdravite domaæe Narkisove, koji su u Gospodu. 12Pozdravite Trifenu i Trifosu, koje se trude u Gospodu. Pozdravite Persidu ljubaznu, koja se mnogo trudila u Gospodu. 13Pozdravite Rufa izbranoga u Gospodu, i mater njegovu i moju. 14Pozdravite Asinkrita, Flegonta, Erma, Patrova, Ermija, i braæu koja su s njima. 15Pozdravite Filologa i Juliju, Nireja i sestru njegovu, i Olimpana, i sve svete koji su s njima. 16Pozdravite jedan drugoga cjelivom svetijem. Pozdravljaju vas sve crkve Hristove.

Matthew 13.3-9 (Gospel)

3I on im kaziva mnogo u prièama govoreæi: gle, iziðe sijaè da sije. 4I kad sijaše, jedna zrna padoše kraj puta, i doðoše ptice i pozobaše ih; 5A druga padoše na kamenita mjesta, gdje ne bijaše mnogo zemlje, i odmah iznikoše; jer ne bijaše u dubinu zemlje. 6I kad obasja sunce, povenuše, i buduæi da nemahu žila, posahnuše. 7A druga padoše u trnje, i naraste trnje, i podavi ih. 8A druga padoše na zemlju dobru, i donošahu rod, jedno po sto, a jedno po šeset, a jedno po trideset. 9Ko ima uši da èuje neka èuje.

Martyr Hyacinth of Caesarea in Cappadocia, and those with him (108)

He was a young courtier to the Emperor Trajan, and a secret Christian. When the Emperor and his court were offering sacrifice to the idols, Hyacinth stood apart; he was noticed and brought before the Emperor where, when interrogated, he proclaimed himself a Christian and refused to make sacrifice to the pagan gods. For this he was brutally whipped, then thrown into prison, where the Emperor ordered that he be given only food that had been sacrificed to idols. This Hyacinth refused to eat and, after eight days, died in prison.

Our Holy Father Isaiah the Solitary (491)

One of the Desert Fathers, he lived in asceticism first at Scetis in Egypt, then in Palestine; he died in Gaza. His instructive writings are often quoted by the Fathers.

Abba Isaiah said: The crown of all good works consists in this: that a man place all his hope in God, that he flee to Him once and for all with all his heart and strength, that he be filled with compassion for all and weep before God, imploring His help and mercy.

Our Holy Father Alexander, founder of the Monastery of the Unsleeping Ones (430)

“Born in Asia and educated in Constantinople, he went into the army after completing his studies and became an officer. Reading the Holy Scriptures, he came upon the Saviour’s words: ‘If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and follow Me’ (Matt. 19:21). These words made such an impression on him that he sold and gave away all that he had, and went off to the desert. After long asceticism and striving for purification, he founded the community of the ‘Wakeful Ones’ (Acoemetae) with a special rule. According to this rule, the services in the church continued day and night in unbroken sequence. The brethren were divided into six groups, each having its appointed hours of day or night to go to church and take over the reading and singing from the previous group. He travelled a great deal over the East, bringing people to faith in Christ, disputing with heretics, working miracles by God’s grace and growing old in the service of the Lord Jesus. He finished his earthly course in Constantinople in the year 430, where his relics revealed the miraculous power and glory with which God had glorified His holy servant.” (Prologue)

Our Father among the Saints Anatolios, Archbishop of Constantinople (458)

He was a priest from Alexandria. At the ‘Robber Council’ at Ephesus in 449, Dioscoros, the monophysite who occupied the Patriarchal throne in Alexandria, had Anatolios installed as Patriarch of Constantinople, thinking that he would prove an ally. But Anatolios quickly emerged as a fervent champion of Orthodoxy: he convened a council of bishops just before the Council of Chalcedon in 451, at which Pope Leo’s Orthodox “Tome” (see February 18) was approved, though Dioscoros had not allowed it to be read at the Robber Council. At the Council of Chalcedon, Anatolios condemned Nestorius, Eutyches, and his frustrated patron Dioscoros. He reposed in peace in 458.

Anatolios is believed to be the author of the ‘Anatolian Stichera’ found in the weekly Vespers and Matins services; but these may have been composed by another Anatolios, a monk and a disciple of St Theodore the Studite.