Philippians 2.12-16 (Epistle)

12Tako, ljubazni moji, kao što me svagda slušaste, ne samo kad sam kod vas, nego i sad mnogo veæma kad nijesam kod vas, gradite spasenije svoje sa strahom i drktanjem. 13Jer je Bog što èini u vama da hoæete i uèinite kao što mu je ugodno. 14Sve èinite bez vike i premišljanja, 15Da budete pravi i cijeli, djeca Božija bez mane usred roda nevaljaloga i pokvarenoga, u kojemu svijetlite kao vidjela na svijetu, 16Pridržavajuæi rijeè života, na moju hvalu za dan Hristov, da mi ne bude uzalud trèanje i trud.

Luke 11.29-33 (Gospel)

29A narodu koji se skupljaše stade govoriti: rod je ovaj zao; ište znak, i neæe mu se dati znak osim znaka Jone proroka; 30Jer kako što Jona bi znak Ninevljanima, tako æe i sin èovjeèij biti rodu ovome. 31Carica južna iziæi æe na sud s ljudima roda ovoga, i osudiæe ih; jer ona doðe s kraja zemlje da sluša premudrost Solomunovu: a gle, ovdje je veæi od Solomuna. 32Ninevljani iziæi æe na sud s rodom ovijem, i osudiæe ga; jer se pokajaše pouèenjem Joninijem: a gle, ovdje je veæi od Jone. 33Niko ne meæe zapaljene svijeæe na sakriveno mjesto, niti pod sud, nego na svijeænjak da vide svjetlost koji ulaze.

Holy and Wonderworking Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian of Asia (3rd c.)

Three pairs of Unmercenary Physicians (Anargyri) named Cosmas and Damian are commemorated (today, on October 17, and on July 1); The two commemorated today lived near Ephesus in Asia. They were of noble birth and well-educated in all the branches of higher learning; but they turned away from worldly knowledge to practice medicine without charge for anyone who sought their help, caring for the rich as well as poor, and even for animals. They used none of the secular tools of medicine, but relied only on the Name of Christ, by which they were enabled to perform countless healings. Both reposed in peace.

Holy New Martyr Helen of Sinope (18th c.)

She was a maiden of fifteen who lived with her parents in the Christian enclave of Sinope in Pontus during the 1700s. One day, as she went to the marketplace, she passed by the house of the local Pasha (governor), who, seeing her beauty, was seized by lust for her. He ordered his servants to bring her to him, and made two attempts to defile her; each time, however, he was prevented by a mysterious power that kept him from her like an invisible wall. Determined to have his way for her, he kept her prisoner in his house; but she was able to slip away and run home to her parents’ house.

Enraged that his prey had escaped, the Pasha called together the leaders of the Christian community and promised that, unless Helen were handed over to him, all the Christians in the town would be massacred. Grief-stricken and fearful, the leaders persuaded Helen’s father to return the girl to the palace. The vile Pasha made several more attempts to rape the Saint, but once again he was restrained as if by an invisible wall as she recited the Six Psalms and all the prayers that she knew by heart. Realizing that he was powerless against her, the Pasha had her thrown in the common jail, then ordered that she be tortured to death. The executioners subjected the maiden to several cruel torments before killing her by driving two nails into her skull and beheading her. They then put her body in a sack and threw it in the Black Sea.

Some Greek sailors followed a heavenly light to the place where the sack had sunk, and divers retrieved the Saint’s relics, which immediately revealed themselves as a source of healing for many. Her body was taken to Russia; her head was placed in the church in Sinope, where it continued to work miracles, especially for those who suffered from headaches. When the Greeks were driven from Sinope in 1924, refugees took the head with them. It is venerated today in a church near Thessalonika.