2 Corinthians 5.1-10 (Epistle)

1Jer znamo da kad se zemaljska naša kuæa tijela raskopa, imamo zgradu od Boga, kuæu nerukotvorenu, vjeènu na nebesima. 2Jer za tijem uzdišemo, želeæi obuæi se u svoj nebeski stan. 3I da se obuèeni, ne goli naðemo! 4Jer buduæi u ovome tijelu, uzdišemo otežali; jer neæemo da se svuèemo, nego da se preobuèemo, da život proždere smrtno. 5A onaj koji nas za ovo isto stvori, Bog je, koji nam i dade zalog Duha. 6Dobre smo dakle volje jednako, jer znamo da putujemo u tijelu, daleko od Gospoda. 7Jer po vjeri živimo a ne po gledanju. 8Ali se ne bojimo, i mnogo volimo otiæi od tijela, i iæi ka Gospodu. 9Zato se i staramo, ili ulazili ili odlazili, da budemo njemu ugodni. 10Jer nam se svima valja javiti na sudu Hristovu, da primimo svaki što je koji u tijelu èinio, ili dobro ili zlo;

Luke 9.57-62 (Gospel)

57A kad iðahu putem reèe mu neko: Gospode! ja idem za tobom kud god ti poðeš. 58I reèe mu Isus: lisice imaju jame i ptice nebeske gnijezda: a sin èovjeèij nema gdje zakloniti glave. 59A drugome reèe: hajde za mnom. A on reèe: Gospode! dopusti mi da idem najprije da ukopam oca svojega. 60A Isus reèe mu: ostavi neka mrtvi ukopavaju svoje mrtvace; a ti hajde te javljaj carstvo Božije. 61A drugi reèe: Gospode! ja idem za tobom; ali dopusti mi najprije da idem da se oprostim s domašnjima svojijem. 62A Isus reèe mu: nijedan nije pripravan za carstvo Božije koji metne ruku svoju na plug pa se obzire natrag.

Our Holy Father Gregory of Decapolis (842)

He was born in Irenopolis, one of the “Ten Cities” of Asia Minor. Though his parents wanted him to marry, he entered monastic life as a young man, and struggled for many years, living in reclusion under the guidance of a wise spiritual father. One day, while in prayer, he was carried away to Paradise and experienced the blessedness that the redeemed will know at the general Resurrection. The vision seemed to him only to last for an hour, but he learned from his disciple that he had been in ecstasy for four days.

Aware that the Enemy can appear as an angel of light, and that we should be suspicious of seeming revelations, he sought the counsel of his Abbot, who reassured him, and told him to give thanks to God by continuing in his ascetic labors.

Soon, he was told by revelation that he was to go forth into the world, living without an earthly home, to uphold the Orthodox faith, which was then under attack by the Iconoclasts. He traveled through Ephesus, Constantinople, Corinth, Rome, Sicily, Thessalonica, and Constantinople again, laboring in defense of the Faith and working many miracles. Usually he would stay with poor people who welcomed him into their houses, though it was forbidden by law to receive an Orthodox monk (that is, one who defended the Icons). In his last few years, afflicted by illness, he settled in Constantinople, where he reposed in peace in 832, just before the end of iconoclasm and the restoration of Orthodoxy. Since 1490, his incorrupt relics have dwelt at the Monastery of Bistritsa in Romania, where they continue to be a source of miracles for the many pilgrims who come to venerate them.

Our Holy Father Proclus, Archbishop of Constantinople (447)

He was a disciple and scribe of St John Chrysostom. About the year 426 he was ordained Bishop of Cyzicus, but was unable to take up his see because another had been unlawfully elected in his place, so he remained in Constantinople. Around 428, Nestorius was made Patriarch of Constantinople, and almost immediately began teaching his blasphemous doctrine that the holy Virgin could not be called Theotokos, “God-bearer,” but only Christotokos, “Christ-bearer.” Proclus resisted this teaching forcefully, once giving a sermon in the presence of the heretical Patriarch, defending the Orthodox teaching concerning the Theotokos. Proclus was elevated to the throne of Patriarch of Constantinople in 434, after Nestorius had been deposed and the Orthodox teaching clearly proclaimed in an Ecumenical Council. It was Proclus who persuaded the Emperor Theodosius the Younger to have the holy relics of his teacher St John Chrysostom returned to Constantinople, and who received them on their triumphal return to the city. He reposed in peace in 447.