2 Thessalonians 3.6-18 (Epistle)

6Zapovijedamo vam pak, braæo, u ime Gospoda našega Isusa Hrista, da se odvojite od svakoga brata koji živi neuredno, a ne po uredbi koju primiše od nas. 7Jer sami znate kako treba da se ugledate na nas, jer ne življesmo neuredno meðu vama, 8Niti zabadava hljeb jedosmo u koga, nego u trudu i u poslu, dan i noæ radeæi, da ne budemo na dosadu nikome od vas. 9Ne kao da nemamo vlasti, nego da sebe damo vama za ugled, da budete kao i mi. 10Jer kad bijasmo u vas, ovo vam zapovijedasmo da ako ko neæe da radi da i ne jede. 11Jer èujemo da neki neuredno žive meðu vama, ništa ne radeæi, nego okrajèe i miješaju se u tuðe poslove. 12Takovima zapovijedamo i molimo ih u Gospodu našemu Isusu Hristu da mirno radeæi svoj hljeb jedu. 13A vama, braæo, da ne dotuži dobro èiniti. 14A ako ko ne posluša rijeèi naše, onoga poslanicom naznaèite, i ne miješajte se s njim, da se posrami. 15Ali ga ne držite kao neprijatelja, nego ga svjetujte kao brata. 16A sam Gospod mira da vam da mir svagda u svakom dogaðaju. Gospod sa svima vama. 17Pozdrav mojom rukom Pavlovom, koje je znak u svakoj poslanici, ovako pišem: 18Blagodat Gospoda našega Isusa Hrista sa svima vama. Amin.

Luke 21.37-22.8 (Gospel)

37I danju uèaše u crkvi, a noæu izlažaše i noæivaše na gori koja se zove Maslinska. 38I sav narod dolažaše izjutra k njemu u crkvu da ga slušaju.

1Približavaše se pak praznik prijesnijeh hljebova koji se zove pasha. 2I gledahu glavari sveštenièki i književnici kako bi ga ubili; ali se bojahu naroda. 3A sotona uðe u Judu, koji se zvaše Iskariot, i koji bješe jedan od dvanaestorice. 4I otišavši govori s glavarima sveštenièkijem i sa starješinama kako æe im ga izdati. 5I oni se obradovaše, i ugovoriše da mu dadu novce. 6I on se obreèe, i tražaše zgodna vremena da im ga preda tajno od naroda. 7A doðe dan prijesnijeh hljebova u koji trebaše klati pashu; 8I posla Petra i Jovana rekavši: idite ugotovite nam pashu da jedemo.

Holy Martyrs Menas, Hermogenes and Eugraphus (235)

Menas was an Athenian, a courtier of the Emperor Maximinus, and a secret Christian. Once there was an outbreak of civil unrest in Alexandria, brought about by various political factions, and by the increasing success of Christian missionaries in turning the Alexandrian people from the idols. The Emperor sent Menas to reconcile the parties and settle the dispute. On his arrival, Menas quickly resolved the political troubles and restored peace to the city; but instead of putting down Christianity as the Emperor had desired, he did everything in his power to protect the Christians and encourage the spread of the Gospel. When word of this came to the Emperor, he sent another trusted courtier, Hermogenes, to re-establish Imperial authority and to execute Menas if he would not renounce Christ. Hermogenes followed these orders scrupulously: he subjected the godly Menas to various horrid tortures in the public arena. But Menas was miraculously preserved through them all, and when he finally appeared in the arena, flanked by two shining Angels, Hermogenes repented and confessed Christ. He in turn became such a fervent advocate for the Gospel that he was soon made a Bishop (!). Finally the Emperor decided that the only solution was to come to Alexandria himself. There he had both Menas and Hermogenes cruelly tortured to death in secret, lest they perform any public miracles; but when the Emperor presented himself before the people at the arena the following day, the two Saints, miraculously preserved, appeared there also, causing the people to cry out “Christ is the only true God!” At the sight, Menas’ scribe Eugraphus declared himself a Christian, leaped into the arena and publicly demanded the honor of dying with them. All three were beheaded. Their precious relics were later taken to Constantinople, where they worked many miracles.