1 Thessalonians 5.14-23 (Epistle)

14Molimo vas pak, braæo, pouèavajte neuredne, utješavajte malodušne, branite slabe, snosite svakoga. 15Gledajte da niko ne vraæa kome zla za zlo; 16Nego svagda idite za dobrom, i meðu sobom, prema svima. 17Radujte se svagda. 18Molite se Bogu bez prestanka. Na svaèemu zahvaljujte; jer je ovo volja Božija u Hristu Isusu od vas. 19Duha ne gasite. Proroštva ne prezirite. 20A sve kušajuæi dobro držite. 21Uklanjajte se od svakoga zla. 22A sam Bog mira da posveti vas cijele u svaèemu; 23I cijel vaš duh i duša i tijelo da se saèuva bez krivice za dolazak Gospoda našega Isusa Hrista.

Luke 17.3-10 (Gospel)

3Èuvajte se. Ako ti sagriješi brat tvoj, nakaraj ga; pa ako se pokaje, oprosti mu. 4I ako ti sedam puta na dan sagriješi, i sedam puta na dan doðe k tebi i reèe: kajem se, oprosti mu. 5I rekoše apostoli Gospodu: dometni nam vjere. 6A Gospod reèe: kad biste imali vjere koliko zrno gorušièno, i rekli biste ovome dubu: išèupaj se i usadi se u more, i poslušao bi vas. 7Koji pak od vas kad ima slugu koji ore ili èuva stoku pa kad doðe iz polja, reèe mu: hodi brzo i sjedi za trpezu? 8Nego ne kaže li mu: ugotovi mi da veèeram, i zapregni se te mi služi dok jedem i pijem, pa onda i ti jedi i pij? 9Eda li æe on zahvaliti sluzi tome kad svrši što mu se zapovjedi? Ne vjerujem. 10Tako i vi kad svršite sve što vam je zapovjeðeno, govorite: mi smo zaludne sluge, jer uèinismo što smo bili dužni èiniti.

St Martinian, monk, of Caesarea in Palestine (422)

“The life of this saint is wonderful beyond measure and is worth reading in full. What did he not endure to fulfil the Law of God? At the age of eighteen, he went off into a mountain in Cappadocia called the Ark and spent 25 years in fasting, vigils and prayer, and struggling with manifold temptations. When a woman came to tempt him and he saw that he would fall into sin with her, he leapt barefoot into the fire and stood in it until the pain brought forth tears from his eyes and he had killed all lust within himself. When other temptations arose, he fled to a lonely rock in the sea and lived there. When, though, in a shipwreck, a woman swam to the rock, he leapt into the sea intending to drown himself. But a dolphin took him upon its back and brought him, by God’s providence, to the shore. He then decided to make nowhere his permanent home but to travel incessantly. Thus he passed through 164 towns in two years, exhorting and advising the people. He finally arrived in Athens, where he died in 422.” (Prologue)

Holy Apostles and Martyrs Priscilla and Aquila

Aquila and his wife Priscilla (or Prisca) were Jews from Pontus who settled in Rome, where they worked as tent-makers. When the Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome in 49-50, they moved to Corinth. (They may already have been Christians; at that time the Empire made no distinction between Christians and Jews.) In Corinth they hosted the Apostle Paul, who lived and worked with them for awhile (Acts 18:1-3). They worked diligently with the Apostle, traveled with him, and were considered worthy to bring Apollos (December 8) to a full knowledge of the Faith (Acts 18:26)

Priscilla and Aquila returned to Rome around 58, and later went to Ephesus; they were living there when St Paul asked his disciple Timothy, Bishop of Ephesus, to greet them (2 Tim. 4:19). It was probably in Ephesus that they were martyred by the pagans.

St Symeon the Myrrh-streamer, founder of the Chilandar Monastery (1200)

He was born in 1114. In the world, he ruled the kingdom of Serbia as Stephen Nemanja; after ruling wisely and mercifully for many years, he renounced all worldly wealth and glory in 1196 to become a monk. Traveling to the Holy Mountain, he took for his spiritual father his own son Sava, who had preceded him in renouncing royal honor for a life of prayer. Together Symeon (as he was named in monastic life) and his son founded Hilandar monastery. His wife Anna became a nun, taking the name Anastasia; she is also commemorated as a saint of the Church. After his repose, St Symeon’s relics exuded a fragrant and healing myrrh. Saint Sava brought his father’s holy relics back to Serbia. The Synaxarion says “From Saint Symeon’s empty tomb at Chilandar, a vine miraculously sprang up whose dried grape seeds are to this day sent all over the world as a blessing for childless married couples.”