2 Peter 1.1-10 (Epistle)

1Simon Petru, rob şi apostol al lui Isus Hristos, către cei ce au căpătat o credinţă de acelaşi preţ cu a noastră, prin dreptatea Dumnezeului şi Mântuitorului nostru Isus Hristos: 2Harul şi pacea să vă fie înmulţite prin cunoaşterea lui Dumnezeu şi a Domnului nostru Isus Hristos! 3Dumnezeiasca Lui putere ne-a dăruit tot ce priveşte viaţa şi evlavia, prin cunoaşterea Celui ce ne-a chemat prin slava şi puterea Lui, 4prin care El ne-a dat făgăduinţele Lui nespus de mari şi scumpe, ca prin ele să vă faceţi părtaşi firii dumnezeieşti, după ce aţi fugit de stricăciunea care este în lume prin pofte. 5De aceea, daţi-vă şi voi toate silinţele ca să uniţi cu credinţa voastră fapta; cu fapta, cunoştinţa; 6cu cunoştinţa, înfrânarea; cu înfrânarea, răbdarea; cu răbdarea, evlavia; 7cu evlavia, dragostea de fraţi; cu dragostea de fraţi, iubirea de oameni. 8Căci, dacă aveţi din belşug aceste lucruri în voi, ele nu vă vor lăsa să fiţi nici leneşi, nici neroditori în ce priveşte deplina cunoştinţă a Domnului nostru Isus Hristos. 9Dar cine nu are aceste lucruri este orb, umblă cu ochii închişi şi a uitat că a fost curăţat de vechile lui păcate. 10De aceea, fraţilor, căutaţi cu atât mai mult să vă întăriţi chemarea şi alegerea voastră; căci, dacă faceţi lucrul acesta, nu veţi aluneca niciodată.

Mark 13.1-8 (Gospel)

1Când a ieşit Isus din Templu, unul din ucenicii Lui I-a zis: „Învăţătorule, uită-Te ce pietre şi ce zidiri!” 2Isus i-a răspuns: „Vezi tu aceste zidiri mari? Nu va rămâne aici piatră pe piatră care să nu fie dărâmată.” 3Apoi a şezut pe Muntele Măslinilor în faţa Templului. Şi Petru, Iacov, Ioan şi Andrei L-au întrebat deoparte: 4„Spune-ne când se vor întâmpla aceste lucruri şi care va fi semnul când se vor împlini toate aceste lucruri?” 5Isus a început atunci să le spună: „Băgaţi de seamă să nu vă înşele cineva. 6Fiindcă vor veni mulţi în Numele Meu şi vor zice: „Eu sunt Hristosul!” Şi vor înşela pe mulţi. 7Când veţi auzi despre războaie şi veşti de războaie, să nu vă înspăimântaţi, căci lucrurile acestea trebuie să se întâmple. Dar încă nu va fi sfârşitul. 8Un neam se va scula împotriva altui neam, şi o împărăţie împotriva altei împărăţii; pe alocuri vor fi cutremure de pământ, foamete şi tulburări. Aceste lucruri vor fi începutul durerilor.

Apostles Archippus and Philemon of the Seventy, and Martyr Apphia

Archippus was the son of Saints Philemon (Nov. 22) and Apphia (Feb. 15), and, like them, was a disciple of the Apostle Paul, who calls him “our fellow soldier” (Philm. 2). He and his father preached the Gospel at Colossae, and Archippus probably served as a priest for the church that gathered there at his family’s house (Col. 4:17). Archippus’ fervor in preaching the Gospel of Christ so angered the pagans that they seized him and brought him before the governor Androcles. When the Saint refused to sacrifice to Artemis, he was stripped, beaten, tormented in various ways, and finally stoned to death.

Our Venerable Mother Philothea of Athens (1589)

“This bright star of compassion arose in the dark days of the Turkish occupation to shed God’s mercy upon the oppressed people of Athens and to guide many endangered souls onto the path of righteousness.” (Synaxarion)

She was born in 1528 to the prominent Venizelou family, miraculously answering her mother’s prayer of many years. Though even in childhood she showed a love for ascesis and prayer, she was much sought-after as a wealthy heiress, and was married at the age of twelve to a rough, violent man. She endured his ill-treatment nobly, and prayed daily for his conversion. After three years, the brutal husband died, and Philothea gave herself entirely to a life of prayer and fasting, living like a hermitess though still in her parents’ house. When her parents died ten years later, she used her entire fortune to found a convent. Its design had been given her in a vision by the Apostle Andrew, and it was dedicated to him. Alongside the monastery, she founded a hospital, a hospice for the poor, and schools where boys and girls could receive a Christian education, something obviously not provided by the Turkish rulers.

As soon as the monastery was begun, she took monastic vows under the name of Philothea, and she, her own maidservants, and many young women of the city, became the first nuns there. Philothea continued in her boundless compassion for the poor and infirm, whom she visited and tended. She was so free in her almsgiving that more than once the monastery was left without food or other necessities of life, and the sisters began to complain about her. But each time, large donations appeared unexpectedly and saved the community from starvation.

Philothea offered asylum and refuge to Christian slave women who had fled their masters to preserve their faith and chastity. This angered the Turks, who surrounded the monastery, seized Philothea, and brought her before the judge. She was told to deny Christ or die, and when she refused was sentenced to death; but some influential Athenian Greeks were able to intervene on her behalf and to obtain her release.

Immediately upon her release she redoubled her prayers, her apostolic labors and her works of mercy, and was soon granted the gift of working miracles and healings. So many disciples came to join her that she established a second monastery. Her growing influence aroused the hatred of some of the Turks, who broke into the monastery one night and beat her violently, leaving her half-dead. She bore the effects of her injuries patiently, and after a short time gave back her soul to God in 1589.

Twenty years after her repose, a beautiful scent began to issue from her tomb. Her precious relics, venerated at the Cathedral in Athens, remain incorrupt to this day.