Isaiah 40.18-31 (6th Hour)

18S kim æete dakle izjednaèiti Boga? i kaku æete mu priliku naæi? 19Umjetnik lije lik, i zlatar ga pozlaæuje, i verižice srebrne lije. 20A ko je siromah, te nema šta prinijeti, bira drvo koje ne trune, i traži vješta umjetnika da naèini rezan lik, koji se ne pomièe. 21Ne znate li? ne èujete li? ne kazuje li vam se od iskona? ne razumijete li od temelja zemaljskih? 22On sjedi nad krugom zemaljskim, i njezini su mu stanovnici kao skakavci; on je razastro nebesa kao platno i razapeo ih kao šator za stan. 23On obraæa knezove u ništa, sudije zemaljske èini da su kao taština. 24Kao da nijesu posaðeni ni posijani, i kao da im se stablo nije ukorijenilo u zemlji, èim dune na njih, posahnu, i vihor kao pljevu raznese ih. 25S kim æete me dakle izjednaèiti da bih bio kao on? veli sveti. 26Podignite gore oèi svoje i vidite; ko je to stvorio? ko izvodi vojsku svega toga na broj i zove svako po imenu, i velike radi sile njegove i jake moæi ne izostaje nijedno? 27Zašto govoriš, Jakove, i kažeš, Izrailju: sakriven je put moj od Gospoda, i stvar moja ne izlazi pred Boga mojega? 28Ne znaš li? nijesi li èuo da Bog vjeèni Gospod, koji je stvorio krajeve zemaljske, ne sustaje niti se utruðuje? razumu njegovu nema mjere. 29On daje snagu umornome, i nejakome umnožava krjepost. 30Djeca se more i sustaju, i mladiæi padaju; 31Ali koji se nadaju Gospodu, dobijaju novu snagu, podižu se na krilima kao orlovi, trèe i ne sustaju, hode i ne more se.

Genesis 15.1-15 (Vespers)

1Poslije ovijeh stvari doðe Avramu rijeè Gospodnja u utvari govoreæi: ne boj se, Avrame, ja sam ti štit, i plata je tvoja vrlo velika. 2A Avram reèe: Gospode, Gospode, šta æeš mi dati kad živim bez djece, a na kom æe ostati moja kuæa to je Elijezer ovaj Damaštanin? 3Još reèe Avram: eto meni nijesi dao poroda, pa æe sluga roðen u kuæi mojoj biti moj našljednik. 4A gle, Gospod mu progovori: neæe taj biti našljednik tvoj, nego koji æe izaæi od tebe taj æe ti biti našljednik. 5Pa ga izvede napolje i reèe mu: pogledaj na nebo i prebroj zvijezde, ako ih možeš prebrojiti. I reèe mu: tako æe biti sjeme tvoje. 6I povjerova Avram Bogu, a on mu primi to u pravdu. 7I reèe mu: ja sam Gospod, koji te izvedoh iz Ura Haldejskoga da ti dam zemlju ovu da bude tvoja. 8A on reèe: Gospode, Gospode, po èemu æu poznati da æe biti moja? 9I reèe mu: prinesi mi junicu od tri godine i kozu od tri godine i ovna od tri godine i grlicu i golupèe. 10I on uze sve to, i rasijeèe na pole, i metnu sve pole jednu prema drugoj; ali ne rasijeèe ptica. 11A ptice slijetahu na te mrtve životinje; a Avram ih odgonjaše. 12A kad sunce bješe na zahodu, uhvati Avrama tvrd san, i gle, strah i mrak velik obuze ga. 13I Gospod reèe Avramu: znaj zacijelo da æe sjeme tvoje biti došljaci u zemlji tuðoj, pa æe joj služiti, i ona æe ih muèiti èetiri stotine godina. 14Ali æu suditi i narodu kojemu æe služiti; a poslije æe oni izaæi s velikim blagom. 15A ti æeš otiæi k ocima svojim u miru, i biæeš pogreben u dobroj starosti.

Proverbs 15.7-19 (Vespers)

7Usne mudrijeh ljudi siju znanje, a srce bezumnièko ne èini tako. 8Žrtva je bezbožnièka gad Gospodu, a molitva pravednijeh ugodna mu je. 9Gad je Gospodu put bezbožnikov; a ko ide za pravdom, njega ljubi. 10Karanje je zlo onome ko ostavlja put; koji mrzi na ukor, umrijeæe. 11Pakao je i pogibao pred Gospodom, akamoli srca sinova èovjeèijih. 12Potsmjevaè ne ljubi onoga ko ga kori, niti ide k mudrima. 13Veselo srce veseli lice, a žalost u srcu obara duh. 14Srce razumno traži znanje, a usta bezumnijeh ljudi naslaðuju se bezumljem. 15Svi su dani nevoljnikovi zli; a ko je vesela srca, na gozbi je jednako. 16Bolje je malo sa strahom Gospodnjim nego veliko blago s nemirom. 17Bolje je jelo od zelja gdje je ljubav nego od vola ugojena gdje je mržnja. 18Èovjek gnjevljiv zameæe raspru; a ko je spor na gnjev, utišava svaðu. 19Put je lijenoga kao ograda od trnja, a staza je pravednijeh nasuta.

Hieromartyr Artemon, presbyter of Laodicea in Syria (303)

At the time of Diocletian’s persecutions, he was a very old man, having served as a reader for sixteen years, then a deacon for twenty-eight years, and finally as a priest for thirty years, for a total of seventy-four years. The pagan judge put him in the Temple of Aesculapius, where large snakes were kept and worshiped as gods. Though the judge meant for Artemon to be attacked by the snakes, the holy priest immobilized them with the sign of the Cross, brought them out of the temple and, in front of the pagan priests, breathed on the snakes, which died instantly. The chief priest, Vitalis, fell to his knees and cried ‘Great is the Christian God!’ Artemon baptised him along with several of his friends.

The unrepentant judge then condemned Artemon to be thrown into burning pitch, but the judge himself was thrown off his horse into the pitch and died. After this, Artemon went free for a time and spent his time teaching the Faith to his people (“accompanied always by two tame deer,” says St Nikolia Velimirovic!). But he was arrested again and beheaded in the year 303.

St Martin the Confessor, pope of Rome (655)

“Martin became Pope on July 5th, 649, at the time of a furious quarrel between the Orthodox and the Monothelite heretics. Constans the Second, Heraclius’ grandson, was on the throne at the time, and Paul was Patriarch of Constantinople. To restore peace in the Church, the Emperor himself wrote a dogmatic decree, the Typos, which leaned heavily towards heresy. Pope Martin summoned a Council of 105 bishops, at which the Emperor’s statement was condemned. At the same time, the Pope wrote a letter to Patriarch Paul, begging him to uphold the purity of the Orthodox faith and to counsel the Emperor to reject the theories of the heretics. This letter infuriated both the Patriarch and the Emperor. The Emperor sent one of his generals, Olympius, to take the Pope to Constantinople in bonds. The general did not dare to bind the Pope with his own hands, but instructed one of his soldiers to kill him with the sword in church. But, when the soldier entered the church with his sword concealed, he was instantly blinded. So, by the providence of God, Martin escaped death. At that time, the Saracens fell upon Sicily, and Olympius went off there, where he died. Then, by the intrigues of the heretic Patriarch Paul, the Emperor sent a second general, Theodore, to bind and take the Pope on the charge that he, the Pope, was in collusion with the Saracens and that he did not reverence the most holy Mother of God. [!!] When the general arrived in Rome and read the accusation against the Pope, he replied that it was a libel; that he had no contact of any sort with the Saracens, the opponents of Christianity, ‘and whoever does not confess the most holy Mother of God and do her reverence, let him be damned in this age and in that which is to come.’ But this did not affect the general’s decision. The Pope was bound and taken to Constantinople, where he lay long in prison in great sickness, tortured by both anxiety and hunger, until he was finally sentenced to exile in Cherson, where he lived for two years before his death. He gave his soul into the hands of the Lord, for whom he had suffered so greatly, in 655. The evil Patriarch, Paul,died two years before him and, when the Emperor visited him on his deathbed, he smote his head against the wall, confessing with tears that he had greatly sinned against Pope Martin and asking the Emperor to set Martin free.’ (Prologue)

In some menaia he is commemorated on April 14.