Hebrews 10.32-38 (Epistle)

32Opominjite se pak prvijeh dana svojijeh, u koje se prosvijetliste i mnogu borbu stradanja podnesoste, 33Koje postavši gledanje sa sramota i nevolja, a koje postavši drugovi onima koji žive tako. 34Jer se na okove moje sažaliste, i dadoste s radošæu da se razgrabi vaše imanje, znajuæi da imate sebi imanje bolje i nepropadljivo na nebesima. 35Ne odbacujte dakle slobode svoje, koja ima veliku platu. 36Jer vam je trpljenje od potrebe da volju Božiju savršivši primite obeæanje. 37Jer još malo, vrlo malo, pak æe doæi onaj koji treba da doðe i neæe odocniti. 38A pravednik življeæe od vjere; ako li otstupi neæe biti po volji moje duše.

1 Thessalonians 4.13-17 (Epistle, Departed)

13Neæu vam pak zatajiti, braæo, za one koji su umrli, da ne žalite kao i ostali koji nemaju nada. 14Jer ako vjerujemo da Isus umrije i vaskrse, tako æe Bog i one koji su umrli u Isusu dovesti s njim. 15Jer vam ovo kazujemo rijeèju Gospodnjom da mi koji živimo i ostanemo za dolazak Gospodnji, neæemo preteæi onijeh koji su pomrli. 16Jer æe sam Gospod sa zapoviješæu, s glasom aranðelovijem, i s trubom Božijom siæi s neba; i mrtvi u Hristu vaskrsnuæe najprije; 17A potom mi živi koji smo ostali, zajedno s njima biæemo uzeti u oblake na susret Gospodu na nebo, i tako æemo svagda s Gospodom biti.

Mark 2.14-17 (Gospel)

14I prolazeæi vidje Leviju Alfejeva gdje sjedi na carini, i reèe mu: hajde za mnom. I ustavši otide za njim. 15I kad sjeðaše Isus za trpezom u kuæi njegovoj, i carinici i grješnici mnogi sjeðahu s njim i s uèenicima njegovijem: jer ih bijaše mnogo koji iðahu za njim. 16A književnici i fariseji vidjevši ga gdje jede s carinicima i s grješnicima govorahu uèenicima njegovijem: zašto s carinicima i grješnicima jede i pije? 17I èuvši Isus reèe im: ne trebaju zdravi ljekara nego bolesni. Ja nijesam došao da dozovem pravednike no grješnike na pokajanje.

John 5.24-30 (Gospel, Departed)

24Zaista, zaista vam kažem: ko moju rijeè sluša i vjeruje onome koji je mene poslao, ima život vjeèni, i ne dolazi na sud, nego je prešao iz smrti u život. 25Zaista, zaista vam kažem: ide èas, i veæ je nastao, kad æe mrtvi èuti glas sina Božijega, i èuvši oživljeti. 26Jer kako što otac ima život u sebi, tako dade i sinu da ima život u sebi; 27I dade mu vlast da i sud èini, jer je sin èovjeèij. 28Ne divite se ovome, jer ide èas u koji æe svi koji su u grobovima èuti glas sina Božijega, 29I iziæi æe koji su èinili dobro u vaskrsenije života, a koji su èinili zlo u vaskrsenije suda. 30Ja ne mogu ništa èiniti sam od sebe; kako èujem onako sudim, i sud je moj pravedan; jer ne tražim volje svoje nego volju oca koji me je poslao.

Our Holy Father Nicetas the Confessor (824)

He was born in Caesarea of Bithynia. His widowed father became a monk, leaving Nicetas to the care of his grandmother. Nicetas himself, when he was grown, entered a monastery in Midikion, on the Sea of Marmara. After seven years of monastic life he was ordained hieromonk by Patriarch Tarasios. When Nikephoros, the abbot of the monastery, died, the brethren chose Nicetas as their new abbot.

When Leo the Armenian became Emperor, he revived the iconoclast heresy, even though it had been put down under the Empress Irene and condemned by an Ecumenical Council. The Emperor deposed and exiled the holy Patriarch Nicephoros, putting a heretic in his place. Nicetas, because he was known for his holiness and steadfast reverence for the holy icons, was imprisoned and tortured, but did not waver in his defense of Orthodoxy. Nicetas was taken from prison to prison, torture to torture, and exiled twice, until at last Leo the Armenian died and the Orthodox Emperor Michael came to the throne and freed all those imprisoned for Orthodoxy.

Once freed, Nicetas retired to a secluded hermitage near Constantinople, where he passed the remainder of his life in prayer and thanksgiving. When he died, his body was taken back to his monastery; during the journey, many of the sick who touched his holy body were healed.

Saint Joseph the Hymnographer (886)

“Saint Joseph was from Sicily, the son of Plotinus and Agatha. Because Sicily had been subjugated by the Moslems, he departed thence and, passing from place to place, came with Saint Gregory of Decapolis (see Nov. 20) to Constantinople, where he endured bitter afflictions because of his pious zeal. Travelling to Rome, he was captured by Arab pirates and taken to Crete, whence he later returned to Constantinople. He became an excellent hymnographer and reposed in holiness shortly after 886 (according to some, it was in 883). The melismatic canons of the Menaion are primarily the work of this Joseph; they bear his name in the acrostic of the Ninth Ode. He also composed most of the sacred book known as the Paracletike, which complements the Octoechos. For this reason, Joseph is called par excellence the Hymnographer.” (Great Horologion)

The “bitter afflictions” which St Joseph suffered were probably due (judging from his dates) to his veneration of the holy icons.

Note: In the Slavic calendar he is commemorated on April 4.

Saint Seraphim of Vyritsa (1949) (March 21 OC)

Born in 1866, he married and had three children. In 1920, at the age of 54, he and his wife quietly separated and each entered monastic life. Eventually he became the spiritual father of the St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg, where, as a clairvoyant staretz, he also confessed thousands of laity. He said, “I am the storage room where people’s afflictions gather.” In imitation of his patron saint, he prayed for a thousand nights on a rock before an icon of St. Seraphim of Sarov. He reposed in the Lord in 1949 and the Church of Russia glorified him in August of 2000. Thus his whole life as a monk was spent under Communist persecution.