Romans 10.11-11.2 (Epistle)

11Jer pismo govori: koji ga god vjeruje neæe se postidjeti. 12Jer nema razlike meðu Jevrejinom i Grkom: jer je on Bog sviju, i bogat za sve koji ga prizivlju. 13Jer koji god prizove ime Gospodnje spašæe se. 14Kako æe dakle prizvati koga ne vjerovaše? A kako æe vjerovati koga ne èuše? A kako æe èuti bez propovjednika? 15A kako æe propovijedati ako ne budu poslani? Kao što stoji napisano: kako su krasne noge onijeh koji donose glas za mir, koji donose glas za dobro! 16Ali svi ne poslušaše jevanðelja: jer Isaija govori: Gospode! ko vjerova našemu propovijedanju? 17Tako dakle vjera biva od propovijedanja, a propovijedanje rijeèju Božijom. 18Nego velim: zar ne èuše? Još otide po svoj zemlji glas njihov, i po krajevima vasionoga svijeta rijeèi njihove. 19Nego velim: zar ne razumje Izrailj? Prvi Mojsije govori: ja æu vas razdražiti, ne svojijem narodom, nerazumnijem narodom rasrdiæu vas. 20A Isaija govori slobodno: naðoše me koji me ne traže; i javih se onima koji za me ne pitaju. 21A k Izrailju govori: vas dan pružah ruke svoje k narodu koji ne da da mu se kaže i odgovara nasuprot.

1Govorim dakle: eda li Bog odbaci narod svoj? Bože saèuvaj! Jer sam i ja Izrailjac od sjemena Avraamova od koljena Venijaminova. 2Ne odbaci Bog naroda svojega, koji naprijed pozna. Ili ne znate šta govori pismo za Iliju kako se tuži Bogu na Izrailja govoreæi:

Matthew 11.16-20 (Gospel)

16Ali kakav æu kazati da je ovaj rod? On je kao djeca koja sjede po ulicama i vièu svojijem drugovima, 17I govore: svirasmo vam, i ne igraste; žalismo vam se, i ne jaukaste. 18Jer Jovan doðe, koji ni jede ni pije, a oni kažu: ðavo je u njemu. 19Doðe sin èovjeèij, koji i jede i pije, a oni kažu: gle èovjeka izjelice i pijanice, druga carinicima i grješnicima. I opravdaše premudrost djeca njezina. 20Tada poèe Isus vikati na gradove u kojima su se dogodila najveæa èudesa njegova, pa se nijesu pokajali:

Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Gabriel

On this day all the many visitations and miracles of the holy Archangel, recorded in Holy Scripture and ever since, are commemorated. This feast duplicates the Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel that is celebrated on March 26, the day after Annunciation; it is thought that it was added to the calendar here some time in the ninth century, so that it could be celebrated more festively outside of Great Lent.

Holy Martyr Golinduc of Persia (6th c.)

She was a Persian noblewoman during the reign of Chosroës II (590-628). Through a vision of an angel, she came to belief in Christ and received holy baptism; her name in baptism was Maria. Her furious husband reported her to King Chosroës, who had her thrown into a foul dungeon known as Oblivion for eighteen years. During these years she was repeatedly told to renounce Christ and was tormented in many ways. She was thrown to venomous snakes, which refused to harm her. Some lawless young men were sent to her cell to defile her, but God made her invisible to them. Many Persians, amazed and inspired by her patient sufferings, accepted Christ. She was finally set free through the visitation of an angel, traveled to Jerusalem and Constantinople, and reposed in peace.

She is commemorated July 12 on the Slavic calendar.

Saint Julian, Bishop of Cenomanis (Le Mans) (1st c.)

He was made bishop by the Apostle Peter and sent to Gaul as a missionary. Some believe that he was Simon the Leper, whom the Lord healed, later named Julian in Baptism. In Gaul, despite great difficulty and privation, he converted many to faith in Christ and worked many miracles — healing the sick, driving out demons, and even raising the dead. In time the local prince, Defenson, was baptised along with many of his subjects. He reposed in peace.

Repose of Photios Kontoglou (1965) (June 30 OC)

He is called “Blessed Photios” by many, but has not yet been officially glorified. In the twentieth century, he almost singlehandedly restored the practice of true Byzantine iconography to the Church. He was born in 1895 in one of the many Greek towns of Asia Minor. He and his family fled to Greece during the “exchange of populations” of 1923, when more than a million Greeks were driven from Turkey and resettled in Greece. He studied to be a secular artist, but was increasingly drawn to Byzantine iconography, the practice of which had almost disappeared: he learned the iconographic ethos and technique by copying ancient models and studying with the few monks on the Holy Mountain who still practiced true iconography. Initially his work was scorned, since secular western standards had come to dominate even the art of the Church. Slowly, through his tireless labors, an understanding of Orthodoxy iconography was restored to the Church, not only in Greece, but throughout the world. Though married, he lived his life in poverty, often donating his work to churches or performing it for nominal fees. His deeply spiritual writings are greatly honored in Greece, though most remain untranslated into English.