1 Corinthians 14.6-19 (Epistle)

6Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine? 7And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped? 8For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? 9So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air. 10There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification. 11Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me. 12Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church. 13Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret. 14For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. 15What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. 16Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest? 17For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified. 18I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all: 19Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.

Matthew 20.17-28 (Gospel)

17And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, 18Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, 19And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.

20Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. 21And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. 22But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. 23And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. 24And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren. 25But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. 26But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 27And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: 28Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Sts Isaac, Dalmatus and Faustus, ascetics of the Dalmatian Monastery, Constantinople (5th c.)

St Isaac is also commemorated May 30; see his life there. St Dalmatus was a soldier in the Imperial army, but along with his son Faustus left all to become a monk at the monastery founded by St Isaac. He was present at the Third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus in 431; there he labored zealously for the Orthodox faith against Patriarch Nestorius. He was made Archimandrite of all the monasteries in Constantinople, and reposed in peace, having lived for more than eighty years.

Holy Myrrh-bearer Salome

She was the mother of the Apostles James and John, the wife of Zebedee, and the daughter of Joseph the Betrothed, who was a widower when he became betrothed to the Mother of God. She was a disciple of the Lord and one of the Myrrh-bearing women who first brought tidings of the Resurrection to the world.

Our Holy Father Antony the Roman (1148)

He was born in Rome in 1086 to wealthy and pious parents. When the Roman Church broke away from the Orthodox around that time, those who continued to uphold Orthodoxy, Antony among them, were persecuted. Antony gave away his worldly possessions and fled to a small rocky island in the sea, where he spent fourteen months in asceticism. During this time, the island miraculously floated like a ship to Novgorod. There, Archbishop Nikita received the young monk and helped him to build a church to the holy Theotokos, which in time became a monastery. St Anthony served there as abbot for many years, reposing in peace in 1148.

Holy Martyr Razhden the Persian, Protomartyr of Georgia (457)

Razhden was of a noble Persian family, and a Zoroastrian. When the holy King Vakhtang Gorgasali of Georgia married Balendukht, the daughter of the Persian king Hormizd III, she took Razhden with her to Georgia. In Kartli he became a Christian, and King Vakhtang gave him an estate and made him a military adviser and commander. Angered that Vakhtang was a Christian, the Persian king Peroz (reigned 457–484) invaded Georgia with an enormous army, and Razhden fought bravely against him. Peroz ordered him taken captive. He was brought bound before the King, who greeted him with feigned tenderness and asked why he had turned from the faith of his fathers; and Razhden declared without fear that Christianity is the only true faith, and Christ the only true Saviour of mankind. Peroz had him beaten without mercy: his teeth were knocked out, he was dragged across jagged rocks, and he was cast into prison in heavy chains.

When the Georgian nobles heard of his sufferings, they came to Peroz and asked him to set Razhden free. Peroz released him on his vow to return. Razhden went to Mtskheta, took leave of his family and of King Vakhtang and, though those who loved him begged him not to, went back to Peroz. When he still would not return to the religion of his fathers, Peroz sent him to the Persian camp at Tsromi, in central Georgia, and secretly ordered its commander to make him renounce Christ or put him to death. To these appeals Razhden replied: “Your flattery and bribes are insulting to me. With joy I am prepared to endure every suffering for the sake of Christ!” The Persians condemned him with the words “If he hopes in the Crucified One, then he also is fit to suffer crucifixion!” They crucified him and shot him with arrows. His last words were “Into Thy hands, O Lord, I commit my spirit!” He died on the cross in 457. That night Christians took his body down from the cross and buried it in secret. Some years later King Vakhtang translated his relics from Tsromi to Nikozi and laid them in the cathedral he had built there, and he built churches in his honour at Ujarma and Samgori. He is the first martyr of the Church of Georgia. (Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze, The Lives of the Georgian Saints)