Orthodox Calendar

20. септембар 2028.
Wednesday of the 16th week after Pentecost

Fast

Commemorations

  • Great Martyr Eustathius (Eustace) Placidas, with his family (118)
  • Holy Martyrs Hypatius and Andrew, Confessors of the Holy Icons (8th c.)
  • Sts Anastasius, Theodore, Euprepius and Anastasius the Younger, confessors and disciples of St Maximos the Confessor (7th c.)

Scripture Readings

Galatians 6.2-10 (Epistle)

2Nosite bremena jedan drugoga, i tako æete ispuniti zakon Hristov. 3Jer ako ko misli da je što a nije ništa, umom vara sebe. 4A svaki da ispita svoje djelo, i tada æe sam u sebi imati slavu, a ne u drugome. 5Jer æe svaki svoje breme nositi. 6A koji se uèi rijeèi neka daje dijel od svakoga dobra onome koji ga uèi. 7Ne varajte se: Bog se ne da ružiti; jer šta èovjek posije ono æe i požnjeti. 8Jer koji sije u tijelo svoje, od tijela æe požnjeti pogibao; a koji sije u duh, od duha æe požnjeti život vjeèni. 9A dobro èiniti da nam se ne dosadi; jer æemo u svoje vrijeme požnjeti ako se ne umorimo. 10Zato dakle dok imamo vremena da èinimo dobro svakome, a osobito onima koji su s nama u vjeri.

Luke 4.1-15 (Gospel)

1Isus pak pun Duha svetoga vrati se od Jordana, i odvede ga Duh u pustinju, 2I èetrdeset dana kuša ga ðavo, i ne jede ništa za to dana; i kad se oni navršiše, onda ogladnje, 3I reèe mu ðavo: ako si sin Božij, reci ovome kamenu da postane hljeb. 4I odgovori mu Isus govoreæi: u pismu stoji: neæe življeti èovjek o samom hljebu, nego o svakoj rijeèi Božijoj. 5I izvedavši ga ðavo na goru visoku pokaza mu sva carstva ovoga svijeta u trenuæu oka, 6I reèe mu ðavo: tebi æu dati svu vlast ovu i slavu njihovu, jer je meni predana, i kome ja hoæu daæu je; 7Ti dakle ako se pokloniš preda mnom biæe sve tvoje. 8I odgovarajuæi Isus reèe mu: idi od mene, sotono; u pismu stoji: poklanjaj se Gospodu Bogu svojemu, i njemu jedinome služi. 9I odvede ga u Jerusalim, i postavi ga navrh crkve, i reèe mu: ako si sin Božij, skoèi odavde dolje; 10Jer u pismu stoji da æe anðelima svojijem zapovjediti za tebe da te saèuvaju, 11I uzeæe te na ruke da gdje ne zapneš za kamen nogom svojom. 12I odgovarajuæi Isus reèe mu: kazano je: ne kušaj Gospoda Boga svojega. 13I kad svrši ðavo sve kušanje, otide od njega za neko vrijeme. 14I vrati se Isus u sili duhovnoj u Galileju; i otide glas o njemu po svemu onom kraju. 15I on uèaše po zbornicama njihovijem, i svi ga hvaljahu.

Commemorations

Great Martyr Eustathius (Eustace) Placidas, with his family (118)

Before baptism he was a renowned military commander under Trajan. While hunting in the woods, he met a great stag with a shining Cross between his antlers. Through the stag, the Lord spoke to Placidas (his pagan name) and told him to find a priest and be baptized into Christ. Returning home, he found that his wife Tatiana had also had a vision in which she was told to become a Christian. They were baptized, Placidas receiving the name Eustathius, and Tatiana the name Theopiste; their two sons were baptized with them. Eustathius and his family were almost immediately subjected to a series of grievous trials, in which all were separated from one another. After years of hardship they were re-united, and returned to Rome with honor when the Emperor sought out Eustathius to command his army once again. But when the Emperor Hadrian (who had succeeded Trajan) commanded them to worship the idols, all of them refused. They were put together into a large bronze ox which was heated white-hot in a fire. When their bodies were removed, they were found to be dead but intact. The Prologue concludes, ‘Thus this glorious general gave to Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and to God that which is God’s, and entered into the eternal Kingdom of Christ our God.’

Holy Martyrs Hypatius and Andrew, Confessors of the Holy Icons (8th c.)

They were friends from childhood, fellow-strugglers for holiness. Their godly way of life attracted the attention of the Bishop of Ephesus, who made Hypatius a bishop and Andrew a deacon and itinerant preacher. During the reign of Leo the Isaurian (714-41) they were both imprisoned for confessing the Orthodox faith and defending the veneration of the holy icons. They were subjected to various tortures, including having icons set afire on their heads in mockery of their faithfulness. They were executed near Constantinople and their bodies thrown to the dogs.

Sts Anastasius, Theodore, Euprepius and Anastasius the Younger, confessors and disciples of St Maximos the Confessor (7th c.)

These saints were disciples of St Maximos the Confessor (January 21) and suffered with him for their condemnation of the Monothelite doctrine promoted by the Emperor Constans II. Anastasius the elder (who had been the Papal representative to Constantinople) and Anastasius the younger were present at the Lateran Council called by St Martin, Pope of Rome (April 13), which condemned the Monothelite heresy. For this the Pope himself, and the two confessors named Anastasius, were seized by the Emperor. Along with St Maximos, the two endured many tortures; when St Maximos had his right hand cut off and his tongue cut out, Anastasius the elder suffered the same punishment. They, along with their fellow-disciples Euprepius and Theodore and St Maximos himself, were sent into exile to Lazica in the Caucasus, where all of them died. Euprepius died after one year; Saint Maximos after three years; Anastasius the younger a few days before St Maximos; Anastasius the elder after seven years of exile; and Theodore after twenty years. All remained steadfast until the end, and all are proclaimed as Confessors of the Faith.