Titus 1.5-2.1 (Epistle)

5Zato te ostavih u Kritu da popraviš što je nedovršeno, i da postaviš po svijem gradovima sveštenike, kao što ti ja zapovjedih, 6Ako je ko bez mane, jedne žene muž, i ima vjernu djecu, koju ne kore za kurvarstvo ili za nepokornost. 7Jer vladika treba da je bez mane, kao Božij pristav; ne koji sebi ugaða, ne gnjevljiv, ne pijanica, ne bojac, ne lakom na pogani dobitak; 8Nego gostoljubiv, blag, pošten, pravedan, svet, èist; 9Koji se drži vjerne rijeèi po nauci, da bude kadar i svjetovati sa zdravom naukom, i pokarati one koji se protive. 10Jer ima mnogo neposlušnijeh, praznogovorljivijeh, i umom prevarenijeh, a osobito koji su iz obrezanja, 11Kojima treba usta zatvoriti; koji cijele kuæe izopaèuju uèeæi što ne treba, poganoga dobitka radi. 12A reèe neko od njih, njihov prorok: Kriæani svagda lažljivi, zli zvjerovi, besposleni trbusi. 13Svjedoèanstvo je ovo istinito; zaradi toga uzroka karaj ih bez šteðenja, da budu zdravi u vjeri, 14Ne slušajuæi Jevrejskijeh gatalica ni zapovijesti ljudi koji se odvraæaju od istine. 15Èistima je sve èisto; a poganima i nevjernima ništa nije èisto, nego je opoganjen njihov i um i savjest. 16Govore da poznaju Boga, a djelima ga se odrièu; jer su mrski i neposlušni, i ni za kakvo dobro djelo valjani.

1A ti govori što pristoji zdravoj nauci:

Mark 10.17-27 (Gospel)

17I kad iziðe na put, pritrèa neko, i kleknuvši na koljena pred njim pitaše ga: uèitelju blagi! šta mi treba èiniti da dobijem život vjeèni? 18A Isus reèe mu: što me zoveš blagijem? niko nije blag osim jednoga Boga. 19Zapovijesti znaš: ne èini preljube; ne ubij; ne ukradi; ne svjedoèi lažno; ne èini nepravde nikome; poštuj oca svojega i mater. 20A on odgovarajuæi reèe mu: uèitelju! sve sam ovo saèuvao od mladosti svoje. 21A Isus pogledavši na nj, omilje mu, i reèe mu: još ti jedno nedostaje: idi prodaj sve što imaš i podaj siromasima; i imaæeš blago na nebu; i doði te hajde za mnom uzevši krst. 22A on posta zlovoljan od ove rijeèi, i otide žalostan; jer bijaše vrlo bogat. 23I pogledavši Isus reèe uèenicima svojima: kako je teško bogatima uæi u carstvo nebesko! 24A uèenici se uplašiše od rijeèi njegovijeh. A Isus opet odgovarajuæi reèe im: djeco! kako je teško onima koji se uzdaju u svoje bogatstvo uæi u carstvo Božije! 25Lakše je kamili proæi kroz iglene uši negoli bogatome uæi u carstvo Božije. 26A oni se vrlo divljahu govoreæi u sebi: ko se dakle može spasti? 27A Isus pogledavši na njih reèe: ljudima je nemoguæe, ali nije Bogu: jer je sve moguæe Bogu.

Holy Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-bearer, Bishop of Antioch (107)

There is a tradition that it was the young boy Ignatius whom Christ took upon his knee to explain to His followers that they must become as children to enter the Kingdom. He knew the holy Apostles personally and, with St Polycarp (February 25) was a disciple of St John the Evangelist. He succeeded Evodus as second Bishop of Antioch, the capital of Syria and at that time one of the largest cities in the world. Here, during the persecutions of Domitian, he strengthened the faithful, brought many pagans to Christ, and prayed that he himself would be granted the crown of martyrdom. His flock called him the Godbearer, a title that he did not refuse, for he said that all Christians after their Baptism are truly Bearers of Christ, clothed in the Holy Spirit.

When peace was restored to the Church for awhile, the holy Bishop devoted himself to organizing the young Church on strong foundations at a time when the last of the Apostles had only recently passed away. He established the principle that the Grace imparted to the Apostles at Pentecost was handed down to the bishops appointed by them, and so on through the generations: the Apostolic Succession.

The Emperor Trajan, passing through Syria to make war in Armenia, spent some time in Antioch and initiated a persecution of Christians. Rejoicing that the time of martyrdom had at last arrived, Ignatius presented himself before the Emperor and eloquently declared his faith in Christ.

“So you are a disciple of the one crucified under Pontius Pilate?” asked the Emperor.

“I am the disciple of Him who has nailed my sin to the Cross, and has trodden the Devil and his devices underfoot.”

“Why do you call yourself the Godbearer?”

“Because I carry the living Christ within me!”

“Therefore, let the bearer of the Crucified One be taken in chains to Rome, there to be fed to the lions for the amusement of the people.”

And so it was. During the long and difficult journey to Rome, cruelly mistreated by his guards, the Saint wrote a series of letters to the young churches which remain one of the treasures of the Church. In Smyrna, he was able to meet with his fellow-disciple Polycarp and entrust to him the care of the churches whose shepherd he had been. As Trajan had ordered, in Rome he was taken to the amphitheater and, as the Synaxarion says, “entered the arena as though approaching the holy altar to serve his last Liturgy in the presence of the faithful, who were crowded among pagans on the steps of the amphitheatre.” In a few moments he was completely devoured by the lions, save for a few bones. These were gathered by the faithful and returned to Antioch.

In his Letter to the Romans, the holy Bishop wrote to some who wished to rescue him from his martyrdom: “I am the wheat of God, and am ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found to be the pure bread of God.”

Repose of Our Holy Father John of Kronstadt (1908)

His main commemoration is on October 19.