3. октобар 2025.
Friday of the 17th 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

Ephesians 4.17-25 (Epistle)

17Ovo dakle govorim i svjedoèim u Gospodu da više ne hodite kao što hode i ostali neznabošci u praznosti uma svojega, 18Koji imaju smisao tamom pokriven, i udaljeni su od života Božijega za neznanje koje je u njima, za okamenjenje srca svojijeh; 19Koji ostavivši poštenje predadoše se besramnosti, na èinjenje svake neèistote i lakomstva. 20Ali vi tako ne poznaste Hrista; 21Jer ga èuste i u njemu se nauèiste, kao što je istina u Isusu, 22Da odbacite, po prvome življenju, staroga èovjeka, koji se raspada u željama prevarljivijem; 23I da se obnovite duhom uma svojega, 24I obuèete u novoga èovjeka, koji je sazdan po Bogu u pravdi i u svetinji istine. 25Zato odbacite laž, i govorite istinu svaki sa svojijem bližnjijem; jer smo udi jedan drugome.

Luke 4.22-30 (Gospel)

22I svi mu svjedoèahu, i divljahu se rijeèima blagodati koje izlažahu iz usta njegovijeh, i govorahu: nije li ovo sin Josifov? 23I reèe im: vi æete meni bez sumnje kazati ovu prièu: ljekaru! izlijeèi se sam; što smo èuli da si èinio u Kapernaumu uèini i ovdje na svojoj postojbini. 24Reèe pak: zaista vam kažem: nikakav prorok nije mio na svojoj postojbini. 25A zaista vam kažem: mnoge udovice bijahu u Izrailju u vrijeme Ilijno kad se nebo zatvori tri godine i šest mjeseci i bi velika glad po svoj zemlji; 26I ni k jednoj od njih ne bi poslan Ilija do u Sareptu Sidonsku k ženi udovici. 27I mnogi bijahu gubavi u Izrailju za proroka Jelisija; i nijedan se od njih ne oèisti do Neemana Sirijanina. 28I svi se u zbornici napuniše gnjeva kad èuše ovo. 29I ustavši istjeraše ga napolje iz grada, i odvedoše ga navrh gore gdje bijaše njihov grad sazidan da bi ga bacili odozgo. 30Ali on proðe izmeðu njih, i otide.

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.