1 Thessalonians 2.14-19 (Epistle)

14Jer vi, braæo, proðoste kao crkve Božije koje su u Judeji u Hristu Isusu; jer tako i vi postradaste od svojega roda kao i oni od Jevreja, 15Koji ubiše i Gospoda Isusa i proroke njegove, i koji nas istjeraše, i Bogu ne ugodiše, i koji se svijem ljudima protive, 16I zabranjuju nam kazivati neznabošcima da se spasu; da ispune grijehe svoje svagda; ali napošljetku doðe gnjev na njih. 17A mi, braæo, osirotjevši za vama neko vrijeme licem a ne srcem, veæma hiæasmo da vidimo lice vaše s velikom željom. 18Zato šæadijasmo da doðemo k vama, ja Pavle jednom i drugom, i zabrani nam sotona. 19Jer ko je naš nad ili radost, ili vijenac slave? Nijeste li i vi pred Gospodom našijem Isusom Hristom o njegovu dolasku?

Luke 12.2-12 (Gospel)

2Jer ništa nije sakriveno što se neæe otkriti, ni tajno što se neæe doznati; 3Jer što u mraku rekoste, èuæe se na vidjelu; i što na uho šaptaste u klijetima, propovijedaæe se na krovovima. 4Ali vam kažem, prijateljima svojijem: ne bojte se od onijeh koji ubijaju tijelo i potom ne mogu ništa više uèiniti. 5Nego æu vam kazati koga da se bojite: bojte se onoga koji ima vlast pošto ubije baciti u pakao; da, kažem vam, onoga se bojte. 6Ne prodaje li se pet vrabaca za dva dinara? i nijedan od njih nije zaboravljen pred Bogom. 7A u vas je i kosa na glavi izbrojena. Ne bojte se dakle; vi ste bolji od mnogo vrabaca. 8Nego vam kažem: koji god prizna mene pred ljudima priznaæe i sin èovjeèij njega pred anðelima Božijim; 9A koji se odreèe mene pred ljudima njega æe se odreæi pred anðelima Božijim. 10I svaki koji reèe rijeè na sina èovjeèijega oprostiæe mu se, a koji huli na svetoga Duha neæe mu se oprostiti. 11A kad vas dovedu u zbornice i na sudove i pred poglavare, ne brinite se kako æete ili šta odgovoriti, ili šta æete kazati; 12Jer æe vas sveti Duh nauèiti u onaj èas šta treba reæi.

Holy and Wonderworking Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian of Asia (3rd c.)

Three pairs of Unmercenary Physicians (Anargyri) named Cosmas and Damian are commemorated (today, on October 17, and on July 1); The two commemorated today lived near Ephesus in Asia. They were of noble birth and well-educated in all the branches of higher learning; but they turned away from worldly knowledge to practice medicine without charge for anyone who sought their help, caring for the rich as well as poor, and even for animals. They used none of the secular tools of medicine, but relied only on the Name of Christ, by which they were enabled to perform countless healings. Both reposed in peace.

Holy New Martyr Helen of Sinope (18th c.)

She was a maiden of fifteen who lived with her parents in the Christian enclave of Sinope in Pontus during the 1700s. One day, as she went to the marketplace, she passed by the house of the local Pasha (governor), who, seeing her beauty, was seized by lust for her. He ordered his servants to bring her to him, and made two attempts to defile her; each time, however, he was prevented by a mysterious power that kept him from her like an invisible wall. Determined to have his way for her, he kept her prisoner in his house; but she was able to slip away and run home to her parents’ house.

Enraged that his prey had escaped, the Pasha called together the leaders of the Christian community and promised that, unless Helen were handed over to him, all the Christians in the town would be massacred. Grief-stricken and fearful, the leaders persuaded Helen’s father to return the girl to the palace. The vile Pasha made several more attempts to rape the Saint, but once again he was restrained as if by an invisible wall as she recited the Six Psalms and all the prayers that she knew by heart. Realizing that he was powerless against her, the Pasha had her thrown in the common jail, then ordered that she be tortured to death. The executioners subjected the maiden to several cruel torments before killing her by driving two nails into her skull and beheading her. They then put her body in a sack and threw it in the Black Sea.

Some Greek sailors followed a heavenly light to the place where the sack had sunk, and divers retrieved the Saint’s relics, which immediately revealed themselves as a source of healing for many. Her body was taken to Russia; her head was placed in the church in Sinope, where it continued to work miracles, especially for those who suffered from headaches. When the Greeks were driven from Sinope in 1924, refugees took the head with them. It is venerated today in a church near Thessalonika.