Colossians 4.2-9 (Epistle)

2Da vam se ne dosadi molitva; i stražite u njoj sa zahvaljivanjem, 3Moleæi se i za nas ujedno da nam Bog otvori vrata rijeèi, da propovijedamo tajnu Hristovu, za koju sam i svezan, 4Da je javim kao što mi treba govoriti. 5Mudro živite prema onima koji su napolju, pazeæi na vrijeme. 6Rijeè vaša da biva svagda u blagodati, solju zaèinjena, da znate kako vam svakome treba odgovarati. 7Za mene kazaæe vam sve Tihik ljubazni brat i vjerni sluga i drugar u Gospodu, 8Kojega poslah k vama za to isto da razbere kako ste vi, i da utješi srca vaša, 9S Onisimom vjernijem i ljubaznijem bratom našijem, koji je od vas. Oni æe vam sve kazati kako je ovdje.

Luke 11.14-23 (Gospel)

14I jednom izgna ðavola koji bješe nijem; kad ðavo iziðe progovori nijemi; i diviše se ljudi. 15A neki od njih rekoše: pomoæu Veelzevula kneza ðavolskoga izgoni ðavole. 16A drugi kušajuæi ga iskahu od njega znak s neba. 17A on znajuæi pomisli njihove reèe im: svako carstvo koje se razdijeli samo po sebi, opustjeæe, i dom koji se razdijeli sam po sebi, propašæe. 18Tako i sotona ako se razdijeli sam po sebi, kako æe ostati njegovo carstvo? kao što kažete da pomoæu Veelzevula izgonim ðavole. 19Ako li ja pomoæu Veelzevula izgonim ðavole, sinovi vaši èijom pomoæu izgone? Zato æe vam oni biti sudije. 20A ako li ja prstom Božijim izgonim ðavole, dakle je došlo k vama carstvo Božije. 21Kad se jaki naoruža i èuva svoj dvor, imanje je njegovo na miru; 22A kad doðe jaèi od njega i nadvlada ga, uzme sve oružje njegovo u koje se uzdao, i razdijeli što otme od njega. 23Koji nije sa mnom, protiv mene je; i koji sa mnom ne sabira, prosipa.

Holy Martyr Arethas and those with him (524)

‘These Martyrs contested for piety’s sake in the year 524 in Najran, a city of Arabia Felix (present-day Yemen). When Dhu Nuwas, ruler of the Himyarite tribe in south Arabia, and a Judaizer, took power, he sought to blot out Christianity, especially at Najran, a Christian city. Against the counsels of Arethas, chief man of Najran, the city surrendered to Dhu Nuwas, who immediately broke the word he had given and sought to compel the city to renounce Christ. Led by Saint Arethas, hundreds of martyrs, including women, children, and babes, valiantly withstood his threats, and were beheaded and burned. After the men had been slain, all the free-born Christian women of Najran were brought before the tyrant and commanded to abjure Christ or die; yet they rebuked the persecutor with such boldness that he said even the men had not insulted him so contemptuously. So great was their faith that not one woman was found to deny Christ in all Najran, although some of them suffered torments more bitter than most of the men. In alliance with Byzantium, the Ethiopian King Elesbaan liberated Najran from Dhu Nuwas soon after and raised up churches in honour of the Martyrs. Najran became a place of pilgrimage until the rise of Islam a century later. At the end of his life King Elesbaan, who was also called Caleb, retired into solitude as a hermit; he sent his crown to Jerusalem as an offering to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. He also is commemorated on this day as a saint. Saint Arethas’ name in Arabic, Harith, means “plowman, tiller,” much the same as “George” in Greek.’ (Great Horologion)

Ethiopia is still a Christian nation, surrounded by Islamic states. The late Emperor Haile Selasse’s name means, in Ethiopian, “Power of the Trinity.”