1 Timothy 1.18-20, 2.8-15 (Epistle)

18Porunca pe care ţi-o dau, fiule Timotei, după prorociile făcute mai înainte despre tine, este ca, prin ele, să te lupţi lupta cea bună 19şi să păstrezi credinţa şi un cuget curat, pe care unii l-au pierdut, şi au căzut din credinţă.

20Din numărul lor sunt Imeneu şi Alexandru, pe care i-am dat pe mâna Satanei, ca să se înveţe să nu hulească. 8Vreau, dar, ca bărbaţii să se roage în orice loc şi să ridice spre cer mâini curate, fără mânie şi fără îndoieli. 9Vreau, de asemenea, ca femeile să se roage îmbrăcate în chip cuviincios, cu ruşine şi sfială; nu cu împletituri de păr, nici cu aur, nici cu mărgăritare, nici cu haine scumpe, 10ci cu fapte bune, cum se cuvine femeilor care spun că sunt evlavioase. 11Femeia să înveţe în tăcere, cu toată supunerea. 12Femeii nu-i dau voie să înveţe pe alţii, nici să se ridice mai presus de bărbat, ci să stea în tăcere. 13Căci întâi a fost întocmit Adam, şi apoi Eva. 14Şi nu Adam a fost amăgit; ci femeia, fiind amăgită, s-a făcut vinovată de călcarea poruncii.

15Totuşi ea va fi mântuită prin naşterea de fii, dacă stăruie cu smerenie în credinţă, în dragoste şi în sfinţenie.

Luke 18.15-17, 26-30 (Gospel)

15I-au adus şi nişte copilaşi, ca să Se atingă de ei. Dar ucenicii, când au văzut lucrul acesta, au certat pe aceia care-i aduceau. 16Isus a chemat la Sine pe copilaşi şi a zis: „Lăsaţi copilaşii să vină la Mine, şi nu-i opriţi; căci Împărăţia lui Dumnezeu este a unora ca ei. 17Adevărat vă spun că oricine nu va primi Împărăţia lui Dumnezeu ca un copilaş, cu niciun chip nu va intra în ea.” 26Cei ce-L ascultau au zis: „Atunci cine poate fi mântuit?” 27Isus a răspuns: „Ce este cu neputinţă la oameni este cu putinţă la Dumnezeu.” 28Atunci Petru a zis: „Iată că noi am lăsat totul şi Te-am urmat.” 29Şi Isus le-a zis: „Adevărat vă spun că nu este nimeni care să-şi fi lăsat casa, sau nevasta, sau fraţii, sau părinţii, sau copiii, pentru Împărăţia lui Dumnezeu, 30şi să nu primească mult mai mult în veacul acesta de acum, iar în veacul viitor, viaţa veşnică.”

Our Holy Father Gregory of Decapolis (842)

He was born in Irenopolis, one of the “Ten Cities” of Asia Minor. Though his parents wanted him to marry, he entered monastic life as a young man, and struggled for many years, living in reclusion under the guidance of a wise spiritual father. One day, while in prayer, he was carried away to Paradise and experienced the blessedness that the redeemed will know at the general Resurrection. The vision seemed to him only to last for an hour, but he learned from his disciple that he had been in ecstasy for four days.

Aware that the Enemy can appear as an angel of light, and that we should be suspicious of seeming revelations, he sought the counsel of his Abbot, who reassured him, and told him to give thanks to God by continuing in his ascetic labors.

Soon, he was told by revelation that he was to go forth into the world, living without an earthly home, to uphold the Orthodox faith, which was then under attack by the Iconoclasts. He traveled through Ephesus, Constantinople, Corinth, Rome, Sicily, Thessalonica, and Constantinople again, laboring in defense of the Faith and working many miracles. Usually he would stay with poor people who welcomed him into their houses, though it was forbidden by law to receive an Orthodox monk (that is, one who defended the Icons). In his last few years, afflicted by illness, he settled in Constantinople, where he reposed in peace in 832, just before the end of iconoclasm and the restoration of Orthodoxy. Since 1490, his incorrupt relics have dwelt at the Monastery of Bistritsa in Romania, where they continue to be a source of miracles for the many pilgrims who come to venerate them.

Our Holy Father Proclus, Archbishop of Constantinople (447)

He was a disciple and scribe of St John Chrysostom. About the year 426 he was ordained Bishop of Cyzicus, but was unable to take up his see because another had been unlawfully elected in his place, so he remained in Constantinople. Around 428, Nestorius was made Patriarch of Constantinople, and almost immediately began teaching his blasphemous doctrine that the holy Virgin could not be called Theotokos, “God-bearer,” but only Christotokos, “Christ-bearer.” Proclus resisted this teaching forcefully, once giving a sermon in the presence of the heretical Patriarch, defending the Orthodox teaching concerning the Theotokos. Proclus was elevated to the throne of Patriarch of Constantinople in 434, after Nestorius had been deposed and the Orthodox teaching clearly proclaimed in an Ecumenical Council. It was Proclus who persuaded the Emperor Theodosius the Younger to have the holy relics of his teacher St John Chrysostom returned to Constantinople, and who received them on their triumphal return to the city. He reposed in peace in 447.