Composite 8 - Isaiah 40, 41, 45, 48, 54 (Vespers, Forerunner)

1Thus says the Lord: Comfort, comfort my people, says God. Priests, speak to the heart of Jerusalem. Comfort her, because her humiliation has been completed; for her has sin has been abolished, because she has received from the Lord’s hand double for her sins. A voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God. Every valley will be filled and every mountain and hill made low; what is crooked will become straight, and the rough ways will be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Go up onto a high mountain, you who bring good tidings to Sion; lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good tidings to Jerusalem. Lift it up, do not be afraid. I the Lord God, I, the God of Israel, will hearken and will not forsake them; but I will open rivers from the mountains and springs in the middle of plains. I will turn the wilderness into water meadows and the thirsty earth with water courses. Let the heavens rejoice from on high and let the clouds rain justice. Let the earth sprout and blossom with mercy and justice. Announce a voice of gladness to the end of the earth and let this be heard: Say that the Lord has delivered his servant Jacob. And if they thirst through deserts, he will bring water for them from a rock. Rejoice you barren who have never given birth, break out and shout, you who have never known birth pangs, for the children of the deserted are more than those of her who has a husband.

Composite 9 - Malachi 3, 4 (Vespers, Forerunner)

1Thus says the Lord Almighty: See, I am sending my Angel, my messenger, before your face, who will prepare your way before you. And the Lord whom you seek will come to his temple. And who will endure the day of his entrance? And who will withstand at his appearing? Because he will enter like fire in a smelting furnace and like the lye of launderers. And he will come to you in judgement; and he will be a swift witness against the wicked and against adulteresses and against those swear falsely in his name and those who do not fear him, says the Lord Almighty. Because I am the Lord your God, and I have not changed and you, children of Jacob, have perverted the laws and not kept them. Therefore turn back to me and I will turn back to you, says the Lord Almighty. And all the nations will call you blessed and you will know that I am the Lord who discern between just and lawless on the day on which I make a peculiar possession of those who love me. Know then and remember the law of Moses my servant, as I gave him commandment on Horeb, to all Israel ordinances and judgements. And see, I will send you Elias the Thesbite, before the great and manifest day of the Lord comes; he will turn again the heart of father to son and of a man to his neighbour, lest when I come I smite the earth grievously, says the Lord Almighty, God the Holy One of Israel.

Composite 3 - Wisdom of Solomon 4, 5 (Vespers, Forerunner)

1A just man if he comes to his end will be at rest. A just man who dies will condemn the ungodly who are alive; for they will see the end of a just man and will not understand what they counselled concerning him. For the Lord will break the ungodly, render them voiceless and cast them headlong, and he will shake them from the foundations and they will be utterly worsted in sorrow, and their memory shall perish. They shall come with fear at the accounting of their sins, and their iniquities will convict them to their face. Then the just will stand with much boldness in the face of those who afflicted him and made his toils of no account. When they see this they will be troubled with great fear and will be amazed at the wonder of his salvation. For they will say as they repent and with anguish they will groan and say: Is this he whom we fools once made a laughing stock and a byword of reproach? We reckoned his life folly and his end dishonour. How has he been numbered among the children of God and his lot with the Saints? Therefore we have erred from the way of truth and the light of righteousness has not shone on us and the sun has not dawned on us. We have been filled with paths of lawlessness and destruction and journeyed through trackless paths, but have not known the way of the Lord.

Luke 24.1-12 (4th Matins Gospel)

1A u prvi dan nedjeljni doðoše vrlo rano na grob, i donesoše mirise što pripraviše, i neke druge žene s njima; 2Ali naðoše kamen odvaljen od groba. 3I ušavši ne naðoše tijela Gospoda Isusa. 4I kad se one èuðahu tome, gle, dva èovjeka staše pred njima u sjajnijem haljinama; 5A kad se one uplašiše i oboriše lica k zemlji, rekoše im: što tražite živoga meðu mrtvima? 6Nije ovdje; nego ustade; opomenite se kako vam kaza kad bješe još u Galileji, 7Govoreæi da sin èovjeèij treba da se preda u ruke ljudi grješnika i da se razapne i treæi dan da ustane. 8I opomenuše se rijeèi njegovijeh. 9I vrativši se od groba javiše sve ovo jedanaestorici i svima ostalijem. 10A to bijaše Magdalina Marija i Jovana i Marija Jakovljeva i ostale s njima koje kazaše ovo apostolima. 11I njima se uèiniše njihove rijeèi kao laž, i ne vjerovaše im. 12A Petar ustavši otrèa ka grobu, i natkuèivši se vidje same haljine gdje leže, i otide èudeæi se u sebi šta bi.

Hebrews 11.24-26, 32-12.2 (Epistle)

24Vjerom Mojsije, kad bi veliki, ne htjede da se naziva sin kæeri Faraonove; 25I volje stradati s narodom Božijim, negoli imati zemaljsku sladost grijeha: 26Državši sramotu Hristovu za veæe bogatstvo od svega blaga Misirskoga; jer gledaše na platu. 32I šta æu još da kažem? Jer mi ne bi dostalo vremena kad bih stao pripovijedati o Gedeonu, i o Varaku i Samsonu i Jeftaju, o Davidu i Samuilu, i o drugijem prorocima, 33Koji vjerom pobijediše carstva, uèiniše pravdu, dobiše obeæanja, zatvoriše usta lavovima, 34Ugasiše silu ognjenu, utekoše od oštrica maèa, ojaèaše od nemoæi, postaše jaki u bitkama, rastjeraše vojske tuðe; 35Žene primiše svoje mrtve iz vaskrsenija; a drugi biše pobijeni, ne primivši izbavljenja, da dobiju bolje vaskrsenije; 36A drugi ruganje i boj podnesoše, pa još i okove i tamnice; 37Kamenjem pobijeni biše, pretrveni biše, iskušani biše, od maèa pomriješe; idoše u kožusima i u kozijim kožama, u sirotinji, u nevolji, u sramoti; 38Kojijeh ne bijaše dostojan svijet, po pustinjama potucaše se, i po gorama i po peæinama i po rupama zemaljskijem. 39I ovi svi dobivši svjedoèanstvo vjerom ne primiše obeæanja; 40Jer Bog nešto bolje za nas odredi, da ne prime bez nas savršenstva.

1Zato dakle i mi imajuæi oko sebe toliku gomilu svjedoka, da odbacimo svako breme i grijeh koji je za nas prionuo, i s trpljenjem da trèimo u bitku koja nam je odreðena, 2Gledajuæi na naèelnika vjere i svršitelja Isusa, koji mjesto odreðene sebi radosti pretrplje krst, ne mareæi za sramotu, i sjede s desne strane prijestola Božijega.

2 Corinthians 4.6-15 (Epistle, Forerunner)

6Jer Bog koji reèe da iz tame zasvijetli vidjelo, zasvijetli u srcima našima na svjetlost poznanja slave Božije u licu Isusa Hrista. 7Ali ovo blago imamo u zemljanijem sudovima, da premnoštvo sile bude od Boga a ne od nas. 8U svemu imamo nevolje, ali nam se ne dosaðuje; zbunjeni smo, ali ne gubimo nada; 9Progone nas, ali nijesmo ostavljeni; obaljuju nas, ali ne ginemo. 10I jednako nosimo na tijelu smrt Gospoda Isusa, da se i život Isusov na tijelu našemu pokaže. 11Jer mi živi jednako se predajemo na smrt za Isusa, da se i život Isusov javi na smrtnome tijelu našemu. 12Zato dakle smrt vlada u nama, a život u vama. 13Imajuæi pak onaj isti duh vjere kao što je napisano: vjerovah, zato govorih; mi vjerujemo, zato i govorimo. 14Znajuæi da æe onaj koji podiže Isusa, i nas podignuti s Isusom, i postaviti s vama. 15Jer je sve vas radi, da blagodat umnožena izobiluje hvalama na slavu Božiju.

John 1.43-51 (Gospel)

43A sjutradan namisli iziæi u Galileju, i naðe Filipa, i reèe mu: hajde za mnom. 44A Filip bješe iz Vitsaide iz grada Andrijna i Petrova. 45Filip naðe Natanaila, i reèe mu: za koga Mojsije u zakonu pisa i proroci, naðosmo ga, Isusa sina Josifova iz Nazareta. 46I reèe mu Natanailo: iz Nazareta može li biti što dobro? Reèe mu Filip: doði i vidi. 47A Isus vidjevši Natanaila gdje ide k njemu reèe za njega: evo pravoga Izrailjca u kome nema lukavstva. 48Reèe mu Natanailo: kako me poznaješ? Odgovori Isus i reèe mu: prije nego te pozva Filip vidjeh te kad bijaše pod smokvom. 49Odgovori Natanailo i reèe mu: Ravi! ti si sin Božij, ti si car Izrailjev. 50Odgovori Isus i reèe mu: što ti kazah da te vidjeh pod smokvom zato vjeruješ; vidjeæeš više od ovoga. 51I reèe mu: zaista, zaista vam kažem: otsele æete vidjeti nebo otvoreno i anðele Božije gdje se penju i silaze k sinu èovjeèijemu.

Matthew 11.2-15 (Gospel, Forerunner)

2A Jovan èuvši u tamnici djela Hristova posla dvojicu uèenika svojijeh, 3I reèe mu: jesi li ti onaj što æe doæi, ili drugoga da èekamo? 4A Isus odgovarajuæi reèe im: idite i kažite Jovanu što èujete i vidite: 5Slijepi progledaju i hromi hode, gubavi èiste se i gluhi èuju, mrtvi ustaju i siromašnima propovijeda se jevanðelje. 6I blago onome koji se ne sablazni o mene. 7A kad ovi otidoše, poèe Isus ljudima govoriti o Jovanu: šta ste izišli u pustinji da vidite? Trsku, koju ljulja vjetar? 8Ili šta ste izišli da vidite? Èovjeka u meke haljine obuèena? Eto, koji meke haljine nose po carskijem su dvorovima. 9Ili šta ste izišli da vidite? Proroka? Da, ja vam kažem, i više od proroka. 10Jer je ovo onaj za koga je pisano: eto, ja šaljem anðela svojega pred licem tvojijem, koji æe pripraviti put tvoj pred tobom. 11Zaista vam kažem: nijedan izmeðu roðenijeh od žena nije izišao veæi od Jovana krstitelja; a najmanji u carstvu nebeskome veæi je od njega. 12A od vremena Jovana krstitelja dosad carstvo nebesko na silu se uzima, i siledžije dobijaju ga. 13Jer su svi proroci i zakon proricali do Jovana. 14I ako hoæete vjerovati, on je Ilija što æe doæi. 15Koji ima uši da èuje neka èuje.

First (4th c.) and Second (9th c.) Findings of the Precious Head of St John the Baptist

After the Forerunner was beheaded at the order of Herod and his illicit wife Herodias, his head was discarded in what the Synaxarion calls “an unseemly location,” presumably a privy. According to some, it was secretly recovered by Joanna, one of the Myrrhbearing women, and given honorable burial near Jerusalem. There it was found, through a revelation of the Forerunner, by two monks who had come to Jerusalem to worship at the tomb of our Savior (the first finding). Putting the head in a bag, the monks returned home. On the way, they met an indigent potter from Emesa. That night the Forerunner appeared to the poor man and instructed him to make off with the relic. He returned with it to Emesa and immediately began to prosper in his business. Just before he died, he put the holy relic in a chest, which he left to his sister with these instructions: never to open it without instructions from the one hidden inside it; and to pass it on to a pious man beloved of God. Thus the Head of the Baptist passed through many generations, eventually being concealed in a cave near a monastery founded during the reign of Marcian (450-457), whose abbot was the godly Marcellus.

The blessed Forerunner appeared several times to Marcellus, embracing him and once even giving him a pot of honey. The Baptist ordered Marcellus to follow a star which led him to the cave and came to rest in front of a niche in the wall. Marcellus dug there and came upon a marble slab, under which was a large jar containing the precious Head. The holy relic was taken with rejoicing to the cathedral in Emesa,where it worked many wonders. In the reign of Michael III (842-867), it was taken to Constantinople. It was at this translation that the present Feast was instituted.

The version given here is that of St Symeon Metaphrastes. Other sources give substantially different accounts.

The Prologue observes: “It is important and interesting to note that, while he was alive, John did not work a single miracle (Jn 10:41), but to his relics was given the blessed power of working miracles.”

Saint Aethelberht (Ethelbert), first Christian King of Kent (616)

In 597, a party of forty missionary monks, led by St Augustine of Canterbury (May 28), was sent to Britain by the holy Pope Gregory the Great, to bring the blessed Gospel of Jesus Christ to the English people. Aethelberht, who had been King of Kent for thirty-six years, received the monks favorably, allowed them to preach in his kingdom, and invited them to establish their headquarters in Canterbury, his capital city, which already contained a small, ruined church dedicated to St Martin of Tours in Roman times.

The king himself was converted and received holy Baptism at the hands of St Augustine; a crowd of his subjects followed his example. When St Augustine was consecrated bishop, Aethelberht allowed him to be made Archbishop of Canterbury and gave his own palace to serve as a monastery. The king worked steadily for the conversion of the neighboring kindoms, and in 604 established an episcopal see in London. Unlike some Christian rulers, he refused to see anyone converted forcibly.

Saint Aethelberht reposed in peace in 616, after reigning for fifty-six years. He was buried in the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, which he had established. Many miracles were worked at his tomb, where a lamp was kept lit perpetually until the monastery was disbanded by the Protestants in 1538.