Acts 3.11-16 (Epistle)

11A kad se iscijeljeni hromi držaše Petra i Jovana, navališe k njima svi ljudi u trijem, koji se zvaše Solomunov, i èuðahu se. 12A kad vidje Petar, odgovaraše ljudima: ljudi Izrailjci! što se èudite ovome? Ili šta gledate na nas, kao da smo svojom silom ili pobožnošæu uèinili da on ide? 13Bog Avraamov i Isakov i Jakovljev, Bog otaca našijeh, proslavi sina svojega Isusa, kojega vi predadoste i odrekoste ga se pred licem Pilatovijem kad on sudi da ga pusti. 14A vi sveca i pravednika odrekoste se, i isprosiste èovjeka krvnika da vam pokloni; 15A naèelnika života ubiste, kojega Bog vaskrse iz mrtvijeh, èemu smo mi svjedoci. 16I za vjeru imena njegova ovoga, koga vidite i poznajete, utvrdi ime njegovo; i vjera koja je kroza nj dade mu cijelo zdravlje ovo pred svima vama.

John 3.22-33 (Gospel)

22A potom doðe Isus i uèenici njegovi u Judejsku zemlju, i ondje življaše s njima i kršæavaše. 23A Jovan kršæavaše u Enonu blizu Salima, jer ondje bješe mnogo vode; i dolažahu te ih kršæavaše. 24Jer još ne bijaše Jovan baèen u tamnicu. 25Tada postade raspra meðu uèenicima Jovanovijem i Jevrejima oko èišæenja. 26I doðoše k Jovanu i rekoše mu: Ravi! onaj što bješe s tobom preko Jordana, za koga si ti svjedoèio, evo on kršæava, i svi idu k njemu. 27Jovan odgovori i reèe: ne može èovjek ništa primati ako mu ne bude dano s neba. 28Vi sami meni svjedoèite da rekoh: ja nijesam Hristos, nego sam poslan pred njim. 29Ko ima nevjestu ženik je, a prijatelj ženikov stoji i sluša ga, i radošæu raduje se glasu ženikovu. Ova dakle radost moja ispuni se. 30Onaj treba da raste, a ja da se umaljujem. 31Koji odozgo dolazi nad svima je; koji je sa zemlje od zemlje je, i govori od zemlje; koji dolazi s neba nad svima je. 32I što vidje i èu ono svjedoèi; i svjedoèanstva njegova niko ne prima. 33Koji primi njegovo svjedoèanstvo, potvrdi da je Bog istinit.

Hieromartyr Artemon, presbyter of Laodicea in Syria (303)

At the time of Diocletian’s persecutions, he was a very old man, having served as a reader for sixteen years, then a deacon for twenty-eight years, and finally as a priest for thirty years, for a total of seventy-four years. The pagan judge put him in the Temple of Aesculapius, where large snakes were kept and worshiped as gods. Though the judge meant for Artemon to be attacked by the snakes, the holy priest immobilized them with the sign of the Cross, brought them out of the temple and, in front of the pagan priests, breathed on the snakes, which died instantly. The chief priest, Vitalis, fell to his knees and cried ‘Great is the Christian God!’ Artemon baptised him along with several of his friends.

The unrepentant judge then condemned Artemon to be thrown into burning pitch, but the judge himself was thrown off his horse into the pitch and died. After this, Artemon went free for a time and spent his time teaching the Faith to his people (“accompanied always by two tame deer,” says St Nikolia Velimirovic!). But he was arrested again and beheaded in the year 303.

St Martin the Confessor, pope of Rome (655)

“Martin became Pope on July 5th, 649, at the time of a furious quarrel between the Orthodox and the Monothelite heretics. Constans the Second, Heraclius’ grandson, was on the throne at the time, and Paul was Patriarch of Constantinople. To restore peace in the Church, the Emperor himself wrote a dogmatic decree, the Typos, which leaned heavily towards heresy. Pope Martin summoned a Council of 105 bishops, at which the Emperor’s statement was condemned. At the same time, the Pope wrote a letter to Patriarch Paul, begging him to uphold the purity of the Orthodox faith and to counsel the Emperor to reject the theories of the heretics. This letter infuriated both the Patriarch and the Emperor. The Emperor sent one of his generals, Olympius, to take the Pope to Constantinople in bonds. The general did not dare to bind the Pope with his own hands, but instructed one of his soldiers to kill him with the sword in church. But, when the soldier entered the church with his sword concealed, he was instantly blinded. So, by the providence of God, Martin escaped death. At that time, the Saracens fell upon Sicily, and Olympius went off there, where he died. Then, by the intrigues of the heretic Patriarch Paul, the Emperor sent a second general, Theodore, to bind and take the Pope on the charge that he, the Pope, was in collusion with the Saracens and that he did not reverence the most holy Mother of God. [!!] When the general arrived in Rome and read the accusation against the Pope, he replied that it was a libel; that he had no contact of any sort with the Saracens, the opponents of Christianity, ‘and whoever does not confess the most holy Mother of God and do her reverence, let him be damned in this age and in that which is to come.’ But this did not affect the general’s decision. The Pope was bound and taken to Constantinople, where he lay long in prison in great sickness, tortured by both anxiety and hunger, until he was finally sentenced to exile in Cherson, where he lived for two years before his death. He gave his soul into the hands of the Lord, for whom he had suffered so greatly, in 655. The evil Patriarch, Paul,died two years before him and, when the Emperor visited him on his deathbed, he smote his head against the wall, confessing with tears that he had greatly sinned against Pope Martin and asking the Emperor to set Martin free.’ (Prologue)

In some menaia he is commemorated on April 14.