Ephesians 5.8-19 (Epistle)

8Jer bijaste negda tama, a sad ste vidjelo u Gospodu: kao djeca vidjela živite; 9Jer je rod duhovni u svakoj dobroti i pravdi i istini. 10Istražujte što je Bogu ugodno. 11I ne pristajte na bezrodna djela tame, nego još karajte. 12Jer je sramno i govoriti šta oni tajno èine. 13A sve za što se kara, vidjelo objavljuje; jer sve što se objavljuje, vidjelo je; 14Zato govori: ustani ti koji spavaš i vaskrsni iz mrtvijeh, i obasjaæe te Hristos. 15Gledajte dakle da uredno živite, ne kao nemudri, nego kao mudri; 16Pazite na vrijeme, jer su dani zli. 17Toga radi ne budite nerazumni, nego poznajte što je volja Božija. 18I ne opijajte se vinom, u kome je kurvarstvo, nego se još ispunjavajte duhom, 19Govoreæi meðu sobom u psalmima i pojanju i pjesmama duhovnijem, pjevajuæi i pripijevajuæi u srcima svojijem Gospodu;

Matthew 18.10-20 (Gospel)

10Gledajte da ne prezrete jednoga od malijeh ovijeh; jer vam kažem da anðeli njihovi na nebesima jednako gledaju lice oca mojega nebeskoga. 11Jer sin èovjeèij doðe da iznaðe i spase izgubljeno. 12Što vam se èini? Kad ima jedan èovjek sto ovaca pa zaðe jedna od njih, ne ostavi li on devedeset i devet u planini, i ide da traži onu što je zašla? 13I ako se dogodi da je naðe, zaista vam kažem da se njoj više raduje nego onima devedeset i devet što nijesu zašle. 14Tako nije volja oca vašega nebeskoga da pogine jedan od ovijeh malijeh. 15Ako li ti sagriješi brat tvoj, idi i pokaraj ga meðu sobom i njim samijem; ako te posluša, dobio si brata svojega. 16Ako li te ne posluša, uzmi sa sobom još jednoga ili dvojicu da sve rijeèi ostanu na ustima dva ili tri svjedoka. 17Ako li njih ne posluša, kaži crkvi; a ako li ne posluša ni crkve, da ti bude kao neznabožac i carinik. 18Jer vam kažem zaista: što god svežete na zemlji biæe svezano na nebu, i što god razdriješite na zemlji biæe razdriješeno na nebu. 19Još vam kažem zaista: ako se dva od vas slože na zemlji u èemu mu drago, za što se uzmole, daæe im otac moj koji je na nebesima. 20Jer gdje su dva ili tri sabrani u ime moje ondje sam ja meðu njima.

Hieromartyr Therapon, bishop of Sardis (259)

For boldly preaching Christ and bringing many to the Faith, he was seized and tortured by the pagans. After imprisoning and starving him, his persecutors bound him to four posts and flogged him until the flesh was stripped from his bones. But he remained alive, and the four dead posts to which he was tied sprouted into tall, green trees, from which many received healing. At last St Therapon was slain by the sword, during the reign of the Emperor Valerian.

Holy Martyrs Theodora and Didymus (304)

“In the reign of the wicked Emperor Maximilian, there lived in Alexandria a maiden, Theodora, well-educated and of noble lineage. She was brought to trial before the pagans for her Christian faith. After long interrogation and torture for the Faith, the prince, her tormentor, ordered that she be thrown into a brothel and the soldiers given free access to her to indulge their carnal lusts. Theodora prayed fervently to God to save her from defilement, and, when she had prayed, a soldier called Didymus came in to her and told her that he was a servant of Christ. He dressed her in his soldier’s garb and himself in her dress, then let her out and remained in the brothel himself. He was seized and brought before the judge, where he acknowledged that he was a Christian and had saved Theodora, and was now prepared to die for Christ. He was condemned to death and taken out to the place of execution. Theodora ran up to him there and cried out: ‘Although you saved my honour, I did not ask you to save me from death. Yield the martyr’s death to me!’ Didymus replied: ‘My beloved sister, do not hinder my death for Christ, nor the washing of my sins in my blood.’ Hearing this exchange, the pagans condemned them both to death, and they were beheaded and their bodies burned. They suffered with honour and received eternal wreaths of glory in Alexandria in the year 304.” (Prologue)

Holy New Confessor John the Russian (1730)

He was captured during a Russian campaign against the Turks in 1711, and sold into slavery in Asia Minor. As a slave he strove to serve God faithfully, while serving his earthly master in everything honorable. Despite many enticements offered by the Muslims to renounce his faith, he remained steadfast, and was permitted to work miracles through his prayers. He reposed in peace in 1730. His relics remained incorrupt.

Saint David of Garesjei (6th c.)

“This David is one of the thirteen Georgian Fathers (May 7). He is thus named for the Garajeli desert near Tiflis, where he lived the ascetic life. In old age, David decided to visit the Holy Land with several of his disciples. He left the direction of the monastery to two elders, Lucian and Dodo, and set out on the way. When they came to a hill from which Jerusalem was visible, David burst into tears and said: ‘How can I dare to walk in the steps of God incarnate with these sinful feet?’, and he told his disciples to go and worship at the holy places, but he himself took up three stones and set off to return. But the Lord did not let such humility remain hidden from the world, and an angel appeared to Elias, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and said to him: ‘Send at once for the elder who is even now returning to Syria; he has taken with him three stones, and is carrying with him all the Holy Land’s grace. One stone is a sufficient blessing for him; let him return the other two to Jerusalem. He is called Abba David of Garesjei.’ The Patriarch quickly sent men off to overtake the elder. They took two stones from him, and let him go on his way. The third stone lies on his grave to this day, and possesses miraculous healing power.” (Prologue)

Venerable Bede (Baeda) (735)

He spent almost his entire life as a monk in England, and is known primarily for his many writings. He entered the monastery at Wearmouth at the age of seven, and later moved (perhaps as one of the founders) to the monastery of Jarrow, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was ordained to the priesthood in his thirtieth year. In addition to many works of biblical exegesis, very popular in the middle ages, he compiled the Ecclesiastical History, still the primary source for the history of Christianity’s establishment in the British isles. He reposed in peace.

A problem: Bede lived during the time of the undivided Church, but was only canonized, in the west, in 1899, centuries after the Great Schism. Presumably, then, he has never been formally glorified by the Orthodox Church. Is he a Saint of the Church? We leave the answer to wiser heads.