3. јул 2025.
Thursday of the 4th week after Pentecost

Apostles Fast — Wine and Oil are Allowed

Commemorations

Hieromartyr Methodius, bishop of Patara/Olympia (312)
St Kallistos I, Patriarch of Constantinople (1363)
Blessed Studios (5th c.)

Scripture Readings

Romans 11.13-24 (Epistle)

13Jer vama govorim neznabošcima; jer, buduæi da sam ja apostol neznabožaca, hoæu da hvalim svoju službu; 14Ne bih li kako razdražio svoj rod, i spasao koga od njih. 15Jer kad je odmet njihov primirenje svijetu, šta bi bilo primljenje, osim život iz mrtvijeh? 16Ako je kvasac svet, to je i tijesto; i ako je korijen svet, to su i grane. 17Ako li se neke od grana odlomiše, i ti, koji si divlja maslina, pricijepio si se na njih, i postao si zajednièar u korijenu i u masti od masline; 18Ne hvali se granama; ako li se pak hvališ, ne nosiš ti korijena nego korijen tebe. 19A reæi æeš: odlomiše se grane da se ja pricijepim. 20Dobro! nevjerstvom odlomiše se, a ti vjerom stojiš; ne ponosi se, nego se boj. 21Jer kad Bog roðenijeh grana ne poštedje, da i tebe kako ne nepoštedi. 22Gledaj dakle dobrotu i nepošteðenje Božije: nepošteðenje na onima što otpadoše, a na sebi dobrotu Božiju, ako ostaneš u dobroti; ako li pak ne, i ti æeš biti otsjeèen. 23A i oni, ako ne ostanu u nevjerstvu, pricijepiæe se; jer ih je Bog kadar opet pricijepiti. 24Jer kad si ti otsjeèen od roðene divlje masline, i pricijepio se na neroðenu pitomu maslinu; akamoli ovi koji æe se pricijepiti na roðenu svoju maslinu!

Matthew 11.27-30 (Gospel)

27Sve je meni predao otac moj, i niko ne zna sina do otac; niti oca ko zna do sin i ako kome sin hoæe kazati. 28Hodite k meni svi koji ste umorni i natovareni, i ja æu vas odmoriti. 29Uzmite jaram moj na sebe, i nauèite se od mene; jer sam ja krotak i smjeran u srcu, i naæi æete pokoj dušama svojijem. 30Jer je jaram moj blag, i breme je moje lako.

Commemorations

Hieromartyr Methodius, bishop of Patara/Olympia (312)

Noted in his own time for his wisdom and virtue, he was called Eubolos, meaning “of good counsel.” He was among the first to oppose the heretical writings of Origen. He was bishop in Patara (according to some sources) or Olympia (according to others), then of Tyre in Phoenecia. Under the Emperor Maximinus, he was attacked by the pagans and received the crown of martyrdom in Chalkis in Greece.

St Kallistos I, Patriarch of Constantinople (1363)

For twenty-eight years he lived the ascetical life on Mt Athos as a disciple of St Gregory of Mt Sinai. Later, he founded the monastery of St Mamas, also on Mt Athos. In 1350 he was elected Patriarch of Constantinople. After four years, he resigned the patriarchal throne to return to the Holy Mountain, but was called back to the throne, where he remained until his death in 1363. He wrote the definitive lives of St Gregory the Sinaite and St Theodosius of Trnovo. He was known to St Maximos Kapsokalyvia (the Hut-burner), who foretold his death: On his final journey to Serbia, on which he died, the Patriarch stopped on Mt Athos, where St Maximos saw him and said, “This elder will not see his flock again, because I hear behind him the hymn over the grave, ‘Blessed are those that are undefiled in the way…’”

Blessed Studios (5th c.)

He was a prominent nobleman and consul in Constantinople. In the City he founded both the Church of St John the Forerunner in 463, and the monastery thereafter called the Studion in honor of him. The Studion monastery nurtured a long line of ascetics, teachers, and martyrs; perhaps the best known is St Theodore the Studite (November 11), the great defender of the holy icons. The monastery was destroyed by the Crusaders in 1204, restored in 1293 by Emperor Andronicus II.