Galatians 4.28-5.10 (Epistle)

28A mi smo, braæo, po Isaku djeca obeæanja. 29No kako onda onaj što se rodi po tijelu gonjaše duhovnoga, tako i sad. 30Ali šta govori pismo? Istjeraj robinju i sina njezina; jer sin robinjin neæe naslijediti sa sinom slobodne. 31Tako, braæo, nijesmo djeca robinjina nego slobodne.

1Stojte dakle u slobodi kojom nas Hristos oslobodi, i ne dajte se opet u jaram ropstva uhvatiti. 2Evo ja Pavle kažem vam da ako se obrežete Hristos vam ništa neæe pomoæi. 3A opet svjedoèim svakome èovjeku koji se obrezuje da je dužan sav zakon tvoriti. 4Izgubiste Hrista, vi koji hoæete zakonom da se opravdate, i otpadoste od blagodati. 5Jer mi duhom èekamo od vjere nad pravde. 6Jer u Hristu Isusu niti što pomaže obrezanje ni neobrezanje, nego vjera, koja kroz ljubav radi. 7Dobro trèaste; ko vam zabrani da se ne pokoravate istini? 8To odvraæanje nije od onoga koji vas pozva. 9Malo kvasca ukiseli sve tijesto. 10Ja se za vas nadam u Gospodu da ništa drugo neæete misliti. A koji vas smeta ponijeæe grijeh, makar ko bio.

Mark 6.54-7.8 (Gospel)

54I kad iziðoše iz laðe, odmah ga poznaše ljudi. 55I optrèavši sav onaj kraj poèeše na odrima donositi bolesnike gdje èujahu da je on. 56I kud god iðaše u sela ili u gradove ili u palanke, na raskršæima metahu bolesnike i moljahu ga da se barem skuta od haljine njegove dotaknu: i ozdravljahu svi koji ga se doticahu.

1I skupiše se oko njega fariseji i neki od književnika koji bijahu došli iz Jerusalima. 2I vidjevši neke od uèenika njegovijeh da neèistijem, to jest neumivenijem, rukama jedu hljeb, ukoriše ih. 3Jer fariseji i svi Jevreji ne jedu dok ne umiju ruku do lakata, držeæi se onoga što im je ostalo od starijeh; 4I kad doðu s pazara, ne jedu dok se ne umiju; i još mnogo ima što su primili te drže: peru èaše i žbanove i kotlove i klupe. 5A potom pitahu ga fariseji i književnici: zašto uèenici tvoji ne žive kao što nam je ostalo od starijeh, nego jedu hljeb neumivenijem rukama? 6A on odgovarajuæi reèe im: dobro je prorokovao Isaija za vas licemjere, kao što je pisano: ovi ljudi usnama me poštuju, a srce njihovo daleko stoji od mene. 7No zaludu me poštuju uèeæi naukama, zapovijestima ljudskijem. 8Jer ostaviste zapovijesti Božije, a držite obièaje ljudske, pranje žbanova i èaša; i druga mnoga takova èinite.

Holy Ancestors of God Joachim and Anna

St Joachim was of the tribe of Judah and a descendant of King David. St Anna was of the tribe of Levi, the daughter of a priest named Matthan. Matthan’s three daughters were Mary, Zoia and Anna. Mary became the mother of Salome the Myrrhbearer; Zoia bore Elizabeth, mother of St John the Baptist; and Anna married Joachim in Nazareth. Joachim and Anna, to their great sorrow, were barren for fifty years. They lived prayerfully and kept only a third of their income for themselves, giving a third to the poor and a third to the Temple. Once when they had come to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice at the Temple, Joachim was publicly scorned by the High Priest Issachar for his childlessness. Joachim and Anna, greatly grieved, prayed fervently that God would grant them the miracle that he had wrought for Abraham and Sarah, and give them a child in their old age. Once, as each was praying separately in a secluded place, angels appeared to each of them and revealed to them that they would be given a blessed daughter, `by whom all nations will be blessed, and through whom will come the salvation of the world.’ They both rushed home to tell one another the joyous news, and embraced when they met. (This is the moment depicted in their icon.) Anna conceived and gave birth to the Most Holy Theotokos. Both reposed in peace, not long after they had sent her to live in the Temple.

Commemoration of the Third Ecumenical Council (431)

The Council, called by the Emperor Theodosius the Younger, met in Ephesus. The two hundred fathers gathered there condemned the teaching of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople, who would not call the holy Virgin Mary Theotokos (God-bearer) but only Christotokos (Christ-bearer). The holy fathers of the Council clearly affirmed that the Virgin Mary is, and is to be called, Mother of God. They also confirmed the teaching of the first two Councils and decreed that the Nicene Creed may not be altered (as it later was by the Western church).

Holy Martyr Severian of Sebaste (320)

He was a prominent citizen of Sebaste during the reign of Licinius. When the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (March 9) were in prison, he encouraged and comforted them. For this, and for his Christian example which had converted many pagans in the region, the Provincial Governor Lysias ordered his arrest. But before the soldiers could find him, he presented himself before the Governor and openly proclaimed his faith. For this he was subjected to many days of horrible tortures, during which he constantly exhorted the believers who followed him to stand firm in their confession of Christ. After astonishing endurance of his torments, he gave up his spirit to God.

At the Saint’s burial, the husband of one of his servants was miraculously raised from the dead, living for another fifteen years. The Christians could not decide where to bury Severian, so they wove a crown of flowers and laid it on his body to await a sign from heaven. An eagle took up the crown and dropped it in a nearby forest. The Christians buried the Martyr where the crown fell; his tomb became a fount of miracles, and the man who had been raised from the dead tended it for the rest of his life.

Our Holy Father Ciaran of Clonmacnoise (549)

Born to the family of a cartwright in Ireland, he entered monastic life when he was very young at the Monastery of Clonard, where he became a disciple of St Finnian (December 12). He became one of the ‘Twelve Apostles of Ireland’, all of them disciples of St Finnian. Ciaran founded the great monastery of Clonmacnoise (pronounced clon-mac-neesh) on the Shannon River, which became one of Ireland’s great monasteries. Once, during a great famine, He distributed all of the monastery’s food to the people, entrusting his monks’ survival, and his own, to providence. Saint Ciaran reposed in peace, aged only thirty-three, in 549.