2 Corinthians 11.1-6 (Epistle)

1O da biste malo potrpljeli moje bezumlje! no i potrpite me. 2Jer revnujem za vas Božijom revnosti, jer vas obrekoh mužu jednome, da djevojku èistu izvedem pred Hrista. 3Ali se bojim da kako kao što zmija Evu prevari lukavstvom svojijem tako i razumi vaši da se ne odvrate od prostote koja je u Hristu. 4Jer ako onaj koji dolazi drugoga Isusa propovijeda kojega mi ne propovijedasmo, ili drugoga Duha primite kojega ne primiste, ili drugo jevanðelje koje ne primiste, dobro biste potrpljeli. 5Jer mislim da ni u èemu nijesam manji od prevelikijeh apostola. 6Jer ako sam i prostak u rijeèi, ali u razumu nijesam. No u svemu smo poznati meðu vama.

Luke 8.16-21 (Gospel)

16Niko pak svijeæe ne poklapa sudom kad je zapali, niti meæe pod odar, nego je metne na svijeænjak da vide svjetlost koji ulaze. 17Jer nema ništa tajno što neæe biti javno, ni sakriveno što se neæe doznati i na vidjelo iziæi. 18Gledajte dakle kako slušate; jer ko ima, daæe mu se, a ko nema, uzeæe se od njega i ono što misli da ima. 19Doðoše pak k njemu mati i braæa njegova, i ne mogahu od naroda da govore s njim. 20I javiše mu govoreæi: mati tvoja i braæa tvoja stoje napolju, hoæe da te vide. 21A on odgovarajuæi reèe im: mati moja i braæa moja oni su koji slušaju rijeè Božiju i izvršuju je.

Holy and Wonderworking Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian of Asia (3rd c.)

Three pairs of Unmercenary Physicians (Anargyri) named Cosmas and Damian are commemorated (today, on October 17, and on July 1); The two commemorated today lived near Ephesus in Asia. They were of noble birth and well-educated in all the branches of higher learning; but they turned away from worldly knowledge to practice medicine without charge for anyone who sought their help, caring for the rich as well as poor, and even for animals. They used none of the secular tools of medicine, but relied only on the Name of Christ, by which they were enabled to perform countless healings. Both reposed in peace.

Holy New Martyr Helen of Sinope (18th c.)

She was a maiden of fifteen who lived with her parents in the Christian enclave of Sinope in Pontus during the 1700s. One day, as she went to the marketplace, she passed by the house of the local Pasha (governor), who, seeing her beauty, was seized by lust for her. He ordered his servants to bring her to him, and made two attempts to defile her; each time, however, he was prevented by a mysterious power that kept him from her like an invisible wall. Determined to have his way for her, he kept her prisoner in his house; but she was able to slip away and run home to her parents’ house.

Enraged that his prey had escaped, the Pasha called together the leaders of the Christian community and promised that, unless Helen were handed over to him, all the Christians in the town would be massacred. Grief-stricken and fearful, the leaders persuaded Helen’s father to return the girl to the palace. The vile Pasha made several more attempts to rape the Saint, but once again he was restrained as if by an invisible wall as she recited the Six Psalms and all the prayers that she knew by heart. Realizing that he was powerless against her, the Pasha had her thrown in the common jail, then ordered that she be tortured to death. The executioners subjected the maiden to several cruel torments before killing her by driving two nails into her skull and beheading her. They then put her body in a sack and threw it in the Black Sea.

Some Greek sailors followed a heavenly light to the place where the sack had sunk, and divers retrieved the Saint’s relics, which immediately revealed themselves as a source of healing for many. Her body was taken to Russia; her head was placed in the church in Sinope, where it continued to work miracles, especially for those who suffered from headaches. When the Greeks were driven from Sinope in 1924, refugees took the head with them. It is venerated today in a church near Thessalonika.