1 Thessalonians 2.14-19 (Epistle)

14Jer vi, braæo, proðoste kao crkve Božije koje su u Judeji u Hristu Isusu; jer tako i vi postradaste od svojega roda kao i oni od Jevreja, 15Koji ubiše i Gospoda Isusa i proroke njegove, i koji nas istjeraše, i Bogu ne ugodiše, i koji se svijem ljudima protive, 16I zabranjuju nam kazivati neznabošcima da se spasu; da ispune grijehe svoje svagda; ali napošljetku doðe gnjev na njih. 17A mi, braæo, osirotjevši za vama neko vrijeme licem a ne srcem, veæma hiæasmo da vidimo lice vaše s velikom željom. 18Zato šæadijasmo da doðemo k vama, ja Pavle jednom i drugom, i zabrani nam sotona. 19Jer ko je naš nad ili radost, ili vijenac slave? Nijeste li i vi pred Gospodom našijem Isusom Hristom o njegovu dolasku?

Luke 10.1-15 (Gospel)

1A potom izabra Gospod i drugijeh sedamdesetoricu, i posla ih po dva i dva pred licem svojijem u svaki grad i u mjesto kuda šæaše sam doæi. 2A reèe im: žetva je dakle velika a poslenika malo; nego se molite gospodaru od žetve da izvede poslenike na žetvu svoju. 3Idite; eto ja vas šaljem kao jaganjce meðu vukove. 4Ne nosite kese ni torbe ni obuæe, i nikoga ne pozdravljajte na putu. 5U koju god kuæu uðete najprije govorite: mir kuæi ovoj. 6I ako dakle bude ondje sin mira, ostaæe na njemu mir vaš; ako li ne bude, vratiæe se k vama. 7A u onoj kuæi budite, i jedite i pijte što u njih ima; jer je poslenik dostojan svoje plate; ne prelazite iz kuæe u kuæu. 8I u koji god grad doðete i prime vas, jedite što se donese pred vas. 9I iscjeljujte bolesnike koji su u njemu, i govorite im: približi se k vama carstvo Božije. 10I u koji god grad doðete i ne prime vas, izišavši na ulice njegove recite: 11I prah od grada vašega koji je prionuo za nas otresamo vam; ali ovo znajte da se približi k vama carstvo Božije. 12Kažem vam da æe Sodomu biti lakše u onaj dan negoli gradu onome. 13Teško tebi, Horazine! teško tebi, Vitsaido! Jer da su u Tiru i u Sidonu bila èudesa što su bila u vama, davno bi se u vreæi i u pepelu sjedeæi pokajali. 14Ali Tiru i Sidonu biæe lakše na sudu nego vama. 15I ti, Kapernaume! koji si se do nebesa podigao do pakla æeš propasti.

Holy Martyr Arethas and those with him (524)

‘These Martyrs contested for piety’s sake in the year 524 in Najran, a city of Arabia Felix (present-day Yemen). When Dhu Nuwas, ruler of the Himyarite tribe in south Arabia, and a Judaizer, took power, he sought to blot out Christianity, especially at Najran, a Christian city. Against the counsels of Arethas, chief man of Najran, the city surrendered to Dhu Nuwas, who immediately broke the word he had given and sought to compel the city to renounce Christ. Led by Saint Arethas, hundreds of martyrs, including women, children, and babes, valiantly withstood his threats, and were beheaded and burned. After the men had been slain, all the free-born Christian women of Najran were brought before the tyrant and commanded to abjure Christ or die; yet they rebuked the persecutor with such boldness that he said even the men had not insulted him so contemptuously. So great was their faith that not one woman was found to deny Christ in all Najran, although some of them suffered torments more bitter than most of the men. In alliance with Byzantium, the Ethiopian King Elesbaan liberated Najran from Dhu Nuwas soon after and raised up churches in honour of the Martyrs. Najran became a place of pilgrimage until the rise of Islam a century later. At the end of his life King Elesbaan, who was also called Caleb, retired into solitude as a hermit; he sent his crown to Jerusalem as an offering to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. He also is commemorated on this day as a saint. Saint Arethas’ name in Arabic, Harith, means “plowman, tiller,” much the same as “George” in Greek.’ (Great Horologion)

Ethiopia is still a Christian nation, surrounded by Islamic states. The late Emperor Haile Selasse’s name means, in Ethiopian, “Power of the Trinity.”