Hebrews 7.1-6 (Epistle)

1Jer ovaj Melhisedek bješe car Salimski, sveštenik Boga najvišega, koji srete Avraama kad se vraæaše s boja careva, i blagoslovi ga; 2Kojemu i Avraam dade desetak od svega. Prvo dakle znaèi car pravde, potom i car Salimski, to jest car mira; 3Bez oca, bez matere, bez roda, ne imajuæi ni poèetka danima, ni svršetka životu, a isporeðen sa sinom Božijim, i ostaje sveštenik dovijeka. 4Ali pogledajte koliki je ovaj kome je i Avraam patrijarh dao desetak od plijena. 5Istina, i oni od sinova Levijevijeh koji primiše sveštenstvo, imaju zapovijest da uzimaju po zakonu desetak od naroda, to jest braæe svoje, ako su i izišli iz bedara Avraamovijeh. 6Ali onaj koji se ne broji od njihova roda, uze desetak od Avraama, i blagoslovi onoga koji ima obeæanje.

Hebrews 13.7-16 (Epistle, St Alexander)

7Opominjite se svojijeh uèitelja koji vam kazivaše rijeè Božiju; gledajte na svršetak njihova življenja, i ugledajte se na vjeru njihovu. 8Isus Hristos juèe je i danas onaj isti i vavijek. 9U nauke tuðe i razliène ne pristajte; jer je dobro blagodaæu utvrðivati srca, a ne jelima, od kojijeh ne imaše koristi oni koji življeše u njima. 10Imamo pak oltar od kojega oni ne smiju jesti koji služe skiniji. 11Jer kojijeh životinja krv unosi poglavar sveštenièki u svetinju za grijehe, onijeh se tjelesa spaljuju izvan okola. 12Zato Isus, da osveti narod krvlju svojom, izvan grada postrada. 13Zato dakle da izlazimo k njemu izvan okola, noseæi njegovu sramotu. 14Jer ovdje nemamo grada koji æe ostati, nego tražimo onaj koji æe doæi. 15Kroz njega dakle da svagda prinosimo Bogu žrtvu hvale, to jest, plod usana koje priznaju ime njegovo. 16A dobro èiniti i davati milostinju ne zaboravljajte; jer se takovijem žrtvama ugaða Bogu.

Luke 20.9-18 (Gospel)

9A narodu poèe kazivati prièu ovu: jedan èovjek posadi vinograd, i dade ga vinogradarima pa otide na podugo vremena. 10I u vrijeme posla k vinogradarima slugu da mu dadu od roda vinogradskoga; ali vinogradari izbiše ga, i poslaše prazna. 11I posla opet drugoga slugu; a oni i onoga izbiše i osramotivši poslaše prazna. 12I posla opet treæega; a oni i onoga raniše, i istjeraše. 13Onda reèe gospodar od vinograda: šta æu èiniti? Da pošljem sina svojega ljubaznoga: eda se kako zastide kad vide njega. 14A vinogradari vidjevši njega mišljahu u sebi govoreæi: ovo je našljednik; hodite da ga ubijemo da naše bude dostojanje. 15I izvedoše ga napolje iz vinograda i ubiše. Šta æe dakle uèiniti njima gospodar od vinograda? 16Doæi æe i pogubiæe ove vinogradare, i daæe vinograd drugima. A oni što slušahu rekoše: ne dao Bog! 17A on pogledavši na njih reèe: šta znaèi dakle ono u pismu: kamen koji odbaciše zidari onaj posta glava od ugla? 18Svaki koji padne na taj kamen razbiæe se; a na koga on padne satræe ga.

Luke 12.32-40 (Gospel, St Alexander)

32Ne boj se, malo stado! jer bi volja vašega oca da vam da carstvo. 33Prodajite što imate i dajite milostinju; naèinite sebi torbe koje neæe ovetšati, haznu koja se nikad neæe isprazniti, na nebesima, gdje se lupež ne prikuèuje niti moljac jede. 34Jer gdje je vaše blago ondje æe biti i srce vaše. 35Neka budu vaša bedra zapregnuta i svijeæe zapaljene; 36I vi kao ljudi koji èekaju gospodara svojega kad se vrati sa svadbe da mu odmah otvore kako doðe i kucne. 37Blago onijem slugama koje naðe gospodar kad doðe a oni straže. Zaista vam kažem da æe se zapregnuti, i posadiæe ih, i pristupiæe te æe im služiti. 38I ako doðe u drugu stražu, i u treæu stražu doðe, i naðe ih tako, blago onijem slugama. 39Ali ovo znajte: kad bi znao domaæin u koji æe èas doæi lupež, èuvao bi i ne bi dao potkopati kuæe svoje. 40I vi dakle budite gotovi; jer u koji èas ne mislite doæi æe sin èovjeèij.

Holy Great Martyr Barbara (290)

‘Saint Barbara was from Heliopolis of Phoenicia and lived during the reign of Maximian. She was the daughter of a certain idolater named Dioscorus. When Barbara came of age, she was enlightened in her pure heart and secretly believed in the Holy Trinity. About this time Dioscorus began building a bath-house; before it was finished he was required to go away to attend to certain matters, and in his absence Barbara directed the workmen to build a third window in addition to the two her father had commanded. She also inscribed the sign of the Cross with her finger upon the marble of the bath-house, leaving the saving sign cut as deeply into the marble as if it had been done with an iron tool. When the Synaxarion of Saint Barbara was written, the marble of the bath-house and the cross inscribed by Saint Barbara were still preserved, and many healings were worked there. When Dioscorus returned, he asked why the third window had been added; Barbara began to declare to him the mystery of the Trinity. Because she refused to renounce her faith, Dioscorus tortured Barbara inhumanly, and after subjecting her to many sufferings he beheaded her with his own hands, in the year 290.’ (Great Horologion)

Our Righteous Father John of Damascus (760)

This divinely-enlightened Harp of the Spirit was at the same time one of the Church’s greatest hymnographers and one of Her greatest theologians and defenders of the Faith.

The city of Damascus in Syria fell to the Muslims in 635. At the time of the Caliph Abdul-Malik, responsibility for government of the Christian population was given to Sergius Mansur, a prominent Christian of the city. This Sergius strove to govern in a godly way under the many disabilities imposed by the Caliph, and devoted his wealth to almsgiving and to ransoming Christian prisoners. His son John was born in 675, and along with his adoptive brother Cosmas (October 14) was brought up to love and serve Christ.

John, whose exceptional education included a perfect knowledge of both Greek and Arabic, entered the civil administration and eventually succeeded to his father’s position under the Caliph. When the Emperor Leo the Isaurian began to attack the holy icons, Saint John undertook a spirited defense of the Faith through letters to correspondents throughout the Empire. Normally the Emperor would have killed or exiled the Saint directly, but since he lived in Muslim lands the Emperor could not touch him (an interesting example of Islam unwittingly contributing to the defense of the Christian faith). So the wicked Emperor circulated a forged letter which made it appear that John was plotting against the Caliph. When this letter fell (as planned) into the Caliph’s hands, he was furious, and ordered that the Saint’s right hand be cut off. That evening John placed his severed hand before the icon of the Mother of God and prayed with tears that it might be restored. On awaking he found that his hand had been miraculously restored to him. The miracle convinced the Caliph of his counselor’s innocence, and John was restored to favor; but now John wanted nothing more of worldly honor and wished only to be a monk. Giving up his position, he distributed his fortune among the poor and left for Jerusalem to become a monk at the Monastery of St Sabas.

The Abbot of the monastery put John under an Elder who ordered him to have nothing to do with philosophy, science, poetry, chanting or reading, but to give himself uncomplainingly to menial tasks so as to advance in humility. This the Saint did. Some time later, however, a monk grieving over his brother’s death persuaded John to write a funeral hymn for his consolation. Out of compassion, John wrote the hymn which is used to this day in the Funeral Service. For his disobedience, John was given the job of cleaning all the latrines of the monastery by hand, which, again, he did without complaint. A few days later the Theotokos appeared to the Elder and told him to allow John to compose hymns and poems, which, she told, him, would surpass the Psalms of David in beauty and grace.

Thus the monk John began to write the large body of inspired hymns which grace the Church’s services. Among these are the Canon chanted at the Pascha Service, as well as most of the Resurrectional hymns of the Octoechos.

Saint John’s poetical gifts were matched by his gifts for expressing the Church’s theology: he composed a powerful defense of the icons (in print under the title On the Holy Images), a complete exposition of the Orthodox Faith (On the Orthodox Faith), and the first written refutation of Islam, which he had come to understand well while serving in the Caliph’s court.

In old age, John was ordained a priest by the Patriarch of Jerusalem. He reposed in peace in 760 at the age of eighty-four.

Saint Gennadius, Archbishop of Novgorod (1505)

He was of noble birth, but entered monastic life at Valaam. He lived as a hermit on the island of Solovki from 1430 until 1447, when he was appointed abbot of the Chudov Monastery in Moscow. In 1484 he became Bishop of Novgorod. He found that the Tatar invasions had so disrupted the Church that a complete text of the Holy Scriptures could hardly be found in all of Russia. He ordered and oversaw the publication of the first printed Slavonic edition of the Holy Scriptures, set up schools for the instruction of the clergy, re-established order in the divine services, and fought various heresies. His devotion earned him enemies, and he resigned his episcopate to withdraw once again to a monastery. He reposed in peace in 1505.