Joel 2.12-26 (Sixth Hour)

12Zato još govori Gospod: obratite se k meni svijem srcem svojim i posteæi i plaèuæi i tužeæi. 13I razderite srca svoja a ne haljine svoje, i obratite se ka Gospodu Bogu svojemu, jer je milostiv i žalostiv, spor na gnjev i obilan milosrðem i kaje se oda zla. 14Ko zna, neæe li se povratiti i raskajati se, i ostaviti iza toga blagoslov, dar i naljev za Gospoda Boga vašega. 15Trubite u trubu na Sionu, naredite post, proglasite svetkovinu. 16Saberite narod, osveštajte sabor, skupite starce, saberite djecu i koja sisaju; ženik neka izide iz svoje klijeti i nevjesta iz ložnice svoje. 17Izmeðu trijema i oltara neka plaèu sveštenici, sluge Gospodnje, i neka reku: prosti, Gospode, narodu svojemu, i ne daj našljedstva svojega pod sramotu, da njim obladaju narodi; zašto da reku u narodima: gdje im je Bog? 18I Gospod æe revnovati za zemlju svoju i požaliæe narod svoj. 19I Gospod æe odgovoriti i reæi æe svome narodu: evo, ja æu vam poslati žita i vina i ulja, i biæete ga siti, i neæu vas više dati pod sramotu meðu narodima. 20Jer æu udaljiti od vas sjeverca, i odagnati ga u zemlju suhu i pustu, prednju èetu njegovu u istoèno more a zadnju u more zapadno, i podignuæe se smrad njegov, i trulež æe se njegov podignuti, pošto uèini velike stvari. 21Ne boj se, zemljo, raduj se i veseli se, jer æe Gospod uèiniti velike stvari. 22Ne bojte se, zvijeri poljske; jer æe se zelenjeti pasišta u pustinji i drveta æe nositi rod svoj, smokva æe i loza vinova davati silu svoju. 23I vi, sinovi Sionski, radujte se i veselite se u Gospodu Bogu svojem, jer æe vam dati dažd na vrijeme, i spustiæe vam dažd rani i pozni na vrijeme. 24I gumna æe se napuniti žita, a kace æe se preljevati vinom i uljem. 25I naknadiæu vam godine koje izjede skakavac, hrušt i crv i gusjenica, velika vojska moja, koju slah na vas. 26I ješæete izobila, i biæete siti i hvaliæete ime Gospoda Boga svojega, koji uèini s vama èudesa, i narod moj neæe se posramiti dovijeka.

Joel 3.12-21 (Vespers)

12Neka se podignu i doðu narodi u dolinu Josafatovu; jer æu ondje sjesti da sudim svijem narodima unaokolo. 13Zamahnite srpom, jer je žetva uzrela; hodite, siðite, jer je tijesak pun, kace se preljevaju; jer je zloæa njihova velika. 14Gomile, gomile u dolini sudskoj; jer je dan Gospodnji blizu u dolini sudskoj. 15Sunce æe i mjesec pomrknuti, i zvijezde æe ustegnuti svoju svjetlost. 16I Gospod æe riknuti sa Siona, i iz Jerusalima æe pustiti glas svoj, i zatrešæe se nebo i zemlja; ali æe Gospod biti utoèište svome narodu i krjepost sinovima Izrailjevijem. 17I poznaæete da sam ja Gospod Bog vaš, koji nastavam u Sionu, u svetoj gori svojoj; i Jerusalim æe biti svet, i tuðinci neæe više iæi po njemu. 18I tada æe gore kapati slatkim vinom, i humovi æe se topiti od mlijeka, i svijem potocima Judinijem teæi æe voda, i izaæi æe izvor iz doma Gospodnjega i natopiæe dolinu Sitim. 19Misir æe opustjeti, i Edomska æe biti pusta pustinja za nasilje uèinjeno sinovima Judinijem, jer proliše krv pravu u zemlji njihovoj. 20A Juda æe stajati dovijeka i Jerusalim od koljena do koljena. 21I oèistiæu krv njihovu, koje ne oèistih; i Gospod æe nastavati u Sionu.

Composite 2 - Proverbs 10, 3, 8 (Vespers)

1The memory of a just man is praised, and the Lord’s blessing is upon his head. Blessed is one who has found wisdom; a mortal who knows understanding. To import her is better than treasures of gold and silver. She is more valuable than precious stones; nothing of value equals her worth. Justice proceeds from her mouth; she bears law and mercy on her tongue. Therefore, my children, listen to me, for I speak weighty things. And blessed is the one who keeps my ways. For my goings out are the goings out of life, and favour is prepared from the Lord. Therefore I exhort you, and utter my voice to the children of humankind. Because I, Wisdom, have prepared counsel, knowledge and understanding. I have called on them. Counsel and sureness are mine; prudence is mine, strength is mine. I love those who are my friends, while those who seek me will find grace. You innocent, then, understand cunning; you untaught, take it to heart. Listen to me, for I will speak weighty things, and I will open right things from my lips. Because my throat will meditate truth; lying lips are abominable before me. All the words of my mouth are with justice, there is nothing crooked in them nor twisted. They are all straight for those who understand, and right for those who find knowledge. For I teach you what is true, that your hope may be in the Lord and that you may be filled with spirit.

Composite 4 - Proverbs 10; Wisdom of Solomon 6, 7, 8, 9 (Vespers)

1The mouth of a just man distils wisdom; the lips of men know graces. The mouth of the wise meditates wisdom; justice delivers them from death. When a just man dies hope is not lost; for a just son is born for life, and among his good things he will pluck the fruit of justice. There is light at all times for the just, and they will find grace and glory from the Lord. The tongue of the wise knows what is good, and wisdom will take its rest in their hearts. The Lord loves holy hearts; while all who are blameless in the way are acceptable to him. The wisdom of the Lord will enlighten the face of the understanding; for she anticipates those who desire her before they know it, and is easily contemplated by those who love her. One who rises for her at dawn will not toil, and one who keeps vigil because of her will be without care. For she goes about seeking those who are worthy of her, and shows herself favourably to those on her paths. Wickedness will never prevail against wisdom. Because of this I too became a lover of her beauty and became her friend, and I sought her out from my youth, and I sought to take her as my bride, because the Master of all things loved her, for she is an initiate of the knowledge of God and one who chooses his works. Her toils are virtues; she herself teaches sobriety and prudence; justice and courage, than which things nothing is more useful in human life. If anyone longs for much experience, she knows how to compare things of old and those that are to come. She knows the twists of words and the explanations of riddles. She foresees signs and wonders and the outcomes of seasons and times. And to all she is a good counsellor. Because immortality is in her, and fame in the fellowship of her words. Therefore I appealed to the Lord and besought him and said from my whole heart, ‘God of my Fathers and Lord of mercy, who made all things by your Word, and established humanity by your Wisdom to be sovereign over the creatures that had come into being by you, and to order the world in holiness and justice, give me Wisdom who sits by your throne, and do not reject me from among your children, for I am your servant and the son of your maid servant. Send her out from your holy dwelling and from the throne of your glory, that she may be present with me and teach me what is well pleasing before you. And she will guide me with knowledge and guard me with her glory. For all the thoughts of mortals are wretched and their ideas are unstable.’

Wisdom of Solomon 4.7-15 (Vespers)

John 10.9-16 (Matins Gospel)

9Ja sam vrata; ko uðe kroza me spašæe se, i uæi æe i iziæi æe, i pašu æe naæi. 10Lupež ne dolazi ni za što drugo nego da ukrade i ubije i pogubi; ja doðoh da imaju život i izobilje. 11Ja sam pastir dobri; pastir dobri dušu svoju polaže za ovce, 12A najamnik, koji nije pastir, kome nijesu ovce svoje, vidi vuka gdje ide, i ostavlja ovce, i bježi: i vuk razgrabi ovce i raspudi ih; 13A najamnik bježi, jer je najamnik i ne mari za ovce. 14Ja sam pastir dobri i znam svoje, i moje mene znaju. 15Kao što mene zna otac i ja znam oca; i dušu svoju polažem za ovce. 16I druge ovce imam koje nijesu iz ovoga tora, i one mi valja dovesti; i èuæe glas moj, i biæe jedno stado i jedan pastir.

Hebrews 13.17-21 (Epistle, St Theodosius)

17Slušajte uèitelje svoje i pokoravajte im se, jer se oni staraju za duše vaše, kao koji æe dati odgovor, da to s radošæu èine, a ne uzdišuæi; jer vam ovo ne pomaže. 18Molite se Bogu za nas. Jer se nadamo da imamo dobru savjest, starajuæi se u svemu dobro da živimo. 19A odviše molim èinite ovo, da bih se prije vratio k vama. 20A Bog mira, koji izvede iz mrtvijeh velikoga pastira ovcama, krvlju zavjeta vjeènoga, Gospoda našega Isusa Hrista, 21Da vas savrši u svakome djelu dobrom, da uèinite volju njegovu, èineæi u vama što je ugodno pred njim, kroz Isusa Hrista, kojemu slava va vijek vijeka. Amin.

Luke 6.17-23 (Gospel, St Theodosius)

17I izišavši s njima stade na mjestu ravnom, i gomila uèenika njegovijeh; i mnoštvo naroda iz sve Judeje i iz Jerusalima, i iz primorja Tirskoga i Sidonskoga, 18Koji doðoše da ga slušaju i da se iscjeljuju od svojijeh bolesti, i koje muèahu duhovi neèisti; i iscjeljivahu se. 19I sav narod tražaše da ga se dotaknu; jer iz njega izlažaše sila i iscjeljivaše ih sve. 20I on podignuvši oèi na uèenike svoje govoraše: blago vama koji ste siromašni duhom; jer je vaše carstvo Božije. 21Blago vama koji ste gladni sad; jer æete se nasititi. Blago vama koji plaèete sad; jer æete se nasmijati. 22Blago vama kad na vas ljudi omrznu i kad vas rastave i osramote, i razglase ime vaše kao zlo sina radi èovjeèijega. 23Radujte se u onaj dan i igrajte, jer gle, vaša je velika plata na nebu. Jer su tako èinili prorocima ocevi njihovi.

Holy Martyr Agatha of Palermo in Sicily (251)

She is one of the best loved and most venerated Martyrs of the West. She was born to a noble family in Catania or Palermo in Sicily. At an early age she consecrated herself to the Lord and, though very beautiful, sought only to adorn herself with the virtues. During the persecution under Decius (251), she was arrested as a Christian; at this time she was about fifteen years old. Quintinian, the Governor of Sicily, was taken by her beauty and offered to marry her, thinking in that way not only to possess her body but her riches as well. When she spurned his advances, and continued to mock the idols, he grew angry and decided to have her tortured. She was gruesomely tormented and cast bleeding into a dungeon to die; but in the night her Guardian Angel brought the Apostle Peter to her, and he healed her wounds. The following day, the Governor ordered that she be subjected to further torments, but at his words the city was shaken by an earthquake and part of the palace collapsed. The terrified people stormed the palace and demanded that Agatha be released, lest they be subject to the wrath of her God. The Saint was returned to her prison cell, where in response to her prayers she was allowed to give up her soul to God.

At Agatha’s burial, attended by many, her Guardian Angel appeared and placed a marble slab on her tomb, inscribed with the words ‘A righteous mind, self- determining, honor from God, the deliverance of her fatherland.’ Quintinian died soon thereafter, thrown from his chariot.

On the first anniversary of Agatha’s death, Mt Etna erupted and Catania was about to be engulfed in lava. Christians and pagans together, remembering the inscription on her tomb, took the slab from the tomb and bore it like a shield to the river of lava, which was immediately stopped. The same miracle has happened many times in the following centuries, and Saint Agatha is venerated as the Protectress of Catania and Sicily, loved and honored by Christians of the East and the West.

Our Holy Father Polyeuctus, Patriarch of Constantinople (970)

Born in Constantinople, he was made a eunuch in childhood by his parents, who hoped that he would go into the Byzantine civil service. But he became a monk, and so distinguished himself for his holiness and learning that in 956 he was made Patriarch of Constantinople by the Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos. In his own day he was called ‘the Second Chrysostom’ for the power of his preaching and his zeal for the Orthodox faith.

In 957, St Polyeuctus baptized the Russian princess St Olga (July 11) in Constantinople; at her baptism, he spoke these prophetic words: ‘Blessed are you among all the women of Russia, for you have rejected darkness and desired the light. Moreover, the children of the Russian land will bless you in every generation.’ He fell asleep in peace in 970.

Holy New Martyr Antony of Athens (1774)

‘Saint Antony was the son of poor Christians from Athens. In order to help his parents, he entered the service of an Albanian Muslim at the age of twelve. In 1770, during the repression which followed the Greek rising in the Peloponnese, his masters sold him to some Turks, who tried in vain to convert him. He was then sold to a succession of five harsh, fanatical masters, but he remained unshaken in the Faith, and was bought at last by a Christian coppersmith in Constantinople. Having been warned one night in a dream that he would receive God’s help to obtain the glory of martyrdom, he was recognized next day in the street by one of his former masters, who began shouting to the passers-by that the young Christian was his runaway slave and an apostate from Islam. Antony was dragged to the court amid much commotion. He confessed that he was willing to die a thousand deaths for the love of Christ. “You would become a Christian more easily than you could make me deny my Christ,” he told the judge. Unable to persuade the Saint to feign conversion in order to save his life and under pressure from false witnesses, the judge reluctantly committed him to prison. Antony consoled the other Christian prisoners, gave away what little money he had to the poor, and wrote to thank his master for all his kindnesses and through him asked the forgiveness of all Christians and besought the prayers of the Church.

‘As the vizir delayed passing sentence, the Saint’s accusers made a complaint to the Sultan Abdul Hamid who, fearing a breach of the peace, ordered his immediate execution. The valiant sixteen-year-old went joyfully to the place of martyrdom. He offered his neck to the executioner, who struck him lightly three times to see if the pain would make him yield. Then, finding that he remained steady, he cut his throat like a slaughtered lamb.’ (Synaxarion)