Ephesians 2.19-3.7 (Epistle)

19Tako dakle više nijeste tuði i došljaci, nego živite sa svetima i domaæi ste Bogu, 20Nazidani na temelju apostola i proroka, gdje je kamen od ugla sam Isus Hristos, 21Na kome sva graðevina sastavljena raste za crkvu svetu u Gospodu; 22Na kome æete se i vi sazidati za stan Božij u duhu.

1Toga sam radi ja Pavle sužanj Isusa Hrista za vas neznabošce, 2Buduæi da èuste službu blagodati Božije koja je meni dana meðu vama, 3Da se meni po otkrivenju kaza tajna; kao što gore napisah ukratko, 4Odakle možete èitajuæi poznati moj razum u tajni Hristovoj, 5Koja se u drugijem naraštajima ne kaza sinovima èovjeèijim, kako se sad otkri svetijem njegovijem apostolima i prorocima Duhom svetijem; 6Da neznabošci kroz jevanðelje postanu sunašljednici i sutjelesnici i zajednièari u obeæanju njegovom u Hristu Isusu, 7Kojemu postadoh sluga po daru blagodati Božije, koja mi je dana po èinjenju sile njegove.

Mark 11.11-23 (Gospel)

11I uðe Isus u Jerusalim, i u crkvu; i promotrivši sve, kad bi uveèe, iziðe u Vitaniju s dvanaestoricom. 12I sjutradan kad iziðoše iz Vitanije, ogladnje. 13I vidjevši izdaleka smokvu s lišæem doðe ne bi li što našao na njoj; i došavši k njoj ništa ne naðe osim lišæa; jer još ne bješe vrijeme smokvama. 14I odgovarajuæi Isus reèe joj: da otsad od tebe niko ne jede roda dovijeka. I slušahu uèenici njegovi. 15I doðoše opet u Jerusalim; i ušavši Isus u crkvu stade izgoniti one koji prodavahu i kupovahu po crkvi; i ispremeta trpeze onijeh što mijenjahu novce, i klupe onijeh što prodavahu golubove. 16I ne dadijaše da ko pronese suda kroz crkvu. 17I uèaše govoreæi im: nije li pisano: dom moj neka se zove dom molitve svima narodima? A vi naèiniste od njega hajduèku peæinu. 18I èuše književnici i glavari sveštenièki, i tražahu kako bi ga pogubili; jer ga se bojahu; jer se sav narod èuðaše nauci njegovoj. 19I kad bi uveèe iziðe napolje iz grada. 20I ujutru prolazeæi vidješe smokvu gdje se posušila iz korijena. 21I opomenuvši se Petar reèe mu: Ravi! gle, smokva što si je prokleo posušila se. 22I odgovarajuæi Isus reèe im: 23Imajte vjeru Božiju; jer vam zaista kažem: ako ko reèe gori ovoj: digni se i baci se u more, i ne posumnja u srcu svojemu, nego uzvjeruje da æe biti kao što govori: biæe mu što god reèe.

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.