1 Thessalonians 5.9-13, 24-28 (Epistle)

9Fiindcă Dumnezeu nu ne-a rânduit la mânie, ci ca să căpătăm mântuirea, prin Domnul nostru Isus Hristos, 10care a murit pentru noi, pentru ca, fie că veghem, fie că dormim, să trăim împreună cu El. 11De aceea mângâiaţi-vă şi întăriţi-vă unii pe alţii, cum şi faceţi în adevăr. 12Vă rugăm, fraţilor, să priviţi bine pe cei ce se ostenesc între voi, care vă cârmuiesc în Domnul şi care vă sfătuiesc. 13Să-i preţuiţi foarte mult, în dragoste, din pricina lucrării lor. Trăiţi în pace între voi. 24Cel ce v-a chemat este credincios şi va face lucrul acesta. 25Fraţilor, rugaţi-vă pentru noi. 26Spuneţi sănătate tuturor fraţilor, cu o sărutare sfântă. 27În Domnul, vă rog fierbinte ca epistola aceasta să fie citită tuturor fraţilor. 28Harul Domnului nostru Isus Hristos să fie cu voi cu toţi! Amin.

Luke 16.15-18, 17.1-4 (Gospel)

15Isus le-a zis: „Voi căutaţi să vă arătaţi neprihăniţi înaintea oamenilor, dar Dumnezeu vă cunoaşte inimile; pentru că ce este înălţat între oameni este o urâciune înaintea lui Dumnezeu. 16Legea şi prorocii au ţinut până la Ioan; de atunci încoace, Evanghelia Împărăţiei lui Dumnezeu se propovăduieşte; şi fiecare, ca să intre în ea, dă năvală. 17Este mai lesne să treacă cerul şi pământul decât să cadă o singură frântură de slovă din Lege. 18Oricine îşi lasă nevasta şi ia pe alta de nevastă preacurveşte; şi cine ia de nevastă pe cea lăsată de bărbatul ei preacurveşte. 1Isus a zis ucenicilor Săi: „Este cu neputinţă să nu vină prilejuri de păcătuire; dar vai de acela prin care vin! 2Ar fi mai de folos pentru el să i se lege o piatră de moară de gât şi să fie aruncat în mare, decât să facă pe unul din aceşti micuţi să păcătuiască. 3Luaţi seama la voi înşivă! Dacă fratele tău păcătuieşte împotriva ta, mustră-l! Şi dacă-i pare rău, iartă-l! 4Şi, chiar dacă păcătuieşte împotriva ta de şapte ori pe zi, şi de şapte ori pe zi se întoarce la tine şi zice: „Îmi pare rău!”, să-l ierţi.”

Our Holy Father Gregory of Decapolis (842)

He was born in Irenopolis, one of the “Ten Cities” of Asia Minor. Though his parents wanted him to marry, he entered monastic life as a young man, and struggled for many years, living in reclusion under the guidance of a wise spiritual father. One day, while in prayer, he was carried away to Paradise and experienced the blessedness that the redeemed will know at the general Resurrection. The vision seemed to him only to last for an hour, but he learned from his disciple that he had been in ecstasy for four days.

Aware that the Enemy can appear as an angel of light, and that we should be suspicious of seeming revelations, he sought the counsel of his Abbot, who reassured him, and told him to give thanks to God by continuing in his ascetic labors.

Soon, he was told by revelation that he was to go forth into the world, living without an earthly home, to uphold the Orthodox faith, which was then under attack by the Iconoclasts. He traveled through Ephesus, Constantinople, Corinth, Rome, Sicily, Thessalonica, and Constantinople again, laboring in defense of the Faith and working many miracles. Usually he would stay with poor people who welcomed him into their houses, though it was forbidden by law to receive an Orthodox monk (that is, one who defended the Icons). In his last few years, afflicted by illness, he settled in Constantinople, where he reposed in peace in 832, just before the end of iconoclasm and the restoration of Orthodoxy. Since 1490, his incorrupt relics have dwelt at the Monastery of Bistritsa in Romania, where they continue to be a source of miracles for the many pilgrims who come to venerate them.

Our Holy Father Proclus, Archbishop of Constantinople (447)

He was a disciple and scribe of St John Chrysostom. About the year 426 he was ordained Bishop of Cyzicus, but was unable to take up his see because another had been unlawfully elected in his place, so he remained in Constantinople. Around 428, Nestorius was made Patriarch of Constantinople, and almost immediately began teaching his blasphemous doctrine that the holy Virgin could not be called Theotokos, “God-bearer,” but only Christotokos, “Christ-bearer.” Proclus resisted this teaching forcefully, once giving a sermon in the presence of the heretical Patriarch, defending the Orthodox teaching concerning the Theotokos. Proclus was elevated to the throne of Patriarch of Constantinople in 434, after Nestorius had been deposed and the Orthodox teaching clearly proclaimed in an Ecumenical Council. It was Proclus who persuaded the Emperor Theodosius the Younger to have the holy relics of his teacher St John Chrysostom returned to Constantinople, and who received them on their triumphal return to the city. He reposed in peace in 447.