James 2.1-13 (Epistle)

1Braæo moja! u vjeri Gospoda našega slavnoga Isusa Hrista ne gledajte ko je ko; 2Jer ako doðe u crkvu vašu èovjek sa zlatnijem prstenom i u svijetloj haljini, a doðe i siromah u rðavoj haljini, 3I pogledate na onoga u svijetloj haljini, i reèete mu: ti sjedi ovdje lijepo, a siromahu reèete: ti stani tamo, ili sjedi ovdje niže podnožja mojega; 4I ne rasudiste u sebi, nego biste sudije zlijeh pomisli. 5Èujte, ljubazna braæo moja, ne izabra li Bog siromahe ovoga svijeta da budu bogati vjerom, i našljednici carstva koje obreèe onima koji njega ljube? 6A vi osramotiste siromaha. Nijesu li to bogati koji vas muèe i vuku vas na sudove? 7Ne hule li oni na dobro ime vaše kojijem ste se nazvali? 8Ako dakle zakon carski izvršujete po pismu: ljubi bližnjega kao samoga sebe, dobro èinite; 9Ako li gledate ko je ko, grijeh èinite, i biæete pokarani od zakona kao prestupnici; 10Jer koji sav zakon održi a sagriješi u jednome, kriv je za sve. 11Jer onaj koji je rekao: ne èini preljube, rekao je i: ne ubij. Ako dakle ne uèiniš preljube a ubiješ, postao si prestupnik zakona. 12Tako govorite i tako tvorite kao oni koji æe zakonom slobode biti suðeni; 13Jer æe onome biti sud bez milosti koji ne èini milosti; i hvali se milost na sudu.

Mark 10.23-32 (Gospel)

23I pogledavši Isus reèe uèenicima svojima: kako je teško bogatima uæi u carstvo nebesko! 24A uèenici se uplašiše od rijeèi njegovijeh. A Isus opet odgovarajuæi reèe im: djeco! kako je teško onima koji se uzdaju u svoje bogatstvo uæi u carstvo Božije! 25Lakše je kamili proæi kroz iglene uši negoli bogatome uæi u carstvo Božije. 26A oni se vrlo divljahu govoreæi u sebi: ko se dakle može spasti? 27A Isus pogledavši na njih reèe: ljudima je nemoguæe, ali nije Bogu: jer je sve moguæe Bogu. 28A Petar mu poèe govoriti: eto mi smo ostavili sve, i za tobom idemo. 29A Isus odgovarajuæi reèe: zaista vam kažem: nema nikoga koji je ostavio kuæu, ili braæu, ili sestre, ili oca, ili mater, ili ženu, ili djecu, ili zemlju, mene radi i jevanðelja radi, 30A da neæe primiti sad u ovo vrijeme sto puta onoliko kuæa, i braæe, i sestara, i otaca, i matera, i djece, i zemlje, u progonjenju, a na onome svijetu život vjeèni. 31Ali æe mnogi prvi biti pošljednji, i pošljednji prvi. 32A kad iðahu putem u Jerusalim, Isus iðaše pred njima, a oni se èuðahu, i za njim iðahu sa strahom. I uzevši opet dvanaestoricu poèe im kazivati šta æe biti od njega:

Our Venerable Mother Domnica (Domnina) (ca. 474)

She was born in Rome and reared in the love of Christ. She secretly left her parents’ house and traveled by ship to Alexandria, where she found lodging with four virtuous pagan maidens. By her example and counsel these four were in time led to abandon idolatry and embrace Domnica’s faith. The five then sailed to Constantinople, where it is said that the Patriarch Nectarius (October 11) was notified of their coming by an angel and met them at the dock. The Patriarch baptized the four maidens himself, giving them the names Dorothea, Evanthia, Nonna and Timothea, then settled them and Domnica in a monastery.

Soon the fame of Domnica’s pure life, wise teaching, and wondrous healings spread throughout the city, and even the Emperor Theodosius, with the Empress and his court, came to see her. Soon the crowds made it impossible for her and her sisters to live the heavenly life for which they had entered the monastery; so they relocated the monastery to a remote, demon-haunted location where executions had once commonly been performed, since everyone avoided the area. Here a new monastery was built by order of the Emperor, and the sisters found peace.

Saint Domnica’s fame continued, and she became not only a healer but an oracle for the city of Constantinople, prophesying the death of the Emperor Theodosius and the unrest which followed it. She reposed in peace, having first entrusted the care of the monastery to Dorothea. At the moment of her death, the whole monastery was shaken, and those present saw Saint Domnica dressed as a bride, being borne heavenward escorted by a company of white-clad monks and nuns.

Saint Atticus, Patriarch of Constantinople (425)

Born in Sebaste in Armenia, he was reared by monks who held to the heresy of Macedonius, which denied the uncreated divinity of the Holy Spirit; but when he came of age he rejected this error and embraced the Orthodox faith. He settled in Constantinople and became a priest in the Great Church. Though he had little formal education, his amazing memory, his zeal for Christ, and his powerful sermons recommended him to all, and he was elected Patriarch in 406, during the reign of the Emperor Arcadius. He served as shepherd to the Church for twenty years, ruling always with wisdom and moderation. Though he was unbending in upholding the Faith exactly, he took a conciliatory, persuasive approach to heretics and schismatics; in this way he was able to restore many to the Church rather than driving them away. His best-known single act is his restoration of the name of St John Chrysostom to the diptychs. Saint John had been unjustly denied commemoration in the Patriarchate since his exile, which had led to a schism; restoration of his commemoration not only corrected a grave injustice but healed a schism. Saint Atticus also presided over the rededication of the Agia Sophia, which had been burned in 404 in the rioting that followed St John Chrysostom’s exile. He reposed in peace in 425.

Saint Severinus (482)

St. Severinus came to the borderland of present-day Gemany and Austria from the east — possibly the Egyptian desert — to care for the Roman Christians who were endangered by invading barbarians during the collapse of the Roman Empire. He remained there until the end of his life. While he was there he advised both common people and kings to put eternal life first, and taught them to be generous to one another and to lead a true Christian life. He built a monastery and protected from harm those who gathered around him. As he foretold, the monks and other Christians who had followed him escaped to safety in Italy, taking St. Severinus’ incorrupt relics with them. His relics are still honored in Frattamaggiore, Italy (near Naples).

—from the 2006 Saint Herman Calendar