8 Iulie 2028
Saturday of the 5th week after Pentecost

Apostles Fast — Fish, Wine and Oil are Allowed

Commemorations

Virgin-Martyr Febronia of Nisibis (310)
Our Holy Father Dionysios, founder of the Monastery of St John the Forerunner on Mt Athos (1380)

Scripture Readings

Romans 8.14-21 (Epistle)

14Căci toţi cei ce sunt călăuziţi de Duhul lui Dumnezeu sunt fii ai lui Dumnezeu. 15Şi voi n-aţi primit un duh de robie, ca să mai aveţi frică; ci aţi primit un duh de înfiere care ne face să strigăm: „Ava!, adică: Tată!” 16Însuşi Duhul adevereşte împreună cu duhul nostru că suntem copii ai lui Dumnezeu. 17Şi, dacă suntem copii, suntem şi moştenitori: moştenitori ai lui Dumnezeu şi împreună moştenitori cu Hristos, dacă suferim cu adevărat împreună cu El, ca să fim şi proslăviţi împreună cu El. 18Eu socotesc că suferinţele din vremea de acum nu sunt vrednice să fie puse alături cu slava viitoare, care are să fie descoperită faţă de noi. 19De asemenea, şi firea aşteaptă cu o dorinţă înfocată descoperirea fiilor lui Dumnezeu. 20Căci firea a fost supusă deşertăciunii – nu de voie, ci din pricina celui ce a supus-o – cu nădejdea însă, 21că şi ea va fi izbăvită din robia stricăciunii, ca să aibă parte de slobozenia slavei copiilor lui Dumnezeu.

Matthew 9.9-13 (Gospel)

9De acolo, Isus a mers mai departe şi a văzut pe un om, numit Matei, şezând la vamă. Şi i-a zis: „Vino după Mine.” Omul acela s-a sculat şi a mers după El. 10Pe când şedea Isus la masă, în casă, iată că au venit o mulţime de vameşi şi păcătoşi şi au şezut la masă cu El şi cu ucenicii Lui. 11Fariseii au văzut lucrul acesta şi au zis ucenicilor Lui: „Pentru ce mănâncă Învăţătorul vostru cu vameşii şi cu păcătoşii?” 12Isus i-a auzit şi le-a zis: „Nu cei sănătoşi au trebuinţă de doctor, ci cei bolnavi. 13Duceţi-vă de învăţaţi ce înseamnă: „Milă voiesc, iar nu jertfă!” Căci n-am venit să chem la pocăinţă pe cei neprihăniţi, ci pe cei păcătoşi.”

Commemorations

Virgin-Martyr Febronia of Nisibis (310)

Though the daughter of a Roman senator and a great beauty, she fled the world and entered a monastery in Mesopotamia. (So great was her beauty that the abbess had her stand behind a screen while reading to her monastic sisters.) At that time the Emperor Diocletian sent a certain Selenus, along with his nephew Lysimachus, on a mission to find and destroy Christians in the East. Though Selenus was a fierce persecutor of the Christians, Lysimachus felt sympathy for them and secretly protected them whenever he could. Selenus and his party came to Nisibis, where Febronia’s virtue and holiness had already become well-known, though she was still only twenty years old. Selenus summoned her and made every effort to convince her to renounce her faith. When she stood firm, she was first viciously dismembered then beheaded. Lysimachus gathered her relics and took them to the monastery for burial. At the monastery he, together with many soldiers, were baptized. The holy Febronia’s relics worked many healings, and she herself appeared to the other nuns on the anniversary of her repose, standing in her usual place among her sisters. Her relics were translated to Constantinople in 363.

Our Holy Father Dionysios, founder of the Monastery of St John the Forerunner on Mt Athos (1380)

He was born in Koritza in Albania. His elder brother Theodosius went to the Holy Mountain and in time became abbot of the monastery of Philotheou. A few years later Dionysios followed his brother and became a monk under him at Philotheou. A heavenly light began to appear to Dionysios every night at the same place, some distance from his monastery. Believing that the light was a divine sign that he was to build a monastery, Dionysios left the Holy Mountain to seek the help of his brother (now Metropolitan of Trebizond) and the Emperor Alexios Comnenis. From the Emperor he received both money and a Royal Charter, which is still kept at the Monastery of St John the Forerunner, which Dionysios founded in 1380, and which is often referred to as the Dionysiou Monastery. Later, pirates plundered the monastery, and Dionysius went to Trebizond, where he reposed at the age of seventy-two.