Ephesians 1.7-17 (Epistle)

7În El avem răscumpărarea, prin sângele Lui, iertarea păcatelor, după bogăţiile harului Său 8pe care l-a răspândit din belşug peste noi, prin orice fel de înţelepciune şi de pricepere; 9căci a binevoit să ne descopere taina voii Sale, după planul pe care-l alcătuise în Sine însuşi, 10ca să-l aducă la îndeplinire la împlinirea vremurilor, spre a-Şi uni iarăşi într-unul, în Hristos, toate lucrurile: cele din ceruri şi cele de pe pământ. 11În El am fost făcuţi şi moştenitori, fiind rânduiţi mai dinainte, după hotărârea Aceluia care face toate după sfatul voii Sale, 12ca să slujim de laudă slavei Sale, noi, care mai dinainte am nădăjduit în Hristos. 13Şi voi, după ce aţi auzit Cuvântul adevărului (Evanghelia mântuirii voastre), aţi crezut în El şi aţi fost pecetluiţi cu Duhul Sfânt care fusese făgăduit 14şi care este o arvună a moştenirii noastre, pentru răscumpărarea celor câştigaţi de Dumnezeu, spre lauda slavei Lui. 15De aceea şi eu, de când am auzit despre credinţa în Domnul Isus care este în voi şi despre dragostea voastră pentru toţi sfinţii, 16nu încetez să aduc mulţumiri pentru voi, când vă pomenesc în rugăciunile mele. 17Şi mă rog ca Dumnezeul Domnului nostru Isus Hristos, Tatăl slavei, să vă dea un duh de înţelepciune şi de descoperire, în cunoaşterea Lui,

Mark 8.1-10 (Gospel)

1În zilele acelea, fiindcă se strânsese din nou mult norod şi n-avea ce mânca, Isus a chemat pe ucenicii Săi şi le-a zis: 2„Mi-e milă de norodul acesta; căci iată că de trei zile stau lângă Mine şi n-au ce mânca. 3Dacă le voi da drumul acasă flămânzi, au să leşine de foame pe drum, fiindcă unii din ei au venit de departe.” 4Ucenicii I-au răspuns: „Cum ar putea cineva să sature cu pâine pe oamenii aceştia, aici într-un loc pustiu?” 5„Câte pâini aveţi?”, i-a întrebat Isus. „Şapte”, I-au răspuns ei. 6Atunci a poruncit norodului să şadă pe pământ; a luat cele şapte pâini; şi, după ce a mulţumit lui Dumnezeu, le-a frânt şi le-a dat ucenicilor Săi ca să le împartă; şi ei le-au împărţit norodului. 7Mai aveau şi câţiva peştişori: şi Isus, după ce i-a binecuvântat, a poruncit să-i împartă şi pe aceia. 8Au mâncat şi s-au săturat; şi au ridicat şapte coşniţe pline cu rămăşiţele de firimituri. 9Erau aproape patru mii de inşi. În urmă, Isus le-a dat drumul. 10Isus a intrat îndată în corabie cu ucenicii Săi şi a venit în părţile Dalmanutei.

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.