Ephesians 1.7-17 (Epistle)

7U kome imamo izbavljenje krvlju njegovom, i oproštenje grijeha, po bogatstvu blagodati njegove, 8Koju je preumnožio u nama u svakoj premudrosti i razumu, 9Pokazavši nam tajnu volje svoje, po ugodnosti svojoj koju naprijed pokaza u njemu, 10Za uredbu izvršetka vremena, da se sve sastavi u Hristu što je na nebesima i na zemlji; u njemu, 11Kroz kojega i našljednici postasmo, naprijed odreðeni bivši po naredbi Boga koji sve èini po savjetu volje svoje, 12Da bismo bili na hvalu slave njegove, mi koji smo se naprijed uzdali u Hrista, 13Kroz kojega i vi, èuvši rijeè istine, jevanðelje spasenija svojega, u kojemu i vjerovavši zapeèatiste se svetijem duhom obeæanja, 14Koji je zalog našljedstva našega za izbavljenje teèevine na hvalu slave njegove. 15Zato i ja èuvši vašu vjeru u Hrista Isusa, i ljubav k svima svetima, 16Ne prestajem zahvaljivati za vas, i spominjati vas u svojijem molitvama, 17Da Bog Gospoda našega Isusa Hrista, otac slave, dade vam Duha premudrosti i otkrivenja da ga poznate,

Mark 8.1-10 (Gospel)

1U to vrijeme, kad bijaše vrlo mnogo naroda i ne imadijahu šta jesti, dozva Isus uèenike svoje i reèe im: 2Žao mi je naroda, jer veæ tri dana stoje kod mene i nemaju ništa jesti. 3I ako ih otpustim gladne kuæama njihovijem, oslabiæe na putu; jer su mnogi od njih došli izdaleka. 4I odgovoriše mu uèenici njegovi: otkuda æemo uzeti hljeba ovdje u pustinji da ih nahranimo? 5I zapita ih: koliko imate hljebova? A oni kazaše: sedam. 6I zapovjedi narodu da posjedaju po zemlji; i uzevši onijeh sedam hljebova i hvalu davši, prelomi, i dade uèenicima svojijem da razdadu; i razdadoše narodu. 7I imahu malo ribica; i njih blagoslovivši reèe da i njih razdadu. 8I jedoše, i nasitiše se, i nakupiše komada što preteèe sedam kotarica. 9A onijeh što su jeli bijaše oko èetiri hiljade. I otpusti ih. 10I odmah uðe u laðu s uèenicima svojijem, i doðe u okoline Dalmanutske.

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.