Orthodox Calendar

Wednesday, October 3, 1984
Wednesday of the 17th week after Pentecost

Fast — Abstain from meat, fish, dairy, eggs, wine, and oil

Scripture Readings

Commemorations

Scripture Readings

Ephesians 3.8-21 (Epistle)

8To me, the very least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9and to make all men see what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ, 10to the intent that now through the assembly the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places, 11according to the eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12In him we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him. 13Therefore I ask that you may not lose heart at my troubles for you, which are your glory.

14For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, 17that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, 19and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Acts 17.16-34 (Epistle, Dionysius the Areopagite)

16Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw the city full of idols. 17So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who met him.

18Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also were conversing with him. Some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be advocating foreign deities,” because he preached Jesus and the resurrection.

19They took hold of him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is, which you are speaking about? 20For you bring certain strange things to our ears. We want to know therefore what these things mean.” 21Now all the Athenians and the strangers living there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.

22Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said, “You men of Athens, I perceive that you are very religious in all things. 23For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription: ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ What therefore you worship in ignorance, I announce to you. 24The God who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands. 25He isn’t served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself gives to all life and breath and all things. 26He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28‘For in him we live, move, and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’ 29Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold, or silver, or stone, engraved by art and design of man. 30The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent, 31because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.”

32Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, “We want to hear you again concerning this.”

33Thus Paul went out from among them. 34But certain men joined with him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

Luke 6.46-7.1 (Gospel)

46“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things which I say? 47Everyone who comes to me, and hears my words and does them, I will show you who he is like. 48He is like a man building a house, who dug and went deep and laid a foundation on the rock. When a flood arose, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it, because it was founded on the rock. 49But he who hears and doesn’t do, is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream broke, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.”

1After he had finished speaking in the hearing of the people, he entered into Capernaum.

Commemorations

Hieromartyr Dionysius the Areopagite

He is mentioned in Acts 17:19-34. He was a learned Athenian, a member of the Athenian court on Mars Hill (Areos Pagos in Greek, from which the title ‘Areopagite’ comes). At the time of Christ’s crucifixion, he was studying in Egypt and saw the sky darkened there for three hours when Christ breathed His last. He later married and had several children. When St Paul preached in Athens, Dionysius was among the first to believe, and became either the first (according to some) Bishop of Athens, or the second, succeeding St Hierotheos (commemorated tomorrow, October 4). With St Hierotheos he was present at the Dormition of the Mother of God. He received a martyr’s end in his old age, possibly in Athens. Several famous works of mystical theology, including On the Divine Names, are attributed to him.

Holy Hieromartyr Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria, and his disciples (258)

He was a disciple of Origen and became a priest in Alexandria. He became Bishop of Alexandria in 247, serving not only his own see but the whole Church with fervor and compassion. He traveled to Rome to fight the Novatian schisms that disturbed the Body of Christ at that time, and mediated in the dispute between St Cyprian (September 16) and the Pope.

During the reign of Valerian, the new Governor of Alexandra, Emilianus, summoned St Dionysius, along with a group of his clergy, and demanded that they renounce Christ. When all stood firm in the Faith, he exiled them to the remote village of Kephro. But Christians flocked to the village to seek out the holy Bishop, and many pagans in the region were converted by him — so that soon the town was more nearly a Christian mission than a place of exile. When Emilianus learned of this, he exiled the Bishop and his disciples far into the wilderness, where they lived amidst terrible sufferings and hardships for more than twelve years. Saint Dionysius and his deacons Gaius and Faustus all died there; Eusebius the deacon and Maximus the priest eventually escaped. Eusebius became Bishop of Laodicea; Maximus, like his spiritual father, became Bishop of Alexandria.

St John the Chozebite, Bishop of Caesarea

He came from a prominent family in Egypt, and was brought up among the Monophysites. He became a monk in his youth, and went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. When he attempted to enter the Church of the Resurrection to venerate the Precious Cross, an unseen power prevented him from entering. The next night he heard a voice telling him in his sleep that those who do not embrace the Orthodox faith are unworthy to worship the holy Cross of the Savior. John awoke and hurried to the church where, in tears, he accepted and confessed the entire Orthodox Faith. After returning to Egypt he settled in Palestine, living alone in a cave in the isolated region called Chozeba. There he lived in solitude until one day a couple brought their son, possessed by an evil spirit. They had been sent to John by Ananias, a well-known ascetic of Palestine. John considered himself unworthy to pray for the casting out of demons, so he prayed in the name of Ananias, and the boy was healed. Thenceforth, John’s wonderworking powers became known, and many made the difficult journey to his cave for the healing of spiritual and bodily ailments. Later John, much against his will, was consecrated Bishop of Caesarea; but he was unable to tolerate the cares of episcopal life and fled again to the desert, where he spent the rest of his life. The faithful continued to visit him in great numbers, and many signs and wonders were worked through his prayers. He reposed in peace at a great age.