Orthodox Calendar

Wednesday, September 30, 2020
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.

1 Corinthians 16.13-24 (Epistle, Hieromartyr Gregory of Armenia)

13Watch! Stand firm in the faith! Be courageous! Be strong! 14Let all that you do be done in love.

15Now I beg you, brothers—you know the house of Stephanas, that it is the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have set themselves to serve the saints— 16that you also be in subjection to such, and to everyone who helps in the work and labors. 17I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus; for that which was lacking on your part, they supplied. 18For they refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore acknowledge those who are like that.

19The assemblies of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, together with the assembly that is in their house. 20All the brothers greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

21This greeting is by me, Paul, with my own hand. 22If any man doesn’t love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be cursed. Come, Lord! 23The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 24My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Luke 5.33-39 (Gospel)

33They said to him, “Why do John’s disciples often fast and pray, likewise also the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink?”

34He said to them, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast in those days.”

36He also told a parable to them. “No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old garment, or else he will tear the new, and also the piece from the new will not match the old. 37No one puts new wine into old wineskins, or else the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled and the skins will be destroyed. 38But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved. 39No man having drunk old wine immediately desires new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’”

Matthew 24.42-47 (Gospel, Hieromartyr Gregory of Armenia)

42Watch therefore, for you don’t know in what hour your Lord comes. 43But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44Therefore also be ready, for in an hour that you don’t expect, the Son of Man will come.

45“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord has set over his household, to give them their food in due season? 46Blessed is that servant whom his lord finds doing so when he comes. 47Most certainly I tell you that he will set him over all that he has.

Commemorations

Hieromartyr Gregory of Armenia

He was a nobleman, related to the imperial houses of Persia and Armenia. When these two houses went to war with one another, Gregory withdrew to Caesarea in Cappadocia, where he heard the Gospel proclaimed and came to faith in Christ. There he also married and had two sons. After his wife’s death he returned to his homeland and served in the court of Tiridates, king of Armenia. When the king discovered that Gregory was a Christian, he subjected the Saint to many tortures, finally having him cast into a pit full of mire and poisonous reptiles. But Gregory was miraculously kept alive in the pit for fourteen years, during which a widow secretly provided for his needs. King Tiridates, still cruelly persecuting the Christians in his land, eventually went mad and became like a wild animal. In a dream, the king’s sister was told that her brother would only be restored to sanity when Gregory was freed from the pit. This was done, and Gregory healed and baptised his persecutor. At the king’s request, Gregory was made bishop of Armenia. As bishop he brought countless thousands to faith in Christ and is counted as the Enlightener of Armenia. In old age he retired into ascetical life, and reposed in peace.

Venerable Gregory of Pelshma (1441 or 1451)

He was born into a powerful boyar family in the city of Galich. Early in life he was drawn to the ascetical life, and was distressed when his parents arranged for him to be married at the age of only fifteen. By a mysterious providence, both his parents died before the wedding could be held, and St Gregory very soon distributed his considerable wealth to the poor, freed all his serfs, and went to the nearest monastery. Such was his holiness of life that he rose to be abbot of the monastery, but as in his youth he felt burdened by the admiration and attention of men, so he left for the monastery of St Dionysius of Glushitsa, where he strove to live a hidden life. His starets, St Dionysius, discerned Gregory’s spiritual gifts and wanted him to found his own monastery, but the Saint resisted, desiring only to live in humility and obedience, unknown to the world. At the age of 104 Gregory, with his elder’s blessing, went to live as a hermit in a small cell on the banks of the River Pelshma. After a few years other monks came to live the hesychastic life with him and, as his elder had desired, Gregory against his will became the abbot of a new monastery.

Abbot Gregory excelled not only in prayer but in his works of love for the poor, many of whom came to him in times of famine, when he would give them the small reserves of the monastery. More than once he traveled to Moscow to rebuke the Princes for their evil deeds. One of these, Prince Basil II, was so angered by the ‘presumption’ of the Saint that he had him thrown from a bridge into a deep gorge, but he emerged miraculously unharmed.

At the age of 127, St Gregory felt his end approaching and prepared himself. He told his disciples to throw his body into a swamp when he died, but after his repose they disobeyed and gave him honorable burial. A beautiful fragrance filled the church and, for the first time, a miracle of healing was performed through the Saint’s relics, which from that time forward were the source of countless wonders.

Our Father among the Saints Michael, Metropolitan of Kiev (992)

When Prince Vladimir, Equal to the Apostles (July 15), received holy Baptism, he sent an embassy to Constantinople asking that clergy be sent to enlighten the Russian land and to establish Christ’s Church there. Patriarch Nicolas II Chrysoberges (December 16) appointed Michael, a wise and blameless bishop, to be Metropolitan of Russia. Saint Michael traveled to Kiev with six bishops and a large number of clergy to aid him in his daunting work. He began by baptising the Prince’s family and the nobles of Kiev. Prince Vladimir used his authority to have the pagan idols pulled down, and enjoined all the people to accept Baptism. Thus the people of Kiev gathered en masse on the banks of the Dnieper and were baptized by the Metropolitan and his clergy, establishing Kiev as the first Christian city in Russia. Paganism was deeply entrenched everywhere in this wild land, and the proclamation of the Gospel was difficult and dangerous. Nonetheless, the holy Metropolitan in his own lifetime was able to cast down the idols in Novgorod and Rostov and establish the Church there.

Metropolitan Michael reposed in peace in 992, having planted in Russia the seeds of Russian Orthodoxy, which in coming generations would become the very soul of the Russian people. His relics were found to be incorrupt in the twelfth century and were translated to the Monastery of the Kiev Caves.