Orthodox Calendar

Monday, October 19, 2026
Monday of the 21st week after Pentecost

No Fast

Scripture Readings

Commemorations

Scripture Readings

Philippians 4.10-23 (Epistle)

10But I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your thought for me; in which you did indeed take thought, but you lacked opportunity. 11Not that I speak because of lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it. 12I know how to be humbled, and I also know how to abound. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in need. 13I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 14However you did well that you shared in my affliction. 15You yourselves also know, you Philippians, that in the beginning of the Good News, when I departed from Macedonia, no assembly shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you only. 16For even in Thessalonica you sent once and again to my need. 17Not that I seek for the gift, but I seek for the fruit that increases to your account. 18But I have all things and abound. I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you, a sweet-smelling fragrance, an acceptable and well-pleasing sacrifice to God. 19My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever! Amen.

21Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. 22All the saints greet you, especially those who are of Caesar’s household.

23The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Acts 2.14-21 (Epistle, Prophet Joel)

14But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and spoke out to them, “You men of Judea and all you who dwell at Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to my words. 15For these aren’t drunken, as you suppose, seeing it is only the third hour of the day. 16But this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel: 17‘It will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. 18Yes, and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days, I will pour out my Spirit, and they will prophesy. 19I will show wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth beneath: blood, and fire, and billows of smoke. 20The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. 21It will be that whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

Luke 9.18-22 (Gospel)

18As he was praying alone, the disciples were near him, and he asked them, “Who do the multitudes say that I am?”

19They answered, “‘John the Baptizer,’ but others say, ‘Elijah,’ and others, that one of the old prophets has risen again.”

20He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

21But he warned them and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.”

Commemorations

Prophet Joel

His name means “The Lord is God.” He is counted second among the “minor Prophets.” The Old Testament book of his prophecies, which bears his name, includes his prophecy of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Joel 2:28), which was quoted by the Apostle Peter (Acts 2:17).

Righteous John, Wonderworker of Kronstadt (1908).

“Saint John of Kronstadt was a married priest, who lived with his wife in virginity. Through his untiring labours in his priestly duties and love for the poor and sinners, he was granted by our Lord great gifts of clairvoyance and miracle-working, to such a degree that in the last years of his life miracles of healings — both of body and of soul — were performed countless times each day through his prayers, often for people who had only written to him asking his help. During his lifetime he was known throughout Russia, as well as in the Western world. He has left us his diary My Life in Christ as a spiritual treasure for Christians of every age; simple in language, it expounds the deepest mysteries of our Faith with that wisdom which is given only to a heart purified by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Foreseeing as a true prophet the Revolution of 1917, he unsparingly rebuked the growing apostasy among the people; he foretold that the very name of Russia would be changed. As the darkness of unbelief grew thicker, he shone forth as a beacon of unquenchable piety, comforting the faithful through the many miracles that he worked and the fatherly love and simplicity with which he received all. Saint John reposed in peace in 1908.” (Great Horologion)

Holy Martyr Varus and those with him (304)

“He was a Roman officer in Egypt and a secret Christian. When seven Christian teachers were thrown into prison, Varus kept visiting them there, supplying their needs and serving them with great devotion. He marvelled at the martyrs, and grieved that fear would not let him stand up as a martyr for Christ. These men of God gave him courage, and Varus made up his mind to go and be tortured with them. One of these godly men died in prison, and, when the wicked governor had the martyrs brought before him and saw that there were only six of them, he asked where the seventh was. ‘I am the seventh!’, cried Varus. The furious governor had him tortured first. He ordered that he be flogged with dry thongs, then that he be tied to a tree and hacked to pieces bit by bit with knives until he gave his holy soul to God. His body was then thrown onto a dung-heap. A woman of Palestinian birth, Cleopatra, the widow of an officer, was there with her son John. She secretly took the relics of the holy martyr off the dung-heap and buried them in her house. She then asked the governor’s permission to take the body of her dead husband back from Egypt to Palestine. As she was an officer’s widow, the governor at once gave her permission. This blessed Christian woman, Cleopatra, however, took the body, not of her husband but of the holy martyr Varus, taking it to her village of Edra, near Tabor, and burying it there. She then built a church dedicated to St Varus, and he appeared to her often from the other world, resplendent as an angel of God.” (Prologue)

Holy Hieromartyr Sadoth (Shahdost) and his 128 companions (342)

During the fierce persecution of Christians by the Persian King Shapur II, Saint Sadoth succeeded the Martyr Symeon (April 17) as Bishop of Seleucia. His name in Persian, Shah-dost, means ‘Friend of the King’; but the earthly Shah saw him as no friend, and the holy bishop knew that his days on earth were numbered. One night in a dream, Sadoth saw a ladder reaching from earth to heaven. At the top stood Bishop Symeon, who called joyfully to him: ‘Climb up, Sadoth, and do not be afraid! I climbed up yesterday; you will climb up today.’ Waking, Sadoth knew that he would soon be called to martyrdom. He immediately set out to encourage his flock and to exhort them to stand firm for Christ in the coming day of persecution.

A few days later the persecutors came in the King’s name to arrest the holy Bishop; with him they seized 128 priests, deacons, monks and simple believers. All were held in prison for five months, being brought forth repeatedly and tortured in ways too cruel to describe; but not a single one could be brought to worship the sun. Finally, all were condemned to die by the sword. The 128 martyrs, chained together, sang joyous hymns as they went to the place of execution. They did not cease to sing until the death of the last Martyr. Sadoth himself, however, was taken in chains to the city of Beit Lapat, where he was beheaded a few days later.