Orthodox Calendar

Monday, August 28, 2051
Monday of the 10th week after Pentecost

No Fast

Scripture Readings

Commemorations

Scripture Readings

1 Corinthians 15.12-19 (Epistle)

12Now if Christ is preached, that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised. 14If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith also is in vain. 15Yes, we are also found false witnesses of God, because we testified about God that he raised up Christ, whom he didn’t raise up if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead aren’t raised, neither has Christ been raised. 17If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins. 18Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.

Matthew 21.18-22 (Gospel)

18Now in the morning, as he returned to the city, he was hungry.

19Seeing a fig tree by the road, he came to it and found nothing on it but leaves. He said to it, “Let there be no fruit from you forever!” Immediately the fig tree withered away.

20When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree immediately wither away?”

21Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you told this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it would be done. 22All things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

Commemorations

Uncovering of the Relics of St Job of Pochaev (1651)

For his life see May 6.

St Moses of Ethiopia (400)

He is also called Moses the Black. He was a slave, but was cast out by his master due to his evil life. He then became the leader of a murderous band of robbers in Egypt. He came to repentance and took up monastic life in the desert under St Isidore of Sketis. For many years he struggled tirelessly, through prayer, fasting and vigils, with lustful and violent thoughts; he was finally freed of them through the prayers of St Isidore. He was revered by all the brethren for his ascetical life, his wisdom, and his deep humility. Once a brother committed some sin and the monks gathered to judge him. Moses at first refused to go at all, but when they insisted, he filled an old, leaky basket with sand and carried it into the assembly on his back. When the brethren asked him what his action meant, he said “My sins run out behind me, and I do not even see them, and I have come to judge my brother.” The monk was forgiven. In time the fame of this humblest of monks spread so far that kings and bishops traveled into the desert to seek his wisdom and his blessing. In his old age, he was warned that a band of brigands was coming to attack the Skete. He refused to leave saying, “It is written: he who lives by the sword shall die by the sword.” So, mindful that he had slain others by the sword, he willingly awaited his own murder. Six other monks who remained with him were also slain.

Repose of Elder Joseph the Hesychast of Mt Athos (1959) (August 15 OC)

Born on the island of Paros in 1898, he entered monastic life in 1921 in response to a heavenly vision. Traveling to Mt Athos he first lived the communal monastic life, but later moved to a Skete for greater solitude. There he received the gift of ceaseless prayer. Elder Joseph and his companion in struggle, Elder Arsenios, moved to St Anne’s Skete, where they remained for the rest of their lives. Here a small company of disciples slowly gathered around them. Many of these, like silent Apostles, have spread out through the Orthodox world, contributing much to its spiritual renewal.