Orthodox Calendar

Sunday, November 2, 1980
23rd Sunday after Pentecost

No Fast

Scripture Readings

Commemorations

Scripture Readings

Matthew 28.16-20 (1st Matins Gospel)

16But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had sent them. 17When they saw him, they bowed down to him; but some doubted. 18Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Ephesians 2.4-10 (Epistle)

4But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus; 8for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9not of works, that no one would boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.

2 Timothy 2.1-10 (Epistle, Artemius)

1You therefore, my child, be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2The things which you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit the same things to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 3You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4No soldier on duty entangles himself in the affairs of life, that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier. 5Also, if anyone competes in athletics, he isn’t crowned unless he has competed by the rules. 6The farmer who labors must be the first to get a share of the crops. 7Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.

8Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, of the offspring of David, according to my Good News, 9in which I suffer hardship to the point of chains as a criminal. But God’s word isn’t chained. 10Therefore I endure all things for the chosen ones’ sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

Luke 8.26-39 (Gospel)

26Then they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27When Jesus stepped ashore, a certain man out of the city who had demons for a long time met him. He wore no clothes, and didn’t live in a house, but in the tombs. 28When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, “What do I have to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torment me!” 29For Jesus was commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For the unclean spirit had often seized the man. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and fetters. Breaking the bonds apart, he was driven by the demon into the desert.

30Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered into him. 31They begged him that he would not command them to go into the abyss.

32Now there was there a herd of many pigs feeding on the mountain, and they begged him that he would allow them to enter into those. Then he allowed them. 33The demons came out of the man and entered into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

34When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country.

35People went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36Those who saw it told them how he who had been possessed by demons was healed. 37All the people of the surrounding country of the Gadarenes asked him to depart from them, for they were very much afraid. Then he entered into the boat and returned. 38But the man from whom the demons had gone out begged him that he might go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39“Return to your house, and declare what great things God has done for you.” He went his way, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.

Commemorations

Greatmartyr Artemius at Antioch

He came from a noble family, and was appointed military Governor of Alexandria and Egypt by the Emperor Constantine the Great. Some years later, the Emperor Julian the Apostate strove to restore pagan idolatry as the official religion of the Empire. He also entered into a war with Persia, and established Antioch as his headquarters for pursuing the war. In Alexandria, Artemius received an order to come to Antioch with the military forces under his command. Artemius reported to the apostate Emperor just in time to see him ordering the cruel execution of two pious Christians, Eugenius and Macarius. Fearlessly, St Artemius immediately denounced the Emperor, telling him to his face that his anti-Christian policy was of demonic origin. The enraged Emperor instantly had Artemius stripped of all official rank and thrown into prison. The following day, he had Artemius brought before him and promised him high Imperial office if he would only renounce Christ and worship the idols. When Artemius forcefully refused to do this, he was publicly tortured to death. A pious noblewoman secretly recovered the Saint’s relics and took them to Constantinople, where they were venerated and wrought many miracles for several centuries.

St Gerasimus the New, ascetic of Cephalonia (1579)

He was born in southern Greece. As a young man he left home and, after traveling to seek out guides in the ascetic life, he came to Mt Athos, where he was tonsured as a monk. Some years later he went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and there was ordained to the priesthood by Patriarch Germanus of Jerusalem. Once, while living in Jerusalem, he went into the Jordanian desert for forty days of fasting and prayer, in imitation of the Lord. After more travels through Sinai and Egypt, he came to the Greek island of Zakynthos, where he lived alone in an isolated cave, sustaining himself only on vegetables. But his holiness soon attracted many of the faithful, who came to him for blessing and counsel. Mindful of the advice that nothing is more harmful to a monk as the praise of men, he fled to the island of Cephalonia, where he again took up life in a secluded cave. But once again he became known, and even more pilgrims gathered around him in search of spiritual nurture. This time, God made known to him that he must leave his beloved solitude in order to minister to others; so he founded a monastery called New Jerusalem on the island. St Gerasimus lived to a great age, and was granted foreknowledge of the day of his death. His relics are preserved on Cephalonia, “complete and incorrupt, as if he were asleep,” according to the Synaxarion.