Orthodox Calendar

Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Wednesday of the 17th week after Pentecost

Fast — Wine and Oil are Allowed — Abstain from meat, fish, dairy, and eggs

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.

Galatians 4.22-27 (Epistle, Joachim & Anna)

22For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the servant, and one by the free woman. 23However, the son by the servant was born according to the flesh, but the son by the free woman was born through promise. 24These things contain an allegory, for these are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children to bondage, which is Hagar. 25For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that exists now, for she is in bondage with her children. 26But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27For it is written, “Rejoice, you barren who don’t bear. Break out and shout, you who don’t travail. For the desolate women have more children than her who has a husband.”

Mark 11.22-26 (Gospel)

22Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23For most certainly I tell you, whoever may tell this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and doesn’t doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is happening, he shall have whatever he says. 24Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and you shall have them. 25Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father, who is in heaven, may also forgive you your transgressions. 26But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your transgressions.”

Luke 8.16-21 (Gospel, Joachim & Anna)

16“No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a container or puts it under a bed; but puts it on a stand, that those who enter in may see the light. 17For nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light. 18Be careful therefore how you hear. For whoever has, to him will be given; and whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he thinks he has.”

19His mother and brothers came to him, and they could not come near him for the crowd. 20Some people told him, “Your mother and your brothers stand outside, desiring to see you.”

21But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”

Commemorations

Righteous Joachim and Anna

St Joachim was of the tribe of Judah and a descendant of King David. St Anna was of the tribe of Levi, the daughter of a priest named Matthan. Matthan’s three daughters were Mary, Zoia and Anna. Mary became the mother of Salome the Myrrhbearer; Zoia bore Elizabeth, mother of St John the Baptist; and Anna married Joachim in Nazareth. Joachim and Anna, to their great sorrow, were barren for fifty years. They lived prayerfully and kept only a third of their income for themselves, giving a third to the poor and a third to the Temple. Once when they had come to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice at the Temple, Joachim was publicly scorned by the High Priest Issachar for his childlessness. Joachim and Anna, greatly grieved, prayed fervently that God would grant them the miracle that he had wrought for Abraham and Sarah, and give them a child in their old age. Once, as each was praying separately in a secluded place, angels appeared to each of them and revealed to them that they would be given a blessed daughter, `by whom all nations will be blessed, and through whom will come the salvation of the world.’ They both rushed home to tell one another the joyous news, and embraced when they met. (This is the moment depicted in their icon.) Anna conceived and gave birth to the Most Holy Theotokos. Both reposed in peace, not long after they had sent her to live in the Temple.

Commemoration of the Third Ecumenical Council (431)

The Council, called by the Emperor Theodosius the Younger, met in Ephesus. The two hundred fathers gathered there condemned the teaching of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople, who would not call the holy Virgin Mary Theotokos (God-bearer) but only Christotokos (Christ-bearer). The holy fathers of the Council clearly affirmed that the Virgin Mary is, and is to be called, Mother of God. They also confirmed the teaching of the first two Councils and decreed that the Nicene Creed may not be altered (as it later was by the Western church).

Holy Martyr Severian of Sebaste (320)

He was a prominent citizen of Sebaste during the reign of Licinius. When the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (March 9) were in prison, he encouraged and comforted them. For this, and for his Christian example which had converted many pagans in the region, the Provincial Governor Lysias ordered his arrest. But before the soldiers could find him, he presented himself before the Governor and openly proclaimed his faith. For this he was subjected to many days of horrible tortures, during which he constantly exhorted the believers who followed him to stand firm in their confession of Christ. After astonishing endurance of his torments, he gave up his spirit to God.

At the Saint’s burial, the husband of one of his servants was miraculously raised from the dead, living for another fifteen years. The Christians could not decide where to bury Severian, so they wove a crown of flowers and laid it on his body to await a sign from heaven. An eagle took up the crown and dropped it in a nearby forest. The Christians buried the Martyr where the crown fell; his tomb became a fount of miracles, and the man who had been raised from the dead tended it for the rest of his life.

Our Holy Father Ciaran of Clonmacnoise (549)

Born to the family of a cartwright in Ireland, he entered monastic life when he was very young at the Monastery of Clonard, where he became a disciple of St Finnian (December 12). He became one of the ‘Twelve Apostles of Ireland’, all of them disciples of St Finnian. Ciaran founded the great monastery of Clonmacnoise (pronounced clon-mac-neesh) on the Shannon River, which became one of Ireland’s great monasteries. Once, during a great famine, He distributed all of the monastery’s food to the people, entrusting his monks’ survival, and his own, to providence. Saint Ciaran reposed in peace, aged only thirty-three, in 549.