Aug. 21, 2008
Thursday of the 10th week after Pentecost

No Fast

Commemorations

Apostle Thaddeus of the Seventy
Avram, Archimandrite of Smolensk
Apostle Thaddeus of the Seventy (44)
Holy Martyrs Bassa and her sons Theognis, Agapios, and Pistis (4th c.)
Holy Forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

Scripture Readings (KJV)

2 Corinthians 1.1-7 (Epistle)

1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia: 2Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 3Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 5For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. 6And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. 7And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.

Matthew 21.43-46 (Gospel)

43Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. 44And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. 45And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. 46But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.

Commemorations

Apostle Thaddeus of the Seventy (44)

He was by birth a Jew from Edessa; it was he who instructed king Avgar in the Faith and baptised him (see August 16). According to Eusebius he is not the Thaddeus who was one of the Twelve (Mt 10:3), but was one of the Seventy. After Christ’s Resurrection, he preached the Gospel in Mesopotamia and ended his life in martyrdom.

Holy Martyrs Bassa and her sons Theognis, Agapios, and Pistis (4th c.)

“Bassa was the wife of a pagan priest, but she was secretly a Christian and brought her sons up in a Christian spirit. Her husband hated her for her faith, and handed her over to the judge for torture, together with her sons. After harsh torture, her sons were beheaded (it is thought, in Edessa in Macedonia). Bassa was filled with joy to see her sons thus gloriously finish their martyr’s course for Christ, and herself went with yet greater desire from torture to torture. When she was thrown into the sea, angels appeared to her and took her to an island in the Sea of Marmara, where she was slain with the sword under Maximian. Thus holy Bassa was in a twofold manner made worthy of the Kingdom of Christ: as a martyr and as the mother of martyrs.” (Prologue)

Holy Forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

They are also commemorated on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers, before Nativity.