Isaiah 13.2-13 (6th Hour)

2Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. 3I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness. 4The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. 5They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.

6Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. 7Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: 8And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. 9Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. 10For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. 11And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. 12I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. 13Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

Genesis 8.4-21 (Vespers)

4And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. 5And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.

6And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: 7And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. 8Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; 9But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. 10And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; 11And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. 12And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.

13And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry. 14And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.

15And God spake unto Noah, saying, 16Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee. 17Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth. 18And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him: 19Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.

20And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

Proverbs 10.31-11.12 (Vespers)

31The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue shall be cut out. 32The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.

1A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight. 2When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom. 3The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them. 4Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.

5The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness. 6The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them: but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness. 7When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish: and the hope of unjust men perisheth. 8The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead. 9An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour: but through knowledge shall the just be delivered.

10When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth: and when the wicked perish, there is shouting. 11By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted: but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.

12He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour: but a man of understanding holdeth his peace.

Holy Martyrs Agathopous and Theodoulos (303)

Agathopous was a deacon, very old, and Theodoulos a reader, very young, in the church in Thessalonica. During Diocletian’s persecution the two were summoned to trial. They went joyfully, holding one another by the hand and exclaiming to all, ‘We are Christians!’ After flattery, cajolery, threats, imprisonment and starvation had failed to make them deny Christ, they were condemned to death by drowning. They were bound and a large stone tied to their necks; as they were about to be thrown into the sea, Agathopous cried, ‘Behold, by a second baptism we are washed from our sins, and will go cleansed to Christ Jesus!’ Their drowned bodies were soon washed ashore, and Christians gave them honorable burial. Not long afterward, Theodoulos appeared to his brethren in the form of a shining angel and told them to give all his goods to the poor.

Our Holy Father Mark of Trache (ca. 400)

He is also called ‘Mark the Athenian’ because he was born in Athens. When his parents died, he pondered the transience of all earthly things, gave his goods to the poor, and embarked on a plank in the sea, asking God to lead him wherever He desired. By God’s providence, Mark was cast up on the shores of Libya, where he settled as a hermit on a mountain called Trache. (Some say it was in Ethiopia, but this seems less likely.) There he lived for ninety-five years, never seeing another human being.

Saint Serapion visited him before his death and recorded his life. Serapion asked Mark if there were any Christians whose faith was so great that they could say to a mountain ‘Get up and cast yourself into the sea,’ and it would be so. Immediately the mountain on which they stood began to move like a wave, but Mark raised his hand and stilled it.

On his deathbed, St Mark prayed for the salvation of all men and gave up his soul to God. Saint Serapion saw an angel carrying Mark’s soul, and a hand extended from heaven to receive it. Saint Mark was about 130 years old when he reposed.