Scripture Readings (KJV)
Genesis 14.14-20
(Vespers, Fathers)
14And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.
15And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.
16And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.
17And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale.
18And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
19And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
20And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
Deuteronomy 1.8-11, 15-17
(Vespers, Fathers)
8Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.
9And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone:
10The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.
11(The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!)
15So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes.
16And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.
17Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.
Deuteronomy 10.14-21
(Vespers, Fathers)
14Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD’s thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.
15Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.
16Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.
17For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:
18He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.
19Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
20Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.
21He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.
Luke 24.12-35
(5th Matins Gospel)
12Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.
13And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.
14And they talked together of all these things which had happened.
15And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.
16But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.
17And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?
18And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?
19And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people:
20And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.
21But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.
22Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre;
23And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive.
24And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.
25Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
26Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
27And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
28And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further.
29But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.
30And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.
31And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.
32And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
33And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them,
34Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.
35And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.
Romans 10.1-10 (Epistle)
1Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
2For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
3For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
5For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
6But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
7Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
8But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Hebrews 13.7-16
(Epistle, Fathers)
7Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.
8Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
9Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
10We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
11For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.
12Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
13Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
14For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
15By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
16But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
Matthew 8.28-9.1 (Gospel)
28And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
29And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
30And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.
31So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.
32And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.
33And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils.
34And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.
1And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city.
John 17.1-13
(Gospel, Fathers)
1These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
2As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
3And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
4I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
5And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
6I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
7Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
12While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Commemorations
Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Gabriel
On this day all the many visitations and miracles of the holy Archangel, recorded in Holy Scripture and ever since, are commemorated. This feast duplicates the Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel that is celebrated on March 26, the day after Annunciation; it is thought that it was added to the calendar here some time in the ninth century, so that it could be celebrated more festively outside of Great Lent.
Holy Martyr Golinduc of Persia (6th c.)
She was a Persian noblewoman during the reign of Chosroës II (590-628). Through a vision of an angel, she came to belief in Christ and received holy baptism; her name in baptism was Maria. Her furious husband reported her to King Chosroës, who had her thrown into a foul dungeon known as Oblivion for eighteen years. During these years she was repeatedly told to renounce Christ and was tormented in many ways. She was thrown to venomous snakes, which refused to harm her. Some lawless young men were sent to her cell to defile her, but God made her invisible to them. Many Persians, amazed and inspired by her patient sufferings, accepted Christ. She was finally set free through the visitation of an angel, traveled to Jerusalem and Constantinople, and reposed in peace.
She is commemorated July 12 on the Slavic calendar. Oddly, she is called a Martyr in all accounts, though she died free and in peace; presumably her eighteen years of cruel imprisonment earned her the title.
Saint Julian, Bishop of Cenomanis (Le Mans) (1st c.)
He was made bishop by the Apostle Peter and sent to Gaul as a missionary. Some believe that he was Simon the Leper, whom the Lord healed, later named Julian in Baptism. In Gaul, despite great difficulty and privation, he converted many to faith in Christ and worked many miracles — healing the sick, driving out demons, and even raising the dead. In time the local prince, Defenson, was baptised along with many of his subjects. He reposed in peace.
Repose of Photios Kontoglou (1965) (June 30 OC)
He is called “Blessed Photios” by many, but has not yet been officially glorified. In the twentieth century, he almost singlehandedly restored the practice of true Byzantine iconography to the Church. He was born in 1895 in one of the many Greek towns of Asia Minor. He and his family fled to Greece during the “exchange of populations” of 1923, when more than a million Greeks were driven from Turkey and resettled in Greece. He studied to be a secular artist, but was increasingly drawn to Byzantine iconography, the practice of which had almost disappeared: he learned the iconographic ethos and technique by copying ancient models and studying with the few monks on the Holy Mountain who still practiced true iconography. Initially his work was scorned, since secular western standards had come to dominate even the art of the Church. Slowly, through his tireless labors, an understanding of Orthodoxy iconography was restored to the Church, not only in Greece, but throughout the world. Though married, he lived his life in poverty, often donating his work to churches or performing it for nominal fees. His deeply spiritual writings are greatly honored in Greece, though most remain untranslated into English.