1The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me; he has sent me to preach glad tidings to the poor, to heal the broken in heart, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind;
2to declare the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of recompence; to comfort all that mourn;
3that there should be given to them that mourn in Sion glory instead of ashes, the oil of joy to the mourners, the garment of glory for the spirit of heaviness: and they shall be called generations of righteousness, the planting of the Lord for glory.
4And they shall build the old waste places, they shall raise up those that were before made desolate, and shall renew the desert cities, even those that had been desolate for many generations.
5And strangers shall come and feed your flocks, and aliens shall be your plowmen and vine-dressers.
6But you⌃ shall be called priests of the Lord, the ministers of God: you⌃ shall eat the strength of nations, and shall be admired because of their wealth.
7Thus shall they inherit the land a second time, and everlasting joy shall be upon their head.
8For I am the Lord who love righteousness, and hate robberies of injustice; and I will give their labor to the just, and will make an everlasting covenant with them.
9And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring in the midst of peoples: every one that sees them shall take notice of them, that they are a seed blessed of God;
Composite 24 - Leviticus 26 (Vespers)
1The Lord spoke to the children of Israel saying, ‘If you walk in my ordinances and keep my commandments and do them, I will give you rain in its season and the earth will give its produce and the trees of the plains their fruit. Your threshing time will overtake the vintage, and the vintage will overtake the sowing. You will eat your bread to the full and dwell in safety on your land; and no one shall make you afraid. And I will destroy the evil wild beasts from your lands, and war shall not pass through your land, and enemies will fall before you. Five of you will pursue a hundred and a hundred of you will pursue tens of thousands. And I will look upon you and bless you and make you increase and multiply and I will establish my covenant with you. And you will eat what is old and very old, and bring out the old to make way for the new. And my soul will not abhor you, and I will walk among you, and I will be your God and you shall be my people. But if you will not listen to me, nor observe these ordinances of mine, but disobey them, and if your soul loathes my judgements, so that you do not keep all my commandments, I in turn will treat you like this: I will bring distress upon you, and you will sow your seed in vain and your enemies will devour your labours. And I will set my face against you and you will fall before your foes and they will pursue you and you will flee though no one pursues you; and I will smash the arrogance of your pride. And I will make the heaven like iron for you and your earth like solid bronze. And your strength will be in vain and your land will not give its fruit, and the trees of the field will not give their fruit. And I will send the wild beasts of the earth against you, and they will consume your cattle, and the sword will come against you and make you few in number. And your land will be desert and your farms will be desert; because you have walked against me crookedly, and I will walk against you with crooked rage, says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel’.
Wisdom of Solomon 4.7-15 (Vespers)
7But though the righteous be prevented with death, yet shall he be in rest.
8For honorable age is not that which stands in length of time, nor that is measured by number of years.
9But wisdom is the gray hair to men, and an unspotted life is old age.
10He pleased God, and was beloved of him: so that living among sinners he was translated.
11Yes speedily was he taken away, lest that wickedness should alter his understanding, or deceit decieve his soul.
12For the bewitching of naughtiness does obscure things that are honest; and the wandering of concupiscence does undermine the simple mind.
13He, being made perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time:
14For his soul pleased the Lord: therefore hasted he to take him away from among the wicked.
15This the people saw, and understood it not, neither laid they up this in their minds, That his grace and mercy is with his saints, and that he has respect to his chosen.
2 Corinthians 12.20-13.2 (Epistle)
20For I am afraid that perhaps when I come, I might find you not the way I want to, and that I might be found by you as you don’t desire, that perhaps there would be strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, whisperings, proud thoughts, or riots,
21that again when I come my God would humble me before you, and I would mourn for many of those who have sinned before now, and not repented of the uncleanness, sexual immorality, and lustfulness which they committed.
1This is the third time I am coming to you. “At the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.”
2I have warned previously, and I warn again, as when I was present the second time, so now, being absent, I write to those who have sinned before now and to all the rest that if I come again, I will not spare,
1 Timothy 2.1-7
(Epistle, New Year)
1I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks be made for all men,
2for kings and all who are in high places, that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and reverence.
3For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
4who desires all people to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth.
5For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
6who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony at the proper time,
7to which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am telling the truth in Christ, not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
Colossians 3.12-16
(Epistle, St Simeon)
12Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance;
13bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.
14Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection.
15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful.
16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.
Mark 4.24-34 (Gospel)
24He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you; and more will be given to you who hear.
25For whoever has, to him more will be given; and he who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away from him.”
26He said, “God’s Kingdom is as if a man should cast seed on the earth,
27and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, though he doesn’t know how.
28For the earth bears fruit by itself: first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
29But when the fruit is ripe, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
30He said, “How will we liken God’s Kingdom? Or with what parable will we illustrate it?
31It’s like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, though it is less than all the seeds that are on the earth,
32yet when it is sown, grows up and becomes greater than all the herbs, and puts out great branches, so that the birds of the sky can lodge under its shadow.”
33With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it.
34Without a parable he didn’t speak to them; but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.
Luke 4.16-22
(Gospel, New Year)
16He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. He entered, as was his custom, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
17The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He opened the book, and found the place where it was written,
18“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to deliver those who are crushed,
19and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
20He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him.
21He began to tell them, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
22All testified about him and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth; and they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”
Matthew 11.27-30
(Gospel, St Simeon)
27All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son and he to whom the Son desires to reveal him.
28“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.
29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls.
30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Commemorations
The Beginning of the Church's Year
The First Ecumenical Council established that the Church’s year would begin on September 1st, continuing the practice of the Roman Empire at that time. For centuries, the beginning of the civil year coincided with the Church year, but later changed, first in western Europe, then in Russia in the time of Peter the Great.
Our Holy Father Symeon Stylites (459)
Born in Syria, he was a shepherd, but at the age of eighteen he left home and became a monk, practicing the strictest asceticism. At times he fasted for forty days. After a few years at a monastery he took up an ascetical discipline unique at that time: mounting a pillar, he stood on it night and day in prayer. Though he sought only seclusion and prayer, his holiness became famous, and thousands would make pilgrimage to receive a word from him or to touch his garments. Countless nomadic Arabs came to faith in Christ through the power of his example and prayers. To retreat further from the world, he used progressively taller pillars: his first pillar was about ten feet high, his final one about fifty. He was known also for the soundness of his counsel: he confirned the Orthodox doctrine at the Council of Chalcedon and persuaded the Empress Eudocia, who had been seduced by Monophysite beliefs, to return to the true Christian faith. After about forty years lived in asceticism, he reposed in peace at the age of sixty-nine.
He was at first suspected of taking up his way of life out of pride, but his monastic brethren confirmed his humility thus: They went to him as a group, and told him that the brotherhood had decided that he should come down from his pillar and rejoin them. Immediately he began to climb down from the pillar. Seeing his obedience and humility, they told him to remain with their blessing.
Righteous Joshua, Son of Nun
In the Septuagint he is called Jesus, the Greek form of Joshua. Of the Hebrews who fled Egypt in the Exodus, only he and Caleb were found worthy to enter the Promised Land. He was Moses’ chosen successor to lead the Hebrew people. Read his story in the Old Testament book that bears his name. He reposed at the age of 110, about 1500 years before Christ.
Saint Meletios the Younger (1095-1124)
He was born in Cappadocia around 1035. He became a monk in Constantinople, but after a few years he went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Rome, then settled at a small monastery near Thebes. Here Meletios became known for his piety: he wore one garment of woven horsehair and, as the Synaxarion says, ‘never let his eyelids slumber without having bathed the mat he lay on with his tears.’ After twenty-eight years of ascetical labors Meletius, seeking to escape his increasing renown, departed the monastery, eventually settling near the Monastery of the Bodiless Powers near Myoupolis in Greece. Here he thought that he would be able to pray in obscurity, but once again the fame of his virtues attracted a monastic community around him. By order of the Patriarch of Constantinople he was ordained to the priesthood and, much against his will, made abbot of the monastic colony. The Emperor Alexander Comnenus wished to give a large gift of money to the monastery, but the Saint, unwilling to store up wealth on earth, would only accept enough for the essential needs of his monks: ‘but’ (the Synaxarion says) ‘as a sign of gratitude, he protected the pious Emperor in all his campaigns from that time forth, by his prayer.’ After many years caring for the monastery, in which he revealed gifts of healing, insight and prophecy, Saint Meletios reposed in peace, aged about seventy years, sometime between 1095 and 1124.
Holy New Martyr Angelis (1680)
He was a goldsmith living in Constantinople. While he was celebrating the Dormition of the Theotokos with some friends in a nearby village, the party was joined by some Turkish neighbors. The Christians and Turks drank a great amount together, and at one point entertained themselves by exchanging headgear. The next day, when everyone had sobered up, a Turk asked Angelis why he was not wearing a Muslim turban, for wearing it once was a sign of conversion. (To our knowledge this is not Islamic law, but was a ploy to pressure the young Angelis into conversion.) The dismayed Angelis was brought before a judge and given the choice of converting to Islam or being put to torture and death. Though the young man had shown little seriousness about his faith before this, he was filled with the Holy Spirit and boldly confessed Christ, willingly accepting a Martyr’s end. He was beheaded on Sunday, September 1, 1680.