Romans 2.28-3.18 (Epistle)

28For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; 29but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God.

1Then what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the profit of circumcision? 2Much in every way! Because first of all, they were entrusted with the revelations of God. 3For what if some were without faith? Will their lack of faith nullify the faithfulness of God? 4May it never be! Yes, let God be found true, but every man a liar. As it is written, “that you might be justified in your words, and might prevail when you come into judgment.”

5But if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, what will we say? Is God unrighteous who inflicts wrath? I speak like men do. 6May it never be! For then how will God judge the world? 7For if the truth of God through my lie abounded to his glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? 8Why not (as we are slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say), “Let’s do evil, that good may come?” Those who say so are justly condemned.

9What then? Are we better than they? No, in no way. For we previously warned both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. 10As it is written, “There is no one righteous; no, not one. 11There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks after God. 12They have all turned away. They have together become unprofitable. There is no one who does good, no, not so much as one.” 13“Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have used deceit.” “The poison of vipers is under their lips.” 14“Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” 15“Their feet are swift to shed blood. 16Destruction and misery are in their ways. 17The way of peace, they haven’t known.” 18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Matthew 6.31-34, 7.9-11 (Gospel)

31“Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’ 32For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore don’t be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day’s own evil is sufficient. 9Or who is there among you who, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, who will give him a serpent? 11If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Trans. Rel. Ven. Cyrus and John

They are counted among the Unmercenary Physicians. For their lives, see January 31.

Synaxis of the Icon of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos "Of the Three Hands"

Saint John of Damascus (December 4), the great defender of Orthodoxy against the iconoclasts, was falsely accused of plotting against the Caliph of Damascus through the intrigues of the iconoclast Emperor Leo the Isaurian (reigned 717-741). The Caliph ordered St John’s hand to be cut off for his suspected treachery. The saint asked for the severed hand, and passed the night praying fervently for aid before an icon of the most holy Theotokos. Waking in the morning, he found his hand miraculously restored, with only a scar around the wrist where it had been completely severed. In thanksgiving, St John had a silver hand mounted on the icon. When he became a monk in the monastery of St Sabbas in the Holy Land, he took the icon with him. It remained there until it was given to St Sabbas (Sava) of Serbia (January 14), who brought it to Serbia. Later it was miraculously taken to the Hilandar Monastery on the Holy Mountain (carried, according to legend, from Serbia to Mt Athos by an unguided donkey), where it may now be found.

Sergius and Herman, Wonderworkers of Valaam

After helping to establish Orthodoxy among the Karelian Finns, they founded the famous Valaam Monastery on Lake Ladoga in northern Russia. Both reposed in the same year.

Our Holy Father Sennuphius the Standard-Bearer (4th c.)

“A great ascetic and wonderworker of the Egyptian desert, he was a contemporary of Patriarch Theophilus and the Emperor Theodosius the Great. He is called ‘the Standard-Bearer’ because he once helped the Emperor Theodosius to gain a victory over enemy forces by his prayers. When the Emperor summoned him to Constantinople, he replied that he was unable to go, but sent his torn and patched monastic habit and his staff. Going out to battle, the Emperor put on Sennuphius’s habit and carried his staff in his hand, and returned victorious from the battle.” (Prologue)