Acts 4.1-10 (Epistle)

1And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, 2Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide. 4Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.

5And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes, 6And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. 7And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this? 8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, 9If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; 10Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.

John 3.16-21 (Gospel)

16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Translation of the relics of St Nicholas the Wonderworker from Myra to Bari (1087)

In 1087 the Saint’s relics were taken from Myra in Lycia (on the southern coast of present-day Turkey) to the town of Bari in Italy. This was done due to a Muslim attack on Lycia. At that time Bari was Orthodox and under the administration of the Patriarch of Constantinople. The Saint’s relics now lie in a Roman Catholic church in Bari; each year the casket containing the relics is opened by a Roman Catholic and Orthodox bishop together, and quantities of fragrant myrrh are removed, for the healing and encouragement of the faithful.

Holy Prophet Isaiah (7th c. BC)

He is counted as the greatest of the Old Testament Prophets. His incomparably beautiful verses foretell Christ in many places. He chastised, comforted, and counseled the pious king Hezekiah; but when he denounced the impiety and lawlessness of Hezekiah’s son Manasseh, he was sawn in two outside Jerusalem, receiving a martyr’s crown. His name means “The Lord is helper.”

The Fifth Biblical Ode, “Out of the night my spirit waketh at dawn unto Thee, O God…” is taken from Isaiah.

Holy Martyr Christopher (3rd c.)

He was originally named Reprobus. In the time of the persecutions under the Emperor Decius, Reprobus, seeing the sufferings of the Christians, rebuked the rulers for their cruelty. The governor sent soldiers to arrest him, but he converted them and was baptised along with them, receiving the name Christopher. After he was brought before the governor, he was imprisoned with two harlots sent to seduce him, but he converted them also. He, the soldiers, and the former harlots were subjected to torture and finally beheaded.

It is this Saint Christopher who is portrayed on the medals often worn for protection in the Latin West. The image of him carrying the child Jesus comes from his name, which means ‘Christ-bearer,’ not from any incident in his life.