Philippians 3.8-19 (Epistle)

8Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 10That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. 12Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 13Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 15Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. 16Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. 17Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. 18(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

Luke 7.31-35 (Gospel)

31And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like? 32They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. 33For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. 34The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! 35But wisdom is justified of all her children.

Holy Martyrs Eulampius and Eulampia (196)

They were brother and sister, from Nicomedia, who suffered for Christ during the reign of Maximian. Eulampius was arrested for his Christian faith; when his sister received the news, she hurried to join him. Both were subjected to various cruel tortures, including being cast into fire and boiling pitch, from which they miraculously emerged unharmed. Finally, Eulampius was beheaded, and Eulampia gave up her spirit before she too could be beheaded.

Blessed Fool for Christ Andrew of Totma (1637)

“Saint Andrew came of a family of devout, unlettered peasants. He obtained an education by going to church and, on the death of his parents, became a novice at the Monastery of Galich, in the diocese of Kostroma. The Abbot, who was remarkable for his wisdom, discerned Andrew’s spiritual gifts and encouraged him to undertake the unusual and difficult ascesis of Foolishness-for-Christ. Andrew left the monastery to lead a wayfaring life, but often returned to reveal his thoughts and deeds to his starets. On his Elder’s death, he settled near the Church of the Resurrection in the town of Totma, where he was completely unknown. He spent the whole night in prayer and during the day begged alms that he forthwith gave to the poor. He went barefoot summer and winter and lived on nothing but bread and water. Every year he made a pilgrimage to the holy places of the region. One day he was accosted by the chief of an outlandish tribe. The man was suffering from an eye complaint and asked Andrew, who was already looked upon as a wonderworker, to cure him. Andrew fled, but the wild man washed his eyes in the snow trodden by the Saint and was healed.

“Worn out by ascesis and privation, Saint Andrew foreknew the day of his decease. He called a priest, confessed and communicated in the holy Mysteries, and not long after he fell asleep in the Lord, a heavenly scent pervading the room where his body lay. Some time later, the Saint appeared to a sick woman as she slept, holding the Gospel for her to venerate and telling her to pray at his tomb. When she awoke, the woman was healed.” (Synaxarion)