12And it shall come to pass, when the Lord shall have finished doing all things on Mount Sion and Jerusalem, that I will visit upon the proud heart, even upon the ruler of the Assyrians, and upon the boastful haughtiness of his eyes.
13For he said, I will act in strength, and in the wisdom of my understanding I will remove the boundaries of nations, and will spoil their strength.
14And I will shake the inhabited cities: and I will take with my hand all the world as a nest: and I will even take them as eggs that have been left; and there is none that shall escape me, or contradict me.
15Shall the axe glorify itself without him that hews with it? or shall the saw lift up itself without him that uses it, as if one should lift a rod or staff? but it shall not be so;
16but the Lord of hosts shall send dishonor upon your honor, and burning fire shall be kindled upon your glory.
17And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and he shall sanctify him with burning fire, and it shall devour the wood as grass.
18In that day the mountains shall be consumed, and the hills, and the forests, and fire shall devour both soul and body: and he that flees shall be as one fleeing from burning flame.
19And they that are left of them shall be a small number, and a child shall write them.
20And it shall come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel shall no more join themselves with, and the saved of Jacob shall no more trust in, them that injured them; but they shall trust in the Holy God of Israel, in truth.
Genesis 7.6-9 (Vespers)
6And Noe was six hundred years old when the flood of water was upon the earth.
7And then went in Noe and his sons and his wife, and his sons' wives with him into the ark, because of the water of the flood.
8And of clean flying creatures and of unclean flying creatures, and of clean cattle and of unclean cattle, and of all things that creep upon the earth,
9pairs went in to Noe into the ark, male and female, as God commanded Noe.
Proverbs 9.12-18 (LXX) (Vespers)
12Son, if you be wise for yourself, you shall also be wise for your neighbors; and if you should prove wicked, you alone will bear the evil. He that stays himself upon falsehoods, attempts to rule the winds, and the same will pursue birds in their fight: for he has forsaken the ways of his own vineyard, and he has caused the axles of his own husbandry to go astray; and he goes through a dry desert, and a land appointed to drought, and he gathers barrenness with his hands.
13A foolish and bold woman, who knows not modesty, comes to lack a morsel.
14She sits at the doors of her house, on a seat openly in the streets,
15calling to passers by, and to those that are going right on their ways;
16saying, Whoso is most senseless of you, let him turn aside to me; and I exhort those that lack prudence, saying,
17Take and enjoy secret bread, and the sweet water of theft.
18But he knows that mighty men die by her, and he falls in with a snare of hell. But hasten away, delay not in the place, neither fix your eye upon her: for thus shall you go through strange water; but do you abstain from strange water, and drink not of a strange fountain, that you may live long, and years of life may be added to you.
Commemorations
Hieromartyr Theodotus, Bishop of Cyrenia
Known for his wisdom and virtue, he was chosen as Bishop of Cyrenia on the island of Cyprus. When a persecution broke out against the Christians under the Emperor Licinius, Theodotus was arrested and subjected to many tortures. His torturer Sabinus urged him repeatedly to renounce Christ and worship the idols, but Theodotus replied, ‘If you knew the goodness of my God, who, it is my hope, will by these brief tortures make me worthy of eternal life, you would wish to suffer for Him as I do.’ The pagans then drove nails into his body, for which he thanked God. Believing that his death was approaching, he calmly gave counsel and instruction to the Christians around him. By God’s providence, an order came from the new Emperor Constantine to free all Christians who were being held for the sake of Christ. Thus Theodotus was freed and, though greatly weakened by his torments, served his flock faithfully for two more years before reposing in peace.
The Four Hundred and Forty Martyrs of Lombardy (579)
Forty of them were beheaded in one place in Lombardy (in Italy) because they refused to eat food offered to idols. Another four hundred were massacred because they refused to join with the Lombard pagans’ practice of dancing around a goat’s head that had been brought for sacrifice to the idols. Their deaths are recorded by St Gregory the Dialogist (Gregory the Great).
We sometimes imagine that the Roman Empire converted almost overnight to Christianity during the reign of St Constantine the Great. This incident, more than two hundred years into Europe’s ‘Christian era’, reminds us that the progress of the Faith among the people was often slow and halting, and that paganism remained a force for many centuries.
Holy Martyr Euthalia (257)
She was a pagan maiden living in Sicily with her mother (also named Euthalia) and her brother Sermilianus. When Euthalia’s mother became ill with an issue of blood, the holy martyrs Alphius, Philadelphus and Cyrinus (May 10) appeared to her in a dream and told her that she would only be healed if she were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Heeding the dream, she believed, was baptized, and was healed. Her daughter Euthalia, seeing this wonder, was also baptised. Sermilianus, despising and hating the Christian faith, first mocked his mother and sister for their conversion, then threatened them. The mother fled the house in fear. Euthalia remained, saying to her brother ‘I am a Christian, and have no fear of death.’ The cruel Sermilianus persecuted her more and more harshly until finally, enraged by the futility of his threats, he beheaded his own sister by his own hand, unknowingly procuring for her a crown of eternal glory. “And thus in this example were fulfilled the words of Christ that He was bringing a sword among men which would divide those of one blood but not those of one faith (Matt. 10:34-35).” (Prologue)