Acts 6.8-7.5, 47-60 (Epistle)

8And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

9Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. 10And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. 11Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. 12And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, 13And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: 14For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. 15And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

1Then said the high priest, Are these things so? 2And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, 3And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. 4Then came he out of the land of the Chaldæans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. 5And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child. 47But Solomon built him an house. 48Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, 49Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? 50Hath not my hand made all these things?

51Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. 52Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: 53Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.

54When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. 55But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. 57Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 58And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. 59And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 60And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

John 4.46-54 (Gospel)

46So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. 47When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judæa into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. 48Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. 49The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. 50Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. 51And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. 52Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. 53So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house. 54This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judæa into Galilee.

Our Holy Father John, Disciple of St Gregory of Decapolis (820)

He entered monastic life when young and became a disciple of St Gregory of Decapolis (Nov. 20). In the days of the iconoclast heresy, he was privileged to be tortured along with his teacher St Gregory and St Joseph the Hymnographer (April 3) for their defense of the holy icons. When Gregory died, John became Abbot of the Decapolite monastery in Constantinople. He reposed in peace around 820; St Joseph buried him near St Gregory’s grave.

The Holy Martyr John the New of Ioannina (1526)

He moved as a young man to Constantinople to work as a craftsman. After the Turkish conquest of Constantinople, many Christians had denied Christ and embraced Islam. John spoke with many of these about the Faith and challenged them for their betrayal of Christ. Shamed and angered, some of them had him arrested, falsely stating that he had earlier accepted Islam and then returned to Christianity, which is punishable by death in Islamic law. He was tortured and cast into prison. When he was brought out for more torture on the day of Pascha, John came forward full of joy and singing ‘Christ is risen from the dead!’ To his torturers he cried, ‘Do what you will to me, and send me as quickly as possible from this transient life into life eternal. I am Christ’s servant; I follow Christ, and I die for Christ that I may live with Him.’ He has bound in chains and taken to be burned, but when he ran joyfully into the fire, his tormentors pulled him from the flames and beheaded him instead, then threw his head and body into the fire. Christians were able to gather a few of his wonderworking relics and bury them in the Great Church in Constantinople.