1 Timothy 5.1-10 (Epistle)

1Don’t rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father; the younger men as brothers; 2the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, in all purity.

3Honor widows who are widows indeed. 4But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them learn first to show piety toward their own family and to repay their parents, for this is acceptable in the sight of God. 5Now she who is a widow indeed and desolate, has her hope set on God and continues in petitions and prayers night and day. 6But she who gives herself to pleasure is dead while she lives. 7Also command these things, that they may be without reproach. 8But if anyone doesn’t provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

9Let no one be enrolled as a widow under sixty years old, having been the wife of one man, 10being approved by good works, if she has brought up children, if she has been hospitable to strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, and if she has diligently followed every good work.

Mark 10.46-52 (Gospel)

46They came to Jericho. As he went out from Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude, the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the road. 47When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, you son of David, have mercy on me!” 48Many rebuked him, that he should be quiet, but he cried out much more, “You son of David, have mercy on me!”

49Jesus stood still and said, “Call him.” They called the blind man, saying to him, “Cheer up! Get up. He is calling you!”

50He, casting away his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.

51Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “Rabboni, that I may see again.”

52Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your faith has made you well.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the way.

Holy Ten Martyrs of Crete

All ten suffered for Christ together on Crete during the reign of the Emperor Decius. They were tormented and humiliated for thirty days, but bore their trials with such serenity that the Governor feared that others would be converted to the Faith, so had all of them beheaded.

Our Venerable Father Paul, Archbishop of Neocaesarea (4th c.)

This holy bishop was so revered that he was summoned by the Emperor Licinius himself, who attempted to turn him from the Faith. When this failed, the Emperor ordered that molten metal be poured on the bishop’s hands, which left them paralyzed and horribly disfigured. Years went by, Christianity was legalized by Constantine the Great and, when the Council of Nicaea was summoned, St Paul was among those bishops who were called to attend. Many of the bishops who attended bore in their bodies the marks of the Lord Jesus (Gal. 6:17): noses, ears or eyes lost, scars and burns from their trials for Christ. At the Council, the Emperor Constantine knelt before St Paul and kissed his hands as holy relics, saying ‘I will never tire of kissing these hands which have lost their life for the sake of my Christ.’ After the Council, the holy bishop served in Neocaesarea for several more years, then reposed in peace.

Our Holy Father Nahum of Ochrid, Wonderworker and Enlightener of the Slavs (ca. 900)

He was a disciple of Saints Cyril and Methodius (May 11), and traveled with them on their missionary journey to the Slavs. With them and their other companions, he endured many trials, including several imprisonments at the hands of the Latin Franks, who were seeking to seize control of the region of Moravia in order to impose the Latin language and to spread the heresy of the filioque. For a time their troubles were relieved by Pope Hadrian II, who supported the mission and made St Methodius Archbishop of Pannonia, with jurisdiction over the Eastern European Slav lands. But when St Methodius died, St Nahum and his companions were imprisoned once more, then sent into exile, where they finally found shelter in the Orthodox Kingdom of Bulgaria. There they were able to continue their work of evangelization in the Slavonic language. Saint Nahum founded the Monastery that bears his name on the shore of Lake Ochrid. After his repose his relics were brought there for burial, and are venerated there today.