Luke 24.1-12 (4th Matins Gospel)

1But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they and some others came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3They entered in, and didn’t find the Lord Jesus’ body. 4While they were greatly perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling clothing.

5Becoming terrified, they bowed their faces down to the earth. The men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6He isn’t here, but is risen. Remember what he told you when he was still in Galilee, 7saying that the Son of Man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and the third day rise again?”

8They remembered his words, 9returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10Now they were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James. The other women with them told these things to the apostles. 11These words seemed to them to be nonsense, and they didn’t believe them. 12But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. Stooping and looking in, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he departed to his home, wondering what had happened.

Colossians 3.4-11 (Epistle, Forefathers)

4When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.

5Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6For these things’ sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience. 7You also once walked in those, when you lived in them, 8but now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth. 9Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings, 10and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator, 11where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, or free person; but Christ is all, and in all.

Luke 14.16-24 (Gospel, Forefathers)

16But he said to him, “A certain man made a great supper, and he invited many people. 17He sent out his servant at supper time to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’

18They all as one began to make excuses. “The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please have me excused.’

19“Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go try them out. Please have me excused.’

20“Another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I can’t come.’

21“That servant came, and told his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’

22“The servant said, ‘Lord, it is done as you commanded, and there is still room.’

23“The lord said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24For I tell you that none of those men who were invited will taste of my supper. For many are called, but few are chosen.’”

Ven. Daniel the Stylite

He was from Samosata in Mesopotamia, and became a monk at the age of twelve. As a young monk he visited St Symeon the Stylite (September 1) to receive his blessing. Years later he moved to the neighborhood of Constantinople at the request of the holy Patriarch Anatolius (July 3), whom he had healed of a deadly ailment through his prayers. For a time Daniel lived in the church of the Archangel Michael at Anaplus, but nine years later St Symeon the Stylite appeared to him in a vision and told him to imitate Symeon’s ascesis of living on a pillar. For the remaining thirty-three years of his life the Saint did just that. He stood immovably in prayer regardless of the weather: once after a storm his disciples found him standing covered with ice. He was much loved by several Emperors (including Leo the Great), who sought him out for counsel. He reposed at the age of eighty-four, having lived through the reigns of three Emperors.

Saint Nikon the Dry of the Kiev Caves (1101)

He was a monk in Kiev, taken into slavery by a band of Polovtsi (Turkic raiders who were troubling the country at that time) along with the holy Martyr Eustratius (March 28). He humbly refused to be ransomed by his family and therefore suffered a harsh captivity for three years. Despite this, he prayed constantly for his captors, worked miracles for their sake, and once healed their leader from a deadly illness. One day St Eustratius appeared to him in a vision and told him that he would be set free in three days. When he told his captors, they severed the tendons of his knees and ankles and kept him under guard. But at the appointed time he was miraculously transported to Kiev, where he suddenly appeared in church among his astonished brethren. The Saint did not want his chains removed until his Abbot said “Brother, if the Lord wanted to see you in these chains, he would not have delivered you from captivity!” He was so withered from his hardships that he became known as Nikon the Dry. Later, the captor whom he had healed came to the Monastery of the Caves and became a disciple of his former slave.

Our Venerable Father Luke the New Stylite (979)

He was an Anatolian, and in his youth served in the Byzantine army in the war against the Bulgar Tsar Symeon. After the war, he left the army to become a monk, and was in time ordained to the priesthood. For a time he served as an army chaplain, living even more austerely than he had as a monk and distributing all his possessions to soldiers in need.

He entered the Monastery of St Zacharias on Mount Olympus in Bithynia, where he was appointed steward. Here his ascetical labors reached new levels. He kept a large stone in his mouth so that he would be unable to speak, and spent each night in a tree. When his exploits threatened to attract admiration, Luke fled to his homeland and lived for a few years in an isolated cave. Then, following in the footsteps of Symeon the Elder (September 1), Symeon the Younger (May 24), Daniel (today) and Alypius (November 26), he began to live as a stylite, dwelling on a tall pillar near Constantinople. Here he became a powerful intercessor for those who flocked to him for healing or counsel, and countless miracles were worked through his prayers.

Saint Luke lived on his pillar for more than forty years without interruption, and fell asleep in peace, aged more than one hundred. He was buried in the Monastery of St Bassian.