Genesis 49.1-2, 8-12 (Vespers)

1And Jacob called his sons, and said to them, 2Assemble yourselves, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hear me, sons of Jacob; hear Israel, hear your father. 8Juda, your brethren have praised you, and your hands shall be on the back of your enemies; your father's sons shall do you reverence. 9Juda is a lion's whelp: from the tender plant, my son, you are gone up, having couched you lie as a lion, and as a whelp; who shall stir him up? 10A ruler shall not fail from Juda, nor a prince from his loins, until there come the things stored up for him; and he is the expectation of nations. 11Binding his foal to the vine, and the foal of his ass to the branch of it, he shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape. 12His eyes shall be more cheering than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.

Zephaniah 3.14-19 (Vespers)

14Rejoice, O daughter of Sion; cry aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem; rejoice and delight yourself with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. 15The Lord has taken away your iniquities, he has ransomed you from the hand of your enemies: the Lord, the King of Israel, is in the midst of you: you shall not see evil any more. 16At that time the Lord shall say to Jerusalem, Be of good courage, Sion; let not your hands be slack. 17The Lord your God is in you; the Mighty One shall save you: he shall bring joy upon you, and shall refresh you with his love; and he shall rejoice over you with delight as in a day of feasting. 18And I will gather your afflicted ones. Alas! who has taken up a reproach against her? 19Behold, I will work in you for your sake at that time, says the Lord: and I will save her that was oppressed, and receive her that was rejected; and I will make them a praise, and honored in all the earth.

Zechariah 9.9-15 (Vespers)

9Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; proclaim it aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, the King is coming to you, just, and a Saviour; he is meek and riding on an ass, and a young foal. 10And he shall destroy the chariots out of Ephraim, and the horse out of Jerusalem, and the bow of war shall be utterly destroyed; and there shall be abundance and peace out of the nations; and he shall rule over the waters as far as the sea, and the rivers to the ends of the earth. 11And you by the blood of your covenant has sent forth your prisoners out of the pit that has no water. 12You⌃ shall dwell in strongholds, you⌃ prisoners of the congregation: and for one day of your captivity I will recompense you double. 13For I have bent you, O Juda, for myself as a bow, I have filled Ephraim; and I will raise up your children, O Sion, against the children of the Greeks, and I will handle you as the sword of a warrior. 14And the Lord shall be over them, and his arrow shall go forth as lightning: and the Lord Almighty shall blow with the trumpet; and shall proceed with the tumult of his threatening. 15The Lord Almighty shall protect them, and they shall destroy them, and overwhelm them with sling-stones; and they shall swallow them down as wine, and fill the bowls as the altar.

Matthew 21.1-11, 15-17 (Matins Gospel)

1When they came near to Jerusalem and came to Bethsphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, “Go into the village that is opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and immediately he will send them.”

4All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, 5“Tell the daughter of Zion, behold, your King comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

6The disciples went and did just as Jesus commanded them, 7and brought the donkey and the colt and laid their clothes on them; and he sat on them. 8A very great multitude spread their clothes on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9The multitudes who went in front of him, and those who followed, kept shouting, “Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

10When he had come into Jerusalem, all the city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?”

11The multitudes said, “This is the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” 15But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children who were crying in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the son of David!” they were indignant,

16and said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes. Did you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of children and nursing babies, you have perfected praise’?”

17He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and camped there.

Philippians 4.4-9 (Epistle)

4Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, “Rejoice!” 5Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.

8Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report: if there is any virtue and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9Do the things which you learned, received, heard, and saw in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

John 12.1-18 (Gospel)

1Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, who had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. 2So they made him a supper there. Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with him. 3Therefore Mary took a pound of ointment of pure nard, very precious, and anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment.

4Then Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, one of his disciples, who would betray him, said, 5“Why wasn’t this ointment sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6Now he said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and having the money box, used to steal what was put into it.

7But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She has kept this for the day of my burial. 8For you always have the poor with you, but you don’t always have me.”

9A large crowd therefore of the Jews learned that he was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. 10But the chief priests conspired to put Lazarus to death also, 11because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.

12On the next day a great multitude had come to the feast. When they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13they took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet him, and cried out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!”

14Jesus, having found a young donkey, sat on it. As it is written, 15“Don’t be afraid, daughter of Zion. Behold, your King comes, sitting on a donkey’s colt.” 16His disciples didn’t understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about him, and that they had done these things to him. 17The multitude therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead was testifying about it. 18For this cause also the multitude went and met him, because they heard that he had done this sign.

Apostles of the Seventy Herodion, Agabus, Asyncritus, Rufuf, Phlegon, Hermes

All of these are numbered among the Seventy, and all are mentioned in the Epistles of St Paul.

Herodion was a kinsmen of St Paul: ‘Salute Herodion my kinsman’ (Romans 16:11). After many sufferings for the Gospel, he worked with the Apostle Peter in Rome, and was beheaded with him.

Agabus was granted a spirit of prophecy: two of his prophecies are important in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 11:28, 21:11).

Rufus was Bishop of Thebes. ‘Salute Rufus, chosen in the Lord’ (Romans 16:13).

Asyncritus (Romans 16:14) was Bishop of Hyrcania in Asia.

Phlegon, (Romans 16:14) was Bishop of Marathon in Thrace.

Hermas (Romans 16:14) was a bishop in Dalmatia.

Saint Celestine, Pope of Rome (432)

A champion of the Orthodox faith, he sent an epistle to the Third Ecumenical Council, refuting and condemning the Nestorian heresy. He reposed in peace.