2 Peter 1.20-2.9 (Epistle)

20knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of private interpretation. 21For no prophecy ever came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit.

1But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction. 2Many will follow their immoral ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned. 3In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not slumber.

4For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to pits of darkness to be reserved for judgment; 5and didn’t spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly, 6and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, having made them an example to those who would live in an ungodly way, 7and delivered righteous Lot, who was very distressed by the lustful life of the wicked 8(for that righteous man dwelling among them was tormented in his righteous soul from day to day with seeing and hearing lawless deeds), 9then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,

Mark 13.9-13 (Gospel)

9“But watch yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils. You will be beaten in synagogues. You will stand before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them. 10The Good News must first be preached to all the nations. 11When they lead you away and deliver you up, don’t be anxious beforehand or premeditate what you will say, but say whatever will be given you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.

12“Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 13You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved.

Greatmartyr Theodore Stratelates

He was a renowned commander in the Imperial army, and dwelt in Heraclea of Pontus. The Emperor Licinius heard of Theodore’s fame as an officer, and also that he was a devout Christian; the Emperor determined to visit the general, officially to honor him, but secretly to turn him from Christ.

When the Emperor came to Heraclea, Saint Theodore met him with all honor, and the Emperor in turn praised him for his service to the state. Licinius then publicly bade Theodore make sacrifice to the gods. Theodore asked that he be given the most venerable gods, made of gold and silver, to attend upon at home, and promised that the following day he would return and honor them before the people. The Emperor, thinking that he had succeeded in restoring Theodore to paganism, gladly agreed.

That night the Saint smashed all the idols he had taken home, and distributed the gold and silver pieces to the poor. When this was discovered, Theodore gladly admitted his deed and confessed Christ boldly. The Emperor, in a fury, had the Saint subjected to many tortures, then crucified. On the cross, he was subject to further torments and mutilations: parts of his body were cut off, his eyes put out, and he was shot with arrows, finally being left on the cross for dead. The next day Licinius sent men to cast his body into the sea, but to their amazement they found the Saint alive, his body perfectly intact. Through this, many spectators and some of the Emperor’s own men turned to Christ. Seeing that the Saint, far from renouncing Christ, was leading others to Him, the Emperor promptly had him beheaded. His holy relics were returned to his family home in Euchaita, where they worked so many miracles that the town came to be known as Theodoropolis.

Holy Prophet Zechariah (6th c. BC)

He was among those who returned to Jerusalem from the Babylonian captivity, following the decree of Cyrus in 538 BC. With the Prophet Haggai (December 16) he began to prophesy in Jerusalem in 520, to encourage the Jews to return to their task of rebuilding the Temple, which they had given up in discouragement. His prophetic ministry is described both in the Book of Ezra and in the Old Testament book that bears his name. His prophecies, in addition to speaking to the situation in which he lived, are replete with prophecies of the coming, and second coming, of Christ. His name means “The Lord is renowned.” Sozomen’s Ecclesiastical History reports that under the Emperor Honorius, Zacharias’ holy relics were discovered by divine revelation in Palestine, and were found to be incorrupt.

St Sabbas II, Archbishop of Serbia (1271)

He was the son of St Stephen the First- Crowned King of Serbia (September 24), and the nephew of St Sabbas (Sava) (January 14), the first Archbishop of Serbia. Like his uncle, he became a monk at the monastery of Chilandar on Mt Athos, where he zealously lived the ascetical life until he was elected Bishop of Zachounios, then Archbishop of Serbia. He fell asleep in peace in 1271, having shepherded his flock with love and wisdom. His holy relics are in the monastery of Pech.