3[1] Kings 8.22-23, 27-30 (Vespers)

22And Solomon stood up in front of the altar before all the congregation of Israel; and he spread out his hands toward heaven: 23and he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above and on the earth beneath, keeping covenant and mercy with your servant who walks before you with all his heart; 27But will God indeed dwell with men upon the earth? if the heaven and heaven of heavens will not suffice you, how much less even this house which I have built to your name? 28Yet, O Lord God of Israel, you shall look upon my petition, to hear the prayer which your servant prays to you in your presence this day, 29that your eyes may be open toward this house day and night, even toward the place which you said, My name shall be there, to hear the prayer which your servant prays at this place day and night. 30And you shall listen to the prayer of your servant, and of your people Israel, which they shall pray toward this place; and you shall hear in your dwelling-place in heaven, and you shall do and be gracious.

Isaiah 61.10-62.5 (Vespers)

10and they shall greatly rejoice in the Lord. Let my soul rejoice in the Lord; for he has clothed me with the robe of salvation, and the garment of joy: he has put a mitre on me as on a bridegroom, and adorned me with ornaments as a bride. 11And as the earth putting forth her flowers, and as a garden its seed; so shall the Lord, even the Lord, cause righteousness to spring forth, and exultation before all nations.

1For Sion's sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as light, and my salvation burn as a torch. 2And the Gentiles shall see your righteousness, and kings your glory: and one shall call you by a new name, which the Lord shall name. 3And you shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 4And you shall no more be called Forsaken; and your land shall no more be called Desert: for you shall be called My Pleasure, and your land Inhabited: for the Lord has taken pleasure in you, and your land shall be inhabited. 5And as a young man lives with a virgin, so shall your sons dwell in you: and it shall come to pass that as a bridegroom will rejoice over a bride, so will the Lord rejoice over you.

Isaiah 60.1-16 (Vespers)

1Be enlightened, be enlightened, O Jerusalem, for your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. 2Behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and there shall be gross darkness on the nations: but the Lord shall appear upon you, and his glory shall be seen upon you. 3And kings shall walk in your light, and nations in your brightness. 4Lift up your eyes round about, and behold your children gathered: all your sons have come from far, and your daughters shall be borne on men's shoulders. 5Then shall you see, and fear, and be amazed in your heart; for the wealth of the sea shall come round to you, and of nations and peoples; and herds of camels shall come to you, 6and the camels of Madiam and Gaepha shall cover you: all from Saba shall come bearing gold, and shall bring frankincense, and they shall publish the salvation of the Lord. 7And all the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered, and the rams of Nabaeoth shall come; and acceptable sacrifices shall be offered on my altar, and my house of prayer shall be glorified. 8Who are these that fly as clouds, and as doves with young ones to me? 9The isles have waited for me, and the ships of Tharsis among the first, to bring your children from afar, and their silver and their gold with them, and that for the sake of the holy name of the Lord, and because the Holy One of Israel is glorified. 10And strangers shall build your walls, and their kings shall wait upon you: for by reason of my wrath I struck you, and by reason of mercy I loved you. 11And your gates shall be opened continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; to bring in to you the power of the Gentiles, and their kings as captives. 12For the nations and the kings which will not serve you shall perish; and those nations shall be made utterly desolate. 13And the glory of Libanus shall come to you, with the cypress, and pine, and cedar together, to glorify my holy place. 14And the sons of them that afflicted you, and of them that provoked you, shall come to you in fear; and you shall be called Sion, the city of the Holy One of Israel. 15Because you have become desolate and hated, and there was no helper, therefore I will make you a perpetual gladness, a joy of many generations. 16And you shall suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shall eat the wealth of kings: and shall know that I am the Lord that saves you and delivers you, the Holy One of Israel.

John 10.9-16 (Matins Gospel)

9I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out and will find pasture. 10The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.

11“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them. 13The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own; 15even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd.

Acts 15.5-34 (Epistle)

5But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”

6The apostles and the elders were gathered together to see about this matter. 7When there had been much discussion, Peter rose up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that a good while ago God made a choice among you that by my mouth the nations should hear the word of the Good News and believe. 8God, who knows the heart, testified about them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just like he did to us. 9He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. 10Now therefore why do you tempt God, that you should put a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are.”

12All the multitude kept silence, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul reporting what signs and wonders God had done among the nations through them. 13After they were silent, James answered, “Brothers, listen to me. 14Simeon has reported how God first visited the nations to take out of them a people for his name. 15This agrees with the words of the prophets. As it is written, 16‘After these things I will return. I will again build the tabernacle of David, which has fallen. I will again build its ruins. I will set it up 17that the rest of men may seek after the Lord: all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who does all these things.’

18“All of God’s works are known to him from eternity. 19Therefore my judgment is that we don’t trouble those from among the Gentiles who turn to God, 20but that we write to them that they abstain from the pollution of idols, from sexual immorality, from what is strangled, and from blood. 21For Moses from generations of old has in every city those who preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

22Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole assembly, to choose men out of their company, and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brothers.

23They wrote these things by their hand: “The apostles, the elders, and the brothers, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: greetings. 24Because we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, ‘You must be circumcised and keep the law,’ to whom we gave no commandment; 25it seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose out men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who themselves will also tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay no greater burden on you than these necessary things: 29that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality, from which if you keep yourselves, it will be well with you. Farewell.”

30So, when they were sent off, they came to Antioch. Having gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter. 31When they had read it, they rejoiced over the encouragement. 32Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged the brothers with many words and strengthened them. 33After they had spent some time there, they were dismissed in peace from the brothers to the apostles. 34

Acts 26.1-5, 12-20 (Epistle, Saints)

1Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand, and made his defense. 2“I think myself happy, King Agrippa, that I am to make my defense before you today concerning all the things that I am accused by the Jews, 3especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.

4“Indeed, all the Jews know my way of life from my youth up, which was from the beginning among my own nation and at Jerusalem; 5having known me from the first, if they are willing to testify, that after the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.

12“Whereupon as I traveled to Damascus with the authority and commission from the chief priests, 13at noon, O king, I saw on the way a light from the sky, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who traveled with me. 14When we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

15“I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 16But arise, and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will reveal to you; 17delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you, 18to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

19“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20but declared first to them of Damascus, at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.

John 10.17-28 (Gospel)

17Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. 18No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father.”

19Therefore a division arose again among the Jews because of these words. 20Many of them said, “He has a demon and is insane! Why do you listen to him?” 21Others said, “These are not the sayings of one possessed by a demon. It isn’t possible for a demon to open the eyes of the blind, is it?”

22It was the Feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem. 23It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. 24The Jews therefore came around him and said to him, “How long will you hold us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

25Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you don’t believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me. 26But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you. 27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

John 10.1-9 (Gospel, Saints)

1“Most certainly, I tell you, one who doesn’t enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2But one who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him; for they don’t know the voice of strangers.” 6Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they didn’t understand what he was telling them.

7Jesus therefore said to them again, “Most certainly, I tell you, I am the sheep’s door. 8All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out and will find pasture.

Holy Equals-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine (337) and Helen, his mother (327)

Saint Constantine was born in 272, the son of Constantius Chlorus, ruler of the western part of the Roman Empire, and St Helen. When his father died in 306 he was proclaimed successor to the throne. The empire was ruled at that time by several Caesars, each with his own territory. When Constantine learned that the Caesars Maxentius and Maximinus had joined against him, he marched on Italy. It was there that, on the eve of a decisive battle outside Rome, he saw in the sky a radiant Cross with the words “In this sign conquer.” He ordered that a battle-standard be made bearing the image of a cross and inscribed with the Name of Jesus Christ. The following day he and his forces attacked and won a spectacular victory. He entered Rome in triumph and in 312 was proclaimed “Emperor of the West” by the Senate. (His brother-in-law Licinius ruled in the East.) Soon thereafter he issued his “Edict of Milan,” whereby Christianity was officially tolerated for the first time, and persecution of Christians ceased. (Many believe, mistakenly, that the Edict made Christianity the only legal religion; in fact, it proclaimed freedom of religion throughout the Empire).

Licinius, though he pretended to accept the Edict, soon began persecuting Christians in his domain. In response, Constantine fought and defeated him in 324, becoming sole Emperor of the entire Roman Empire. In 324 he laid the foundations of a new capital in the town of Byzantium; in 330 he inaugurated the new capital city, naming it “New Rome” and “Constantinople.” In 325 he called the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea, attending its sessions himself. Shortly before his repose in 337, he received Holy Baptism; he died on Holy Pentecost, at the age of sixty-five, and was interred in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople.

St Constantine’s holy mother Helen, in her role as “Augusta” of the Empire, founded countless churches. She traveled to Jerusalem and found the True Cross on which the Lord was crucified. In the Holy Land she established churches at the sites of Christ’s Nativity and burial, which still stand today in much-modified form. She died at about eighty years of age.

Holy New Martyr Pachomius (1730)

Born in a village of Little Russia (now Belarus), he was kidnapped as a boy and sold to a Turkish tanner as a slave. He spent the next twenty-seven years in Usaki in Asia Minor, where he was forced to embrace Islam. After long years of servitude he escaped and, reclaiming his Christianity, went to the Holy Mountain, became a monk and lived for twelve years. Tormented by his former apostasy, he determined to suffer martyrdom for Christ. With the permission of his elder, Joseph, he returned to Usaki and showed himself to his former owner wearing his monastic habit. He was tortured, thrown into prison, and finally beheaded on on Ascension Day of 1730. His relics are buried on the island of Patmos in the Church of St John the Theologian, where they work many miracles.