Isaiah 1.1-20 (6th Hour)

1The vision which Esaias the son of Amos saw, which he saw against Juda, and against Jerusalem, in the reign of Ozias, and Joatham, and Achaz, and Ezekias, who reigned over Judea. 2Hear, O heaven, and listen, O earth: for the Lord has spoken, saying, I have begotten and reared up children, but they have rebelled against me. 3The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel does not know me, and the people has not regarded me. 4Ah sinful nation, a people full of sins, an evil seed, lawless children: you⌃ have forsaken the Lord, and provoked the Holy One of Israel. 5Why should you⌃ be struck any more, transgressing more and more? the whole head is pained, and the whole heart sad. 6From the feet to the head, there is no soundness in them; neither wound, nor bruise, nor festering ulcer are healed: it is not possible to apply a plaister, nor oil, nor bandages. 7Your land is desolate, your cities burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is made desolate, overthrown by strange nations. 8The daughter of Sion shall be deserted as a tent in a vineyard, and as a storehouse of fruits in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. 9And if the Lord of Sabaoth had not left us a seed, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been made like Gomorrha. 10Hear the word of the Lord, you⌃ rulers of Sodoma; attend to the law of God, you people of Gomorrha. 11Of what value to me is the abundance of your sacrifices? says the Lord: I am full of whole burnt offerings of rams; and I delight not in the fat of lambs, and the blood of bulls and goats: 12neither shall you⌃ come with these to appear before me; for who has required these things at your hands? You⌃ shall no more tread my court. 13Though you⌃ bring fine flour, it is vain; incense is an abomination to me; I can’t bear your new moons, and your sabbaths, and the great day; 14your fasting, and rest from work, your new moons also, and your feasts my soul hates: you⌃ have become loathsome to me; I will no more pardon your sins. 15When you⌃ stretch forth your hands, I will turn away my eyes from you: and though you⌃ make many supplications, I will not listen to you; for your hands are full of blood. 16Wash you, be clean; remove your iniquities from your souls before my eyes; cease from your iniquities; 17learn to do well; diligently seek judgment, deliver him that is suffering wrong, plead for the orphan, and obtain justice for the widow. 18And come, let us reason together, says the Lord: and though your sins be as purple, I will make them white as snow; and though they be as scarlet, I will make them white as wool. 19And if you⌃ be willing, and listen to me, you⌃ shall eat the good of the land: 20but if you⌃ be not willing, nor listen to me, a sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken this.

Genesis 1.1-13 (Vespers)

1In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. 2But the earth was unsightly and unfurnished, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God moved over the water. 3And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. 4And God saw the light that it was good, and God divided between the light and the darkness. 5And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night, and there was evening and there was morning, the first day. 6And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it be a division between water and water, and it was so. 7And God made the firmament, and God divided between the water which was under the firmament and the water which was above the firmament. 8And God called the firmament Heaven, and God saw that it was good, and there was evening and there was morning, the second day. 9And God said, Let the water which is under the heaven be collected into one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so. And the water which was under the heaven was collected into its places, and the dry land appeared. 10And God called the dry land Earth, and the gatherings of the waters he called Seas, and God saw that it was good. 11And God said, Let the earth bring forth the herb of grass bearing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and the fruit tree bearing fruit whose seed is in it, according to its kind on the earth, and it was so. 12And the earth brought forth the herb of grass bearing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and the fruit tree bearing fruit whose seed is in it, according to its kind on the earth, and God saw that it was good. 13And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

Proverbs 1.1-20 (Vespers)

1The Proverbs of Solomon son of David, who reigned in Israel; 2to know wisdom and instruction, and to perceive words of understanding; 3to receive also hard saying, and to understand true justice, and how to direct judgment; 4that he might give subtlety to the simple, and to the young man discernment and understanding. 5For by the hearing of these a wise man will be wiser, and man of understanding will gain direction; 6and will understand a parable, and a dark speech; the saying of the wise also, and riddles. 7The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and there is good understanding to all that practise it: and piety toward God is the beginning of discernment; but the ungodly will set at nothing wisdom and instruction. 8Hear, my son, the instruction of your father, and reject not the rules of your mother. 9For you shall receive for your head a crown of graces, and a chain of gold round your neck. 10My son, let not ungodly men lead you astray, neither consent you to them. 11If they should exhort you, saying, Come with us, partake in blood, and let us unjustly hide the just man in the earth: 12and let us swallow him alive, as Hades would, and remove the memorial of him from the earth: 13let us seize on his valuable property, and let us fill our houses with spoils: 14but do you cast in your lot with us, and let us all provide a common purse, and let us have one pouch: 15go not in the way with them, but turn aside your foot from their paths: 16For their feet run to do evil, and are swift to shed blood. 17for nets are not without cause spread for birds. 18For they that are concerned in murder store up evils for themselves; and the overthrow of transgressors is evil. 19These are the ways of all that perform lawless deeds; for by ungodliness they destroy their own life. 20Wisdom sings aloud in passages, and in the broad places speaks boldly.

St Porphyrius, Bishop of Gaza

He was born to a wealthy, noble family in Thessalonica around 347. Filled more and more with a yearning for God, he abandoned his worldly possessions and traveled to Egypt, living for five years as a monk at Sketis. From there he went to Palestine, where he lived for another five years in a cave in the Jordan desert. Suffering from a severe ailment, he was forced to move to Jerusalem; there he was suddenly and completely cured following a vision on Golgotha, in which he saw the Good Thief come down from the cross to lead him to Christ, who gave the Cross into his keeping.

Porphyrius took up the trade of a shoemaker in Jerusalem to provide for his few needs. His humility and charity became so well-known that the Bishop of Jerusalem ordained him to the priesthood at the age of forty-five, and made him Stavrophylax, keeper of the True Cross of the Savior — thus fulfilling Porphyrius’ vision on Golgotha. Three years later, much against his will, he was elected Bishop of Gaza.

Throughout his episcopate he was persecuted by the pagans who still dominated the life of that city — though he was able to convert many of them by his own example of holiness, and by the many miracles that were wrought through his intercessions. Once, when the city was suffering from a long drought, the Saint gathered the city’s Christians (who numbered no more than 280), told them to fast, and celebrated an all-night vigil. The next morning, as the Bishop and his entire flock went in procession through the city it began to rain. At this, 127 pagans were converted. When the pagans’ violent attacks continued, Porphyrius appealed to the Emperor Arcadius for an edict closing of the pagan temples in Gaza. With the support of St John Chrysostom the edict was issued. When the Imperial representatives entered Gaza, accompanied by Bishop Porphyrius bearing the Cross, the statue of Aphrodite in the city’s main temple shattered into pieces. Eight temples were destroyed, and a Church was built on the site of the largest. Hundreds of pagans embraced the Faith and, after instruction, were baptized by the Saint.

After twenty-five years as bishop, during which he had seen his see transformed from a small flock of beleaguered Christians into a Christian territory, Saint Porphyrius reposed in peace in 420.

St Photini the Samaritan Woman, and those with her (66)

She was the Samaritan Woman who met Christ at Jacob’s Well (John ch. 4). She repented, and told her townsmen that she had met the Christ, for which she is sometimes called the first to proclaim the Gospel of Christ. She converted her four sisters (Phota, Photis,Parasceva, and Cyriaca), and her sons (Victor and Joses), and all of them became tireless evangelists for Christ. After the martyrdom of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, she traveled to Carthage to proclaim the Gospel there. She, with her Christian sisters and sons, all met martyrdom under the persecutions of Nero. She is also commemorated on the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman during the Paschal season.