Acts 10.21-33 (Epistle)

21Peter went down to the men, and said, “Behold, I am he whom you seek. Why have you come?”

22They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous man and one who fears God, and well spoken of by all the nation of the Jews, was directed by a holy angel to invite you to his house, and to listen to what you say.”

23So he called them in and provided a place to stay. On the next day Peter arose and went out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. 24On the next day they entered into Caesarea. Cornelius was waiting for them, having called together his relatives and his near friends. 25When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell down at his feet, and worshiped him. 26But Peter raised him up, saying, “Stand up! I myself am also a man.” 27As he talked with him, he went in and found many gathered together. 28He said to them, “You yourselves know how it is an unlawful thing for a man who is a Jew to join himself or come to one of another nation, but God has shown me that I shouldn’t call any man unholy or unclean. 29Therefore I also came without complaint when I was sent for. I ask therefore, why did you send for me?”

30Cornelius said, “Four days ago, I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour, I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing 31and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer is heard, and your gifts to the needy are remembered in the sight of God. 32Send therefore to Joppa and summon Simon, who is also called Peter. He is staying in the house of a tanner named Simon, by the seaside. When he comes, he will speak to you.’ 33Therefore I sent to you at once, and it was good of you to come. Now therefore we are all here present in the sight of God to hear all things that have been commanded you by God.”

John 7.1-13 (Gospel)

1After these things, Jesus was walking in Galilee, for he wouldn’t walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him. 2Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was at hand. 3His brothers therefore said to him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that your disciples also may see your works which you do. 4For no one does anything in secret while he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, reveal yourself to the world.” 5For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.

6Jesus therefore said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. 7The world can’t hate you, but it hates me, because I testify about it, that its works are evil. 8You go up to the feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, because my time is not yet fulfilled.”

9Having said these things to them, he stayed in Galilee. 10But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly, but as it were in secret. 11The Jews therefore sought him at the feast, and said, “Where is he?” 12There was much murmuring among the multitudes concerning him. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others said, “Not so, but he leads the multitude astray.” 13Yet no one spoke openly of him for fear of the Jews.

Hieromartyr Therapon

For boldly preaching Christ and bringing many to the Faith, he was seized and tortured by the pagans. After imprisoning and starving him, his persecutors bound him to four posts and flogged him until the flesh was stripped from his bones. But he remained alive, and the four dead posts to which he was tied sprouted into tall, green trees, from which many received healing. At last St Therapon was slain by the sword, during the reign of the Emperor Valerian.

Holy Martyrs Theodora and Didymus (304)

“In the reign of the wicked Emperor Maximilian, there lived in Alexandria a maiden, Theodora, well-educated and of noble lineage. She was brought to trial before the pagans for her Christian faith. After long interrogation and torture for the Faith, the prince, her tormentor, ordered that she be thrown into a brothel and the soldiers given free access to her to indulge their carnal lusts. Theodora prayed fervently to God to save her from defilement, and, when she had prayed, a soldier called Didymus came in to her and told her that he was a servant of Christ. He dressed her in his soldier’s garb and himself in her dress, then let her out and remained in the brothel himself. He was seized and brought before the judge, where he acknowledged that he was a Christian and had saved Theodora, and was now prepared to die for Christ. He was condemned to death and taken out to the place of execution. Theodora ran up to him there and cried out: ‘Although you saved my honour, I did not ask you to save me from death. Yield the martyr’s death to me!’ Didymus replied: ‘My beloved sister, do not hinder my death for Christ, nor the washing of my sins in my blood.’ Hearing this exchange, the pagans condemned them both to death, and they were beheaded and their bodies burned. They suffered with honour and received eternal wreaths of glory in Alexandria in the year 304.” (Prologue)

Holy New Confessor John the Russian (1730)

He was captured during a Russian campaign against the Turks in 1711, and sold into slavery in Asia Minor. As a slave he strove to serve God faithfully, while serving his earthly master in everything honorable. Despite many enticements offered by the Muslims to renounce his faith, he remained steadfast, and was permitted to work miracles through his prayers. He reposed in peace in 1730. His relics remained incorrupt.

Saint David of Garesjei (6th c.)

“This David is one of the thirteen Georgian Fathers (May 7). He is thus named for the Garajeli desert near Tiflis, where he lived the ascetic life. In old age, David decided to visit the Holy Land with several of his disciples. He left the direction of the monastery to two elders, Lucian and Dodo, and set out on the way. When they came to a hill from which Jerusalem was visible, David burst into tears and said: ‘How can I dare to walk in the steps of God incarnate with these sinful feet?’, and he told his disciples to go and worship at the holy places, but he himself took up three stones and set off to return. But the Lord did not let such humility remain hidden from the world, and an angel appeared to Elias, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and said to him: ‘Send at once for the elder who is even now returning to Syria; he has taken with him three stones, and is carrying with him all the Holy Land’s grace. One stone is a sufficient blessing for him; let him return the other two to Jerusalem. He is called Abba David of Garesjei.’ The Patriarch quickly sent men off to overtake the elder. They took two stones from him, and let him go on his way. The third stone lies on his grave to this day, and possesses miraculous healing power.” (Prologue)

Venerable Bede (Baeda) (735)

He spent almost his entire life as a monk in England, and is known primarily for his many writings. He entered the monastery at Wearmouth at the age of seven, and later moved (perhaps as one of the founders) to the monastery of Jarrow, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was ordained to the priesthood in his thirtieth year. In addition to many works of biblical exegesis, very popular in the middle ages, he compiled the Ecclesiastical History, still the primary source for the history of Christianity’s establishment in the British isles. He reposed in peace.

A problem: Bede lived during the time of the undivided Church, but was only canonized, in the west, in 1899, centuries after the Great Schism. Presumably, then, he has never been formally glorified by the Orthodox Church. Is he a Saint of the Church? We leave the answer to wiser heads.