Orthodox Calendar

Wednesday, July 31, 2086
Forefeast of the Procession of the Lifegiving Cross

Fast — Abstain from meat, fish, dairy, eggs, wine, and oil

Commemorations

Scripture Readings

1 Corinthians 16.4-12 (Epistle)

4If it is appropriate for me to go also, they will go with me.

5I will come to you when I have passed through Macedonia, for I am passing through Macedonia. 6But with you it may be that I will stay with you, or even winter with you, that you may send me on my journey wherever I go. 7For I do not wish to see you now in passing, but I hope to stay a while with you, if the Lord permits. 8But I will stay at Ephesus until Pentecost, 9for a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

10Now if Timothy comes, see that he is with you without fear, for he does the work of the Lord, as I also do. 11Therefore let no one despise him. But set him forward on his journey in peace, that he may come to me; for I expect him with the brothers.

12Now concerning Apollos the brother, I strongly urged him to come to you with the brothers, but it was not at all his desire to come now; but he will come when he has an opportunity.

Matthew 21.28-32 (Gospel)

28But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first, and said, ‘Son, go work today in my vineyard.’ 29He answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind, and went. 30He came to the second, and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I’m going, sir,’ but he didn’t go.

31Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Most certainly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering into God’s Kingdom before you. 32For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn’t believe him; but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. When you saw it, you didn’t even repent afterward, that you might believe him.

Commemorations

Righteous Joseph of Arimathea

The “noble Joseph” was a secret follower of Christ and a wealthy member of the Jewish Sanhendrin (ruling council); it was he who provided Christ’s tomb. When his faith became known he was driven from the Sanhendrin, from the synagogues, and from the Holy Land, and traveled through many lands, proclaiming the Gospel of Christ. According to some accounts he eventually reached England, where he reposed in peace.

Righteous Eudocimus of Cappadocia (9th c.)

“Saint Eudocimus was from Cappadocia, the son of pious and most illustrious parents, patricians in rank. He especially cultivated chastity and mercy, the one by never meeting the gaze of a woman, the other by cheerfully providing the needs of the poor. When he was made military commander of Cappadocia, he continued in his righteous ways, showing mercy and uprightness in all his dealings. Having so lived in piety, quietly and without ostentation, he was called from this life at the age of thirty-three, about the year 840, during the reign of the Iconoclast Theophilus. Not long after his burial, his grave became a fountain of unending miracles, as God revealed the virtue that Eudocimus had striven to hide; when his grave was later opened, his body was found incorrupt. His holy relics were translated to Constantinople.” (Great Horologion)