Orthodox Calendar

Friday, March 16, 1956
Cheesefare Friday

Fast — Meat Fast — Abstain from meat

Service Notes

  • No Liturgy

Scripture Readings

Commemorations

Scripture Readings

Zechariah 8.7-17 (6th Hour)

7Thus says the Lord Almighty; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and the west country; 8and I will bring them in, and cause them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be to me a people, and I will be to them a God, in truth and in righteousness. 9Thus says the Lord Almighty; Let your hands be strong, you⌃ that hear in these days these words out of the mouth of the prophets, from the day that the house of the Lord Almighty was founded, and from the time that the temple was built. 10For before those days the wages of men could not be profitable, and there could be no hire of cattle, and there could be no peace by reason of the affliction to him that went out or to him that came in: for I would have let loose all men, every one against his neighbor. 11But now I will not do to the remnant of this people according to the former days, says the Lord Almighty. 12But I will show peace: the vine shall yield her fruit, and the land shall yield her produce, and the heaven shall give its dew: and I will give as an inheritance all these things to the remnant of my people. 13And it shall come to pass, as you⌃ were a curse among the nations, O house of Juda, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and you⌃ shall be a blessing: be of good courage, and strengthen your hands. 14For thus says the Lord Almighty; As I took counsel to afflict you when your fathers provoked me, says the Lord Almighty, and I repented not: 15so have I prepared and taken counsel in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Juda: be you⌃ of good courage. 16These are the things which you⌃ shall do; speak truth every one with his neighbor; judge truth and peaceful judgment in your gates: 17and let none of you devise evil in his heart against his neighbor; and love not a false oath: for all these things I hate, says the Lord Almighty.

Zechariah 8.19-23 (Vespers)

19Thus says the Lord Almighty, The fourth fast, and the fifth fast, and the seventh fast, and the tenth fast, shall be to the house of Juda for joy and gladness, and for good feasts; and you⌃ shall rejoice; and love you⌃ the truth and peace. 20Thus says the Lord Almighty; Yet shall many peoples come, and the inhabitants of many cities; 21and the inhabitants of five cities shall come together to one city, saying, Let us go to make supplication to the Lord, and to seek the face of the Lord Almighty; I will go also. 22And many peoples and many nations shall come to seek earnestly the face of the Lord Almighty in Jerusalem, and to obtain favor of the Lord. 23Thus says the Lord Almighty; In those days my word shall be fulfilled if ten men of all the languages of the nations should take hold—even take hold of the hem of a Jew, saying, We will go with you; for we have heard that God is with you.

Commemorations

Martyrs Eutropius, Cleonicus and Basiliscus

They were fellow-soldiers and kinsmen of St Theodore the Tyro (Feb. 17). When St Theodore received his martyrdom, they were kept in prison because the governor of Amasia was unwilling to execute them. But a new and crueler governor, Asclepiodotus, took his place and ordered the three soldiers of Christ to be brought to him. At first, the governor used flattery and bribery to attempt to turn the three from Christ. He invited Eutropius to dine with him, but Eutropius refused, quoting the Psalm ‘Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsels of the ungodly.’ He then offered them a huge amount of silver, which they likewise refused, telling the governor that Judas lost his soul for silver. The governor then turned to torture, subjecting the three to extreme torments. At last, he condemned Eutropius and Cleonicus to crucifixion, for which they joyfully gave thanks that they had been found worthy to die the same death as Christ. Basiliscus was held in prison awhile longer in hopes that the deaths of his companions would weaken his resolve; but when he remained steadfast in the Faith, he was beheaded, on May 22 (on which he is also commemorated) in 308.

An Unknown Girl in Alexandria (?)

“She was from a wealthy house, having a good father who suffered much and had a difficult death, and an evil mother who had an easy life, died in peace and was buried with honour. In uncertainty whether to live by the example of her father or her mother, this maiden had a vision, in which the state of her father and of her mother were shown to her. She saw her father in the Kingdom of God, and her mother in darkness and torment. This determined her to devote her whole life to God, and, like her father, follow the commandments of God without regard to any opposition or misfortune that she might have to endure. And she followed the commandments of God to the end, with His help, and was made worthy of the Kingdom of heaven, in which she was reunited with her beloved father.” (Prologue)