Philippians 2.12-16 (Epistle)

12So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

14Do all things without complaining and arguing, 15that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without defect in the middle of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world, 16holding up the word of life, that I may have something to boast in the day of Christ that I didn’t run in vain nor labor in vain.

Luke 6.24-30 (Gospel)

24“But woe to you who are rich! For you have received your consolation. 25Woe to you, you who are full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. 26Woe, when men speak well of you, for their fathers did the same thing to the false prophets.

27“But I tell you who hear: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you. 29To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer also the other; and from him who takes away your cloak, don’t withhold your coat also. 30Give to everyone who asks you, and don’t ask him who takes away your goods to give them back again.

Ss Peter, Aleksy, Jonah, Philip, Germogen, Metrs. Moscow

This Feast of the Hierarchs of Moscow was established during the reign of Tsar Theodore and Patriarch Job in the year 1596. All of them are commemorated individually as well as on this day. Only Sts Peter, Alexis, Jonas and Philip are specifically mentioned in the Menaion service, but other holy hierarchs of Moscow have been added to the commemoration over the years.

Holy Martyr Charitina of Amissos (304)

She was the handmaid (according to the Great Horologion) or adopted daughter (according to the Prologue) of an eminent Roman citizen named Claudius, during the reign of Diocletian. She was betrayed as a Christian to the governor Dometian, before whom she fearlessly confessed her faith. After she had endured many cruel tortures, the governor sent some dissolute youths to rape her. Having prayed to be spared this dishonor, she was permitted to give up her soul to God.

Our Holy Mother Methodia of Kimolos (1865)

She was born in 1865 on the island of Kimolos. Against her own wishes, her parents married her to a sailor, but he drowned soon after their wedding. Though she grieved for him, she also took his loss as a sign that she was to follow the path that she had always most deeply desired — so she entered monastic life, receiving the name Methodia. She then shut herself in a small cell where she gave herself to prayer without reservation, hardly ever leaving. She prayed virtually around the clock, and kept strict fast every day but Saturday and Sunday, on which days she would leave her cell to partake of the Mysteries. She received no visitors at all during Lent; at other times, she would receive only women. She became known throughout her region as a counselor and healer. She reposed in peace at the age of forty-two, in 1908.