Isaiah 41.4-14 (6th Hour)

4Who has wrought and done these things? he has called it who called it from the generations of old; I God, the first and to all futurity, I AM. 5The nations saw, and feared; the ends of the earth drew near, and came together, 6every one judging for his neighbor and that to assist his brother: and one will say, 7The artificer has become strong, and the coppersmith that smites with the hammer, and forges also: sometimes he will say, It is a piece well joined: they have fastened them with nails; they will fix them, and they shall not be moved. 8But you, Israel, are my servant Jacob, and he whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraam, whom I have loved: 9whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and from the high places of it I have called you, and said to you, You are my servant; I have chosen you, and I have not forsaken you. 10Fear not; for I am with you: wander not; for I am your God, who have strengthened you; and I have helped you, and have established you with my just right hand. 11Behold, all your adversaries shall be ashamed and confounded; for they shall be as if they were not: and all your opponents shall perish. 12You shall seek them, and you shall not find the men who shall insolently rage against you: for they shall be as if they were not, and they that war against you shall not be. 13For I am your God, who holds your right hand, who says to you, 14Fear not, Jacob, and you Israel few in number; I have helped you, says your God, he that redeems you, O Israel.

Genesis 17.1-9 (Vespers)

1And Abram was ninety-nine years old, and the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am your God, be well-pleasing before me, and be blameless. 2And I will establish my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly. 3And Abram fell upon his face, and God spoke to him, saying, 4And I, behold! my covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of a multitude of nations. 5And your name shall no more be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraam, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6And I will increase you very exceedingly, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come out of you. 7And I will establish my covenant between you and your seed after you, to their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be your God, and the God of your seed after you. 8And I will give to you and to your seed after you the land wherein you sojourn, even all the land of Chanaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be to them a God. 9And God said to Abraam, You also shall fully keep my covenant, you and your seed after you for their generations.

Proverbs 15.20-16.9 (LXX) (Vespers)

20A wise son gladdens his father; but a foolish son sneers at his mother. 21The ways of a foolish man are void of sense; but a wise man proceeds on his way aright. 22They that honor not councils put off deliberation; but counsel abides in the hearts of counselors. 23A bad man will by no means attend to counsel; neither will he say anything seasonable, or good for the common weal. 24The thoughts of the wise are ways of life, that he may turn aside and escape from hell. 25The Lord pulls down the houses of scorners; but he establishes the border of the widow. 26An unrighteous thought is abomination to the Lord; but the sayings of the pure are held in honor. 27A receiver of bribes destroys himself; but he that hates the receiving of bribes is safe. By alms and by faithful dealings sins are purged away; but by the fear of the Lord every one departs from evil. 28The hearts of the righteous meditate faithfulness; but the mouth of the ungodly answers evil things. The ways of righteous men are acceptable with the Lord; and through them even enemies become friends. 29God is far from the ungodly; but he hearkens to the prayers of the righteous. Better are small receipts with righteousness, than abundant fruits with unrighteousness. Let the heart of a man think justly, that his steps may be rightly ordered of God. The eye that sees rightly rejoices the heart; and a good report fattens the bones. 32He that rejects instruction hates himself; but he that mind reproofs loves his soul. 33The fear of the Lord is instruction and wisdom; and the highest honor will correspond therewith.

2All the works of the humble man are manifest with God; but the ungodly shall perish in an evil day. 5Every one that is proud in heart is unclean before God, and he that unjustly strikes hands with hand shall not be held guiltless. The beginning of a good way is to do justly; and it is more acceptable with God than to offer sacrifices. He that seeks the Lord shall find knowledge with righteousness: and they that rightly seek him shall find peace. All of the works of the Lord are done with righteousness; and the ungodly man is kept for the evil day.

Ven. Nicetas the Confessor

He was born in Caesarea of Bithynia. His widowed father became a monk, leaving Nicetas to the care of his grandmother. Nicetas himself, when he was grown, entered a monastery in Midikion, on the Sea of Marmara. After seven years of monastic life he was ordained hieromonk by Patriarch Tarasios. When Nikephoros, the abbot of the monastery, died, the brethren chose Nicetas as their new abbot.

When Leo the Armenian became Emperor, he revived the iconoclast heresy, even though it had been put down under the Empress Irene and condemned by an Ecumenical Council. The Emperor deposed and exiled the holy Patriarch Nicephoros, putting a heretic in his place. Nicetas, because he was known for his holiness and steadfast reverence for the holy icons, was imprisoned and tortured, but did not waver in his defense of Orthodoxy. Nicetas was taken from prison to prison, torture to torture, and exiled twice, until at last Leo the Armenian died and the Orthodox Emperor Michael came to the throne and freed all those imprisoned for Orthodoxy.

Once freed, Nicetas retired to a secluded hermitage near Constantinople, where he passed the remainder of his life in prayer and thanksgiving. When he died, his body was taken back to his monastery; during the journey, many of the sick who touched his holy body were healed.

Saint Joseph the Hymnographer (886)

“Saint Joseph was from Sicily, the son of Plotinus and Agatha. Because Sicily had been subjugated by the Moslems, he departed thence and, passing from place to place, came with Saint Gregory of Decapolis (see Nov. 20) to Constantinople, where he endured bitter afflictions because of his pious zeal. Travelling to Rome, he was captured by Arab pirates and taken to Crete, whence he later returned to Constantinople. He became an excellent hymnographer and reposed in holiness shortly after 886 (according to some, it was in 883). The melismatic canons of the Menaion are primarily the work of this Joseph; they bear his name in the acrostic of the Ninth Ode. He also composed most of the sacred book known as the Paracletike, which complements the Octoechos. For this reason, Joseph is called par excellence the Hymnographer.” (Great Horologion)

The “bitter afflictions” which St Joseph suffered were probably due (judging from his dates) to his veneration of the holy icons.

Note: In the Slavic calendar he is commemorated on April 4.