Isaiah 2.3-11 (6th Hour)

3And many nations shall go and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will tell us his way, and we will walk in it: for out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem. 4And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into sickles: and nation shall not take up sword against nation, neither shall they learn to war any more. 5And now, O house of Jacob, come, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. 6For he has forsaken his people the house of Israel, because their land is filled as at the beginning with divinations, as the land of the Philistines, and many strange children were born to them. 7For their land is filled with silver and gold, and there was no number of their treasures; their land also is filled with horses, and there was no number of chariots. 8And the land is filled with abominations, even the works of their hands; and they have worshipped the works which their fingers made. 9And the mean man bowed down, and the great man was humbled: and I will not pardon them. 10Now therefore enter you⌃ into the rocks, and hide yourselves in the earth, for fear of the Lord, and by reason of the glory of his might, when he shall arise to strike terribly the earth. 11For the eyes of the Lord are high, but man is low; and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.

Genesis 1.24-2.3 (Vespers)

24And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind, quadrupeds and reptiles and wild beasts of the earth according to their kind, and it was so. 25And God made the wild beasts of the earth according to their kind, and cattle according to their kind, and all the reptiles of the earth according to their kind, and God saw that they were good. 26And God said, Let us make man according to our image and likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the flying creatures of heaven, and over the cattle and all the earth, and over all the reptiles that creep on the earth. 27And God made man, according to the image of God he made him, male and female he made them. 28And God blessed them, saying, Increase and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the seas and flying creatures of heaven, and all the cattle and all the earth, and all the reptiles that creep on the earth. 29And God said, Behold I have given to you every seed-bearing herb sowing seed which is upon all the earth, and every tree which has in itself the fruit of seed that is sown, to you it shall be for food. 30And to all the wild beasts of the earth, and to all the flying creatures of heaven, and to every reptile creeping on the earth, which has in itself the breath of life, even every green plant for food; and it was so. 31And God saw all the things that he had made, and, behold, they were very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

1And the heavens and the earth were finished, and the whole world of them. 2And God finished on the sixth day his works which he made, and he ceased on the seventh day from all his works which he made. 3And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it he ceased from all his works which God began to do.

Proverbs 2.1-22 (Vespers)

1My son, if you will receive the utterance of my commandment, and hide it with you; 2your ear shall listen to wisdom; you shall also apply your heart to understanding, and shall apply it to the instruction of your son. 3For if you shall call to wisdom, and utter your voice for understanding; 4and if you shall seek it as silver, and search diligently for it as for treasures; 5then shall you understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. 6For the Lord gives wisdom; and from his presence come knowledge and understanding, 7and he treasures up salvation for them that walk uprightly: he will protect their way; 8that he may guard the righteous ways: and he will preserve the way of them that fear him. 9Then shall you understand righteousness, and judgment; and shall direct all your course aright. 10For if wisdom shall come into your understanding, and discernment shall seem pleasing to your soul, 11good counsel shall guard you, and holy understanding shall keep you; 12to deliver you from the evil way, and from the man that speaks nothing faithfully. 13Alas for those who forsake right paths, to walk in ways of darkness; 14who rejoice in evils, and delight in wicked perverseness; 15whose paths are crooked, and their courses winding; 16to remove you far from the straight way, and to estrange you from a righteous purpose. My son, let not evil counsel overtake you, 17of her who has forsaken the instruction of her youth, and forgotten the covenant of God. 18For she has fixed her house near death, and guided her wheels near Hades with the giants. 19None that go by her shall return, neither shall they take hold of right paths, for they are not apprehended of the years of life. 20For had they gone in good paths, they would have found the paths of righteousness easy. 21For the upright shall dwell in the earth, and the holy shall be left behind in it. 22The paths of the ungodly shall perish out of the earth, and transgressors shall be driven away from it.

Hieromartyr Theodotus, Bishop of Cyrenia

Known for his wisdom and virtue, he was chosen as Bishop of Cyrenia on the island of Cyprus. When a persecution broke out against the Christians under the Emperor Licinius, Theodotus was arrested and subjected to many tortures. His torturer Sabinus urged him repeatedly to renounce Christ and worship the idols, but Theodotus replied, ‘If you knew the goodness of my God, who, it is my hope, will by these brief tortures make me worthy of eternal life, you would wish to suffer for Him as I do.’ The pagans then drove nails into his body, for which he thanked God. Believing that his death was approaching, he calmly gave counsel and instruction to the Christians around him. By God’s providence, an order came from the new Emperor Constantine to free all Christians who were being held for the sake of Christ. Thus Theodotus was freed and, though greatly weakened by his torments, served his flock faithfully for two more years before reposing in peace.

The Four Hundred and Forty Martyrs of Lombardy (579)

Forty of them were beheaded in one place in Lombardy (in Italy) because they refused to eat food offered to idols. Another four hundred were massacred because they refused to join with the Lombard pagans’ practice of dancing around a goat’s head that had been brought for sacrifice to the idols. Their deaths are recorded by St Gregory the Dialogist (Gregory the Great).

We sometimes imagine that the Roman Empire converted almost overnight to Christianity during the reign of St Constantine the Great. This incident, more than two hundred years into Europe’s ‘Christian era’, reminds us that the progress of the Faith among the people was often slow and halting, and that paganism remained a force for many centuries.

Holy Martyr Euthalia (257)

She was a pagan maiden living in Sicily with her mother (also named Euthalia) and her brother Sermilianus. When Euthalia’s mother became ill with an issue of blood, the holy martyrs Alphius, Philadelphus and Cyrinus (May 10) appeared to her in a dream and told her that she would only be healed if she were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Heeding the dream, she believed, was baptized, and was healed. Her daughter Euthalia, seeing this wonder, was also baptised. Sermilianus, despising and hating the Christian faith, first mocked his mother and sister for their conversion, then threatened them. The mother fled the house in fear. Euthalia remained, saying to her brother ‘I am a Christian, and have no fear of death.’ The cruel Sermilianus persecuted her more and more harshly until finally, enraged by the futility of his threats, he beheaded his own sister by his own hand, unknowingly procuring for her a crown of eternal glory. “And thus in this example were fulfilled the words of Christ that He was bringing a sword among men which would divide those of one blood but not those of one faith (Matt. 10:34-35).” (Prologue)