Colossians 4.10-18 (Epistle)

10Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you received instructions, “if he comes to you, receive him”), 11and Jesus who is called Justus. These are my only fellow workers for God’s Kingdom who are of the circumcision, men who have been a comfort to me.

12Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. 13For I testify about him that he has great zeal for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis. 14Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you. 15Greet the brothers who are in Laodicea, with Nymphas and the assembly that is in his house. 16When this letter has been read among you, cause it to be read also in the assembly of the Laodiceans, and that you also read the letter from Laodicea. 17Tell Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you fulfill it.”

18I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. Amen.

Luke 11.23-26 (Gospel)

23“He who is not with me is against me. He who doesn’t gather with me scatters.

24The unclean spirit, when he has gone out of the man, passes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will turn back to my house from which I came out.’ 25When he returns, he finds it swept and put in order. 26Then he goes and takes seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”

Martyr Nestor of Thessalonica

See St Demetrius, commemorated yesterday, October 26.

St Procla, the wife of Pontius Pilate.

When Pilate was about to judge Christ, Procla attempted to dissuade him, saying “Have nothing to do with that just man, for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.” Pilate ignored her warning. (See Matthew 27). St Procla reposed in peace.

Our Venerable Father Demetrius of Basarabov (Romania) (13th c.)

He was born early in the thirteenth century to a peasant family in the village of Basarov, then part of Bulgaria. Even in childhood, he gave himself to fasting and prayer. Once, walking across a field, he accidentally stepped on a bird’s nest in the grass, killing the young birds. He was so filled with remorse that he went barefoot for three years, winter and summer, in penance. When he was grown he joined a monastery and, after a few years of community life, received a blessing to dwell in a cave near the River Lom. After many years of solitary struggle, he reposed in his cave. Three hundred years passed, during which all memory of the simple ascetic was lost. Then, one Spring the river flooded the cave and carried off Demetrius’ body, which had lain incorrupt in the cave for centuries. The body was carried downstream and buried in gravel. Another hundred years went by, and the Saint appeared in a dream to a paralyzed girl, telling her to ask her parents to take her to the river bank, where she would be healed. The family, along with many clergy and villagers, went to a spot where some local people had earlier seen an unexplained light. They dug and soon unearthed the still-incorrupt and radiant body of St Demetrius, by which the girl was instantly healed. A church was built in the village of Basarabov to honor the precious relics, and through the years the Saint worked many miracles there.

In 1774, during the Russian-Turkish war, General Peter Saltikov ordered the holy relics taken to Russia so that they would not be desecrated by the Turks. When the relics came to Bucharest, a pious Christian friend of the General begged him not to deprive the country of one of its most precious saints; so the General took only one of the Saint’s hands, sending it to the Kiev Caves Lavra. Saint Demetrius’ body was placed in the cathedral of Bucharest, where it has been venerated ever since. Every year on October 27, a three-day festival is held in the Saint’s honor, attended by crowds of the faithful.