1Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and servants:
2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3I thank my God whenever I remember you,
4always in every request of mine on behalf of you all, making my requests with joy,
5for your partnership in furtherance of the Good News from the first day until now;
6being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
7It is even right for me to think this way on behalf of all of you, because I have you in my heart, because both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the Good News, you all are partakers with me of grace.
Luke 4.37-44 (Gospel)
37News about him went out into every place of the surrounding region.
38He rose up from the synagogue and entered into Simon’s house. Simon’s mother-in-law was afflicted with a great fever, and they begged him to help her.
39He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she rose up and served them.
40When the sun was setting, all those who had any sick with various diseases brought them to him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.
41Demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!” Rebuking them, he didn’t allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.
42When it was day, he departed and went into an uninhabited place and the multitudes looked for him, and came to him, and held on to him, so that he wouldn’t go away from them.
43But he said to them, “I must preach the good news of God’s Kingdom to the other cities also. For this reason I have been sent.”
44He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.
Commemorations
Ven. Cyriacos, Hermit of Palestine
He was born in Corinth of pious Christian parents. At the age of eighteen he went to Palestine, where, after studying under several holy fathers, he entered monastic life and became the disciple of St Gerasim of the Jordan. After St Gerasim’s death he lived in strict solitude, asceticism and silence for many years, finally entering the monastery of St Chariton, where he reposed in peace at the age of 109. Despite his very severe asceticism, he was large and strong, remaining so until the end of his life. According to the rule of St Chariton, he and his fellow-monks ate only once a day, after sunset. In the desert, he lived for years on nothing but the raw plants that he gathered there. He said of himself that, while he was a monk, the sun never saw him eat or be angry with any man.
St Mary of Palestine (6th c.)
“She was at first a reader of the Psalter in the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem, but, being beautiful, she was a source of scandal to the sinful-minded. In order not to be a cause of sin in others, Mary withdrew to the wilderness of Souka with a basket of beans and a flask of water. She spent eighteen years in the desert and, by God’s power, never lacked either beans nor water. Disciples of St Cyriacus found her during her lifetime, and later buried her.” (Prologue)
Holy Martyrs Dada and those with them (4th c.)
Dada was a high Persian official serving in the court of King Shapur II, and secretly a Christian. When he was appointed governor of a province some way from the court, Dada began to worship and proclaim Christ openly. This came to the attention of the King, who sent one of his sons, Gubarlahas, to try and execute him. Dada was condemned and condemned to be thrown into a fiery furnace. But when Dada made the sign of the Cross, the fire went out, amazing the Prince and eventually leading him to convert to Christ.
The outraged King had his son thrown in prison and put to torture. Gubarlahas endured days of hideous torture without complaint and, though he had been subjected to horrible mutilations, emerged from his cell unscathed. This wonder led others, including two more of the King’s own children or kin, to embrace Christ. Kazoy, the King’s daughter, was allowed to enter into rest as soon as her tortures began. Gubarlahas was miraculously baptised in the midst of further tortures: A voice from on high pronounced the words of baptism, and a shower of water and oil fell on the Martyr. Not long afterward, he perished, along with Dada and Kasdios, one of Gubarlahas’ kinsmen who had been convinced of the Truth by the miracles he had seen.
Venerable Cyprian of Ustiug (1276)
“Saint Cyprian founded the Monastery of the Entry into the Temple of the Mother of God, near Ustiug in the district of Vologda, in 1212, and he made over all his property to it. He never left the monastery after he became Abbot but gave himself to ascetic labours, as if each day were his last on earth. He watched over the spiritual progress of his monks with fatherly love and willingly sacrificed his time and energy for their good. Saint Cyprian fell asleep in the Lord in 1276. His holy relics lie in his monastery.” (Synaxarion)