1 Peter 4.12-5.5 (Epistle)

12Beloved, don’t be astonished at the fiery trial which has come upon you to test you, as though a strange thing happened to you. 13But because you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, rejoice, that at the revelation of his glory you also may rejoice with exceeding joy. 14If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. On their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified. 15But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evil doer, or a meddler in other men’s matters. 16But if one of you suffers for being a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this matter. 17For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God. If it begins first with us, what will happen to those who don’t obey the Good News of God? 18“If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will happen to the ungodly and the sinner?” 19Therefore let them also who suffer according to the will of God in doing good entrust their souls to him, as to a faithful Creator.

1Therefore I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and who will also share in the glory that will be revealed: 2shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily; not for dishonest gain, but willingly; 3not as lording it over those entrusted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock. 4When the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the crown of glory that doesn’t fade away.

5Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility and subject yourselves to one another; for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Mark 12.38-44 (Gospel)

38In his teaching he said to them, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk in long robes, and to get greetings in the marketplaces, 39and to get the best seats in the synagogues and the best places at feasts, 40those who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”

41Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and saw how the multitude cast money into the treasury. Many who were rich cast in much. 42A poor widow came and she cast in two small brass coins, which equal a quadrans coin. 43He called his disciples to himself and said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, this poor widow gave more than all those who are giving into the treasury, 44for they all gave out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, gave all that she had to live on.”

Hieromartyr Clement and Martyr Agathangel

He was from Ancyra in Galatia, son of a pagan father and a Christian mother named Euphrosyne. His mother prophesied on her deathbed that he would suffer great torments for Christ over many years. After her death he was adopted and reared by a pious woman named Sophia. From the age of twelve, he began to fast and pray like the monks, so that he was soon ordained a deacon, and became Bishop of Ancyra at the age of twenty. His piety and zeal for the faith attracted the attention of the Imperial Governor of the region, who had him arrested. Thus began Clement’s twenty-eight years of almost continuous suffering for the Faith. When he stood firm despite many tortures, he was sent to the Emperor Diocletian in Rome. The Emperor showed him a table set with costly vessels on one side, and another decked with instruments of torture on the other, and bade Clement to make his choice. The Saint replied: “These precious vessels remind how much more glorious must be the eternal good things of Paradise; and these instruments of torture remind me of the everlasting punishments of hell that await those who deny the Lord.”

The Saint was viciously tortured, then transported to Nicomedia, where a converted pagan named Agathangelus (‘good angel’) became his companion. For many years they endured unspeakable torments alternating with long imprisonments, but nothing would move them to deny the precious Faith of Christ. After twenty-eight years of suffering, Agathangelus was beheaded; but Clement was briefly paroled and allowed to celebrate the services of Theophany and to give the holy Communion to his fellow-Christians. A few days later, as he was again celebrating the Divine Liturgy, some pagan soldiers burst into the church and beheaded him at the altar.