Acts 10.21-33 (Epistle)

21Peter went down to the men, and said, “Behold, I am he whom you seek. Why have you come?”

22They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous man and one who fears God, and well spoken of by all the nation of the Jews, was directed by a holy angel to invite you to his house, and to listen to what you say.”

23So he called them in and provided a place to stay. On the next day Peter arose and went out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. 24On the next day they entered into Caesarea. Cornelius was waiting for them, having called together his relatives and his near friends. 25When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell down at his feet, and worshiped him. 26But Peter raised him up, saying, “Stand up! I myself am also a man.” 27As he talked with him, he went in and found many gathered together. 28He said to them, “You yourselves know how it is an unlawful thing for a man who is a Jew to join himself or come to one of another nation, but God has shown me that I shouldn’t call any man unholy or unclean. 29Therefore I also came without complaint when I was sent for. I ask therefore, why did you send for me?”

30Cornelius said, “Four days ago, I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour, I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing 31and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer is heard, and your gifts to the needy are remembered in the sight of God. 32Send therefore to Joppa and summon Simon, who is also called Peter. He is staying in the house of a tanner named Simon, by the seaside. When he comes, he will speak to you.’ 33Therefore I sent to you at once, and it was good of you to come. Now therefore we are all here present in the sight of God to hear all things that have been commanded you by God.”

John 7.1-13 (Gospel)

1After these things, Jesus was walking in Galilee, for he wouldn’t walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him. 2Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was at hand. 3His brothers therefore said to him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that your disciples also may see your works which you do. 4For no one does anything in secret while he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, reveal yourself to the world.” 5For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.

6Jesus therefore said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. 7The world can’t hate you, but it hates me, because I testify about it, that its works are evil. 8You go up to the feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, because my time is not yet fulfilled.”

9Having said these things to them, he stayed in Galilee. 10But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly, but as it were in secret. 11The Jews therefore sought him at the feast, and said, “Where is he?” 12There was much murmuring among the multitudes concerning him. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others said, “Not so, but he leads the multitude astray.” 13Yet no one spoke openly of him for fear of the Jews.

Apostles Aristarchus, Pudens and Trophimus of the Seventy

All three are mentioned by name by the Apostle Paul.

Aristarchus is mentioned in Acts 19:29, Colossians 4:10 and Philemon 24. He was bishop of Apamea in Syria; St Paul calls him ‘my fellow-prisoner’ and ‘my fellow-laborer’.

Pudens is mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:21. He was a prominent Roman citizen who gave refuge to Christians; his house was first a place of refuge for the Apostles, then one of the first churches in Rome.

Trophimus is mentioned with Pudens in 2 Timothy 4:21, and in Acts 21:29, where we learn that he was from Ephesus. He accompanied the Apostle Paul on some of his missions.

All three, like St Paul, were beheaded during Nero’s persecutions.

Holy Martyr Ardalion the Actor (3rd c.)

He was a comic actor whose specialty was an act which mocked the Christian martyrs. But during an especially fierce persecution under the Emperor Maximian, his heart was changed in an unknown way, and during one of his performances he called out to the crowd that he was a Christian and that they must not laugh. For this, Ardalion was arrested and tried, and died by torture, as the Prologue says, “playing the role of martyr in very truth and with honour.”