1 Corinthians 1.3-9 (Epistle)

3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4I always thank my God concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, 5that in everything you were enriched in him, in all speech and all knowledge— 6even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you— 7so that you come behind in no gift, waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8who will also confirm you until the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Galatians 4.22-31 (Epistle, St Anna)

22For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the servant, and one by the free woman. 23However, the son by the servant was born according to the flesh, but the son by the free woman was born through promise. 24These things contain an allegory, for these are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children to bondage, which is Hagar. 25For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that exists now, for she is in bondage with her children. 26But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27For it is written, “Rejoice, you barren who don’t bear. Break out and shout, you who don’t travail. For the desolate women have more children than her who has a husband.”

28Now we, brothers, as Isaac was, are children of promise. 29But as then, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. 30However, what does the Scripture say? “Throw out the servant and her son, for the son of the servant will not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31So then, brothers, we are not children of a servant, but of the free woman.

Matthew 19.3-12 (Gospel)

3Pharisees came to him, testing him and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”

4He answered, “Haven’t you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, 5and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh’? 6So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, don’t let man tear apart.”

7They asked him, “Why then did Moses command us to give her a certificate of divorce and divorce her?”

8He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so. 9I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her when she is divorced commits adultery.”

10His disciples said to him, “If this is the case of the man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry.”

11But he said to them, “Not all men can receive this saying, but those to whom it is given. 12For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven’s sake. He who is able to receive it, let him receive it.”

Luke 8.16-21 (Gospel, St Anna)

16“No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a container or puts it under a bed; but puts it on a stand, that those who enter in may see the light. 17For nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light. 18Be careful therefore how you hear. For whoever has, to him will be given; and whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he thinks he has.”

19His mother and brothers came to him, and they could not come near him for the crowd. 20Some people told him, “Your mother and your brothers stand outside, desiring to see you.”

21But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”

Dormition Righteous Anna, Mother of Theotokos

According to tradition, both Anna and her husband Joachim had reposed by the time the Most Holy Theotokos was about eleven years old and living in the Temple; thus when she reached maturity she was an orphan, and was given into the care of the noble Joseph. The prayers of St Anna are invoked for conceiving children and for help in difficult childbirth. Her main feast is on September 9th.

Commemoration of the holy 165 Fathers of the Fifth Ecumenical Council (553)

This council was held in Constantinople during the reign of Justinian the Great. The council condemned the various forms of monophysitism, the heretical writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia and Theodoret, and the writings of Origen (particularly on universal salvation).

St Olympias the Deaconess (408)

She was born to a noble family in Constantinople: her father Anysius Secundus was a senator. She was betrothed to a nobleman who died before they could be wed; resisting all advice to take another husband, Olympias devoted herself entirely to God, giving her large inheritance to the Church and to the poor. She served as a deaconess, first under the Patriarch Nektarios, then under St John Chrysostom. When St John was sent into exile, he advised her to remain in Constantinople, and to continue to serve the Church whatever patriarch took his place. But as soon as the holy hierarch went into exile, a fire destroyed a large part of the City, and St John’s enemies accused the holy Olympias of setting the fire. She in turn was exiled to Nikomedia, where she reposed in 408. She left instructions that her body be placed in a coffin and thrown into the sea, to be buried wherever it was cast up. The coffin came to shore at Vrochthoi and was buried there at a church dedicated to the Apostle Thomas. Her relics have continued to be a source of great miracles of healing.

During his exile, St John Chrysostom wrote a number of letters to St Olympias, seventeen of which have been preserved through the centuries. In one he writes: ‘Now I am deeply joyful, not only because you have been delivered from sickness, but even more because you are bearing adversities with such fortitude, calling them trifles — a characteristic of a soul filled with power and abounding in the rich fruits of courage. You are not only enduring misfortune with fortitude, but are making light of it in a seemingly effortless way, rejoicing and triumphing over it — this is a proof of the greatest wisdom.’