1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the Dispersion: Greetings.
2Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations,
3knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
4Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed.
7For that man shouldn’t think that he will receive anything from the Lord.
8He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
9Let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his high position;
10and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away.
11For the sun arises with the scorching wind and withers the grass; and the flower in it falls, and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So the rich man will also fade away in his pursuits.
12Blessed is a person who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord promised to those who love him.
James 1.13-27
(Vespers, St Mark)
13Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God can’t be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.
14But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed.
15Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin. The sin, when it is full grown, produces death.
16Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers.
17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation nor turning shadow.
18Of his own will he gave birth to us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
19So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger;
20for the anger of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God.
21Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves.
23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror;
24for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
25But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom and continues, not being a hearer who forgets but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does.
26If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious while he doesn’t bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is worthless.
27Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
James 2.1-13
(Vespers, St Mark)
1My brothers, don’t hold the faith of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with partiality.
2For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in,
3and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing and say, “Sit here in a good place;” and you tell the poor man, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool”
4haven’t you shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
5Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?
6But you have dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you and personally drag you before the courts?
7Don’t they blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called?
8However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well.
9But if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors.
10For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
11For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
12So speak and so do as men who are to be judged by the law of freedom.
13For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Luke 10.1-15
(Matins Gospel, St Mark)
1Now after these things, the Lord also appointed seventy others, and sent them two by two ahead of him into every city and place where he was about to come.
2Then he said to them, “The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that he may send out laborers into his harvest.
3Go your ways. Behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.
4Carry no purse, nor wallet, nor sandals. Greet no one on the way.
5Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’
6If a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.
7Remain in that same house, eating and drinking the things they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Don’t go from house to house.
8Into whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat the things that are set before you.
9Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘God’s Kingdom has come near to you.’
10But into whatever city you enter and they don’t receive you, go out into its streets and say,
11‘Even the dust from your city that clings to us, we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that God’s Kingdom has come near to you.’
12I tell you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.
13“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
14But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you.
15You, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.
Acts 2.22-36 (Epistle)
22“Men of Israel, hear these words! Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God to you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him among you, even as you yourselves know,
23him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed;
24whom God raised up, having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.
25For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved.
26Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced. Moreover my flesh also will dwell in hope,
27because you will not leave my soul in Hades, neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.
28You made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
29“Brothers, I may tell you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
30Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,
31he foreseeing this, spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that his soul wasn’t left in Hades, and his flesh didn’t see decay.
32This Jesus God raised up, to which we all are witnesses.
33Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you now see and hear.
34For David didn’t ascend into the heavens, but he says himself, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit by my right hand
35until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’
36“Let all the house of Israel therefore know certainly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
1 Peter 5.6-14
(Epistle, St Mark)
6Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time,
7casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.
8Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
9Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings.
10But may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.
11To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
12Through Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand.
13She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, greets you. So does Mark, my son.
14Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace be to all of you who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.
John 1.35-51 (Gospel)
35Again, the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples,
36and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
37The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
38Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, being interpreted, Teacher), “where are you staying?”
39He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour.
40One of the two who heard John and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
41He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which is, being interpreted, Christ).
42He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is by interpretation, Peter).
43On the next day, he was determined to go out into Galilee, and he found Philip. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.”
44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
45Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets, wrote: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
47Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said about him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”
48Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
49Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are King of Israel!”
50Jesus answered him, “Because I told you, ‘I saw you underneath the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these!”
51He said to him, “Most certainly, I tell you all, hereafter you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Mark 6.7-13
(Gospel, St Mark)
7He called to himself the twelve, and began to send them out two by two; and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits.
8He commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a staff only: no bread, no wallet, no money in their purse,
9but to wear sandals, and not put on two tunics.
10He said to them, “Wherever you enter into a house, stay there until you depart from there.
11Whoever will not receive you nor hear you, as you depart from there, shake off the dust that is under your feet for a testimony against them. Assuredly, I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”
12They went out and preached that people should repent.
13They cast out many demons, and anointed many with oil who were sick and healed them.
Commemorations
Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark (68?)
“Mark was an idolater from Cyrene of Pentapolis, which is near Libya. Having come to the Faith of Christ through the Apostle Peter, he followed him to Rome. While there, at the prompting of Peter himself and at the request of the Christians living there, he wrote his Gospel in Greek… Afterwards, travelling in Egypt, he preached the Gospel there and was the first to establish the Church in Alexandria. The idolators, unable to bear his preaching, seized him, bound him with ropes, and dragged him through the streets until he, cut to pieces on rocks, gave up his soul. It is said that he completed his life in martyrdom about the year 68. He is depicted in holy icons with a lion next to him, one of the living creatures mentioned by Ezekiel (1:10), and a symbol of Christ’s royal office, as St Irenaeus of Lyons writes.” (Great Horologion)
Saint Ananias, Second Bishop of Alexandria (1st c.)
When St Mark the Apostle first came to Alexandria, he tore one of his shoes and took it to a cobbler. While the cobbler, whose name was Ananias, was working, he drove his awl through his hand, injuring himself badly. The Apostle mixed dust with his spittle and anointed the hand, which immediately became whole. Amazed at the miracle, Ananias invited St Mark to his house, listened to him as he proclaimed the Gospel, believed, and was baptized along with his household. Such was Ananias’ zeal for the Gospel that St Mark made him bishop of the Christians in the city. He was the second Bishop of Alexandria.