Romans 1.7-12 (Epistle)

7to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world. 9For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the Good News of his Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers, 10requesting, if by any means now at last I may be prospered by the will of God to come to you. 11For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, to the end that you may be established; 12that is, that I with you may be encouraged in you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine.

Matthew 5.42-48 (Gospel)

42Give to him who asks you, and don’t turn away him who desires to borrow from you.

43“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, 45that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. 46For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 47If you only greet your friends, what more do you do than others? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 48Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

St Tycho, Bishop of Amathus

He was born to pious Christian parents on Cyprus. Known for his piety and purity of life, he was became a clergyman, then was made Bishop of Amathus by St Epiphanios (May 12). He served faithfully as bishop in Cyprus for many years, finally reposing in peace. At this time there were still many pagans in Cyprus, and he worked tirelessly as a missionary among them, bringing many to the Faith. He was known as a wonder-worker from his youth. “His father was a baker, and whenever his father left him alone in the shop, he would distribute the bread to the poor without payment. His father reproached him once for doing this, so he prayed to God and their storehouse became so full of grain that they could open the door only with difficulty.” (Prologue) Once he planted a dry slip from a grapevine, and it miraculously turned green and bore fruit. After his repose, on his feast day the vine would be laden with unripe grapes, as usual for this time of year; but during the Divine Liturgy, the grapes would become fully ripened.

Holy Martyrs Tigrios and Eutropios (404)

When St John Chrysostom was exiled, the Great Church caught fire and was destroyed. Most of the people saw this as a judgment upon the City for exiling the holy Archbishop; but St John’s enemies tried to blame his followers and persecuted them fiercely. Two of these loyal followers were Tigrios, a priest, and Eutropios, a reader. Tigrios had been a slave in his youth and was a eunuch; but once he was freed he had given his life selflessly to the service of the Church. The governor, Optatius, had Tigrios viciously tortured, then sent him into exile in Mesopotamia, where he died in captivity. Eutropios, another pure and holy servant of the Church, was flogged with whips and rods, then hanged. Christians carrying his body for burial heard a beautiful angelic chanting in the sky above them.