Orthodox Calendar

Wednesday, March 14, 2029
Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Lenten Fast — Abstain from meat, fish, dairy, eggs, wine, and oil

Service Notes

  • Presanctified Liturgy

Scripture Readings

Commemorations

Scripture Readings

Isaiah 26.21-27.9 (6th Hour)

21For, behold, the Lord is bringing wrath from his holy place upon the dwellers on the earth: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall not cover her slain.

1In that day God shall bring his holy and great and strong sword upon the dragon, even the serpent that flees, upon the dragon, the crooked serpent: he shall destroy the dragon. 2In that day there shall be a fair vineyard, and a desire to commence a song concerning it. 3I am a strong city, a city in a siege: in vain shall I water it; for it shall be taken by night, and by day the wall shall fall. 4There is no woman that has not taken hold of it; who will set me to watch stubble in the field? because of this enemy I have set her aside; therefore on this account the Lord has done all that he appointed. 5I am burnt up; they that dwell in her shall cry, Let us make peace with him, let us make peace, 6they that are coming are the children of Jacob. Israel shall bud and blossom, and the world shall be filled with his fruit. 7Shall he himself be thus struck, even as he struck? and as he killed, shall he be thus slain? 8Fighting and reproaching he will dismiss them; did you not meditate with a harsh spirit, to kill them with a wrathful spirit? 9Therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be taken away; and this is his blessing, when I shall have taken away his sin; when they shall have broken to pieces all the stones of the altars as fine dust, and their trees shall not remain, and their idols shall be cut off, as a thicket afar off.

Genesis 9.18-10.1 (Vespers)

18Now the sons of Noe which came out of the ark, were Sem, Cham, Japheth. And Cham was father of Chanaan. 19These three are the sons of Noe, of these were men scattered over all the earth. 20And Noe began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard. 21And he drank of the wine, and was drunk, and was naked in his house. 22And Cham the father of Chanaan saw the nakedness of his father, and he went out and told his two brothers without. 23And Sem and Japheth having taken a garment, put it on both their backs and went backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their face was backward, and they saw not the nakedness of their father. 24And Noe recovered from the wine, and knew all that his younger son had done to him. 25And he said, Cursed be the servant Chanaan, a slave shall he be to his brethren. 26And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Sem, and Chanaan shall be his bond-servant. 27May God make room for Japheth, and let him dwell in the habitations of Sem, and let Chanaan be his servant. 28And Noe lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. 29And all the days of Noe were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.

1Now these are the generations of the sons of Noe, Sem, Cham, Japheth; and sons were born to them after the flood.

Proverbs 12.23-13.9 (LXX) (Vespers)

23An understanding man is a throne of wisdom; but the heart of fools shall meet with curses. 24The hand of chosen men shall easily obtain rule; but the deceitful shall be for a prey. 25A terrible word troubles the heart of a righteous man; but a good message rejoices him. 26A just arbitrator shall be his own friend; but mischief shall pursue sinners; and the way of ungodly men shall lead them astray. 27A deceitful man shall catch no game; but a blameless man is a precious possession. 28In the ways of righteousness is life; but the ways of those that remember injuries lead to death.

1A wise son is obedient to his father: but a disobedient son will be destroyed. 2A good man shall eat of the fruits of righteousness: but the lives of transgressors shall perish before their time. 3He that keeps his own mouth keeps his own life: but he that is hasty with his lips shall bring terror upon himself. 4Every slothful man desires, but the hands of the active are diligent. 5A righteous man hates an unjust word: but an ungodly man is ashamed, and will have no confidence. 7There are some who, having nothing, enrich themselves: and there are some who bring themselves down in the midst of much wealth. 8A man's own wealth is the ransom of his life: but the poor endures not threatening. 9The righteous always have light: but the light of the ungodly is quenched. Crafty souls go astray in sins: but just men pity, and are merciful.

Commemorations

Martyr Eudoxia of Heliopolis

Eudocia was from Heliopolis of Phoenicia (now Baalbek in Lebanon). A surpassingly beautiful pagan, she led a licentious life and became wealthy from the gifts of her many lovers. One day an elderly monk, Germanus, came to Heliopolis and stayed with a Christian whose house adjoined Eudocia’s. At night, he began to read aloud from the Psalter and a book on the Last Judgment. From next-door, Eudocia heard him. Her heart was reached, and she stood attentively all night, listening to every word in fear and contrition. The next day she begged Germanus to visit her, and he explained the saving Christian faith to her. Finally, Eudocia asked the local bishop to baptise her. She freed her servants, gave all her wealth to the poor, and entered a monastery.

“Her former lovers, enraged at her conversion, her refusal to return to her old ways, and the withering away of her beauty through the severe mortifications she practiced, betrayed her as a Christian to Vincent the Governor, and she was beheaded”(Great Horologion). According to some,this was under Trajan (98-117); according to others, under Hadrian (117-138).

The Prologue gives a somewhat different account: that after entering the monastery, Eudocia was permitted to pursue the monastic life in peace — with such devotion that, thirteen months after she entered the monastery, she was chosen as abbess. She lived for fifty-six years in the monastery, and was granted the gift of raising the dead. In her old age, a persecution of Christians arose, and Eudocia was beheaded along with many others. “Here is a wonderful example of how a vessel of uncleanness can be purified, sanctified and filled with a precious, heavenly fragrance by the grace of the Holy Spirit” (Prologue).