Acts 4.1-10 (Epistle)

1As they spoke to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came to them, 2being upset because they taught the people and proclaimed in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3They laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was now evening. 4But many of those who heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

5In the morning, their rulers, elders, and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem. 6Annas the high priest was there, with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and as many as were relatives of the high priest. 7When they had stood Peter and John in the middle of them, they inquired, “By what power, or in what name, have you done this?”

8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “You rulers of the people and elders of Israel, 9if we are examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10may it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, this man stands here before you whole in him.

John 3.16-21 (Gospel)

16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only born Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him. 18He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only born Son of God. 19This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil. 20For everyone who does evil hates the light and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. 21But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.”

Nine Martyrs at Cyzicus

Both were disciples of the Apostle Paul, who mentions them in his Epistle to the Romans: “Jason and Sosipater my kinsmen greet you” (16:21). Jason was born in Tarsus of Cilicia (as was the Apostle Paul), and became bishop of that town. Sosipater was from Patras of Achaia (now Greece), and became bishop of Iconium. After serving their flocks for many years, these two travelled together to Corfu, where they were the first to preach the Gospel. They were furiously opposed by the ruler of that island, but when he died, the new king came to faith in Christ and was baptised with the name Sebastian. Jason and Sosipater remained on Corfu, freely preaching the Gospel and building up the Church until they reposed in great old age. An ancient church in the city of Corfu, dating from the first centuries, bears inscriptions that mention the Saints by name.

They are commemorated April 28 on the Slavic calendar.

St Basil, bishop of Ostrog in Montenegro (Serbia) (1671)

As a monk, he was known for his very severe asceticism. Against his will, he was made Bishop of Zahum, where he served his flock faithfully for many years, “keeping it from the cruelty of the Turks and the guile of the Latins” (Prologue). When his monastery was destroyed by the Turks he moved to Ostrog, where he reposed. His body has remained whole, incorrupt, healing and wonderworking to this day. Innumerable miracles have been worked at his grave; both Christians and Muslims seek out his relics for healing from sicknesses and sufferings.

(A story heard from a parishioner at St Basil of Ostrog Church in Illinois: while the Saint’s relics remain intact, reputedly his shoes wear out from time to time and need to be replaced.)