Zechariah 8.7-17 (6th Hour)

7Thus says the Lord Almighty; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and the west country; 8and I will bring them in, and cause them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be to me a people, and I will be to them a God, in truth and in righteousness. 9Thus says the Lord Almighty; Let your hands be strong, you⌃ that hear in these days these words out of the mouth of the prophets, from the day that the house of the Lord Almighty was founded, and from the time that the temple was built. 10For before those days the wages of men could not be profitable, and there could be no hire of cattle, and there could be no peace by reason of the affliction to him that went out or to him that came in: for I would have let loose all men, every one against his neighbor. 11But now I will not do to the remnant of this people according to the former days, says the Lord Almighty. 12But I will show peace: the vine shall yield her fruit, and the land shall yield her produce, and the heaven shall give its dew: and I will give as an inheritance all these things to the remnant of my people. 13And it shall come to pass, as you⌃ were a curse among the nations, O house of Juda, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and you⌃ shall be a blessing: be of good courage, and strengthen your hands. 14For thus says the Lord Almighty; As I took counsel to afflict you when your fathers provoked me, says the Lord Almighty, and I repented not: 15so have I prepared and taken counsel in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Juda: be you⌃ of good courage. 16These are the things which you⌃ shall do; speak truth every one with his neighbor; judge truth and peaceful judgment in your gates: 17and let none of you devise evil in his heart against his neighbor; and love not a false oath: for all these things I hate, says the Lord Almighty.

Zechariah 8.19-23 (Vespers)

19Thus says the Lord Almighty, The fourth fast, and the fifth fast, and the seventh fast, and the tenth fast, shall be to the house of Juda for joy and gladness, and for good feasts; and you⌃ shall rejoice; and love you⌃ the truth and peace. 20Thus says the Lord Almighty; Yet shall many peoples come, and the inhabitants of many cities; 21and the inhabitants of five cities shall come together to one city, saying, Let us go to make supplication to the Lord, and to seek the face of the Lord Almighty; I will go also. 22And many peoples and many nations shall come to seek earnestly the face of the Lord Almighty in Jerusalem, and to obtain favor of the Lord. 23Thus says the Lord Almighty; In those days my word shall be fulfilled if ten men of all the languages of the nations should take hold—even take hold of the hem of a Jew, saying, We will go with you; for we have heard that God is with you.

Martyr Tryphon

He was the son of humble, pious parents in Phrygia, and as supported himself keeping geese. At a very early age he was granted the gift of healing illnesses of man and animals, and driving out unclean spirits.

The daughter of the Emperor Gordian (238-244) was possessed by a demon, which no physician or pagan sorcerer had been able to drive away. One day the demon shouted, ‘Only Tryphon is able to drive me out!’ Gordian sent servants to scour the Empire in search of the unknown healer; eventually their inquiries led them to the teenaged goose-keeper, and they brought him to Rome, where his prayers immediately drove out the demon. The Emperor showered Tryphon with gifts, which he gave away to the poor on his journey homeward.

When the persecution of Christians under Decius (250) broke out, Tryphon was denounced to the regional government as a dangerous promoter of Christianity (though he had continued to live as a humble peasant, his miracles and healings had made him known). His former service to the Emperor was either forgotten or of no account to the governor, who had him viciously tortured, then sent to Nicaea for further interrogation. There, when no torment would persuade him to deny Christ or worship the idols, he was beheaded outside the city gates. His relics were returned to Lampsacus, near his home, where he continued to work many miracles of healing.

Saint Tryphon is especially invoked for the protection of gardens and farmland against locusts, reptiles, and all small pests.

Holy Martyrs Perpetua and Felicity, and those with them at Carthage (203)

Perpetua, Felicity, Saturus, Saturninus, Secundus and Revocatus were all young catechumens living near Carthage. Perpetua was of noble birth; Felicity (Felicitas) was her slave. All were arrested under Emperor Valerian’s persecution and sent to Carthage. Perpetua had a young child still at the breast, which she asked to take with her.

The holy martyrs appeared before the tribunal and joyfully received their sentence of condemnation to be thrown to the wild beasts in the arena. Felicity, who was eight months pregnant, was concerned that her martyrdom might be postponed because of her pregnancy, but at the prayers of her friends, she went into labor three days before the games. As she groaned in labor, a jailer mocked her, telling her that the pain she felt was nothing to the pain that she would feel in the arena. The Saint replied, ‘Here I suffer for myself; then there will be Another with me, who will suffer with me; and my sufferings will be for Him!’ When she gave birth, she entrusted her newborn child to the care of a Christian couple and prepared for her end.

On the day of the games, the brothers and sisters in Christ entered the arena together. The men were soon killed by the beasts, but Perpetua and Felicity, though mauled, remained alive. The impatient persecutors ordered that they be beheaded. Walking to the center of the arena, the two spiritual sisters exchanged the kiss of peace and gave up their souls to God.

Our Holy Mother Brigid of Kildare (524)

Her name is also spelled Brigit or Bridget; she is considered, equally with St Patrick (March 17), patron of Ireland. She was born in Ulster of a noble Irish family which had been converted by St Patrick. She was uncommonly beautiful, and her father planned to marry her to the King of Ulster. But at the age of sixteen she asked her Lord Jesus Christ to make her unattractive, so that no one would marry her and she could devote herself to Him alone. Soon she lost an eye and was allowed to enter a monastery. On the day that she took monastic vows, she was miraculously healed and her original beauty restored.

Near Dublin she built herself a cell under an oak tree, which was called Kill-dara, or Cell of the Oak. Soon seven other young women joined her and established the monastery of Kill-dara, which in time became the cathedral city of Kildare. The monastery grew rapidly and became a double monastery with both men’s and women’s settlements, with the Abbess ranking above the Abbot; from it several other monasteries were planted throughout Ireland. (Combined men’s and women’s monastic communities are virtually unknown in the east, but were common in the golden age of the Irish Church).

The Saint predicted the day of her death and fell asleep in peace in 524, leaving a monastic Rule to govern all the monasteries under her care. During the Middle Ages her veneration spread throughout Europe.