Orthodox Calendar

Sunday, July 12, 2105
7th Sunday after Pentecost

Apostles Fast — Fish, Wine and Oil are Allowed — Abstain from meat, dairy, and eggs

Scripture Readings

Commemorations

Scripture Readings

John 20.1-10 (7th Matins Gospel)

1Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went early, while it was still dark, to the tomb, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2Therefore she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have laid him!”

3Therefore Peter and the other disciple went out, and they went toward the tomb. 4They both ran together. The other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. 5Stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he didn’t enter in. 6Then Simon Peter came, following him, and entered into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying, 7and the cloth that had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up in a place by itself. 8So then the other disciple who came first to the tomb also entered in, and he saw and believed. 9For as yet they didn’t know the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10So the disciples went away again to their own homes.

Romans 15.1-7 (Epistle)

1Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2Let each one of us please his neighbor for that which is good, to be building him up. 3For even Christ didn’t please himself. But, as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that through perseverance and through encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5Now the God of perseverance and of encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, 6that with one accord you may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7Therefore accept one another, even as Christ also accepted you, to the glory of God.

Matthew 9.27-35 (Gospel)

27As Jesus passed by from there, two blind men followed him, calling out and saying, “Have mercy on us, son of David!”

28When he had come into the house, the blind men came to him. Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They told him, “Yes, Lord.”

29Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” 30Then their eyes were opened. Jesus strictly commanded them, saying, “See that no one knows about this.” 31But they went out and spread abroad his fame in all that land.

32As they went out, behold, a mute man who was demon possessed was brought to him. 33When the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke. The multitudes marveled, saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!”

34But the Pharisees said, “By the prince of the demons, he casts out demons.”

35Jesus went about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people.

Commemorations

Trans. Rel. Ven. Cyrus and John

They are counted among the Unmercenary Physicians. For their lives, see January 31.

Synaxis of the Icon of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos "Of the Three Hands"

Saint John of Damascus (December 4), the great defender of Orthodoxy against the iconoclasts, was falsely accused of plotting against the Caliph of Damascus through the intrigues of the iconoclast Emperor Leo the Isaurian (reigned 717-741). The Caliph ordered St John’s hand to be cut off for his suspected treachery. The saint asked for the severed hand, and passed the night praying fervently for aid before an icon of the most holy Theotokos. Waking in the morning, he found his hand miraculously restored, with only a scar around the wrist where it had been completely severed. In thanksgiving, St John had a silver hand mounted on the icon. When he became a monk in the monastery of St Sabbas in the Holy Land, he took the icon with him. It remained there until it was given to St Sabbas (Sava) of Serbia (January 14), who brought it to Serbia. Later it was miraculously taken to the Hilandar Monastery on the Holy Mountain (carried, according to legend, from Serbia to Mt Athos by an unguided donkey), where it may now be found.

Sergius and Herman, Wonderworkers of Valaam

After helping to establish Orthodoxy among the Karelian Finns, they founded the famous Valaam Monastery on Lake Ladoga in northern Russia. Both reposed in the same year.

Our Holy Father Sennuphius the Standard-Bearer (4th c.)

“A great ascetic and wonderworker of the Egyptian desert, he was a contemporary of Patriarch Theophilus and the Emperor Theodosius the Great. He is called ‘the Standard-Bearer’ because he once helped the Emperor Theodosius to gain a victory over enemy forces by his prayers. When the Emperor summoned him to Constantinople, he replied that he was unable to go, but sent his torn and patched monastic habit and his staff. Going out to battle, the Emperor put on Sennuphius’s habit and carried his staff in his hand, and returned victorious from the battle.” (Prologue)

Saint Païsios of the Holy Mountain (1994) (June 29 OC)

‘The future Elder Paisius was born in 1924 and baptized by St. Arsenius of Cappadocia. He spent his youth as a carpenter until WW II, during which he repeatedly distinguished himself in the army by his bravery and self-sacrifice. In 1950 he went to Mt. Athos for eight years, where he was tonsured. Then he was asked to spend some time in his home village of Epirus, in order to defend the faithful against Protestant proselytism. He returned to Mt. Athos in 1964 and stayed in several monasteries, eventually settling in the Panagouda hermitage of Koutloumousiou Monastery, where he remained for fifteen years. Here his reputation as a holy elder and guide grew, and he tirelessly received those thirsting for spiritual direction, allowing himself only two or three hours of sleep each day. He reposed in 1994, one of the most well-known and beloved contemporary elders. Many of his counsels and other writings have been published.’ (St Herman Calendar, 1994)

Elder Païsios was glorified by the Church in 2015; he is commemorated on the anniversary of his repose.