Monday, 30 June 2025

Synaxis of the Twelve Apostles

Monday of the 4th week after Pentecost

71 days after Pascha · Tone 2 · Red cross (polyeleos typikon symbol) · No Fast

Saints commemorated

Hieromartyr Methodius, Bishop of Patara

Saint Methodius, also called Methodius of Olympus, lived at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth century, and is celebrated as one of the great theological writers of the early Church. He was bishop first of Olympus and Patara in Lycia and afterwards, according to some, of Tyre in Phoenicia. Distinguished by his deep humility and his learning in Holy Scripture, he composed many works, of which the chief surviving treatise is the Symposium or Banquet of the Ten Virgins, an extended dialogue in praise of virginity, modelled on the Symposium of Plato but transformed into a celebration of the Church as the Bride of Christ. He also wrote a dialogue On the Resurrection in which he refuted the errors of Origen on the spiritual body, was the first major theologian to write in defence of the bodily resurrection against Origenism, and produced works on free will and on the leper, of which only fragments remain. Although his chief commemoration in the Greek calendars falls on 20 June, in many Slavonic and Russian books his memory is also kept on this day, the morrow of the chief Apostles. He was beheaded for his confession of Christ at Chalcis in Syria about the year 311 in the persecution which preceded the peace of the Church.

Holy Apostle Andronicus and his fellow-labourer Junia

Among the seventy disciples of the Lord whose names are read alongside the Twelve in the synaxaria of this day are the holy Apostles Andronicus and his fellow-labourer Junia, of whom the Apostle Paul writes in the Epistle to the Romans, Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the Apostles, who also were in Christ before me. Andronicus is venerated as bishop of Pannonia in the western lands of the empire, where with Junia his companion he travelled in evangelical labour, casting down idols, founding churches and bringing many out of paganism to faith in Christ. Both endured persecution for the Gospel and finally received from the Lord the unfading crowns of the apostolic confession. Their chief commemoration is on 17 May, when their relics, discovered together with those of other martyrs, were honoured at the Eugenios quarter of Constantinople, but their names are also kept among the assembly of those Apostles whose memory adorns the days surrounding the synaxis of the Twelve.

Synaxis of the holy, glorious and all-praised Twelve Apostles

On the day after the feast of the chief Apostles Peter and Paul, the Church gathers in solemn synaxis to honour together the whole choir of the Twelve, the foundation of the Apostolic Church and the witnesses chosen and sent forth by the Lord Himself to preach the Gospel to every creature. The synaxis was already known in Constantinople from at least the fourth century, when a church dedicated to the Holy Apostles, founded by the Emperor Constantine the Great and rebuilt under Justinian, kept this commemoration with imperial solemnity. The names of the Twelve, as set down in the Gospels, are these: Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother the First-called; James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John the Theologian and Evangelist of the Word; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas the Twin and Matthew the Evangelist, called also Levi the publican; James the son of Alphaeus and Jude the brother of James, who is also called Lebbaeus or Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, called the Cananite, and Matthias, who was numbered among the Apostles by lot in the place of Judas the betrayer. Each of them has his own commemoration in the calendar of the Church, but on this day the prayers of the holy Apostles are invoked together as a single foundation laid in Christ. The hymns of the feast extol them as the rays of the Sun of Righteousness, the rivers of paradise watering the whole earth, the spiritual fishermen who, casting their nets, drew up the nations from the sea of unbelief into the kingdom of life.

Translation of the relics of Saint Sophronius, Bishop of Irkutsk

Saint Sophronius, in the world Stephen Kristalevsky, was born of pious parents in the Chernigov region of Little Russia in 1704, and after his early studies entered the Kiev Theological Academy in the company of two future hierarchs, Joasaph of Belgorod and Paul of Tobolsk. About 1730 he received the monastic tonsure at the Krasnogorsk Monastery near Zolotonosha, and was afterwards summoned to Saint Petersburg, where he served as treasurer and finally archimandrite of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. In 1753, on the recommendation of the Empress Elizabeth, he was consecrated Bishop of Irkutsk and Nerchinsk; arriving in his vast diocese in 1754 after a long journey across Siberia, he laboured for seventeen years in the missionary lands beyond Lake Baikal, ordaining clergy, opening schools, founding new monasteries and churches, and bringing many of the native peoples to baptism. Living in extreme simplicity, he reposed on the second day of Pascha, 30 March 1771. While the Holy Synod's decision concerning his burial was awaited, his body remained six months without decay; when at last laid in the church of the Theophany Cathedral at Irkutsk it continued to be a source of healings. His relics were uncovered incorrupt in 1833, 1854, 1870 and 1909; in the great fire at the cathedral in 1917 only the bones survived. The local Council of the Russian Church glorified him in 1918, numbering him among the saints of God; his repose is kept on 30 March, while on this day is observed the translation of his relics and the joyful announcement of his glorification.

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

Romans — Romans 9.18-33

¹⁸Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. ¹⁸So then he hath mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he hardeneth. ¹⁹Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

¹⁹Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he still find fault? For who withstandeth his will? ²⁰Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? ²⁰Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus? ²¹Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? ²¹Or hath not the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? ²²What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction: ²²What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: ²³and that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory, ²³And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, ²⁴Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? ²⁴even us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. ²⁵As he saith also in Hosea, I will call that my people, which was not my people; And her beloved, that was not beloved. ²⁶And it shall be, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, There shall they be called sons of the living God. ²⁶And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God. ²⁷Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:

²⁷And Isaiah crieth concerning Israel, If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that shall be saved: ²⁸For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. ²⁸for the Lord will execute his word upon the earth, finishing it and cutting it short. ²⁹And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha. ²⁹And, as Isaiah hath said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We had become as Sodom, and had been made like unto Gomorrah. ³⁰What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.

³⁰What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who followed not after righteousness, attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith: ³¹but Israel, following after a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. ³¹But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. ³²Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; ³²Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by works. They stumbled at the stone of stumbling; ³³As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. ³³even as it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence: And he that believeth on him shall not be put to shame.

Epistle

— Apostles

1 Corinthians — 1 Corinthians 4.9-16

⁹For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. ⁹For, I think, God hath set forth us the apostles last of all, as men doomed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, both to angels and men. ¹⁰We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. ¹⁰We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye have glory, but we have dishonor. ¹¹Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; ¹¹Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place; ¹²And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: ¹²and we toil, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; ¹³Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day. ¹³being defamed, we entreat: we are made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things, even until now. ¹⁴I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.

¹⁴I write not these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. ¹⁵For though ye have ten thousand tutors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I begat you through the gospel. ¹⁵For though ye have ten thousand instructers in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. ¹⁶Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me. ¹⁶I beseech you therefore, be ye imitators of me.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Matthew — Matthew 11.2-15

²Now when John heard in the prison the works of the Christ, he sent by his disciples ²Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, ³And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? ³and said unto him, Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another? ⁴And Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and tell John the things which ye hear and see: ⁴Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: ⁵The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. ⁵the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good tidings preached to them. ⁶And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. ⁶And blessed is he, whosoever shall find no occasion of stumbling in me.

⁷And as these went their way, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to behold? a reed shaken with the wind?

⁷And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? ⁸But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. ⁸But what went ye out to see? a man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft raiment are in kings’ houses. ⁹But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. ⁹But wherefore went ye out? to see a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet. ¹⁰For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. ¹⁰This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, Who shall prepare thy way before thee. ¹¹Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

¹¹Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist: yet he that is but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹²And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. ¹²And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force. ¹³For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. ¹³For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. ¹⁴And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. ¹⁴And if ye are willing to receive it, this is Elijah, that is to come. ¹⁵He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. ¹⁵He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Gospel

— Apostles

Mark — Mark 3.13-19

¹³And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him.

¹³And he goeth up into the mountain, and calleth unto him whom he himself would; and they went unto him. ¹⁴And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, ¹⁴And he appointed twelve, that they might be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, ¹⁵And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils: ¹⁵and to have authority to cast out demons: ¹⁶And Simon he surnamed Peter; ¹⁶and Simon he surnamed Peter; ¹⁷And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder: ¹⁷and James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and them he surnamed Boanerges, which is, Sons of thunder: ¹⁸And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, ¹⁸and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphæus, and Thaddæus, and Simon the Cananæan, ¹⁹And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house.

¹⁹and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. And he cometh into a house.