Tuesday, 22 July 2025

Tuesday of the 7th week after Pentecost

93 days after Pascha · Tone 5 · Black squigg (6-stich typikon symbol) · No Fast

Saints commemorated

★ Holy myrrh-bearer and equal-of-the-apostles Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene came from the town of Magdala on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, between Capernaum and Tiberias. The Gospels record that the Lord cast seven demons out of her, and from that hour she became one of his most devoted disciples, following him through Galilee and Judea and ministering to him from her own substance. She stood by the Cross at Golgotha when most of the apostles had fled, and she watched as Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus laid the Lord's body in the tomb. She returned with the other myrrh-bearing women at dawn on the first day of the week, and the risen Christ appeared first to her, calling her by name in the garden. She is therefore named "equal-of-the-apostles" because she was the first to proclaim the Resurrection, saying to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord."

Holy Tradition relates that after Pentecost she travelled with the apostles preaching the Gospel. Going to Rome, she gained an audience with the emperor Tiberius and spoke to him of the Resurrection. According to the tradition preserved by Saint Modestus of Jerusalem and others, she presented him with a red egg and the words "Christ is risen," giving rise to the Paschal custom of dyed eggs. She also testified before Tiberius against Pilate and the Jewish leaders for their unjust condemnation of the Lord. Later she went to Ephesus to assist Saint John the Theologian in his preaching, and there she fell asleep in peace. Her relics were translated to Constantinople in the ninth century by the emperor Leo the Wise and laid in the monastery of Saint Lazarus.

Holy apostle Cornelius the centurion

Saint Cornelius was a Roman centurion of the Italian Cohort stationed at Caesarea Maritima in Palestine in the first century. The Acts of the Apostles describes him as "a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always." An angel appeared to him in a vision while he was praying at the ninth hour and instructed him to send for Simon Peter, who was lodging in Joppa. While his messengers were on the way, Peter received his own vision of the great sheet let down from heaven containing all manner of creatures, and the divine command, "What God has cleansed, do not call common." When Peter came to the house of Cornelius and preached the Gospel, the Holy Spirit descended on Cornelius, his household and friends, and they spoke in tongues and magnified God. Astonished, the apostle commanded that they be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ, the first uncircumcised Gentiles to be received into the Church. Cornelius was thus the first-fruits of the Gentile world. Holy Tradition records that he later became bishop of Skepsis in Mysia, where he overthrew the temple of Apollo by his prayers and converted the prince of the city. He reposed in peace in old age. His principal commemoration is on 13 September, with an additional remembrance on 22 July in some calendars.

Holy virgin-martyr Markella of Chios

Saint Markella was born on the island of Chios, traditionally placed in the fourteenth century, the only daughter of a pagan or recently lapsed local lord. Her mother, a devout Christian, raised her in piety and taught her the Scriptures, but died while Markella was still young. Growing in beauty and virtue, the maiden consecrated her virginity to Christ. After her mother's death her father conceived an unnatural and incestuous passion for her. When she resisted his advances and fled, he pursued her into the hills of north-western Chios. At a place called Volissos he overtook her by the sea, and when she had no further refuge he struck her down with his sword. Tradition relates that as she ran a rock opened to receive part of her body and then closed again, leaving only her head and shoulders exposed, which her father then severed. The waters of the cove where she suffered are said to grow warm at the time of her feast and to give forth a sweet fragrance, and many healings are reported there. A great pilgrimage church built over the spot is one of the most beloved shrines of the Aegean.

Translation of the relics of hieromartyr Phocas, bishop of Sinope

Saint Phocas was bishop of Sinope on the Black Sea coast of Pontus in the late first or early second century. He is celebrated for his pastoral zeal, his care of the poor and seafarers, and the boldness with which he confessed Christ. During the persecution under the emperor Trajan, the governor Africanus arrested him and demanded that he sacrifice to idols. Saint Phocas refused, was tortured at length, and was finally cast into a heated bath where he gave up his soul to God around the year 117. His principal feast is kept on 22 September, the day of his martyrdom. The present commemoration on 22 July marks the translation of his holy relics from Sinope to Constantinople, which took place in either 403 or 404 during the reign of the emperor Arcadius. The relics were received with great solemnity and laid in a church built in his honour. Saint Phocas is widely venerated as the protector of seafarers, and Black Sea sailors traditionally set aside a portion of their food at meals as the saint's share, which was then given as alms to the poor in his name.

Venerable Cornelius of Pereyaslavl

1693

Saint Cornelius, in the world Conon, was born into a merchant family of Ryazan in the seventeenth century. As a young man he secretly left his home and went to the monastery of Saints Boris and Gleb at Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, where he was tonsured a monk. He devoted himself to silence, manual labour, and unremitting prayer, taking the most demanding obediences of the community: he tilled the garden, drew water, and chopped firewood for the brethren. For thirty years he kept a complete vow of silence, communicating only by gesture, so that many supposed him to be mute. He wore the same coarse garment in summer and winter, slept little, and stood at the prayers of the night services as if made of stone. After many years of this hidden ascetic struggle, he was tonsured to the great schema. Saint Cornelius reposed in 1693 and was buried in the monastery church. When his grave was opened in 1701, his relics were found incorrupt and a new tomb was prepared for them. He was glorified for the gifts of unceasing prayer and discernment which God granted him in reward for his hidden labours.

Also commemorated: Holy Myrrhbearer Mary Magdalene, Equal-to-the-Apostles

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

1 Corinthians — 1 Corinthians 6.20-7.12

²⁰For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. ²⁰for ye were bought with a price: glorify God therefore in your body.

¹Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.

¹Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. ²But, because of fornications, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. ²Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. ³Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. ³Let the husband render unto the wife her due: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. ⁴The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. ⁴The wife hath not power over her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power over his own body, but the wife. ⁵Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. ⁵Defraud ye not one the other, except it be by consent for a season, that ye may give yourselves unto prayer, and may be together again, that Satan tempt you not because of your incontinency. ⁶But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment. ⁶But this I say by way of concession, not of commandment. ⁷Yet I would that all men were even as I myself. Howbeit each man hath his own gift from God, one after this manner, and another after that. ⁷For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.

⁸But I say to the unmarried and to widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.

⁸I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. ⁹But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn. ⁹But if they have not continency, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn. ¹⁰And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: ¹⁰But unto the married I give charge, yea not I, but the Lord, That the wife depart not from her husband ¹¹But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife. ¹¹(but should she depart, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband); and that the husband leave not his wife. ¹²But to the rest say I, not the Lord: If any brother hath an unbelieving wife, and she is content to dwell with him, let him not leave her. ¹²But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Matthew — Matthew 14.1-13

¹At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus,

¹At that season Herod the tetrarch heard the report concerning Jesus, ²And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him. ²and said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore do these powers work in him.

³For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife. ³For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. ⁴For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. ⁴For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. ⁵And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. ⁵And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. ⁶But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst, and pleased Herod. ⁶But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. ⁷Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. ⁷Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she should ask. ⁸And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger. ⁸And she, being put forward by her mother, saith, Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist. ⁹And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath’s sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her. ⁹And the king was grieved; but for the sake of his oaths, and of them that sat at meat with him, he commanded it to be given; ¹⁰and he sent and beheaded John in the prison. ¹⁰And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison. ¹¹And his head was brought on a platter, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother. ¹¹And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother. ¹²And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus. ¹²And his disciples came, and took up the corpse, and buried him; and they went and told Jesus.

¹³Now when Jesus heard it, he withdrew from thence in a boat, to a desert place apart: and when the multitudes heard thereof, they followed him on foot from the cities.

¹³When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.