Wednesday, 30 July 2025

Wednesday of the 8th week after Pentecost

101 days after Pascha · Tone 6 · Liturgy · Fast

Saints commemorated

Holy apostles Silas, Silvanus, Crescens, Epenetus and Andronicus of the Seventy

The five holy apostles commemorated on this day were among the seventy whom the Lord chose and sent out two by two before his face into every city and place where he was about to come. Silas was a leading man of the church of Jerusalem, named at the apostolic council in Acts 15 as one of the chief brethren, and was sent with Saint Paul on his second missionary journey. He shared in the apostle's imprisonment and beating at Philippi, and laboured with him at Thessalonica, Beroea and Corinth. Tradition relates that he was at length consecrated bishop of Corinth and ended his life in peace.

Silvanus, in some traditions identified with Silas himself, became bishop of Thessalonica, where he reposed after labouring much for the faith. Crescens, named by Saint Paul at the end of his second letter to Timothy, preached in Galatia and afterwards in Gaul, where he was bishop of Vienne and the Lyonnais and suffered martyrdom under the emperor Trajan. Epenetus, called by Paul "the first-fruits of Achaia for Christ" in Romans 16, served as bishop of Carthage. Andronicus, also greeted in Romans 16 as a kinsman of the apostle and "of note among the apostles," became bishop of Pannonia and is honoured separately on 17 May with his fellow worker Junia. The five are commemorated together on 30 July as labourers of the apostolic age.

Holy hieromartyr Polychronius, bishop of Babylon

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Saint Polychronius lived in the third century and was raised to the see of Babylon, the ancient city which still in his day held a Christian community sprung from the apostolic preaching. From his youth he had been distinguished for fasting, the keeping of vigil, and a complete renunciation of worldly things; he was also known as a labourer with his own hands, supporting himself rather than being a burden to his flock. As bishop he gathered great numbers from idolatry to the worship of the true God. In the persecution under the emperor Decius, the governor brought him to the public square and demanded that he sacrifice. The saint, for his answer, took up a great stone idol and broke it before the crowd. He was bound, struck repeatedly upon the mouth, and was killed by the breaking of his teeth and the wounds he received, sealing his confession with his blood. With him three of his presbyters and two leading men of the city were also put to death. The Church remembers him with his fellow-confessors on 30 July.

Holy hieromartyr Valentine, bishop of Interamna

Saint Valentine was bishop of Interamna in central Italy, the modern Terni, in the third century. He governed his church with diligence and was renowned for his gift of healing. Through the recommendation of the philosopher Craton, three young Greek students who were studying at Rome, Proculus, Apollonius, and Ephebus, brought to him Craton's son Cherimon, who was severely ill with a curvature of the spine. Saint Valentine prayed all night over the youth, and at dawn the boy was made whole and stood up straight. The whole household was baptised, and Craton became a disciple of the bishop. Through this conversion the prefect of Rome's son Abundius also was won to the faith, and many others. The pagan magistrates, alarmed at the spread of the Gospel, arrested Saint Valentine, beat him, and at length had him beheaded outside the city of Rome around the year 273. The three students, returning sadly to Interamna with the body of their teacher, were themselves seized and put to death there a few days later. The relics of Saint Valentine rest at Terni, where they have always been honoured. Some of the calendars also commemorate him on the day of his death, 14 February, and on this day, 30 July, as one of the holy bishops of the Italian Church.

Holy righteous John the soldier

Saint John lived at Constantinople in the latter part of the fourth century and served in the army of the emperor Julian the Apostate. Although outwardly enrolled in the persecuting forces sent against the Christians of the empire, he was secretly a believer and used his position to warn his brethren of impending raids, to free those who had been arrested, and to relieve the poor and the captive from his own pay. By many such hidden labours he saved the lives and souls of his fellow Christians, taking on himself the danger which threatened them. After the death of Julian and the restoration of the Christian emperors, John continued to live in great simplicity, devoting his time and substance to the works of mercy: visiting the sick and those in prison, burying the dead, and assisting widows and orphans. He died in old age in Constantinople and was buried in a place which was forgotten until in a vision he revealed it to a devout woman who had been praying to find his relics. His tomb thereafter became a place of healing and of help to the wronged. He is widely invoked by Orthodox Christians for the recovery of stolen goods, the deliverance of the falsely accused, and as the protector of soldiers.

Holy righteous Julitta of Caesarea in Cappadocia

Saint Julitta was a wealthy Christian widow of Caesarea in Cappadocia in the early fourth century. She is to be distinguished from another Julitta whose son was the holy child-martyr Cyricus. The present saint suffered for Christ in the time of the emperor Diocletian. A pagan neighbour, taking advantage of the persecution, seized a great part of her property by force; when she sought redress in the courts, her opponent demanded that she first prove her standing as a Roman citizen by sacrificing to the gods, on the grounds that as a Christian she had no rights at law. Saint Julitta refused to deny her Lord even at the cost of her property and her life, declaring before the judge that the soul is more precious than gold and that to gain even the whole world by such a denial would profit her nothing. She was sentenced to death by burning, embraced the flames willingly, and gave up her soul to God praising him. Her relics were buried by faithful Christians and worked many miracles; Saint Basil the Great preached a homily in her praise, holding her up as a pattern of single-hearted love for Christ. The Church remembers her on 30 July.

Venerable Angelina, Princess of Albania.

She was the daughter of Scanderbeg, Albania’s national hero. She married Stefan, Prince of Serbia, a kinsman of Scanderbeg who sought refuge in his court. Stefan, a gentle, God-fearing man, had been blinded by the Turkish Sultan. Princess Angelina, loving him despite his loss of his vision and his worldly kingdom, married him with her father’s blessing. Together they had two sons, George and John. When their sons were grown, Albania was ravaged by an invasion of the Turks. Stefan, with Angelina and their sons, fled to Italy, where they lived until his repose in 1468. The widowed Angelina buried her husband in his Serbian homeland and devoted her remaining years to good works. Her elder son George gave up his princely title and entered monastic life. John married but died without children in 1503. When Angelina had outlived her two sons as well as her husband she too entered monastic life. She was buried with her sons at Krušedol monastery in northern Serbia. There her miracle-working relics are venerated to this day, and a service is held each year in her memory. She, her husband and her two sons are all glorified as saints of the Church.

Also commemorated: Apostles Silas and Silvanus of the Seventy

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

1 Corinthians — 1 Corinthians 10.12-22

¹²Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. ¹²Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. ¹³There hath no temptation taken you but such as man can bear: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation make also the way of escape, that ye may be able to endure it. ¹³There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

¹⁴Wherefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

¹⁴Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. ¹⁵I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. ¹⁵I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. ¹⁶The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a communion of the body of Christ? ¹⁶The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? ¹⁷For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. ¹⁷seeing that we, who are many, are one bread, one body: for we all partake of the one bread. ¹⁸Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? ¹⁸Behold Israel after the flesh: have not they that eat the sacrifices communion with the altar? ¹⁹What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? ¹⁹What say I then? that a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? ²⁰But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have communion with demons. ²⁰But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. ²¹Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of demons: ye cannot partake of the table of the Lord, and of the table of demons. ²¹Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils. ²²Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he? ²²Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?

Gospel

weekly cycle

Matthew — Matthew 16.20-24

²⁰Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. ²⁰Then charged he the disciples that they should tell no man that he was the Christ.

²¹From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

²¹From that time began Jesus to show unto his disciples, that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up. ²²Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. ²²And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall never be unto thee. ²³But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art a stumbling-block unto me: for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men. ²³But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

²⁴Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. ²⁴Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.