Saturday, 2 August 2025

Saturday of the 8th week after Pentecost

104 days after Pascha · Tone 6 · Red squigg (doxology typikon symbol) · Dormition Fast (Wine and Oil are Allowed)

Saints commemorated

Blessed Basil, Fool-for-Christ and Wonderworker of Moscow

Saint Basil the Blessed was born in December 1468 on the portico of the Elokhov church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, near Moscow. His parents were poor commoners, and as a boy he was apprenticed to a cobbler. While still young he showed signs of clairvoyance: when a merchant came to order boots and was overheard discussing his plans for the next day, Basil quietly remarked that the man would never wear them, and the merchant died that night. At the age of sixteen he left his trade for the way of foolishness for Christ. He went barefoot, summer and winter, almost without clothing, accepting blows, scorn and hunger as gifts from God. He overturned trays of bread and jars of kvass in the marketplaces, and the angry traders beat him, but it was afterwards discovered that the bread had been poorly baked and the kvass spoiled. By such hidden actions he taught the love of truth and the contempt of luxury. Basil rebuked Tsar Ivan the Terrible to his face for inattention during the divine services and for his violence against the innocent, and the tsar, who feared no other man, feared the holy fool, calling him a seer of hearts. Basil received from God the gifts of prophecy, the discernment of demons hidden under appearances of human kindness, and miraculous deliverance from danger. He fell asleep in the Lord on 2 August 1557, and the tsar himself, with the boyars, carried his coffin, while Saint Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow, served his funeral. He was buried in the Trinity Church on the Moat in Red Square, which has since been known by his name. He was glorified by the Church in 1588.

Translation of the Relics of the Holy Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stephen

415

This day commemorates two events in the history of the relics of Saint Stephen the Protomartyr, who was stoned to death outside Jerusalem about the year 34 and is honoured by the Church as the first martyr after the Lord's Ascension. In the year 415, during the reign of the Patriarch John of Jerusalem, a learned priest named Lucian, parish priest of the village of Caphargamala, was visited three times in dreams by the venerable Gamaliel, the teacher of Saint Paul who had received Stephen's body for burial. Gamaliel revealed to him the location of the forgotten grave in which he, his son Abibas, the priest Nicodemus and the Protomartyr lay buried. With the blessing of the patriarch the place was opened and the relics of Saint Stephen were found, accompanied by signs and a fragrance that filled the air. The relics were solemnly translated to Sion in Jerusalem and placed in the church of the holy Apostles. During the reign of the Emperor Theodosius the Younger (408 to 450) they were brought to Constantinople. According to the synaxarion, the empress Eudocia obtained them and they were placed in the church of the deacon Saint Lawrence. When the imperial city built a great church dedicated to the Protomartyr himself, the relics were translated there on 2 August. The right hand of Saint Stephen is preserved to this day in the Serapionov chamber of the Holy Trinity Lavra of Saint Sergius in Russia, and other portions of his relics are venerated across the Orthodox world.

Venerable Basil of Kamen, Fool-for-Christ

Saint Basil of Kamen lived between the second half of the seventeenth century and the first half of the eighteenth, in the northern Russian forests around Lake Kuben in the region of Vologda. He took monastic tonsure in the Saviour Stone Monastery, founded in the thirteenth century on a small rocky island in the lake, and there he undertook the rare and difficult exploit of foolishness for Christ. Like the better-known Basil of Moscow whose name he shared, he concealed his prayer and ascetic life beneath strange and provocative behaviour, accepting the contempt and ridicule of the world as a discipline against pride. He kept a strict fast, slept little, walked the shores of the lake in scant clothing in all weathers, and ministered in secret to the poor and afflicted of the surrounding villages. The brethren of the Saviour Stone Monastery preserved the memory of his sanctity, and after his repose his name was entered among the saints commemorated locally in the Vologda lands. He is numbered with the long line of holy fools, the iurodivye, by whom Russia learned the value of voluntary humiliation borne for the love of Christ.

Hieromartyr Stephen, Pope of Rome, and those with him

257

As Bishop of Rome from 254 to 257, he battled the Novatian heresy. By his prayers he once healed Lucilla, the daughter of the Roman tribune Nemesius; for this both father and daughter were baptized into Christ. Saint Stephen and twelve of his priests were beheaded during a celebration of the Liturgy, during the reign of Valerian.

Also commemorated: Trans. Rel. Protomartyr Stephen

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

Romans — Romans 13.1-10

¹Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

¹Let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers: for there is no power but of God; and the powers that be are ordained of God. ²Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. ²Therefore he that resisteth the power, withstandeth the ordinance of God: and they that withstand shall receive to themselves judgment. ³For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: ³For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. And wouldest thou have no fear of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise from the same: ⁴For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. ⁴for he is a minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is a minister of God, an avenger for wrath to him that doeth evil. ⁵Wherefore ye must needs be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. ⁵Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. ⁶For for this cause ye pay tribute also; for they are ministers of God’s service, attending continually upon this very thing. ⁶For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. ⁷Render to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. ⁷Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. ⁸Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

⁸Owe no man anything, save to love one another: for he that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law. ⁹For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. ⁹For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not covet, and if there be any other commandment, it is summed up in this word, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. ¹⁰Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. ¹⁰Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: love therefore is the fulfilment of the law.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Matthew — Matthew 12.30-37

³⁰He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. ³⁰He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.

³¹Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. ³¹Therefore I say unto you, Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. ³²And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. ³²And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come. ³³Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. ³³Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by its fruit. ³⁴O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. ³⁴Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. ³⁵A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. ³⁵The good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things: and the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. ³⁶And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. ³⁶But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. ³⁷For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. ³⁷For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.