Monday, 1 September 2025

Church New Year; Ven. Simeon the Stylite (The Elder)

Monday of the 13th week after Pentecost

134 days after Pascha · Tone 3 · Red cross (polyeleos typikon symbol) · No Fast (Wine and Oil are Allowed)

Saints commemorated

★ Beginning of the Indiction, the Church New Year

The first day of September is observed as the beginning of the Indiction, the ecclesiastical New Year of the Orthodox Church. The word indiction comes from a Latin term meaning "imposition," and was originally applied to the cycle of imperial taxation reckoned in fifteen-year periods in late Roman Egypt. The civil indiction was adopted by the Christian emperors and, after the legalisation of the Church under Saint Constantine the Great, the first of September came to be celebrated as the beginning of the year for the empire and for the Church alike. The First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea in 325 sanctioned this reckoning. The day is associated with the Saviour's entry into the synagogue at Nazareth, when, according to the Gospel of Luke, Christ opened the book of the Prophet Isaiah and read, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me," proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord. The Church accordingly opens her own liturgical year on this day with a special service for the Indiction, asking God to bless the crown of the year with His goodness, and joining to it the commemoration of Saint Symeon the Stylite, the Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos of Miasena, the holy forty virgin martyrs and their teacher Ammon the Deacon, the Righteous Joshua the son of Nun, and the Holy Martyr Aithalas.

★ Saint Martha, mother of Symeon the Stylite

Born in Syria, he was a shepherd, but at the age of eighteen he left home and became a monk, practicing the strictest asceticism. At times he fasted for forty days. After a few years at a monastery he took up an ascetical discipline unique at that time: mounting a pillar, he stood on it night and day in prayer. Though he sought only seclusion and prayer, his holiness became famous, and thousands would make pilgrimage to receive a word from him or to touch his garments. Countless nomadic Arabs came to faith in Christ through the power of his example and prayers. To retreat further from the world, he used progressively taller pillars: his first pillar was about ten feet high, his final one about fifty. He was known also for the soundness of his counsel: he confirned the Orthodox doctrine at the Council of Chalcedon and persuaded the Empress Eudocia, who had been seduced by Monophysite beliefs, to return to the true Christian faith. After about forty years lived in asceticism, he reposed in peace at the age of sixty-nine.

He was at first suspected of taking up his way of life out of pride, but his monastic brethren confirmed his humility thus: They went to him as a group, and told him that the brotherhood had decided that he should come down from his pillar and rejoin them. Immediately he began to climb down from the pillar. Seeing his obedience and humility, they told him to remain with their blessing.

Holy forty virgin martyrs and their teacher Ammon the Deacon

The forty holy virgin martyrs and their teacher Ammon the Deacon suffered for Christ at Adrianople in Thrace during the persecution of the emperor Licinius in the early fourth century. The forty maidens, gathered around the deacon Ammon, lived together in piety, prayer and the study of the Scriptures, having dedicated their virginity to the Lord. When the persecution reached their city, the governor Baudus had them brought before him and demanded that they sacrifice to the idols. Ammon answered first, confessing the one true God and exhorting his disciples to remain steadfast. The maidens, encouraged by his words, openly mocked the gods of the heathen. The governor commanded that they be subjected to torments designed to break their resolve: ten of them were burned with torches, eight were beheaded with the sword, others were drowned, others crucified, others put to death by various torments, while their teacher Ammon was cast into a heated metal helmet and finally beheaded. Throughout these sufferings the virgins glorified Christ and one another, dying in the confession of the faith. Their relics were honoured by the local Christians, and their memory has been kept by the Church on the first day of September together with the beginning of the Indiction.

Righteous Joshua the son of Nun

The Righteous Joshua, the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, was born in Egypt about 1654 BC and was the chosen successor of the Prophet Moses as leader of the Israelites. As a young man he served Moses faithfully, accompanied him onto Mount Sinai, and was one of the twelve spies sent into the land of Canaan, where, with Caleb alone, he urged the people to go up and possess the land that God had promised. After the death of Moses on Mount Nebo, the Lord commanded Joshua to lead the people across the Jordan into the land of inheritance. At his prayer the waters of the Jordan stood still, and the Israelites passed over on dry ground. By the power of God the walls of Jericho fell at the sound of the trumpets and the shout of the people, and Joshua led the conquest of Canaan, dividing the land among the twelve tribes. During the battle at Gibeon he commanded the sun to stand still in the heavens until the people had completed the victory, a sign which prefigured the power of Christ over the cosmos. Before his death at the age of one hundred and ten, he gathered the people at Shechem, renewed the covenant of the Lord, and exhorted them in the words, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." The Church honours him as a type of Jesus Christ, whose very name in Hebrew, Yeshua, he bore, and reads from the book that bears his name during the celebration of the Indiction.

Saint Symeon the Stylite, of Antioch

459

Saint Symeon the Stylite was born around 390 in the village of Sisan on the borders of Cilicia and Syria, the son of pious Christian parents named Sisotion and Martha. As a boy he tended his father's sheep, and at thirteen he was so moved by hearing the Beatitudes read in church that he resolved to give himself wholly to the ascetic life. He entered a nearby monastery, where his austerities so far surpassed those of the brethren that the abbot feared for him and sent him out. Withdrawing to the wilderness near Antioch, he settled at last on a small platform on top of a stone pillar, in order to escape the crowds that pressed upon him for counsel and healing, and to lift his prayer above the cares of earth. He stood upon pillars of progressively greater height for more than forty years, exposed to the heat of summer and the snows of winter, eating only what was brought to him, and devoting himself unceasingly to prayer and the recitation of the Psalter. From his pillar he preached repentance, reconciled enemies, healed the sick, instructed bishops and emperors, and converted many pagans, Saracens and Persians who came to gaze on the wonder of his life. He defended the Council of Chalcedon and corresponded with the Emperor Theodosius II and the Empress Eudocia. After eighty years of monastic struggle, forty-seven of them on the pillar, he reposed in peace in the year 459. His body was carried in solemn procession to Antioch, and a great cruciform church was raised over the site of his pillar at Qal'at Sim'an, the ruins of which still stand. He is the founder of the order of stylite ascetics, and is commemorated as the first saint of the new ecclesiastical year.

Saint Meletios the Younger

c. 1124

He was born in Cappadocia around 1035. He became a monk in Constantinople, but after a few years he went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Rome, then settled at a small monastery near Thebes. Here Meletios became known for his piety: he wore one garment of woven horsehair and, as the Synaxarion says, ‘never let his eyelids slumber without having bathed the mat he lay on with his tears.’ After twenty-eight years of ascetical labors Meletius, seeking to escape his increasing renown, departed the monastery, eventually settling near the Monastery of the Bodiless Powers near Myoupolis in Greece. Here he thought that he would be able to pray in obscurity, but once again the fame of his virtues attracted a monastic community around him. By order of the Patriarch of Constantinople he was ordained to the priesthood and, much against his will, made abbot of the monastic colony. The Emperor Alexander Comnenus wished to give a large gift of money to the monastery, but the Saint, unwilling to store up wealth on earth, would only accept enough for the essential needs of his monks: ‘but’ (the Synaxarion says) ‘as a sign of gratitude, he protected the pious Emperor in all his campaigns from that time forth, by his prayer.’ After many years caring for the monastery, in which he revealed gifts of healing, insight and prophecy, Saint Meletios reposed in peace, aged about seventy years, sometime between 1095 and 1124.

Holy New Martyr Angelis

1680

He was a goldsmith living in Constantinople. While he was celebrating the Dormition of the Theotokos with some friends in a nearby village, the party was joined by some Turkish neighbors. The Christians and Turks drank a great amount together, and at one point entertained themselves by exchanging headgear. The next day, when everyone had sobered up, a Turk asked Angelis why he was not wearing a Muslim turban, for wearing it once was a sign of conversion. (To our knowledge this is not Islamic law, but was a ploy to pressure the young Angelis into conversion.) The dismayed Angelis was brought before a judge and given the choice of converting to Islam or being put to torture and death. Though the young man had shown little seriousness about his faith before this, he was filled with the Holy Spirit and boldly confessed Christ, willingly accepting a Martyr’s end. He was beheaded on Sunday, September 1, 1680.

Daily readings

Vespers

Isaiah — Isaiah 61.1-9

¹The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

¹The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me; because Jehovah hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; ²To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; ²to proclaim the year of Jehovah’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; ³To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. ³to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah, that he may be glorified.

⁴And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.

⁴And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. ⁵And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. ⁵And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners shall be your plowmen and your vine-dressers. ⁶But ye shall be named the priests of Jehovah; men shall call you the ministers of our God: ye shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. ⁶But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. ⁷Instead of your shame ye shall have double; and instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be unto them.

⁷For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them. ⁸For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. ⁸For I, Jehovah, love justice, I hate robbery with iniquity; and I will give them their recompense in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. ⁹And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed. ⁹And their seed shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which Jehovah hath blessed.

Vespers

OT — Composite 24 - Leviticus 26

The Lord spoke to the children of Israel saying, ‘If you walk in my ordinances and keep my commandments and do them, I will give you rain in its season and the earth will give its produce and the trees of the plains their fruit. Your threshing time will overtake the vintage, and the vintage will overtake the sowing. You will eat your bread to the full and dwell in safety on your land; and no one shall make you afraid. And I will destroy the evil wild beasts from your lands, and war shall not pass through your land, and enemies will fall before you. Five of you will pursue a hundred and a hundred of you will pursue tens of thousands. And I will look upon you and bless you and make you increase and multiply and I will establish my covenant with you. And you will eat what is old and very old, and bring out the old to make way for the new. And my soul will not abhor you, and I will walk among you, and I will be your God and you shall be my people. But if you will not listen to me, nor observe these ordinances of mine, but disobey them, and if your soul loathes my judgements, so that you do not keep all my commandments, I in turn will treat you like this: I will bring distress upon you, and you will sow your seed in vain and your enemies will devour your labours. And I will set my face against you and you will fall before your foes and they will pursue you and you will flee though no one pursues you; and I will smash the arrogance of your pride. And I will make the heaven like iron for you and your earth like solid bronze. And your strength will be in vain and your land will not give its fruit, and the trees of the field will not give their fruit. And I will send the wild beasts of the earth against you, and they will consume your cattle, and the sword will come against you and make you few in number. And your land will be desert and your farms will be desert; because you have walked against me crookedly, and I will walk against you with crooked rage, says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel’.

Vespers

Wisdom of Solomon — Wisdom of Solomon 4.7-15

⁷But though the righteous be prevented with death, yet shall he be in rest.

⁸For honourable age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor that is measured by number of years.

⁹But wisdom is the gray hair unto men, and an unspotted life is old age.

¹⁰He pleased God, and was beloved of him: so that living among sinners he was translated.

¹¹Yea speedily was he taken away, lest that wickedness should alter his understanding, or deceit beguile his soul.

¹²For the bewitching of naughtiness doth obscure things that are honest; and the wandering of concupiscence doth undermine the simple mind.

¹³He, being made perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time:

¹⁴For his soul pleased the Lord: therefore hasted he to take him away from among the wicked.

¹⁵This the people saw, and understood it not, neither laid they up this in their minds, That his grace and mercy is with his saints, and that he hath respect unto his chosen.

Epistle

weekly cycle

2 Corinthians — 2 Corinthians 8.7-15

⁷But as ye abound in everything, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all earnestness, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. ⁷Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. ⁸I speak not by way of commandment, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity also of your love. ⁸I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love. ⁹For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might become rich. ⁹For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. ¹⁰And herein I give my judgment: for this is expedient for you, who were the first to make a beginning a year ago, not only to do, but also to will. ¹⁰And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago. ¹¹But now complete the doing also; that as there was the readiness to will, so there may be the completion also out of your ability. ¹¹Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have. ¹²For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. ¹²For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according as a man hath, not according as he hath not. ¹³For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened: ¹³For I say not this that others may be eased and ye distressed; ¹⁴but by equality: your abundance being a supply at this present time for their want, that their abundance also may become a supply for your want; that there may be equality: ¹⁴But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality: ¹⁵as it is written, He that gathered much had nothing over; and he that gathered little had no lack. ¹⁵As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.

Epistle

— New Year

1 Timothy — 1 Timothy 2.1-7

¹I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, be made for all men;

¹I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; ²for kings and all that are in high place; that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity. ²For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. ³This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; ³For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; ⁴who would have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁴Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. ⁵For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus, ⁵For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; ⁶who gave himself a ransom for all; the testimony to be borne in its own times; ⁶Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. ⁷whereunto I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I speak the truth, I lie not), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. ⁷Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.

Epistle

— St Simeon

Colossians — Colossians 3.12-16

¹²Put on therefore, as God’s elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering; ¹²Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; ¹³forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any; even as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye: ¹³Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. ¹⁴and above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness. ¹⁴And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. ¹⁵And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. ¹⁵And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to the which also ye were called in one body; and be ye thankful. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Mark — Mark 3.6-12

⁶And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him. ⁶And the Pharisees went out, and straightway with the Herodians took counsel against him, how they might destroy him. ⁷But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judæa,

⁷And Jesus with his disciples withdrew to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed; and from Judæa, ⁸And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him. ⁸and from Jerusalem, and from Idumæa, and beyond the Jordan, and about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, hearing what great things he did, came unto him. ⁹And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him. ⁹And he spake to his disciples, that a little boat should wait on him because of the crowd, lest they should throng him: ¹⁰For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues. ¹⁰for he had healed many; insomuch that as many as had plagues pressed upon him that they might touch him. ¹¹And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God. ¹¹And the unclean spirits, whensoever they beheld him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God. ¹²And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known. ¹²And he charged them much that they should not make him known.

Gospel

— New Year

Luke — Luke 4.16-22

¹⁶And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

¹⁶And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and he entered, as his custom was, into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up to read. ¹⁷And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, ¹⁷And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And he opened the book, and found the place where it was written, ¹⁸The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, ¹⁸The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor: He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty them that are bruised, ¹⁹To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. ¹⁹To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. ²⁰And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

²⁰And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down: and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him. ²¹And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. ²¹And he began to say unto them, To-day hath this scripture been fulfilled in your ears. ²²And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son? ²²And all bare him witness, and wondered at the words of grace which proceeded out of his mouth: and they said, Is not this Joseph’s son?

Gospel

— St Simeon

Matthew — Matthew 11.27-30

²⁷All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. ²⁷All things have been delivered unto me of my Father: and no one knoweth the Son, save the Father; neither doth any know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him. ²⁸Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

²⁸Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.