Wednesday, 10 September 2025

Wednesday of the 14th week after Pentecost

143 days after Pascha · Tone 4 · Liturgy · Fast

Saints commemorated

Holy Apostles of the Seventy Apelles, Lucius, and Clement

The three apostles Apelles, Lucius, and Clement are numbered among the Seventy whom Christ chose and sent forth to preach the Kingdom of God. They are mentioned in the Epistles of Saint Paul: Apelles, whom the Apostle calls "approved in Christ" (Romans 16:10); Lucius, whom he names with Jason and Sosipater as his kinsmen (Romans 16:21); and Clement, of whom Paul writes, "with Clement also, and with other my fellow-labourers, whose names are in the book of life" (Philippians 4:3). According to the tradition of the Church, Apelles served as bishop of Heraklea in Thrace, where he proclaimed the Gospel and converted many pagans before completing his course in peace. Lucius is identified with Lucius of Cyrene, mentioned in the Book of Acts among the prophets and teachers at Antioch (Acts 13:1), and is said to have become bishop of Laodicea in Syria. Clement, distinct from Clement of Rome, laboured in the company of Saint Paul and is said to have been bishop of Sardica. All three sealed their apostolic ministry by faithful service to the end and are remembered together on this day.

Holy Martyrs Menodora, Metrodora, and Nymphodora

The three sisters Menodora, Metrodora, and Nymphodora were natives of Bithynia who suffered martyrdom under the emperor Maximian around the year 305 or 311. From their youth they had vowed virginity to Christ and withdrew to a deserted place near the hot springs of Pythia, where they lived a life of prayer, fasting, and works of mercy. The fragrance of their sanctity drew many to seek their counsel, and miraculous healings were granted through their prayers. When their reputation reached the governor Frontonus, he had them brought before him in chains. He first attempted to win Menodora, the eldest, by flattery and promises of marriage and wealth; when she rejected him with the words that she was already betrothed to Christ, she was beaten and tortured for many hours until she gave up her soul. Metrodora, brought to see her sister's body, refused likewise to deny Christ and was burned with torches and beaten to death. Nymphodora, the youngest, was offered her freedom and rich gifts if only she would sacrifice; she too remained steadfast and was beaten with iron rods until she received the crown of martyrdom. Their bodies were cast into a furnace, but a thunderstorm extinguished the fire and Christians recovered the relics. Their tomb at the hot springs of Pythia became a famous place of pilgrimage and healing.

Saint Pulcheria the Empress

453

Saint Pulcheria was born in 399, the daughter of the emperor Arcadius and the empress Eudoxia and the elder sister of Theodosius the Younger. Orphaned in childhood, she was proclaimed Augusta in 414 at the age of fifteen and effectively governed the Eastern Roman Empire on behalf of her younger brother. Together with her sisters Arcadia and Marina she dedicated her virginity to Christ in the great church of Constantinople, transforming the imperial palace into a virtual monastery filled with prayer, fasting, the chanting of the psalms, and works of charity. She built churches, hospices, and homes for the poor; she received the relics of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste with great honour; and she is credited with the construction of three of the most famous churches of Constantinople dedicated to the Mother of God: the Hodegetria, the Blachernae, and the Chalkoprateia. A determined defender of Orthodoxy, she opposed the Nestorian teaching and supported the calling of the Third Ecumenical Council, and after the death of Theodosius she married the senator Marcian on condition that her virginity be preserved, in order to secure the Orthodox faith on the throne. With Marcian she convened the Fourth Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon in 451, which condemned the Monophysite teaching and confessed Christ as one Person in two natures. Saint Pulcheria reposed in 453 and was honoured by the Council of Chalcedon as "the new Helen."

Saints Peter and Paul, bishops of Nicaea

Saints Peter and Paul were bishops of Nicaea in Bithynia who lived in the ninth century during the second period of iconoclasm. Each in his turn occupied the see of Nicaea, an ancient Christian city famous for the First Ecumenical Council, and each suffered persecution at the hands of the iconoclast emperors for upholding the veneration of the holy icons. Saint Peter, a man of great learning and ascetic life, was deposed and exiled for refusing to abandon the icons; he endured imprisonment and many privations, and after the restoration of Orthodoxy continued to guide his flock until his peaceful repose. Saint Paul, his successor or near-contemporary, likewise confessed Christ before the iconoclasts, was deprived of his see, and bore witness to the truth that the honour given to the icon passes to the prototype, in accordance with the teaching of the Seventh Ecumenical Council. Both are remembered on this day as confessors who, though they did not shed their blood, gave up their freedom and their comfort for the sake of the right confession of the Incarnation, since to deny the icon of Christ is to deny that the Word truly took flesh.

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

2 Corinthians — 2 Corinthians 13.3-14

³seeing that ye seek a proof of Christ that speaketh in me; who to you-ward is not weak, but is powerful in you: ³Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in you. ⁴For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you. ⁴for he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth through the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him through the power of God toward you. ⁵Try your own selves, whether ye are in the faith; prove your own selves. Or know ye not as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you? unless indeed ye be reprobate. ⁵Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? ⁶But I hope that ye shall know that we are not reprobate. ⁶But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates. ⁷Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates. ⁷Now we pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we may appear approved, but that ye may do that which is honorable, though we be as reprobate. ⁸For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. ⁸For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. ⁹For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection. ⁹For we rejoice, when we are weak, and ye are strong: this we also pray for, even your perfecting. ¹⁰For this cause I write these things while absent, that I may not when present deal sharply, according to the authority which the Lord gave me for building up, and not for casting down. ¹⁰Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction.

¹¹Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

¹¹Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfected; be comforted; be of the same mind; live in peace: and the God of love and peace shall be with you. ¹²Greet one another with an holy kiss. ¹²Salute one another with a holy kiss.

¹³All the saints salute you.

¹³All the saints salute you. ¹⁴The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

¹⁴The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Mark — Mark 4.35-41

³⁵And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.

³⁵And on that day, when even was come, he saith unto them, Let us go over unto the other side. ³⁶And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. ³⁶And leaving the multitude, they take him with them, even as he was, in the boat. And other boats were with him. ³⁷And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. ³⁷And there ariseth a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the boat, insomuch that the boat was now filling. ³⁸And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? ³⁸And he himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion: and they awake him, and say unto him, Teacher, carest thou not that we perish? ³⁹And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. ³⁹And he awoke, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? ⁴⁰And he said unto them, Why are ye fearful? have ye not yet faith? ⁴¹And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? ⁴¹And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?