Thursday, 11 September 2025

Thursday of the 14th week after Pentecost

144 days after Pascha · Tone 4 · Liturgy · No Fast

Saints commemorated

Holy Martyrs Diodorus, Didymus, and Diomedes of Laodicea

The holy martyrs Diodorus, Didymus, and Diomedes were inhabitants of Laodicea in Syria who suffered for Christ during one of the persecutions of the late third or early fourth century. Although the precise circumstances of their passion are not preserved in detail, the ancient synaxaria record that they were arrested as Christians, brought before the local governor, and there confessed openly the faith of the crucified and risen Lord. After enduring various torments aimed at compelling them to sacrifice to the idols, all three were condemned to death and gave up their souls to God, receiving together the unfading crown of martyrdom. Their commemoration on this day links them with Saint Theodora of Alexandria as a witness that the path of the martyrs and the path of repentance both lead by different roads to the same Kingdom.

Saint Euphrosynus the Cook

Saint Euphrosynus lived in the ninth century and was a humble cook in a monastery in Palestine. Of simple education and rough appearance, he served the brethren in the kitchen with great patience and lowliness, often bearing the impatience and rebukes of those for whom he laboured without complaint, considering himself unworthy of the monastic name. In his hidden life of prayer he attained, unknown to the brethren, a high measure of grace. One night a certain priest of the monastery, who had often prayed to be shown the rewards prepared for the saints, was carried in a vision to the garden of paradise and there found Euphrosynus walking among the trees of life. The cook, recognising the priest, gave him three apples from paradise as a sign that the vision was true. When the priest awoke he found the apples beside him on his bed, fragrant beyond anything of this world. Going to the kitchen at the hour of matins, he questioned Euphrosynus, who in confusion and humility confessed that he had indeed been in paradise that night. The priest then revealed the vision to the abbot and brethren, but Euphrosynus, unwilling to be honoured, immediately fled the monastery and was never seen again. The fragrant apples were divided among the brethren for blessing and healing, and Saint Euphrosynus is venerated as a model of hidden sanctity.

Saint Theodora of Alexandria

Saint Theodora lived in Alexandria in the late fifth century during the reign of the emperor Zeno. She was a married woman of pious life until, deceived by an evil woman who acted as a procuress, she fell into an act of adultery. Stricken by remorse and unable to bear the weight of her sin, she sought out a holy abbess, who consoled her with the example of the publican and assured her that no sin is too great for the mercy of Christ. Determined to amend her life, Theodora cut off her hair, dressed herself as a man, and withdrew to the men's monastery of Octodecaton near Alexandria, where she was received under the name Theodore. There, unrecognised even by her own husband who at one point came to seek her, she lived for many years in extreme asceticism, in fasting, prayer, and obedience, surpassing the brethren in humility and labour. Falsely accused of being the father of a child borne by a woman of a nearby village, she accepted the accusation in silence, was expelled from the monastery, and lived for seven years in the wilderness with the child, enduring hunger, cold, and the assaults of demons, who once appeared to her in the likeness of her former husband. After many trials she was readmitted to the monastery and continued in her labours until her repose, when only at her death was her true identity discovered. Her relics worked many wonders, and her life is read as a model of repentance.

Translation of the relics of Saints Sergius and Herman of Valaam

Saints Sergius and Herman were monks of Greek origin who, according to the tradition of the Russian North, came as missionaries to the wild and pagan region of Karelia in the fourteenth century, settling on the rocky island of Valaam in Lake Ladoga. There they founded the monastery of the Transfiguration, which became the cradle of monasticism in northern Russia and is sometimes called "the Athos of the North." They lived in great asceticism in the harsh climate of the lake, preached the Gospel to the pagan Karelians and Finns, and gathered around them a community of monks who carried their spiritual tradition into the surrounding lands. After their repose their relics were enshrined in the monastery, but in 1611, during the Swedish invasions, the monastery was destroyed and the relics were hidden underground. After the founding of Saint Petersburg and the recovery of the lands of Karelia, the monastery was restored, and on 11 September 1718 the relics of the founders were translated and returned to their resting place. This translation is the feast kept today, while the principal commemoration of the saints falls on 28 June. Through them and their successors many great elders, missionaries to America, and confessors of the twentieth century have arisen.

St Euphrosynos the Cook of Alexandria

9th c.

His icon is found in countless Orthodox kitchens. A simple and holy man, when he entered monastic life in Alexandria he was judged unfit for any service more demanding than kitchen work. There he labored without complaint, looked down upon by most of the other monks. One night the abbot dreamed that he was in Paradise, and there met Euphrosynos, who gave him a branch that bore three fragrant apples. Awakening, the abbot found the same apples on his pillow. He hurried to find Euphrosynos and asked him, `Where were you last night, brother?’ Euphrosynos only replied, `Where were you, Father?’ The abbot gathered the monks and told them the wonderful story, by which they all realized the cook’s holiness. But Euphrosynos, unwilling to endure the praise of men, fled the monastery for the desert.

St Paphnutius the Confessor

4th c.

“A bishop of the Egyptian Thebaid, he suffered greatly for the Orthodox faith: heretics put out one of his eyes and broke his left leg. He took part in the First Ecumenical Council, refuting the Arian heresy with great power. The Emperor Constantine valued him greatly and often kissed him on the missing eye, lost for the truth of Orthodoxy. At the council, he stood in opposition to the western representatives, who proposed that secular priests be completely forbidden to marry. He was chaste throughout the whole of his life.” (Prologue)

Canonization of St Xenia of St Petersburg

1978

She is commemorated on January 24.

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

Galatians — Galatians 1.1-10, 20-2.5

¹Paul, an apostle (not from men, neither through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead),

¹Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;) ²and all the brethren that are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: ²And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: ³Grace to you and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, ³Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present evil world, according to the will of our God and Father: ⁴Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: ⁵To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. ⁵to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

⁶I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

⁶I marvel that ye are so quickly removing from him that called you in the grace of Christ unto a different gospel; ⁷Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. ⁷which is not another gospel: only there are some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. ⁸But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema. ⁸But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. ⁹As we have said before, so say I now again, If any man preacheth unto you any gospel other than that which ye received, let him be anathema. ⁹As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. ¹⁰For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? or am I striving to please men? if I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ.

¹⁰For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. ²⁰Now touching the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not. ²⁰Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not. ²¹Then I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. ²¹Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia; ²²And I was still unknown by face unto the churches of Judæa which were in Christ: ²²And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ: ²³but they only heard say, He that once persecuted us now preacheth the faith of which he once made havoc; ²³But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. ²⁴And they glorified God in me. ²⁴and they glorified God in me.

¹Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also.

¹Then after the space of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus also with me. ²And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain. ²And I went up by revelation; and I laid before them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles but privately before them who were of repute, lest by any means I should be running, or had run, in vain. ³But not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised: ³But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised: ⁴and that because of the false brethren privily brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: ⁴And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: ⁵to whom we gave place in the way of subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. ⁵To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Mark — Mark 5.1-20

¹And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.

¹And they came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes. ²And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, ²And when he was come out of the boat, straightway there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, ³Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: ³who had his dwelling in the tombs: and no man could any more bind him, no, not with a chain; ⁴Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. ⁴because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been rent asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: and no man had strength to tame him. ⁵And always, night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out, and cutting himself with stones. ⁵And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. ⁶And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshipped him; ⁶But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, ⁷And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. ⁷and crying out with a loud voice, he saith, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God? I adjure thee by God, torment me not. ⁸For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. ⁸For he said unto him, Come forth, thou unclean spirit, out of the man. ⁹And he asked him, What is thy name? And he saith unto him, My name is Legion; for we are many. ⁹And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. ¹⁰And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. ¹⁰And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. ¹¹Now there was there on the mountain side a great herd of swine feeding. ¹¹Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. ¹²And they besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. ¹²And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. ¹³And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea. ¹³And he gave them leave. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered into the swine: and the herd rushed down the steep into the sea, in number about two thousand; and they were drowned in the sea. ¹⁴And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. ¹⁴And they that fed them fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they came to see what it was that had come to pass. ¹⁵And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. ¹⁵And they come to Jesus, and behold him that was possessed with demons sitting, clothed and in his right mind, even him that had the legion: and they were afraid. ¹⁶And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine. ¹⁶And they that saw it declared unto them how it befell him that was possessed with demons, and concerning the swine. ¹⁷And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts. ¹⁷And they began to beseech him to depart from their borders. ¹⁸And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. ¹⁸And as he was entering into the boat, he that had been possessed with demons besought him that he might be with him. ¹⁹And he suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go to thy house unto thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and how he had mercy on thee. ¹⁹Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. ²⁰And he went his way, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men marvelled. ²⁰And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.