Friday, 12 December 2025

Friday of the 27th week after Pentecost

236 days after Pascha · Tone 1 · Black squigg (6-stich typikon symbol) · Nativity Fast

Saints commemorated

★ St Herman, Wonderworker of Alaska

1836

He is also commemorated tomorrow, December 13. See his life there.

★ Our Holy Godbearing Father Spyridon the Wonderworker

348

He was a humble shepherd who lived on the island of Cyprus with his wife and his one child, a daughter named Irene. Though he was poor himself, his house and table were always open to travelers and those in need. He kept his money in a box which he left open and available to all, not concerning himself with who took from it or whether they were deserving or not. In time, his wife died and, with less worldly cares, he redoubled his prayers and his almsgiving. He became so well-loved on the island that, when the bishop of the town of Tremithos died, the faithful unanimously chose Spyridon to succeed him, and he thus became a shepherd of rational sheep as well as the beasts he had tended. Despite his sudden elevation in rank, he kept to his former manner of life, traveling everywhere on foot, tending his animals as before, while fulfilling all the duties of a bishop as well. (To portray this godly humility, his icon shows him wearing bishop’s vestments and a peasant’s woven straw hat.) His compassion for others was boundless. Though he was very strict with himself, he would always break a fast to give comfort to a traveler. Once a band of robbers broke into his sheepfold by night, but found themselves confined there by an invisible force. When Spyridon found them in the morning, he freed them, admonished them to live honestly, and gave them two sheep in compensation, he said, for their keeping an all-night vigil. Pages could be filled with stories of the miracles wrought by the holy bishop for the good of his flock: by his prayers he ended a drought, turned a snake to gold to help a poor man, and even raised the dead son of a poor widow. His radiant virtue touched the consciences of those he met so that many would spontaneously fall at his feet and confess their sins. When the Emperor Constantine summoned the First Ecumenical Council in 325, Spyridon attended, dressed in his simple peasant’s garb. At one of the sessions, a proud Arian philosopher challenged the Orthodox to a debate about the Holy Trinity, and was amazed when the simple Spyridon stepped forward to accept the challenge. He and all the other bishops were far more amazed when the uneducated peasant bishop confounded all the Arian’s arguments with his eloquent, Spirit-inspired words. The humbled philosopher admitted that he was convinced, embraced the Orthodox faith, and called upon the other Arians to abandon their human wisdom and embrace the true and life-giving Faith. The holy bishop always celebrated the Divine Liturgy with joy. Once, serving in a remote, almost empty church, he turned to the invisible congregation and said “Peace be unto all!”, and his disciple heard a choir of angels respond “And with thy spirit!” Saint Spyridon reposed in peace in 348 at the age of seventy-eight. His incorrupt and wonder-working relics poured forth miracles for the people of Cyprus until the seventh century, when they were moved to Constantinople to escape the Arab invasion; when the City fell to the Turks, the relics were again moved to Corfu, where they are venerated to this day. Even after 1,500 years, the holy relics remain incorrupt and work many life-giving wonders. Saint Spyridon is venerated as the Patron of Corfu.

Holy Hieromartyr Alexander, Archbishop of Jerusalem

Saint Alexander was born in the second century and studied with Origen and Saint Clement at the famous catechetical school of Alexandria. Consecrated bishop of a city in Cappadocia, he was imprisoned for the Faith during the persecution of the emperor Severus (193-211) but freed when peace returned to the Church. While on pilgrimage to Jerusalem to venerate the holy places he was received by the aged bishop Narcissus, who, by direction received in a vision, made him his coadjutor; with the consent of a council of bishops Alexander thus became the first Christian bishop appointed during the lifetime of his predecessor, and afterwards succeeded him on the apostolic throne of Jerusalem. As bishop he founded a great library at Jerusalem, supported the work of Origen and welcomed many learned men, and shepherded his flock with patience and wisdom. During the persecution of Decius about 250 he was again seized for his witness, brought before the tribunal at Caesarea Maritima in extreme old age, and there reposed in chains, sealing his confession with martyrdom. He is also commemorated on 16 May.

Saint Finnian of Clonard

Saint Finnian, called the Tutor of the Saints of Ireland, was born about 470 in Myshall in the kingdom of Leinster. From childhood he was given to study and to prayer, and as a young man crossed to Britain, where he laboured at the monasteries of Saints Cadoc and Gildas in Wales for some thirty years, and according to certain accounts visited Tours in Gaul. Returning to Ireland about 520 he founded the great school and monastery of Clonard on the river Boyne in Meath, which under his guidance grew to host as many as three thousand students at a time. Among his disciples were the famous Twelve Apostles of Ireland, including Saints Brendan the Voyager, Columba of Iona, Ciaran of Clonmacnoise and Kevin of Glendalough, who carried his teaching across the island and beyond. He was a great expounder of the Scriptures, an austere ascetic who lived on bread and herbs, and a tireless builder of monastic life on the model of the desert fathers transmitted through the British saints. He reposed about 549, said to have given his life amid the great pestilence in the place of his disciples, and was buried at Clonard. He is honoured throughout the Orthodox calendars of the British Isles on this day.

Saint Herman of Alaska

Saint Herman was born about 1756 near Moscow and at sixteen entered the Trinity-Saint Sergius Hermitage near Saint Petersburg, where he was tonsured a monk. He later transferred to Valaam Monastery on Lake Ladoga under the great elder Nazarius and laboured there in profound humility and obedience. In 1793 he was chosen as one of ten missionaries dispatched by the Russian Holy Synod to bring the Orthodox faith to the native peoples of Alaska. The brotherhood arrived on Kodiak Island in September 1794. After the martyrdom of Saint Juvenaly and the loss at sea of Bishop-elect Joasaph and several others, Herman alone of the original mission remained, never being ordained but living as a simple monk on Spruce Island, which he called New Valaam. There he built a chapel and a small school for the orphans of the native Aleut people, defended them against the cruelties of the Russian-American Company, taught them, prayed for them and worked many hidden miracles, including the staying of a forest fire and a tidal wave. He reposed on 13 December 1837 and was glorified by the Orthodox Church in America on 9 August 1970 as the first canonised saint of America. He is commemorated together with the protomartyr Juvenaly and the first martyrs of the American land on this day, and again on 27 July (translation) and 13 December (repose).

Saint Spyridon the Wonderworker, Bishop of Tremithus

Saint Spyridon was born about 270 on the island of Cyprus to a humble family and from his youth tended sheep, distinguishing himself by simplicity of life, almsgiving and unwavering charity to strangers and the poor. He married and had a daughter, Irene, and on the death of his wife he gave himself entirely to the service of God, while continuing to live as a shepherd and to use all his substance for the needs of his neighbours. For his virtues he was chosen, in the reign of Constantine the Great, as bishop of Tremithus in Cyprus, yet he did not change his manner of life, continuing to herd his flock and to walk barefoot among his people. At the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea in 325 the simple shepherd-bishop confounded a learned philosopher who was defending the Arian heresy: taking up a brick he squeezed it in his hand, and as fire flashed up, water dripped down and only dust remained, he proclaimed that the one brick yet bore three elements, just as the Holy Trinity is one God in three Persons. By his prayers droughts were broken and rains stayed, the dead were raised, demons cast out and incurable maladies healed; he is recorded to have spoken with his reposed daughter to recover a deposit entrusted to her, and to have changed a serpent into gold and back again to relieve a poor farmer. He reposed in peace about 348. After the Arab conquest his relics were translated to Constantinople and, on the fall of the City in 1453, to Corfu, where they remain incorrupt to this day at the church of Saint Spyridon and continue to work miracles, even to the wearing out of his slippers as he walks through the world to help those who call upon him.

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

2 Timothy — 2 Timothy 1.1-2, 8-18

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, according to the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus,

¹Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, ²to Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. ²To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. ⁸Be not ashamed therefore of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but suffer hardship with the gospel according to the power of God; ⁸Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; ⁹who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal, ⁹Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, ¹⁰but hath now been manifested by the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, ¹⁰But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: ¹¹whereunto I was appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher. ¹¹Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. ¹²For which cause I suffer also these things: yet I am not ashamed; for I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed unto him against that day. ¹²For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. ¹³Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. ¹³Hold the pattern of sound words which thou hast heard from me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. ¹⁴That good thing which was committed unto thee guard through the Holy Spirit which dwelleth in us.

¹⁵This thou knowest, that all that are in Asia turned away from me; of whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. ¹⁵This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. ¹⁶The Lord grant mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus: for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; ¹⁶The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain: ¹⁷but, when he was in Rome, he sought me diligently, and found me ¹⁷But, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me. ¹⁸(the Lord grant unto him to find mercy of the Lord in that day); and in how many things he ministered at Ephesus, thou knowest very well. ¹⁸The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Luke — Luke 21.37-22.8

³⁷And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives.

³⁷And every day he was teaching in the temple; and every night he went out, and lodged in the mount that is called Olivet. ³⁸And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, for to hear him. ³⁸And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, to hear him.

¹Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover.

¹Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover. ²And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people. ²And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might put him to death; for they feared the people.

³And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.

³Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. ⁴And he went away, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might deliver him unto them. ⁴And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them. ⁵And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money. ⁵And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money. ⁶And he promised, and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude. ⁶And he consented, and sought opportunity to deliver him unto them in the absence of the multitude.

⁷Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed.

⁷And the day of unleavened bread came, on which the passover must be sacrificed. ⁸And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat. ⁸And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and make ready for us the passover, that we may eat.