Wednesday, 7 January 2026

Synaxis of St John the Baptist

Wednesday of the 31st week after Pentecost

262 days after Pascha · Tone 5 · Red squigg (doxology typikon symbol) · Fast (Fish, Wine and Oil are Allowed)

Saints commemorated

★ Synaxis of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John

The Synaxis of the Baptist is a feast celebrated on 7 January, the day following the great feast of Theophany. The word synaxis means a gathering of the faithful in church for purposes of honouring and venerating the saint or saints commemorated. This feast honours the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John, who is called the greatest of the prophets by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The Church established this synaxis following the ancient custom of glorifying those righteous servants of God who most closely served in or witnessed great and celebrated events of Christ's life. Saint John the Baptist was the one whom the Lord chose to baptise Him in the Jordan River, and it was John who prepared the way for the Saviour's public ministry through his preaching of repentance and his baptism of the people. Saint John came before Christ, proclaiming that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand and calling men to repentance and the remission of sins. He was the bridge connecting the Old Testament and the New Testament, and thus he concluded the history of the Old Testament and opened the era of the New Testament. Of John, Christ said, "Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist." Saint John was martyred for his courageous witness and his rebuke of King Herod Antipas, who had unlawfully taken his brother Philip's wife, Herodias, as his own. The holy Forerunner was imprisoned and eventually beheaded because he would not compromise his prophetic witness to the truth. The Synaxis of John honours and celebrates his glorious life, his ministry as the Forerunner of Christ, his steadfast faith, and his martyrdom.

New-Martyr Athanasius of Attalia

1700

New-Martyr Athanasius of Attalia was a Christian martyr who lived in the later centuries of the Ottoman occupation and died for his steadfast confession of the Orthodox faith. He was condemned to death for his refusal to renounce Christ and embrace Islam, remaining faithful to his baptismal vows despite threats and torture. He was beheaded in the year 1700 in Smyrna, sealing his witness with his blood. As a "New Martyr" of the post-Byzantine period, Saint Athanasius exemplified the perseverance and courage of Orthodox Christians living under religious oppression, maintaining their faith and transmitting it to future generations despite grave persecution.

Venerable Paisius of Uglich

Venerable Paisius was a Russian monastic saint who lived in or near the city of Uglich in Russia. Through ascetical labours, fasting, prayer, and obedience to the monastic rule, he attained great holiness and became a model of Orthodox monasticism. His life exemplifies the Russian tradition of hesychasm and deep spiritual commitment to union with God through the veneration of the mystery of Christ and the intercession of the Theotokos and the saints. Though specific details of his life are limited in the surviving historical records, his memory is preserved in the Orthodox calendar as a testament to his sanctity and monastic virtue.

Our Venerable Father Cedd, Bishop of Essex and Abbot of Lastingham

664

He and his brother Chad (Mar. 2) were from an English family, educated under Saint Aidan (Aug. 31) of Lindisfarne. Both brothers entered monastic life at Lindisfarne and later became bishops. Cedd travelled as an evangelist among the people of Essex, where Saint Finan (Feb. 17) consecrated him to be their first bishop. He founded two monasteries in Essex, one of whose churches still stands; he built yet another monastery at Lastingham in Yorkshire, where he lived until his repose. He spoke both Irish and Anglo-Saxon, and served as a translator for the Irish at the Synod of Whitby in 664. He reposed at Lastingham not long after the Synod.

Daily readings

Epistle

— Forerunner weekly cycle

Acts — Acts 19.1-8

¹And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, ²He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. ³And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. ⁴Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. ⁵When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. ⁷And all the men were about twelve. ⁸And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.

Gospel

— Forerunner weekly cycle

John — John 1.29-34

²⁹The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. ³⁰This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. ³¹And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. ³²And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. ³³And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. ³⁴And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

Epistle

James — James 1.1-18

¹James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

²My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; ³Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. ⁴But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. ⁵If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. ⁶But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. ⁷For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. ⁸A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. ⁹Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: ¹⁰But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. ¹¹For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways. ¹²Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. ¹³Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: ¹⁴But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. ¹⁵Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. ¹⁶Do not err, my beloved brethren. ¹⁷Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. ¹⁸Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Gospel

Mark — Mark 8.30-34

³⁰And he charged them that they should tell no man of him. ³¹And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³²And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. ³³But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

³⁴And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.