Friday, 27 March 2026

Martyr Matrona of Thessalonica

Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent

16 days before Pascha · Tone 8 · Presanctified · Lenten Fast (Wine and Oil are Allowed)

Presanctified Liturgy

Saints commemorated

Holy Martyr Matrona of Thessalonica

Saint Matrona was a holy martyr who suffered and died for her confession of Christian faith during a period of persecution. She came from the city of Thessalonica (Salonica) in Greece, which was an important centre of early Christianity where Saint Paul had preached. Matrona's faith remained unwavering when faced with threats and torture, and she ultimately surrendered her life rather than deny Christ. Her martyrdom represents the courage and steadfastness of early Christian believers who considered their faith more precious than life itself. The Church honours her memory as an example of martyrdom and as an intercessor for those who face trials of faith.

Holy martyr Philetus the senator and his family

Saint Philetus was a Roman senator who, together with his wife Lydia and their sons Macedon and Theoprepius, suffered martyrdom for Christ in the second century during the reign of the emperor Hadrian. Their household servants Amphilochius the captain and Cronides the notary were also brought to the faith and shared in their witness. Refusing to deny Christ before the imperial authorities, they were subjected to terrible tortures, including being cast into a cauldron of boiling oil, in which they remained unharmed by divine power and gave up their souls in prayer. Their memory has been kept by the Church as a model of an entire household standing together in confession of the true God.

Holy new martyr Manuel of Crete

Saint Manuel was a young Christian of Crete who suffered for Christ at the hands of the Turks in 1792. Falsely accused of having abandoned the Christian faith for Islam, he was seized by the authorities of his town in Sfakia and pressed to confirm the apostasy attributed to him. Manuel firmly refused, openly confessing himself a Christian and declaring that he would never deny the Lord Jesus Christ. After cruel tortures he was beheaded, sealing his confession with his blood and joining the company of the new martyrs of Greece who, in the long centuries of Ottoman rule, kept alive the faith of their fathers by the witness of their lives.

Venerable Cyriacus the Anchorite

Saint Cyriacus was a venerable desert father and anchorite (hermit) who embraced the ascetic life in pursuit of union with God through constant prayer and self-denial. As an anchorite, Cyriacus lived in solitude, dedicating himself entirely to contemplation and spiritual warfare against the passions. Though physically separated from human society, his prayers and intercessions were understood to benefit the Church and the world. The tradition concerning him indicates that he experienced profound mystical states and received divine gifts as rewards for his labour. Anchorites such as Cyriacus exemplify the Orthodox understanding that withdrawal from the world can be a powerful form of apostolic witness and pastoral care exercised through prayer.

Daily readings

6th Hour

weekly cycle

Isaiah — Isaiah 45.11-17

¹¹Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. ¹²I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. ¹³I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts. ¹⁴Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God. ¹⁵Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. ¹⁶They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols. ¹⁷But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.

Vespers

weekly cycle

Genesis — Genesis 22.1-18

¹And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. ²And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

³And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. ⁴Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. ⁵And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. ⁶And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. ⁷And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? ⁸And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. ⁹And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. ¹⁰And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

¹¹And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. ¹²And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. ¹³And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. ¹⁴And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.

¹⁵And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, ¹⁶And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: ¹⁷That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; ¹⁸And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Vespers

weekly cycle

Proverbs — Proverbs 17.17-18.5

¹⁷A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. ¹⁸A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend. ¹⁹He loveth transgression that loveth strife: and he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction. ²⁰He that hath a froward heart findeth no good: and he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief. ²¹He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy. ²²A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. ²³A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment. ²⁴Wisdom is before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth. ²⁵A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him. ²⁶Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity.

²⁷He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. ²⁸Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.

¹Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom. ²A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself. ³When the wicked cometh, then cometh also contempt, and with ignominy reproach. ⁴The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook. ⁵It is not good to accept the person of the wicked, to overthrow the righteous in judgment.