Monday, 6 July 2026

Ven. Sisoes the Great

Monday of the 6th week after Pentecost

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

Saints commemorated

Hieromartyr Astius, Bishop of Dyrrachium

Saint Astius was bishop of the city of Dyrrachium on the Adriatic coast at the beginning of the second century, during the reign of the emperor Trajan. He shepherded his flock with great love and instructed both Christians and pagans by the example of his ascetic life. Forewarned in a vision of his approaching martyrdom, he prepared himself by prayer and fasting, encouraging his clergy and people to remain steadfast in the faith. When the persecution of Trajan reached Dyrrachium, the saint was seized and brought before the prefect Agricolaus. He boldly confessed Christ as the true God, refusing to offer sacrifice to the idols. He was scourged, smeared with honey, and crucified outside the city, where the bees and flies tormented his wounded body. Hanging upon the cross he gave up his soul to the Lord. Christians from Italy who had witnessed his sufferings were also seized and drowned in the sea; their memory is kept the following day, on 7 July.

Holy martyrs Marinus, Martha and their sons Audifax and Abacus

The holy martyrs Marinus and Martha, with their sons Audifax and Abacus, were a noble Persian family who in the reign of the emperor Claudius II (268-270) journeyed from Persia to Rome to venerate the tombs of the holy apostles Peter and Paul. Arriving at the city, they found the Church under fierce persecution and at once gave themselves to the service of the imprisoned confessors of Christ, comforting them, ministering to their needs, and burying the bodies of the executed martyrs. For these labours of love they were arrested. Brought before the emperor and the prefect Marcian, they steadfastly confessed Christ and were subjected to many torments: stripes, the rack, fire, and the rending of their flesh by iron hooks. Finally Saint Marinus and his sons Audifax and Abacus were beheaded by the sword, while Saint Martha, after being tormented in various ways, was drowned in a place called Nymphae Catabassi about thirteen miles outside Rome. They suffered around the year 269, and their relics were gathered by the priest John and buried with honour, becoming a source of healings.

Holy virgin martyr Lucy of Campania and her companions

301

Saint Lucy was a virgin from the Italian district of Campania, who from her youth dedicated herself to God and lived in austerity and chastity. While still quite young she was taken captive and carried off into a foreign land by Rixius Varus, a Roman commander who held the office of vicarius, a deputy provincial governor. He at first attempted to compel her to sacrifice to idols, but moved by her purity and constancy he came to hold her in profound reverence, granting her and her servants the use of a separate house in which they lived in solitude and unceasing prayer. For twenty years she abode in this manner, and by her witness Rixius himself was won to Christ, accepting holy Baptism in secret. When he saw the persecution of Diocletian breaking out in the year 301, Saint Lucy entreated him that they might go together to Rome to suffer with their fellow Christians. Leaving behind his retinue and family, Rixius Varus set out with her and was at length condemned by the Roman prefect Aelius and beheaded with the sword. After them suffered the holy martyrs Antoninus, Lucian, Isidore, Dion, Diodorus, Cutonis, Arnosus, Capicus, and Satyrus, with others, twenty-four in all, who confessed Christ at the same time. They are not to be confused with the virgin martyr Lucy of Syracuse, whose memory is kept on 13 December.

Venerable Sisoes the Great

429

One of the greatest of the Desert Fathers, he lived in asceticism at Scetis in Egypt. After the death of St Anthony the great, Abba Sisoës became a hermit in Anthony’s cave, saying “Thus in the cave of a lion, a fox makes his dwelling.” In his own lifetime he was granted the grace to heal the sick, drive out unclean spirits, and even raise the dead.

As his death approached after a long life in the desert, his brethren gathered around him. His face began to shine, and he said, “See, Abba Anthony is here!” then, “See, the choir of the prophets is here!” Seeing that he seemed to be speaking with someone, his brethren asked him who it was. He replied, “The Angels are here, and I am asking them for time to repent.” Amazed, they asked him what he could have to repent of, to which he replied, “Brethren, I do not know if I have even begun to repent.” Finally, his face became as bright as the sun, and he said, “See, the Lord is here, and He says, ‘Bring Me the vessel of the desert.’” With this, he gave his soul up to God, and his entire dwelling was filled with light and sweet fragrance.

Some of his teaching, as told in the Prologue: “St Sisoës taught his monks: ‘When temptation comes to a man, that man must give himself over to the will of God, and acknowledge that the temptation comes upon him because of his sins. If something good comes to pass, he must acknowledge that it comes about by the providence of God.’ A monk asked him: ‘How can I please God and be saved?’ The saint replied: ‘If you desire to please God, withdraw from the world, separate yourself from the earth, leave aside creation and draw near to the Creator, unite yourself to God with prayers and tears, and you will find rest in this world and in the next.’ A monk asked Sisoes: ‘How can I acquire humility?’ The saint replied: ‘When a man learns to regard every man as better than himself, he thus acquires humility.’ Ammon complained to Sisoes that he could not memorise the wise sayings that he had read, to be able to quote them in conversation with others. The saint replied: ‘It is not necessary. That which is necessary is to acquire purity of mind and to speak from this purity, placing one’s hope in God.’”

Holy Martyrs Marinus and Martha, and those with them

269

Marinus and Martha were wealthy Persians; but they sold all their goods and traveled to Rome with their sons Audifax, Habakkuk, Valentine, and Cyrinus, in order to venerate the holy relics of the apostles and martyrs. When the Emperor Claudius asked them why they had come so far, at such cost, to seek the dead in Rome, they answered ‘We are servants of Christ, and are come to venerate the holy apostles whose immortal souls are alive with God, that they may be our intercessors with Christ our God.’ All of them were sentenced to interrogation and to death if they would not deny Christ. Valentine, who was a priest, was handed over to a General named Asterius. When Valentine healed Asterius’ daughter, who had been blind for two years, Asterius and his entire household accepted Christ and were baptised by Valentine. All of them, along with Marinus and Martha and their family, underwent torture and death for the sake of Christ.

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

Romans — Romans 16.17-24

¹⁷Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. ¹⁸For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. ¹⁹For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil. ²⁰And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

²¹Timotheus my workfellow, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater, my kinsmen, salute you. ²²I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord. ²³Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth you, and Quartus a brother. ²⁴The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Matthew — Matthew 13.10-23

¹⁰And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? ¹¹He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. ¹²For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. ¹³Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. ¹⁴And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: ¹⁵For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. ¹⁶But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. ¹⁷For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

¹⁸Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. ¹⁹When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. ²⁰But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; ²¹Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. ²²He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. ²³But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.