Thursday, 23 July 2026

Martys Trophimus, Theophilus and Companions

Thursday of the 8th week after Pentecost

102 days after Pascha · Tone 6 · Liturgy · No Fast

Saints commemorated

★ Holy righteous Pelagia of Tinos and the discovery of the icon of the Theotokos

Saint Pelagia was a nun of the convent of Kechrovouni on the Cycladic island of Tinos in the early nineteenth century. In a series of visions in the summer of 1822, the Mother of God appeared to her and commanded her to seek out a buried icon in a certain field belonging to a man named Doxaras, and to ask the local bishop and townspeople to dig there. The first attempts to dig were unfruitful, but on 30 January 1823 the holy icon of the Annunciation was found at last in the ruins of an ancient church. The discovery occurred at the very beginning of the Greek War of Independence and was received as a sign of the Mother of God's protection over the struggling nation. A great church was raised over the site, and the wonder-working icon of the Panagia Evangelistria has remained one of the most beloved pilgrimage shrines of Greece. Saint Pelagia continued to live in the strictest asceticism in her convent and reposed in peace in 1834. She was officially glorified by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1971, and her commemoration was assigned to 23 July, the day of the first apparition.

Holy hieromartyr Apollinarius, bishop of Ravenna

He was a disciple of St Peter, born in Antioch. St Peter took him to Rome (he was bishop of Antioch before being bishop of Rome, so Antioch is as much the ‘see of Peter’ as is Rome) and made him Bishop of Ravenna. In Ravenna, he healed the wife of the military governor of a grave illness, after which the governor and his household confessed Christ and were baptized. Apollinarius was able to form a house church in the governor’s home, from which he labored for the Gospel for twelve years. Eventually, he was condemned to exile in Illyria for his faith, and began a life of missionary travel in the Balkans, travelling as far as the Danube. After twelve years of this work, he was driven back to Italy by the hostility of some of the pagans. He was received with joy by the people of Ravenna, which aroused the envy of the pagan elders, who denounced him to the Emperor Vespasian. When the elders asked permission to kill Apollinarius, the Emperor only gave them permission to drive him from the city, wisely saying ‘It is not seemly to take revenge on behalf of the gods, for they can themselves be revenged on their enemies if they are angered.’ But, in defiance of the Imperial decree, the pagan leaders attacked and killed Apollinarius with knives. His holy relics are preserved in Ravenna, in a church dedicated to him.

Holy martyr Anna, also called Severina, and the holy martyr Olympiada

Saints Anna and Olympiada were two devout Christian women who suffered for Christ in the city of Rome, traditionally placed in the time of the emperor Decius in the middle of the third century. According to their Acts, they were arrested for openly confessing the faith and were brought before the prefect Probus. When they refused to offer incense to the gods and answered every threat with a confession of Christ, they were subjected to a long succession of tortures. They were stretched on the rack, beaten with rods, scraped with iron claws, and thrown into prison, where, the tradition says, an angel of the Lord appeared to them and healed their wounds. Brought out a second time and still firm, they were sentenced to death. Olympiada was beheaded, and Anna, after further beatings, gave up her soul under the strokes. Their bodies were taken up by faithful Christians and reverently buried. The Church has kept their joint memorial on 23 July from ancient times.

Holy martyrs Trophimus, Theophilus and the thirteen with them

Saints Trophimus, Theophilus and thirteen companions suffered martyrdom in Lycia during the Diocletianic persecution at the beginning of the fourth century. Arrested for refusing to take part in the public sacrifices, they were brought before the governor and confessed themselves Christians. The judge ordered them to be beaten without mercy and their bones broken with iron rods, but the saints rejoiced in their sufferings and called upon the name of Christ. After further tortures designed to terrify them, including the breaking of their teeth and the tearing of their flesh with hooks, they remained unshaken in faith. Finally they were cast alive into a great fire. Witnesses reported that, as the flames rose around them, they stood praising God with one voice, and so gave up their souls together. Their bodies were preserved untouched by the fire, and Christians later took them up for honourable burial. Their commemoration is kept by the whole Church on 23 July.

Holy prophet Ezekiel

The holy prophet Ezekiel was the son of Buzi, a priest of the line of Aaron. He was carried away to Babylon together with King Jehoiachin of Judah in the great deportation of 597 BC, before the final destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. While living among the Jewish exiles by the river Chebar in Chaldea, in the fifth year of his captivity, the heavens were opened and he beheld the vision of the four living creatures, the wheels within wheels, and the throne of God. He prophesied for some twenty-two years among his fellow exiles, calling them to repentance and proclaiming both the punishment of sins and the future restoration of Israel. His book is filled with mighty visions: the valley of dry bones that came together and were clothed with sinew and breath; the new Temple, measured out in detail by an angel with a measuring reed; and the river flowing eastward from the sanctuary that gives life wherever it goes. The fathers of the Church see in these images prophecies of the Resurrection of the dead, the Body of Christ, and the grace of the Holy Spirit poured forth from the Church. According to ancient tradition Ezekiel was put to death by a Jewish prince of the captivity whom he rebuked for idolatry, and was buried near Babylon, where his tomb was venerated for many centuries.

Righteous Anna, mother of the prophet Samuel Righteous Anna, mother of the prophet Samuel

Also commemorated: Martys Trophimus, Theophilus and Companions

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

1 Corinthians — 1 Corinthians 10.28-11.7

²⁸But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof: ²⁹Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience? ³⁰For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks? ³¹Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. ³²Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: ³³Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

¹Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

²Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you. ³But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. ⁴Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. ⁵But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. ⁶For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. ⁷For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Matthew — Matthew 16.24-28

²⁴Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. ²⁵For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. ²⁶For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. ²⁸Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.