Tuesday, 29 September 2026

Ven. Cyriacos, Hermit of Palestine

Tuesday of the 18th week after Pentecost

170 days after Pascha · Tone 8 · Black squigg (6-stich typikon symbol) · No Fast

Saints commemorated

Holy Martyrs Dadas, Gabdelas and Casdoa of Persia

The Holy Martyrs Dadas, Gabdelas and Casdoa suffered for Christ in the fourth century in Persia under the emperor Sapor. Saint Dadas, a kinsman of the king and his chief steward, had been made governor of one of the provinces of the realm; when it was discovered that he was a Christian, he was stripped of his honours and sent for trial before the cruel torturer Andromelik, who condemned him to be burned alive. As Saint Dadas approached the pyre he sealed himself with the sign of the Cross, and the fire was at once extinguished. The king's young son Gabdelas, beholding this wonder, openly confessed Christ, for which he was subjected to fierce torments; the Lord by His angel comforted him and restored to him health and strength after each torture. His sister Casdoa, when she came to visit him in prison, was likewise brought to faith, and the chief pagan priest Gargal, having seen the constancy of the holy youth and the radiance upon his face, also confessed Christ. The four holy martyrs, after enduring still further tortures, were beheaded with the sword and received the crown of martyrdom together. Their commemoration is kept on this day with Saint Cyriacus.

Venerable Cyprian, Abbot of Ustyug

1276

Saint Cyprian of Ustyug was a wealthy landowner of the lands of Dvina who, turning from the vanities of the world, received the great schema with the name Cyprian at the monastery of the Holy Trinity at Gledeno. The pious inhabitants of the newly founded city of Ustyug entreated him to build a monastery near their town, and the saint, choosing a place by shallow lakes at the Ostrozh falls, raised first a small cell and then by the labours of those who joined him a fully ordered monastic community. By the year 1212 he had completed the great monastery in honour of the Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, with a church dedicated to the Archangel Michael, the foundation of which became the spiritual heart of the region. There he laboured in fasting, prayer and humble service, ever giving to the poor of the goods that came to the monastery, and gathering many monks to the angelic life. He fell asleep in the Lord on 29 September 1276 and was buried within the walls of his foundation, where his memory was honoured by the people of the North as a venerable wonderworker.

Venerable Cyriacus the Anchorite of Palestine

556

Saint Cyriacus the Anchorite was born in 449 in Corinth, the son of John, a priest of the church of Saint Anastasius, and his wife Eudocia. From childhood he was brought up in piety, and as he stood in church one day, not yet eighteen, he was so struck by the words of the Gospel concerning the denial of self and the taking up of the Cross that he went directly to the harbour without returning home, embarked for Palestine, and presented himself at Jerusalem. There he was received by the holy Eustorgius and afterwards came to Saint Euthymius the Great, who tonsured him and sent him to Saint Gerasimus of the Jordan, with whom he laboured for nine years. After Gerasimus's repose he returned to the Lavra of Saint Euthymius, where he passed ten years in stillness and was made priest. He withdrew further into the desert of Souka, dwelling for many years in caves of the wilderness, and in the deepest solitude lived for seven years on bitter herbs sweetened by his prayer. A great defender of Orthodoxy, by his teaching he confounded the heresy of the Origenists then troubling Palestine, recalling many to the true faith. Receiving frequent visits from Cyril of Skythopolis, who recorded his life, he reposed in great old age, having lived one hundred and nine years, in the year 556.

Venerable Theophanes the Merciful of Gaza

Saint Theophanes the Merciful was an inhabitant of the Syrian city of Gaza, renowned in his town for his great compassion toward the poor and the homeless. From his own substance he provided shelter for vagrants and strangers, gave food and clothing to the needy, cared for the sick and ransomed prisoners, until he had spent all that he had and was himself reduced to poverty and want. Toward the end of his life he was stricken with dropsy and his body was consumed with a wasting disease, yet he bore his sufferings with thanksgiving, never ceasing from prayer or from such almsgiving as still lay within his power. After his repose a fragrant healing myrrh flowed from his body, by which many of the sick were restored to health, witness to the truth of the Lord's word that the merciful shall obtain mercy. He is commemorated on this day with Saint Cyriacus the Anchorite.

St Mary of Palestine

6th c.

“She was at first a reader of the Psalter in the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem, but, being beautiful, she was a source of scandal to the sinful-minded. In order not to be a cause of sin in others, Mary withdrew to the wilderness of Souka with a basket of beans and a flask of water. She spent eighteen years in the desert and, by God’s power, never lacked either beans nor water. Disciples of St Cyriacus found her during her lifetime, and later buried her.” (Prologue)

Holy Martyrs Dada and those with them

4th c.

Dada was a high Persian official serving in the court of King Shapur II, and secretly a Christian. When he was appointed governor of a province some way from the court, Dada began to worship and proclaim Christ openly. This came to the attention of the King, who sent one of his sons, Gubarlahas, to try and execute him. Dada was condemned and condemned to be thrown into a fiery furnace. But when Dada made the sign of the Cross, the fire went out, amazing the Prince and eventually leading him to convert to Christ. The outraged King had his son thrown in prison and put to torture. Gubarlahas endured days of hideous torture without complaint and, though he had been subjected to horrible mutilations, emerged from his cell unscathed. This wonder led others, including two more of the King’s own children or kin, to embrace Christ. Kazoy, the King’s daughter, was allowed to enter into rest as soon as her tortures began. Gubarlahas was miraculously baptised in the midst of further tortures: A voice from on high pronounced the words of baptism, and a shower of water and oil fell on the Martyr. Not long afterward, he perished, along with Dada and Kasdios, one of Gubarlahas’ kinsmen who had been convinced of the Truth by the miracles he had seen.

Daily readings

Gospel

weekly cycle

Luke — Luke 5.12-16

¹²And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. ¹³And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him. ¹⁴And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. ¹⁵But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities.

¹⁶And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.

Epistle

weekly cycle

Ephesians — Ephesians 5.20-26

²⁰Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; ²¹Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. ²²Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. ²³For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. ²⁴Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. ²⁵Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; ²⁶That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,