Tuesday, 27 October 2026

Martyr Nestor of Thessalonica

Tuesday of the 22nd week after Pentecost

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

Saints commemorated

Holy martyr Nestor of Thessalonica

Saint Nestor was a young Christian of Thessalonica who was a friend and disciple of the great martyr Demetrius. In the days of the persecution of Galerius Maximian, the emperor delighted in the spectacles of the gladiator Lyaeus, a giant of immense strength who had killed many Christians in the arena by hurling them from a high platform onto upturned spears. The young Nestor, fired with zeal for Christ and grieved at the slaughter of his brethren, came to Saint Demetrius in his prison beneath the stadium and asked his blessing to fight the gladiator. The saint signed him with the cross on the brow and on the heart and said, "You shall conquer Lyaeus and shall suffer for Christ." Going up before the emperor, Nestor cried out, "God of Demetrius, help me!" and at the first encounter he overthrew Lyaeus and slew him with his own sword. Galerius, mortified at the death of his favourite, ordered Nestor beheaded the next morning, on 27 October 306, and at the same time gave the command that Saint Demetrius be put to death. Saint Nestor thus received the crown of martyrdom in the prime of his youth.

Holy virgin martyr Capitolina and her servant Erotheis of Cappadocia

The holy virgin Capitolina was a noble Christian lady of Cappadocia who suffered for Christ during the persecution of Diocletian, about the year 304. Brought before the governor Zelicinthius, she boldly confessed Christ and was cast into prison and tortured. Her faithful servant Erotheis, who had been raised in her household and shared her faith, was so indignant at the cruel treatment of her mistress that she threw stones at the magistrate from outside the prison. For this Erotheis was seized, beaten and beheaded on the same day. The next morning Capitolina herself was led out and beheaded for her unwavering confession of Christ. The two are commemorated together as mistress and handmaid united in a single martyrdom. Their memory is kept on 27 October.

Saint Procla, wife of Pontius Pilate

Saint Procla, also called Claudia Procula, was the wife of Pontius Pilate, the Roman procurator of Judea. According to the Gospel of Saint Matthew, while Pilate was sitting in judgment on the Lord Jesus Christ, his wife sent him a message saying, "Have nothing to do with that just man, for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him" (Matthew 27:19). The Fathers of the Church regarded this dream as a divine warning and Procla as a secret believer. Tradition relates that after the resurrection she openly confessed her faith in Christ and was baptised by the apostles, becoming a fervent disciple. Some accounts say that she was eventually subjected to persecution and ended her life as a confessor of the faith. The Eastern Orthodox Church numbers her among the saints and keeps her memory on 27 October.

Our Venerable Father Demetrius of Basarabov

13th c.

He was born early in the thirteenth century to a peasant family in the village of Basarov, then part of Bulgaria. Even in childhood, he gave himself to fasting and prayer. Once, walking across a field, he accidentally stepped on a bird’s nest in the grass, killing the young birds. He was so filled with remorse that he went barefoot for three years, winter and summer, in penance. When he was grown he joined a monastery and, after a few years of community life, received a blessing to dwell in a cave near the River Lom. After many years of solitary struggle, he reposed in his cave. Three hundred years passed, during which all memory of the simple ascetic was lost. Then, one Spring the river flooded the cave and carried off Demetrius’ body, which had lain incorrupt in the cave for centuries. The body was carried downstream and buried in gravel. Another hundred years went by, and the Saint appeared in a dream to a paralyzed girl, telling her to ask her parents to take her to the river bank, where she would be healed. The family, along with many clergy and villagers, went to a spot where some local people had earlier seen an unexplained light. They dug and soon unearthed the still-incorrupt and radiant body of St Demetrius, by which the girl was instantly healed. A church was built in the village of Basarabov to honor the precious relics, and through the years the Saint worked many miracles there. In 1774, during the Russian-Turkish war, General Peter Saltikov ordered the holy relics taken to Russia so that they would not be desecrated by the Turks. When the relics came to Bucharest, a pious Christian friend of the General begged him not to deprive the country of one of its most precious saints; so the General took only one of the Saint’s hands, sending it to the Kiev Caves Lavra. Saint Demetrius’ body was placed in the cathedral of Bucharest, where it has been venerated ever since. Every year on October 27, a three-day festival is held in the Saint’s honor, attended by crowds of the faithful.

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

Colossians — Colossians 2.20-3.3

²⁰Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, ²¹(Touch not; taste not; handle not; ²²Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? ²³Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.

¹If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. ²Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. ³For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Luke — Luke 11.1-10

¹And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. ²And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. ³Give us day by day our daily bread. ⁴And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. ⁵And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; ⁶For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? ⁷And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. ⁸I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. ⁹And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. ¹⁰For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.