Friday, 15 January 2027

Friday of the 33rd week after Pentecost

278 days after Pascha · Tone 7 · Black squigg (6-stich typikon symbol) · Fast

Saints commemorated

Saint Ita, Hermitess of Killeedy

Saint Ita (c. 480 – c. 570), also known as Itha, Ida, Ide, Deirdre, or Dorothy, was an early Irish nun and saint of the fifth to sixth centuries. Born around 480 into a devout Christian family of nobility in County Waterford in the Munster province of southeastern Ireland, Ita was the daughter of a local chieftain. Her parents raised her in the Christian faith and provided her with an excellent education befitting her station. Responding to a monastic calling, Ita founded a convent school at Killeedy (Cille Ide), near Newcastle West in County Limerick, which bears her name to this day. She became known as the "Foster Mother of the Irish Saints" because of her role in educating and fostering numerous young men who would become prominent saints of Ireland. Among her most notable pupils were Saint Brendan the Navigator of Clonfert, Saint Mochoemoc (her nephew), Saint Cumian, and Saint Fachanan. Her school was famous throughout Ireland as a centre of learning, and parents from various regions sent their sons to be educated under her guidance. Ita is venerated as the patroness of Munster and celebrated for her natural gift for organisation and teaching. It is believed she may have been the abbess of a double monastery, overseeing communities of both men and women. Her feast day on 15 January is celebrated with solemn services and festive events in the surrounding churches of Limerick and beyond.

Saints Salome of Ujarma and Perozhavra of Sivnia

Saints Salome of Ujarma and Perozhavra of Sivnia were devoted disciples and closest companions of Saint Nino, the Enlightener of Georgia, during the fourth century. Both women came from noble Georgian families and played crucial roles in the establishment of Christianity throughout the kingdom of Kartli. Salome was the wife of Revi, son of King Mirian of Georgia, whilst Perozhavra was married to the ruler of the Kartli region. When Saint Nino arrived in Georgia with her holy mission to convert the kingdom to Christianity, these two noble women became her steadfast companions and helpers in spreading the Christian faith. After King Mirian's own conversion and the adoption of Christianity as the official faith of Georgia, Saint Salome, inspired by Saint Nino and under the orders of King Mirian, erected a cross at Ujarma in the Kakheti region—a symbol that stands to this day as a testament to early Georgian Christianity. When Saint Nino fell gravely ill in the village of Bodbe, both Salome and Perozhavra remained devoted at her bedside, weeping at the prospect of losing their beloved teacher and spiritual guide. In her final days, Saint Nino imparted sacred knowledge to them, which they faithfully recorded. Saints Salome and Perozhavra composed The Life of Saint Nino, Enlightener of Georgia, preserving for posterity the account of Georgia's apostolic evangelist. The Apostolic Orthodox Church of Georgia commemorates both saints on 15 January, the day following the commemoration of Saint Nino.

Venerable John the Hutdweller

Venerable John, known as the Kalyvitis or Hutdweller, was an ascetic monk whose spiritual struggle and unwavering devotion to Christ became a model for monastic practice. He dwelt in a small hut (kalyvi) in remote monasticism, pursuing a life of profound prayer, fasting, and contemplation. Through his intense ascetical discipline and mystical communion with God, he attained significant spiritual gifts, becoming known amongst the brethren as a guide to the hesychastic prayer tradition. His life exemplifies the Orthodox monastic commitment to withdrawal from the world in order to pursue union with God through perpetual prayer and contemplative practice. John's feast day is celebrated on 15 January in the Eastern Orthodox Church, where he is venerated as a holy father who illuminated the path of monastic struggle through his own example of steadfast devotion. His memory serves as a reminder of the power and necessity of solitary ascetical practice within the broader monasticism of the Church.

Venerable Paul of Thebes

Paul of Thebes (c. 227 – c. 341), commonly known as Paul the First Hermit or Paul the Anchorite, was an Egyptian saint regarded as the first Christian hermit and founder of monasticism. Born around 227 in the Thebaid of Egypt during the reign of Emperor Alexander Severus, Paul was left orphaned and suffered many injustices from a greedy relative who sought to seize his inheritance.

During the persecution against Christians under the emperor Decius (249–251), Paul learned of his brother-in-law's insidious plan to deliver him to the persecutors. He fled into the wilderness and settled in a mountain cave, where he dwelt for ninety-one years in continuous prayer. He sustained himself on dates and bread, which according to tradition a raven brought to him, and clothed himself with woven palm leaves. His life became a beacon for future ascetics, inspiring the development of monasticism throughout the Christian world.

Saint Anthony the Great, the founder of communal monasticism, had a divine revelation concerning Paul's sanctity and visited him in his cave. After Paul's repose in 341 at the age of 113, Anthony discovered his body and buried it with great reverence. Though Paul did not establish a monastery, the example of his solitary ascetic life inspired countless imitators who soon filled the Egyptian desert with monastic communities, earning him the title "Father of Monks" amongst solitary hermits.

His iconography depicts him as an elderly ascetic, often shown with a raven bringing him bread. The Coptic Orthodox Church also commemorates him on 2 Meshir (9 February).

Our Holy Father John Kalyvites

c. 450

He was the son of Eutropius, a prominent senator, and Theodora, who lived in Constantinople. At the age of twelve, he secretly fled his home, taking nothing but a Gospel book with him. Entering the Monastery of the Unsleeping Ones in the City, he gave himself up with fervor to a life of prayer, self-denial and obedience. For three years he ate only on Sundays after taking communion, and became so thin and haggard that he bore no resemblance to the young nobleman who had entered the monastery. Tormented by longing to see his parents, but unwilling to give up the ascetic struggle, he left the monastery with his Abbot’s blessing, dressed in beggar’s rags, and took up residence in a poor hut near the gate of his parents’ house. Here he lived, mocked by those who had once been his servants and despised by his own parents, who no longer recognized him. After three years, Christ appeared to him and told him that his end was drawing near, and that in three days angels would come to take him home. John sent a message to his parents, asking them to visit his hut. In perplexity, they came, and John, showing them the Gospel book that they had given him as a child, revealed to them that he was their son, and that he was about to die. They embraced him, rejoicing at their reunion but weeping for his departure from this life. Immediately, he gave back his soul to God. The whole City of Constantinople was stirred by the story, and great crowds came to John’s burial service. A church was later built on the site of his hut, and many miracles were wrought there through the Saint’s prayers.

Saint Ita of Kileedy, Ireland

570

The gentle and motherly St. Ita was descended from the high kings of Tara. From her youth she loved God ardently and shone with the radiance of a soul that loves virtue. Because of her purity of heart she was able to hear the voice of God and communicate it to others. Despite her father’s opposition she embraced the monastic life in her youth. In obedience to the revelation of an angel she went to the people of Ui Conaill in the southwestern part of Ireland. While she was there, the foundation of a convent was laid. It soon grew into a monastic school for the education of boys, quickly becoming known for its high level of learning and moral purity. The most famous of her many students was St. Brendan of Clonfert (May 16). She went to the other world in great holiness to dwell forever with the risen Lord in the year 570. —from the 2003 Saint Herman Calendar

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

Titus — Titus 1.15-2.10

¹⁵To the pure all things are pure: but to them that are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. ¹⁵Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. ¹⁶They profess that they know God; but by their works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. ¹⁶They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

¹But speak thou the things which befit the sound doctrine:

¹But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: ²that aged men be temperate, grave, sober-minded, sound in faith, in love, in patience: ²That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. ³The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; ³that aged women likewise be reverent in demeanor, not slanderers nor enslaved to much wine, teachers of that which is good; ⁴that they may train the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, ⁴That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, ⁵To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. ⁵to be sober-minded, chaste, workers at home, kind, being in subjection to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed: ⁶the younger men likewise exhort to be sober-minded: ⁶Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. ⁷in all things showing thyself an ensample of good works; in thy doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity, ⁷In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, ⁸sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of us. ⁸Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. ⁹Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; ⁹Exhort servants to be in subjection to their own masters, and to be well-pleasing to them in all things; not gainsaying; ¹⁰Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. ¹⁰not purloining, but showing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Luke — Luke 20.19-26

¹⁹And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them.

¹⁹And the scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him in that very hour; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he spake this parable against them. ²⁰And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor. ²⁰And they watched him, and sent forth spies, who feigned themselves to be righteous, that they might take hold of his speech, so as to deliver him up to the rule and to the authority of the governor. ²¹And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly: ²¹And they asked him, saying, Teacher, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, and acceptest not the person of any, but of a truth teachest the way of God: ²²Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Cæsar, or no? ²²Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Cæsar, or not? ²³But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me? ²³But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, ²⁴Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Cæsar’s. ²⁴Show me a denarius. Whose image and superscription hath it? And they said, Cæsar’s. ²⁵And he said unto them, Then render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s. ²⁵And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which be Cæsar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s. ²⁶And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace. ²⁶And they were not able to take hold of the saying before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace.