Tuesday, 16 February 2027

75 days before Pascha · Tone 4 · Liturgy · No Fast

Saints commemorated

Holy Martyr Pamphilus the Presbyter

Saint Pamphilus the Presbyter was among the holy martyrs of Caesarea in Palestine who suffered persecution for the Orthodox faith. He is commemorated with other faithful witnesses including Valens, Paul, Seleucus, Porphyry, Julian, Theodulus, Elias, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Samuel, Daniel and others who together underwent torments and death rather than deny their faith in Christ. These martyrs remain exemplars of Christian perseverance and fidelity to the Gospel. Their collective witness during periods of persecution strengthened the Church and inspired countless believers to endure hardship for Christ's sake.

Martyrs Pamphilius and those with him, at Caesarea in Palestine

308

These twelve holy Martyrs suffered in the reign of Diocletian. “The first of these, Pamphilius, was priest in the church at Caesarea in Palestine; a learned and devout man, he corrected the mistakes of various copiers in the text of the New Testament. He himself copied this saving Book and gave it to any who desired it. The second was a deacon, Valentine, old in years and white with wisdom. He was a great expert in the Holy Scriptures, knowing them by heart. The third was Paul, a respected and eminent man, who had on a previous occasion been cast into the fire for the sake of Christ. With them were five Egyptians, brothers both in blood and soul, who were returning to their native land from serving a sentence in the mines of Cilicia. As they reached the gate of the town of Caesarea they said that they were Christians, and were therefore brought to trial. When asked their names, they replied: ‘We have cast away the pagan names given us by our mother, and are called Elias, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Samuel and Daniel.’ when asked where they were from, they replied: ‘From Jerusalem that is above.’ They were all beheaded, and a young man called Porphyrius, who had searched for their bodies to give them burial, suffered soon afterwards. Him they burned. An officer, Seleucus, who had come up to the martyrs and embraced them before the sword descended on their heads, was also burned, and an old man, Theodulus, a servant of the Roman judge, who had embraced one of the martyrs while they were under escort. Lastly Julian, who had kissed the dead bodies of the martyrs and honoured them, followed them in death. So they exchanged the small for the greater, the tawdry for the precious and death for immortality, and went to the Lord in 308.” (Prologue) The Synaxarion concludes, “After the martyrdom of Pamphilius, the leader of the glorious cohort, the impious governor gave orders that his body and those of his companions should be left where they lay as food for carnivorous animals. However by God’s Providence, no animal came near their holy relics, which the Christians were able to lay to rest with due honour.” The account of these Martyrs was written by Eusebius of Caeserea, Pamphilius’ disciple.

Saint Flavian the Confessor, Patriarch of Constantinople

Saint Flavian served as Patriarch of Constantinople from 446 to 449 during a tumultuous period marked by the spread of heretical doctrines. He convened a local council at Constantinople in 448 to examine the teachings of Eutyches, an archimandrite who denied the full humanity of Christ by asserting that the Lord possessed only a divine nature. Saint Flavian's council clearly condemned this heresy and affirmed the orthodox understanding that Christ is both fully divine and fully human, united in one Person. Dioscorus, a patriarch hostile to Orthodox theology, opposed Saint Flavian with threats and force, compelling the patriarch to suffer grievous injury. Saint Flavian died from these wounds shortly after the council, becoming a confessor for his steadfast defence of the true faith. Though he fell victim to false accusation in his own time, the Fourth Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon in 451 vindicated him completely, condemning the Eutychian heresy and proclaiming Saint Flavian a holy martyr and confessor of the Orthodox faith.

Saint Maruthas, Bishop of Martyropolis in Mesopotamia

381

Saint Maruthas was a learned ecclesiastic and bishop of Martyropolis (also known as Tagrith), a city he founded between the Byzantine Empire and Persia to serve as a refuge for persecuted Christians. He was renowned for his knowledge, piety, and literary works, composing a Commentary on the Gospel, Verses of Maruthas, and a Liturgy that bears his name. He also produced an authoritative account of the First Ecumenical Council held at Nicea in 325. In the year 381, Saint Maruthas participated in the Second Ecumenical Council at Constantinople against the heresy of Macedonius. Under the Persian ruler Sapor's persecution, he suffered greatly, yet he laboured tirelessly to rebuild churches that had been destroyed and to collect the relics of martyrs, transferring them to Martyropolis for veneration. He served as an envoy to the court of the Byzantine emperor and also petitioned the Persian Shah on behalf of persecuted Christians. After decades of faithful service, Saint Maruthas departed to the Lord in the year 422, having established Martyropolis as a centre of Orthodox faith and learning.

Venerable Romanus of Cilicia, the Wonderworker

Saint Romanus was born in the city of Roson in Cilicia but devoted his life to strict asceticism and prayer in the harsh deserts of Syria. During the fifth century, he built a small cell in a mountain cave near Antioch, where he pursued the monastic life with rigorous fasting and constant prayer, separating himself from the distractions of the world to commune with God alone. Because of his holy life and his fervent prayers, God granted Saint Romanus the gift of working miracles. His reputation for holiness attracted many faithful who sought his blessing and spiritual counsel. He healed those afflicted with grave illnesses through his intercessions, and by his prayers, many infertile women were enabled to bear children. Though he sought solitude in the desert, his compassionate heart moved him to help those in need, and his prayers became a source of healing and hope for the suffering. Saint Romanus departed this life leaving behind a legacy of faithfulness and the memory of one who truly lived as a servant of God's healing grace.

Also commemorated: Martyr Pamphylius and His Companions

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

1 Peter — 1 Peter 3.10-22

¹⁰For, He that would love life, And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips that they speak no guile: ¹⁰For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: ¹¹And let him turn away from evil, and do good; Let him seek peace, and pursue it. ¹¹Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. ¹²For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, And his ears unto their supplication: But the face of the Lord is upon them that do evil. ¹²For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

¹³And who is he that will harm you, if ye be zealous of that which is good?

¹³And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? ¹⁴But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; ¹⁴But even if ye should suffer for righteousness’ sake, blessed are ye: and fear not their fear, neither be troubled; ¹⁵But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: ¹⁵but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord: being ready always to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear: ¹⁶having a good conscience; that, wherein ye are spoken against, they may be put to shame who revile your good manner of life in Christ. ¹⁶Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. ¹⁷For it is better, if the will of God should so will, that ye suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing. ¹⁷For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. ¹⁸Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; ¹⁸For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: ¹⁹By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; ¹⁹in which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, ²⁰Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. ²⁰that aforetime were disobedient, when the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water: ²¹which also after a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ; ²¹The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: ²²Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. ²²who is on the right hand of God, having gone into heaven; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Mark — Mark 12.18-27

¹⁸Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying,

¹⁸And there come unto him Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying, ¹⁹Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man’s brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. ¹⁹Teacher, Moses wrote unto us, If a man’s brother die, and leave a wife behind him, and leave no child, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. ²⁰Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed. ²⁰There were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed; ²¹And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise. ²¹and the second took her, and died, leaving no seed behind him; and the third likewise: ²²and the seven left no seed. Last of all the woman also died. ²²And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also. ²³In the resurrection whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife. ²³In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife. ²⁴Jesus said unto them, Is it not for this cause that ye err, that ye know not the scriptures, nor the power of God? ²⁴And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? ²⁵For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven. ²⁵For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as angels in heaven. ²⁶And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? ²⁶But as touching the dead, that they are raised; have ye not read in the book of Moses, in the place concerning the Bush, how God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? ²⁷He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err. ²⁷He is not the God of the dead, but of the living: ye do greatly err.