Hieromartyr Mocius, priest of Amphipolis in Macedonia (ca. 295). Holy Equals-to-the-Apostles
Methodius (885)
and Cyril (869) first teachers of the Slavs
Equal-to-the-Apostles Rostislav, prince of Greater Moravia (870).
St. Sophronius, recluse, of the Kiev Caves (13th c.). St. Nicodemus of Pec, archbishop of Serbia (1325). Hieromartyr Joseph, metropolitan of Astrakhan (1672). St. Theophylactus, bishop of Stavropol and Ekaterinodar (1872).
New Hieromartyr Alexander (Petrovsky), archbishop of Kharkov (1940).
Commemoration of the founding of Constantinople (330). St. Cathan of Bute, Scotland (6th c.). St. Asaph, bishop of Llanelwy, North Wales (ca. 600). St. Mayeul, abbot, of Cluny (994). New Martyrs Olympia, abbess, and Euphrosyne, nun, of Mytilene (1235). Martyr Acacius of Lower Moesia. Blessed Christesias, called Christopher, of Gareji, Georgia (1771). New Martyrs Dioscorus the New and Argyrus, of Thessalonica (1806).
Sunday of the Holy Fathers. [Acts 20:16–18,
28–36; John 17:1–13]
Arias began to deny the divinity of the
Son of God and His oneness in essence with God the Father.
The entire Church rose up against him; all believers, from
all ends of the earth, unanimously confessed that the Lord
Jesus Christ is the Only-Begotten Son of God, true God of
true God; begotten, not made, of one essence with the
Father. One would think that this unanimity was purely
coincidental, but this faith was then tried by fire when
the authorities and powerful of this world began to side
with the Arians. Neither fire, nor sword, nor persecution
could extinguish this faith, and it was immediately found
everywhere among everyone, as soon as the pressure from
external powers ceased. This means that it makes up the
heart of the Church and the essence of her confession.
Glory be to the Lord, Who preserves this faith within us!
For, as long as it exists, we are still Christians, though
we may not live as such. If it ceases to exist,
Christianity will end.