Holy Apostle Jude, the Brother of the Lord (ca. 80). St. Job, patriarch of Moscow (1607). St. John (Maximovitch), archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco (1966).
Martyr Zosimas the Soldier, at Antioch in Pisidia (ca. 89-117). St. Paisius the Great, of Egypt (5th c.). St. John the Solitary, of Jerusalem (6th c.). St. Barlaam, monk of Shenkursk (1462). St. Paisius the Bulgarian, of Hilandar, Mt. Athos (18th c.) (Болг.).
Holy Myrrh-bearer Mary, mother of Apostle James (1st c.). St. Macarius of Petra (4th c.). St. Zeno, hermit, of Egypt (4th c.). St. Romuald, abbot of Camaldoli (Ravenna) (1027). Hieromartyr Asyncretus (Gr. Cal).
Repose of Schemamonk Theoktist, desert-dweller, of Valaam (1863) and Archbishop Leonty of Chile (1971).
Thursday. [Rom. 15:17-29; Matt. 12:46-13:3]
For whosoever shall do the will of
My Father which is in Heaven, the same is My brother, and
sister, and mother. By this the Lord gives us to know
that the spiritual kinship which He came to plant and
raise up on the earth is not the same as fleshly kinship;
although in the form of its relationships, the spiritual
is the same as the fleshly. The spiritual also contains
fathers and mothers—they are those who give birth to
people with the word of truth or the gospel, as the
apostle Paul says. And it contains also brothers and
sisters—they are those who are born spiritually from
one person and grow in one spirit. The connection between
[spiritual] relatives is founded on the action of grace.
It is not external, not superficial, but as deep and alive
as the fleshly connection, only it has its place in
another much higher and important sphere. This is why it
predominates over the fleshly, and when necessary, it
brings the fleshly as a sacrifice to its spiritual
interests without regret, in full certainty that this
sacrifice is pleasing to God and is required by
Him.