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).
Wednesday. [Acts 18:22–28; John 12:36–47]
Lord who hath believed our
report? (Is. 53:1), the Prophet Isaiah laments in
astonishment. Now it would be fitting to cry out,
“Who now sincerely believes Thy word, O Lord?”
Almost everyone has become slack. Many are yet silent
about their unbelief; while it is rare to find a heart
that has not turned in the other direction. What is the
reason for this? Interest in unbelief has begun to be
felt; the need for unbelief has developed, for concealing
interests of the heart which do not agree with faith. Here
is the root of evil. Reason is not the adversary of faith,
but a corrupt heart is. Reason is only guilty here in that
it submits to the heart, and begins to
philosophize—not according to the foundations of
truth, but according to the desires of the heart.
Furthermore, powerful arguments for the truth seem
worthless to the mind, and some trifling argument against
the truth becomes a whole mountain. In general, confusion
comes into the mental realm, blinding the mind, which does
not and cannot see, no matter what you tell it.