Martyrs Onesiphorus and Porphyrius, of Ephesus (284-305). St. Matrona, abbess, of Constantinople (492). St. Theoctista of the isle of Lesbos (881).
Martyr Alexander of Thessalonica (ca. 305). Martyr Anthony of Apamea (5th c.). St. John the Short, of Egypt (ca. 407). Sts. Eustolia (610) and Sosipatra (625), of Constantinople. St. Onesiphorus the Confessor, of the Kiev Caves (1148). St. Nectarius (Kephalas), metropolitan of Pentapolis (1920).
New Hieromartyrs Parthenius (Bryansky), bishop of Ananyevsk, and Alexis (Zadvornov), hieromonk, of the Afanasiev Convent (Yaroslavl) (1937).
Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “She Who Is Quick to Hear” of Docheiariou, Mt. Athos (10th c.).
Martyrs Claudius, Castor, Sempronian, and Nicostratus, of Pannonia (ca. 306). St. Benen (Benignus), bishop of Armagh (468). St. Symeon Metaphrastes, of Constantinople (960).
Repose of Righteous Eldress Matrona of Penza (1937).
Wednesday. [II Thess. 2:1-12; Luke 12:48-59]
Suppose ye that I am come to give
peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For
from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided,
three against two, and two against three. The father shall
be divided against the son, and the son against the
father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter
against the mother; the mother-in-law against her
daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her
mother-in-law. What is the reason? Those who believe
in the Lord are filled with an entirely different spirit,
contrary to that which reigned in people before His
coming; that is why they cannot get along together. The
pagan world pursued exclusively worldly and earthly
interests. The Jews at least had indications of higher
good things, but towards the end they inclined toward the
path of the pagans. The Lord, coming to the world, showed
people other treasures, outside of the family, outside of
society, and awakened other aspirations. Those who
accepted His teaching naturally established a way of life
different from before, for which they were subjected to
hostility, oppression, and persecutions. This is the
division. The Apostle Paul then said that all desiring to
live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution
(II Tim. 3–12). So it was and so it is. When worldly
and earthly interests begin to prevail in society, then
society looks unfavourably at those who display other,
unearthly strivings; it cannot even understand how it is
possible to be interested in such things. People cannot
stand those who serve as representatives of a way of life
which is not similar to their life. This is happening now
before everyone’s eyes. Is this not a sign of the
times?…