Martyrs Menodora, Metrodora, and Nymphodora, at Nicomedia (305-311).
Holy Apostles Apelles, Luke (not the Evangelist), and Clement, of the Seventy (1st c.). Martyr Barypsabas, in Dalmatia (2nd c.). St. Pulcheria the Empress (453). Sts. Peter and Paul, bishops of Nicaea (9th c.). St. Paul the Obedient, of the Kiev Caves (13th c.-14th c.). St. Ioasaph, monk, of Kubensk (Vologda) (1453). St. Theodoritus, archbishop of Ryazan and Murom (1617).
New Hieromartyrs Meletius (Fedyunev), hieromonk, of Kuzhba (Komi), and Gabriel (Yatsik), archimandrite, of Donskoy Monastery (Moscow) (1937), and Warus (Shmarin), bishop of Lipetsk (1938).
St. Finian, abbot, in Ulster (579). St. Salvius, bishop of Albi (Gaul) (584). St. Theodaard of Maastricht (668). St. Cassian, abbot, of Spaso-Kamenny and White Lake Monasteries (1469).
Repose of Elder Tikhon of Kapsala, Mt. Athos (1968).
Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost. Sunday Before the
Elevation of the Cross. [Gal. 6:11-18; John 3:13-17]
As Moses lifted up the serpent in
the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up:
That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but
have eternal life. Faith in the Son of God, crucified
in the flesh for our sake—is the power of God unto
salvation, the living source of vivifying moral
aspirations and dispositions, and the receptacle of the
abundant grace of the Holy Spirit which abides always in
the heart, and of secret inspirations in good time, at the
hour of need, sent from above. Faith combines one’s
convictions, attracting God’s good will with power
from above. Both of these are what make up the possession
of eternal life. While this life is kept intact, a
Christian is unyielding, because by cleaving to the Lord
he is one in spirit with the Lord, and nothing can
overcome the Lord. Why do people fall? From weakening of
faith. Christian convictions weaken—and moral energy
weakens as well. While this weakening occurs, grace is
crowded out of the heart, and evil urges raise their head.
An inclination toward these urges comes at a convenient
hour, and there is a fall. Be a watchful guardian of the
faith in everything it encompasses, and you will not fall.
In this sense Saint John says that he who is born of God
does not sin.