The Conception of the Glorious Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist John. Glorification of St. Innocent, metropolitan of Moscow, enlightener of Alaska and Siberia (1977).
Sts. Xanthippa and Polyxena, of Spain, disciples of the Apostles (109). Virgin-martyr Irais (Rhais) of Alexandria (308). Martyrs Andrew and John, and his sons Peter and Antoninus, of Syracuse, martyred in Africa (9th c.).
St. Adomnan (Adamnan), abbot, of Iona (704). New Martyr Nicholas the Grocer, at Constantinople (1672). New Martyr John of Epirus (1814).
Repose of Abbess Eupraxia of Old Ladoga Convent (1823) and Hieroschemamonk Jerome of Solovki (1847).
Saturday. [I Cor. 15:39-45; Luke 4:31-36]
If ye believe not that I am He, ye
shall die in your sins (John 8:24). There is none
other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must
be saved (Acts 4:12). We must receive remission of
sins, but there is no way to receive it other than by
faith in the Son of God, crucified in the flesh for our
sake, on the condition that we do not desire to indulge in
sinful habits and deeds; for when we sin, we have only Him
as an intercessor before the Father. He who gives his word
to abstain from sins must accept the helping grace of the
Most-Holy Spirit; but this grace descended to the earth
after the Lord ascended to sit at the right hand of God
the Father, and is only given to those who believe in this
marvellous economy of our salvation, and who approach the
Divine mysteries with this faith—mysteries which
were established in the holy Church of the Lord through
the Apostles. Thus, he who does not believe in the Lord as
He is cannot be pure of sins. Because he has not been
cleansed of sins he shall die in them, and shall be judged
of them according to their weightiness. When you want to
do someone good that is of eternal value, guide him in
true faith in the Lord, not allowing philosophizing or
wavering. Those who directly or indirectly disrupt faith
in the Lord must be considered everlasting evil-doers, for
they wreak an evil that nothing can correct, and its power
stretches to all eternity. Their ignorance does not
justify them, for how can they not know that truth which
is known to the whole world? Their opposing beliefs do not
justify them, for if you should only start strictly
testing them you would immediately shake their strength; a
person cannot rely on anything other than faith in the
Lord. Those who do not properly examine the foundations,
faith, and teachings to which they adhere go astray in the
faith. An exact investigation of the conditions for
salvation will lead to the conviction that they can only
be met through God incarnate, who died on the cross, and
who sent the Holy Spirit down to the earth. In this lies
the essence of the Christian faith. He who sincerely
believes this way will not die in his sins, for he bears
within himself the power which brings forgiveness. The
unbeliever is already condemned, for he bears this
condemnation within himself.