October 21, 2023. + Orthodox Calendar

Orthodox Calendar 2023

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Old Style

October 21

Friday

New Style

November 3

22nd Week after Pentecost. Tone 4.
Fast Day.

Wine and oil allowed.

St. Hilarion the Great, of Gaza (371-372). Translation of the relics of St. Hilarion, bishop of Meglin, Bulgaria (1206).

Martyrs Dasius, Gaius, and Zoticus, at Nicomedia (303). St. Hilarion, metropolitan of Kiev. Sts. Theophilus and James, monks of Konevits, founders of Dormition Monastery at Omutch (Pskov) (ca. 1412). St. Hilarion, founder of Pskovoezersk Monastery (Gdov) (1476).

New Hieromartyrs Paulinus (Kroshechkin), archbishop of Mogilev, and Arcadius (Yershov), bishop of Ekaterinburg, and with them Anatole Levitsky and Nicander Chernelevsky, priests, and New Martyr Cyprian Annikov (1937). New Hieromartyr Damian (Voskresensky), archbishop of Kursk (1937). New Hieromartyrs Constantine Chekalov, Sergius Smirnov, Basil Kozyrev, Theodore Belyaev, Vladimir Vvedensky, Nicholas Raevsky, John Kozyrev, Basil Nikolsky, Alexander Bogoyavlensky, Demetrius Troitsky, and Alexis Moskvin, priests, and Sergius Kazansky and John Melnitsky, deacons, all of the Tver diocese (1937). New Hieromartyr Alexis (Bui), bishop of Voronezh (1930). New Hieromartyrs Neophytus (Osipov), archimandrite, of Moscow, and Sophronius (Nesmeyanov), hieromonk, of Lozeva (Tver) (1937).

Hieromartyr Socrates, priest, and Martyr Theodote, of Ancyra (ca. 230). St. Ursula and her companions, martyrs at Cologne (beg. of 4th c.). St. Wendolinus (Wendel) of Trier (c. 617). St. Fintan Munnu of Teachmunnu (Ireland) (635). The 63 Martyrs of Jerusalem: Pegasus, Neophytus, Acacius, Dorotheus, Stephen, Dometius, Herman, Dionysius, Epiphanius, Stratonicus, Leontius, Emmanuel, Theophilus, Elias, John, Samuel, Eulampius, Alexius, Photius, Eutrepius, Methodius, Chariton, Theophylactus, Anastasius, Andronicus, Symeon, Theoktistus, Romanus, Paul, Agathonicus, Minas, Athanasius, Jacob, Nicephorus, Porphyrius, Timothy, Irenarchus, Auxentius, Joseph, Gregory, Callinicus, Aaron, Cyriacus, Theodosius, Eustathius, Isaac, Alexander, Eleutherius, Adrian, Christophor, Antiochus, Isidore, Parthenius, Sergius, Euplus, Ignatius, Theophanes, Cyril, Zachariah, and Anthimus (724). St. Malathgeny of Cluain-Edneach (Ireland) (767). Translation of the relics of St. Christodulus the Wonderworker, of Patmos (1093). St. Philotheus of Neapolis and Mt. Athos (14th c.). Sts. Bessarion (Sarai), hieromonk (1745), and Sophronius of Ciorara, monk (ca. 1765), confessors, and St. Oprea of Salistie (18th c.), martyred by the Latins in Romania. New Martyr John of Monemvasia, at Larissa (1773). Hiero-confessors John of Gales, and Moses (Macinic), priests, of Sibiel (Transylvania) (18th c.).

Repose of Schema-archimandrite Herman (Bogdanov) of New Valaam Monastery in Siberia (1938) and Schemanun Seraphima (Bobkova) of Shamordino Convent (1990).

Thoughts for Each Day of the Year
According to the Daily Church Readings from the Word of God
By St. Theophan the Recluse

Friday. [Col. 4:10-18; Luke 10:1-15]

Will there be such indulgence in the other world toward those who do not accept the Lord as He showed toward those living on the earth? No, there will not be. Sending “the seventy” to preach, the Lord commanded them, that they when they are not received, they should say on the crossroads: Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding, be ye sure of this, that the Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. That is, we do not need anything of yours—not with self-interest do we walk and preach, but for the proclamation unto you of peace and the Kingdom of God. If you do not want to receive this good—as you like; we will go on. Thus it was commanded for the present time; but how will it be in the future? It shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city. Therefore, it is useless for unbelievers to hope for the Lord’s indulgence. While on the earth they only do as they like; but as soon as death comes, the entire storm of God’s wrath will come down on them. It is great unhappiness to be as the unbelievers! They do not even have joy on the earth, because without God and the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour and Redeemer, even here all is dismal and dreary; what will be there is impossible to describe in words or to imagine. It would be more tolerable to be destroyed, but even that will not be given to them.

Saturday. [II Cor. 5:1-10; Luke 7:2-10]

What a bright person the centurion is! How did he reach such faith that he surpassed with it all Israelites, raised with revelation, prophesies and miracles? The Gospels do not indicate how, but only describe his faith and tell of how the Lord praised him. The path of faith is a secret, concealed path. Who can even explain within himself how the convictions of faith are composed in the heart [cf. Lk. 2:19]? Best of all, the holy Apostle resolved this by calling faith God’s gift. Faith truly is God’s gift, but unbelievers are not without responsibility, and, consequently, they themselves are at fault for the fact that this gift is not given them. If there is no recipient for this gift, it is not given, for there is nothing to receive it with; while in such a case to give is the same as to spend in vain. How a soul is made a worthy recipient of the gift of faith is difficult to determine. Extreme humility could be seen in the centurion, despite the fact that he was a man of power, virtuous and sensible. Is it not through humility in general that this great mercy, which gives faith, is attracted? This is not at all surprising. At the very least it is known to everyone that unbelievers always are of a proud spirit, and that faith most of all requires the submission of the mind beneath its yoke.