Apostles of the Seventy Stachys, Amplias, Urban, Narcissus, Apelles, and Aristobulus (1st c.). Martyr Epimachus of Pelusium, at Alexandria (ca. 250).
St. Maura of Constantinople (436). Sts. Spyridon and Nicodemus the Prosphorabakers, of the Kiev Caves (12th c.). St. Anatolius, recluse of the Near Caves in Kiev (12th c.). 100,000 Martyrs of Tbilisi slain under Jalal al-Din (1227).
New Hieromartyr John Kochurov, archpriest, of Chicago and St. Petersburg (1917). New Hieromartyr Leonid (Molchanov), abbot, of the Sovlvychegodsk Monastery (Vologda) (1918). New Hieromartyrs Alexander Vozdvizhensky, archpriest, of Novo-Zagarye (Moscow), Peter Voskoboinikov, archpriest, of Batkopolye (Moscow), and Vsevolod Smirnov, archpriest, of Dermentsovo (Moscow) (1937). New Hieromartyrs Euphrosynus (Antonov), hieromonk of the Seven Lakes Monastery (Kazan), Anatole (Botvinnikov), hieromonk, of Dubrovskoye (Tver), and Innocent (Mazurin), hierodeacon, of Buigorod (Volokolamsk) (1938).
Martyr Quentin of Rome (3rd-4th c.). Martyrs Epimachus the Roman and his companion Gordian (361-363). St. James, bishop of Mygdonia (4th c.). Monk-martyr Foillan, Irish missionary, of Burgh Castle (East Anglia) and Fosse (Gaul) (655). New Martyr Nicholas of Chios (1754). St. Peter Kalnyshevsky, Cossack ataman (Ukraine) (1803).
Monday. [I Thess. 2:20-3:8; Luke 11:29-33]
The queen of the south shall rise up in the
judgement with the men of this generation, and condemn
them. For what? For indifference to the work
accomplished by the Lord before their eyes. That queen,
upon hearing about Solomon’s wisdom, came from afar
to hear him, but these men, having before their face the
Lord Himself, did not heed Him, although it was obvious
that He was higher than Solomon, as the sky is higher than
the earth. And the queen of the south condemns everyone
who is indifferent to God’s works, because the Lord
always, even among us, is as obviously present in the
Gospel accounts as He was then. Reading the Gospels we
have before our eyes the Lord with all of His marvellous
works, for they are as doubtless as the testimony of
one’s own eyes. Meanwhile, what is more attentive to
the Lord as that which is impressed upon our souls? We
have closed our eyes or turned them the other way; this is
why we do not see; and not seeing, we do not devote
ourselves to works of the Lord. However, this is no
excuse, but rather the reason behind our unheedfulness,
which is as criminal as what comes from it. The work of
the Lord is our top priority—that is, the salvation
of the soul. Furthermore, we should heed what comes from
the Lord even if it is not directly related to us; ever
more so should we heed what is directed at us for the
accomplishment of our essential work, the significance of
which extends throughout eternity. Judge for yourselves
how criminal it is to disregard such a matter!
