Hieromartyr Pancratius, bishop of Taormina in Sicily (1st c.).
Hieromartyr Cyril, bishop of Gortyna on Crete (ca. 303). Monkmartyrs Patermuthius and Coprius, and Martyr Alexander the Soldier, of Egypt (361-363). Sts. Patermuthius and Coprius, ascetics, of Egypt (5th c.). St. Theodore, bishop of Edessa (9th c.). Uncovering of the relics of St. Gabriel, archimandrite of St. Elias Skete, Mt. Athos (1994). Hieromartyr Peter, priest, of Cherevkov (Vologda) (early 17th c.).
Hieromartyrs at Wurzburg: Killian, bishop in East Franconia and Thuringia, and his companions Hieromonk Colman and Hierodeacon Totman (689). St. Everild, abbess, of Northumbria (ca. 700). St. Theodosius, stylite, of Edessa (9th c.). St. Photius, founder of Akapniou Monastery in Thessalonica (10th c.). Sts. Dionysius the Rhetorician (1606) and Metrophanes (17th c.), of Little St. Anne’s Skete, Mt. Athos. New Hieromartyr Methodius, bishop of Lappa on Crete (1793).
Repose of Righteous Patermuphy of Valaam and St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra (ca. 1825), Hierodeacon Melchizedek of the Roslavl Forests (1840), and Priest Ilie Lacatusu of Romania (1983).
Monday. [Rom. 12:4-5, 15-21; Matt. 12:9-13]
It is lawful to do well on the
sabbath days. This is what the said Lord after healing
a man with a withered hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath
day as a reproach to the Pharisees, who took the
commandment about the Sabbath rest so far that they even
measured the number of steps they could make on that day.
But since it is not possible to do good deeds without
movement, they would sooner agree to neglect good deeds
than to allow any extra movement. The Saviour denounced
them for this time and again, because the Sabbath required
rest from worldly cares and not from deeds of piety and
brotherly love. In Christianity instead of the Sabbath
day, Sunday is celebrated with the same goal—rest
from all worldly affairs and devotion of that day solely
to deeds of God. Christian good sense never reached the
pharisaic pettiness concerning not doing things on Sunday;
but nevertheless the permissible allowance for doing
things on this day has been set far beyond the proper
limits. Not doing things alienated the Pharisees from
doing good deeds, whereas the things which Christians
allow themselves are what lead them away from good deeds.
On the evening before Sunday they go to the theatre, then
some other entertainment as well. In the morning they
oversleep and there is no time to go to church. There are
several visits, lunch, and in the evening again
entertainment. Thus all time is relegated to the belly and
pleasing the other senses, there is no time to even
remember God and good deeds.