Prophet Jonah (8th c. b.c.).
Hieromartyr Phocas, bishop of Sinope (117).
St. Jonah the Presbyter (9th c.), father of Sts. Theophanes the Hymnographer and Theodore Graptus. Blessed Parasceva (“Pasha of Sarov”), fool-for-Christ, of Diveyevo (1915).
Martyr Phocas the Gardener, of Sinope (320). St. Peter of Constantinople, tax collector in Africa (6th c.). St. Jonah, founder of the Yashezersk Annunciation Monastery (Karelia) (1589-1592). St. Macarius, founder of Zhabyn Monastery (Belev) (1623). Hieromartyr Theodosius of Brazi Monastery, metropolitan of Moldavia (1694). Synaxis of the Saints of Tula.
New Hieromartyr Benjamin (Voskresensky), bishop of Romanov (1931).
Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “She Who Is Quick to Hear.”
Martyrs Maurice and the Theban Legion, including the officers Candidus and Exuperius, at Agaunum (Gaul) (ca. 287). Hieromartyr Emmeram, bishop in Gaul, at Regensburg (Bavaria) (652). 26 Martyrs of Zographou Monastery, Mt. Athos, martyred by the Latins (see October 10th) (1284). St. Cosmas, desert-dweller of Zographou, Mt. Athos (1323). Sts. Daniel, hieromonk, and Misael, monk, of Turnu Monastery (Romania) (early 17th c.).
Repose of Abbot Innocent of Valaam (1828).
Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost. [II Cor. 9:6-11; Luke
5:1-11]
The fishermen toiled for an entire
night and took nothing; but when the Lord entered their
ship, and, after preaching commanded them to cast their
net, they took so many that they could not pull them out
and the net broke. This is an image for all work without
God’s help, and for work with God’s help. When
one person works, wanting to achieve something through his
strength alone—he is all thumbs. When the Lord draws
near to him, then one good thing after another flows in
from somewhere. In the spiritual-moral sense the
impossibility of success without the Lord is tangibly
visible: Without Me ye can do nothing, said the
Lord. And this law acts in all things. Just as a branch
not grown onto a tree not only does not bear fruit, but
dries up and loses its life as well, neither can people
bring forth fruits of truth valuable for eternal life if
they are not in living communion with the Lord. Any good
that they might have is only an appearance of good, but in
essence it is faulty—like a forest apple that
appears red but if you taste it, it is sour. It is also
tangibly clear in an external, worldly sense: one
struggles and struggles, and all in vain. When God’s
blessing descends, all comes out well. Those who are
attentive toward themselves and the paths of life know
these truths through experience.