From the calendar, 2025.

Saturday, August 23

Leavetaking of Dormition

Fast-free

Appointed to be read.

At the

More than one commemoration is kept today, so more than one Epistle and Gospel is appointed.

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Epistle.

1 Corinthians 1:3–9

1 min read

3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus,

5that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge,

6even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you,

7so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

8who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

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Epistle.

Philippians 2:5–11

1 min read

5Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,

6who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,

7but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

8And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

9Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,

10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,

11and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

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Gospel.

Matthew 19:3–12

1 min read

3The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, 'Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?'

4And He answered and said to them, 'Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,'

5and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?

6So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.'

7They said to Him, 'Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?'

8He said to them, 'Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

9And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.'

10His disciples said to Him, 'If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.'

11But He said to them, 'All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given:

12For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.'

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Gospel.

Luke 10:38–42, 11:27–28

1 min read

38Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.

39And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word.

40But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, 'Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.'

41And Jesus answered and said to her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.

42But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.'

11:27And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, 'Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!'

28But He said, 'More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!'

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In remembrance.

Martyr Lupus, Slave of St DemetriusRead the life

He was the servant of the Great Martyr Demetrius, and was present at his martyrdom. He dipped the hem of his garment in the martyr’s blood, and later worked many miracles with the garment, healing many illnesses. At the order of the Emperor Maximian, he was then himself arrested, tortured and, like his earthly master, beheaded for Christ. It is said that, as his death approached, he prayed to be baptized before his death, for, though a believer in Christ, he had never been able to be baptized. A cloud suddenly poured down a torrent of water upon him, answering his prayer.

Hieromartyr Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons (202)Read the life

He was born in Asia Minor around the year 120, and was a disciple of Saint Polycarp, who was in turn a disciple of St John the Evangelist. He succeeded the martyred St Pothinus as Bishop of Lyons in Gaul (now France). He produced many writings contesting not only against paganism but against Gnostic heresies that were then troubling the Church. When Victor, Bishop of Rome, planned to excommunicate the Christians of Asia Minor for celebrating Pascha on a different date than the Church of Rome, Irenaeus persuaded him to stay his hand and maintain unity and peace in the Church. (This was before the date of Pascha had been set by the Ecumenical Councils). By his efforts Lyons became for centuries a center and bastion of Orthodoxy in the West.

Hieromartyr Pothinos, Bishop of Lyons (177)Read the life

The Holy Polycarp (February 23) sent Pothinus from Asia Minor to spread the Gospel in Gaul. He brought many there to faith in Christ, and became the first bishop of Lyons. During a persecution of Christians Pothinus, who was then ninety years old, was brought before the proconsul, who asked him ‘Who is the Christian God?’ Pothinus answered ‘You will find out, if you are worthy.’ He was beaten fiercely with staves and stones, then thrown in prison, where he died of his injuries.

Further.

The Library

The Fathers, the services and the lives of the saints.

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Ask a question about a passage. Answers cite their sources.

What this is.

The Scripture the Orthodox Church reads each day, the saints it remembers, and a study aid that answers from Scripture and the Fathers and shows its sources.

Divine Liturgy. The Church's main service, at which Holy Communion is given. Its Epistle and Gospel are what most people mean by the day's readings.

Matins. The morning service of praise. On Sundays and feasts it has a Gospel of its own.

Vespers. The evening service. The Church's day begins at sunset, so a feast's Vespers is served the evening before.

Hours. Short services of psalms and prayer at set times of the day: the First, Third, Sixth and Ninth Hours.

Tone. The hymns of the week are sung in one of eight tones, or melodies, which follow each other week by week.

New Calendar. Fixed feasts are kept on the civil date, as in the OCA and the Antiochian Archdiocese. Churches on the Old Calendar keep them 13 days later. Pascha is the same for both.