From the calendar, 2025.

Tuesday, November 18

Martyrs Platon and Roman

Wine & oilWine and oil are allowed. No meat, dairy, eggs or fish.

Appointed to be read.

At the
1. Epistle1 Thessalonians 3:9–13
2. GospelLuke 14:25–35

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Epistle.

1 Thessalonians 3:9–13

1 min read

9For what thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before our God,

10night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith?

11Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you.

12And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you,

13so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.

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Gospel.

Luke 14:25–35

1 min read

25Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them,

26'If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.

27And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

28For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—

29lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,

30saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish'?

31Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?

32Or else, while the other is still great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.

33So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

34'Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?

35It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!'

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In remembrance.

Martyrs Platon and RomanRead the life

He lived in Ancyra in Galatia during the reign of the Emperor Maximian. Arrested for openly confessing his faith in Christ, he was subjected to many brutal tortures and, refusing after each torment to bow to the idols, was finally beheaded.

Holy Martyr Romanus and the holy child who declared for Christ (305)Read the life

“Saint Romanus was a deacon and exorcist in the Church of Caesarea in Palestine. He happened to be at Antioch in 303 when the Emperor Diocletian’s edicts for the general persecution of Christians were published. He could not bear to see so many Christian men, women and children denying their faith in the true God for fear of suffering. As they went to sacrifice to the idols, he ran up, consumed with zeal for righteousness, crying shame on them with a loud voice. He was immediately arrested and brought before the city Prefect. He faced interrogation boldly and to prove the stupidity of the pagan cult, he asked for a child to be brought in, taken at random from the crowd in the public square. Romanus enquired of the lad whether it was more sensible to worship the one and only God and Creator of the world, or the many gods of the pagans.

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Holy New Martyr Anastasius of Epirus (1750), and Daniel, whom he convertedRead the life

Anastasius and his sister were Greek peasants living in Epirus under Ottoman rule. One day a band of Turks came through their village, led by Musa, the son of the local Pasha (Governor). Musa was struck by the beauty of Anastasius’ sister and tried to seize her, but Anastasius threw himself at the Turks and fought them off long enough for his sister to escape. Musa’s father had Anastasius arrested and brought before him and, impressed by his courage, attempted to convert him to Islam by many means: threats, beatings, and offers of worldly honor; but Anastasius held firm and was cast into prison.

Read the full life

Further.

The Library

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

Study

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.