From the calendar 2025

Saturday, November 22

Apostles of the 70 Philemon, Archippus, Apphia, and Onesimus

Appointed readings

2 passages

Epistle

2 Corinthians 11:1–6

1Oh, that you would bear with me in a little folly—and indeed you do bear with me.

2For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

3But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

4For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!

5For I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles.

6Even though I am untrained in speech, yet I am not in knowledge. But we have been thoroughly manifested among you in all things.

Gospel

Luke 9:57–62

Open Reader ↗

57Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, 'Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.'

58And Jesus said to him, 'Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.'

59Then He said to another, 'Follow Me.'

60But he said, 'Lord, let me first go and bury my father.' Jesus said to him, 'Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.'

61And another also said, 'Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.'

62But Jesus said to him, 'No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.'

The rhythm of the day

Fasting: Fish allowed
Weekly tone: Tone 6

In remembrance

The saints commemorated this day

Apostles of the 70 Philemon, Archippus, Apphia, and OnesimusRead the life

Philemon is addressed in the Epistle of the holy Apostle Paul that bears his name. He was a nobleman from Colossae; Apphia was his wife. Archippus was Bishop of Colossae. All three were disciples of the Apostle Paul. Onesimus was a pagan slave of Philemon, who stole from his master and fled to Rome. There St Paul led him to faith in Christ, and wrote the Epistle to Philemon, urging Onesimus’ master to forgive him and take him back as a brother in Christ. This Philemon did, and Onesimus later became a bishop. In Greece he is venerated as the patron Saint of the imprisoned. All of these holy followers of Christ died as martyrs, stoned to death by pagans.

St Michael, Prince of TverRead the life

He was born in Tver in 1272 to Prince Yaroslav Yaroslavovich, who was the brother of St Alexander Nevsky (November 23). Michael was brought up in the faith by his mother, who later became a nun. Such was his fervor that from childhood he was certain that he must end his life either as a monk or a martyr. He succeeded his brother as Prince of Tver in 1285, and later became Grand Prince of Vladimir, the Russian capital during the Mongol conquest.

Read the full life

Holy Martyrs Cecilia, Valerian, Tiburtius and Maximus, at Rome (3rd c.)Read the life

Saint Cecilia was born to a prominent pagan family in Rome. In her youth she secretly became a disciple of Christ. When her parents betrothed her to a young man named Valerian, she brought him to faith in Christ and persuaded him that they should live in virginity. Valerian was baptised by Pope Urban, and in his turn went on to bring his brother Tiburtius to the Faith. At the time, Christians in Rome were being violently persecuted, many to the point of martyrdom; Cecilia, her husband, and his brother made it their work to go out by night and secretly give pious burial to the martyrs and give charitable help to their families. Eventually, this was discovered, and the two brothers were in their own turn arrested and condemned as Christians.

Read the full life

Holy Prince and Passion-Bearer Peter Yaropolk (1086)Read the life

“Saint Peter Yaropolk, the son of Grand Prince Iziaslav Yaroslavovich, took part in all his father’s campaigns as an obedient son, and went with him into exile. The meek and humble Prince had much to suffer from the members of his family, but he always forgave them. Every day he earnestly prayed to be counted worthy of holy death, like Saints Boris and Gleb (24 July), in order to be cleansed of his many sins by the shedding of his blood and to be freed from the vanity of this world. He was assasinated on 21 November 1086.” (Synaxarion)

The term ‘Passion-bearer’ is used in the Russian Church for Saints who, though they were not killed for their faith and are thus not strictly Martyrs, suffered death with resignation and in the spirit of the Gospel. Saints Boris and Gleb are the first and model Passion-bearers.