From the calendar, 2025.
Tuesday, November 25
Leavetaking of the Entry
Wine & oilWine and oil are allowed. No meat, dairy, eggs or fish.
Epistle.
2 Thessalonians 1:10–2:2
1 min read
10when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.
11Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power,
12that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2:1Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you,
2not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.
Epistle.
Hebrews 9:1–7
1 min read
1Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary.
2For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary;
3and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All,
4which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;
5and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
6Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services.
7But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance;
Gospel.
Luke 17:26–37
1 min read
26And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:
27They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
28Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;
29but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.
30Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
31'In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back.
32Remember Lot's wife.
33Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.
34I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left.
35Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left.
36Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.'
37And they answered and said to Him, 'Where, Lord?' So He said to them, 'Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.'
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!'
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.