From the calendar, 2025.

Tuesday, December 2

Holy Prophet Habbakuk (Abbacum) (7th c. BC).

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

Appointed to be read.

At the
1. Epistle1 Timothy 1:8–14
2. GospelLuke 19:45–48

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Epistle.

1 Timothy 1:8–14

1 min read

8But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully,

9knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

10for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine,

11according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.

12And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,

13although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

14And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

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Gospel.

Luke 19:45–48

1 min read

45Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it,

46saying to them, 'It is written, 'My house is a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.' '

47And He was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him,

48and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.

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In remembrance.

Holy Prophet Habbakuk (Abbacum) (7th c. BC).Read the life

He prophesied in the time of Joachim, just before the Jewish people were taken into captivity in Babylon. He himself escaped captivity, and after Jerusalem was destroyed, returned to his homeland. Once he was taking some food to his harvesters when an Angel transported him to Babylon to feed the Prophet Daniel in the lions’ den, then bore him back to Judea (this is told in the full version of the book of Daniel, ch. 6 LXX). The third chapter of his prophecy is used as the Fourth Ode of the Matins Canon(the Ode is usually sung in full only in monasteries during Lent, but the eirmos of the Fourth Ode, sung in many parishes, usually refers to the Prophet). His holy relics were found through a revelation in Palestine during the reign of Theodosius the Great, and a chapel built there. His name means “Father of the Resurrection.”

Holy Martyr Myrope (Myropea) of Chios (251)Read the life

She was born in Ephesus. At baptism, she was consecrated by her mother to serve at the shrine of St Hermione, one of the four daughters of the Apostle Philip. Many pilgrims came to be anointed with a miracle-working myrrh that flowed from St Hermione’s body — and from her service at the shrine Myrope received the name by which she is known. Later, she and her mother went to the island of Chios to flee the persecution of the Emperor Decius.

Read the full life

Our Holy Father Athanasius "the Resurrected," Recluse of the Kiev Caves (1176)Read the life

After many years of ascetic struggle, Athanasius died and was prepared for burial. After lying dead for two full days, he inexplicably came back to life: the monks who came to bury him were astonished to find him sitting up and weeping. The brethren gathered around him and asked him many questions about what he had seen of the next world, but he would only answer ‘Save yourselves!’ When they pressed him further, he said ‘If I told you, you would not believe me or want to listen to me.’ His final reply was ‘Repent every moment, and pray to the Lord Jesus Christ and to His most pure Mother.’ He then shut himself in his cell and lived another twelve years, taking only bread and water and never speaking again to anyone.

Saint (Stephen) Uroš, King of Serbia (1367)Read the life

“The son of King Dušan, he ruled during the difficult time of the fall of the Kindom of Serbia. Humble, pious and gentle, he refused to attempt to restrain the power of the powerful nobles by force. Amongst these was Vukašin, who brought about his death. Good King Uroš suffered a martyr’s death on December 2nd, 1367, at the age of thirty-one. Killed by men, he was glorified by God. His wonderworking relics were preserved in the monastery of Jazak in the Fruška Gora, whence they were taken to Belgrade in 1942, during the Second World War, and placed in the Cathedral beside the bodies of Prince Lazar and Despot Stephen Štiljanovic. During the reign of this benevolent king, the monastery of St Nahum was built beside Lake Ochrid by one of Uroš’s nobles, Grgur.” (Prologue)

Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia (1991) (Nov. 19 OC)Read the life

One of the true God-bearing Elders of our own time, he was glorified by the Church in 2013.

Further.

The Library

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

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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.