From the calendar, 2026.

Tuesday, June 9

St Cyril of Alexandria

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

Appointed to be read.

At the
1. EpistleRomans 4:4–12
2. GospelMatthew 7:15–21

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Epistle.

Romans 4:4–12

1 min read

4Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.

5But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,

6just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:

7'Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered;

8Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.'

9Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness.

10How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised.

11And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also,

12and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.

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Gospel.

Matthew 7:15–21

1 min read

15'Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

16You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?

17Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.

18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.

19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

20Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

21'Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

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In remembrance.

St Cyril of AlexandriaRead the life

“St Cyril was… from Alexandria, born about the year 376, the nephew of Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria, who also instructed the Saint in his youth. Having first spent much time with the monks of Nitria, he later became the successor to his uncle’s throne in 412. In 429, when Cyril heard tidings of the teachings of the new Patriarch of Constantinople, Nestorius, he began attempting through private letters to bring Nestorius to renounce his heretical teachings about the Incarnation; and when the heresiarch did not repent, Saint Cyril, together with Pope Celestine of Rome, led the Orthodox opposition to his error. Saint Cyril presided over the Third Ecumenical Council of the 200 holy Fathers in the year 431, who gathered in Ephesus under Saint Theodosius the Younger.

Read the full life

Ven. Kirill of BelozerskRead the life

He was born in Moscow in 1337, and took up the monastic life while young. Though he desired a life of strict silence and solitude, he was made abbot of the Simonov Monastery against his will. After a few years, obeying a revelation from the most holy Theotokos, he left his abbacy and went to the wilderness of Belozersk (White Lake) to live as a hermit. Others gathered there to live under his guidance, and in time the community became the Monastery of Belozersk. Saint Kyril was sought from far off as a staretz, or spiritual father, and was granted gifts of wonderworking. His humility was remarkable, as the following story shows.

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St Columba of Iona (597)Read the life

He was born to a prominent noble family, the Ui-Niall clan of Ireland, but he forsook all worldly things and became a monk at a young age. He founded the monasteries of Derry and Durrow, and traveled as a missionary in Ireland for almost twenty years. In 565 he settled on the island of Iona, off the coast of Scotland; there he remained for 32 years, establishing the famous monastery of Iona and continuing in his missionary labors. He reposed in peace at Iona.

Further.

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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.