From the calendar, 2026.
Tuesday, June 30
Synaxis of the Twelve Apostles
Fast-free
Epistle.
Romans 14:9–18
1 min read
9For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
10But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
11For it is written: 'As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.'
12So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.
13Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way.
14I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
15Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.
16Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil;
17for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
18For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.
Epistle.
1 Corinthians 4:9–16
1 min read
9For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.
10We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored!
11To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless.
12And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure;
13being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.
14I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you.
15For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
16Therefore I urge you, imitate me.
Gospel.
Matthew 12:14–16, 22–30
1 min read
14Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.
15But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.
16Yet He warned them not to make Him known,
22Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.
23And all the multitudes were amazed and said, 'Could this be the Son of David?'
24Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, 'This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.'
25But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: 'Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.
26If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
27And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.
28But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.
29Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.
30He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.
Gospel.
Mark 3:13–19
1 min read
13And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him.
14Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach,
15and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:
16Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter;
17James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, 'Sons of Thunder';
18Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite;
19and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.
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.