From the calendar 2026

Tuesday, December 15

Hieromartyr Eleutherius of Illyria and his mother, Martyr Evanthia

Appointed readings

2 passages

Epistle

Hebrews 4:1–13

1Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.

2For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.

3For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: 'So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,' ' although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

4For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: 'And God rested on the seventh day from all His works';

5and again in this place: 'They shall not enter My rest.'

6Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience,

7again He designates a certain day, saying in David, 'Today,' after such a long time, as it has been said: 'Today, if you will hear His voice,

8For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day.

9There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.

10For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

11Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

12For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

13And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Gospel

Mark 8:22–26

Open Reader ↗

22Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.

23So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.

24And he looked up and said, 'I see men like trees, walking.'

25Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.

26Then He sent him away to his house, saying, 'Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town.'

The rhythm of the day

Fasting: Wine & oil
Weekly tone: Tone 3

In remembrance

The saints commemorated this day

Hieromartyr Eleutherius of Illyria and his mother, Martyr EvanthiaRead the life

His name is a form of the Greek word for “freedom.” He was a native of Rome whose father died at a young age, leaving him to be brought up by his mother Anthia, a Christian who reared him in the fear of God and the love of holiness. His virtue and ability were so evident that he was ordained a priest at the age of seventeen and at twenty was made Bishop of Illyria, a large see roughly comprising modern-day Serbia.

Read the full life

St Stephen of Surozh

Holy Martyr Eleutherius the Cubicularius (4th c.)Read the life

He was from a noble family in Constantinople, and rose to the rank of Cubicularius (Chamberlain). He was not only a counselor to, but a close friend of, the Emperor (probably Julian the Apostate). But Eleutherius was increasingly moved by a desire to become a Christian; so, obtaining a leave from the Imperial court, he moved to the countryside in Bithynia, where he was baptized. There he built a house that concealed an underground chapel.

When Eleutherius returned to court, some jealous courtiers denounced him to the Emperor, who visited Eleutherius’ country house and was furious to discover the underground church. When the Saint would not renounce his faith in Christ, the Emperor, ignoring all previous bonds of friendship, had him beheaded.

Holy Martyr Bacchus the New (787)Read the life

During the reign of Constantine VI and Irene, restorers of the holy icons, the Holy Land was under the control of the Muslim Arabs. Many Christians there apostatized, putting honors and security in this world above their eternal joy. One of these was the father of this Saint, who brought up seven children as Muslims. His wife however, never renounced her Faith and prayed constantly for the conversion of her husband and children. Upon the death of the father, her third son Dachak declared that he wished to become a Christian. He was baptized in the Monastery of St Sabas near Jerusalem, receiving the name Bacchus, and determined to be a monk. But the abbot, fearing reprisals against the Monastery, sent him back to his home in Jerusalem.

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Our Venerable Father Tryphon of Kola, apostle of Laponia (1583), and his disciple the Holy Martyr Jonah (1590)Read the life

Saint Tryphon was the son of a priest from Novgorod. The Synaxarion records that, at the moment of his birth, the verse Blessed is the life of those who dwell in the desert was being sung in the Matins service. In 1525 he was moved by a divine revelation to flee to the far north of Russia and live as a hermit. He settled near the River Kola, where he devoted his nights to prayer, his days to proclaiming the Gospel of Christ to the native peoples there. The pagans were hostile at first, but his patience and humility won them over, and he baptized many. He built them a church with his own hands on the shores of Lake Ladoga, and later founded a monastery there. Saint Tryphon reposed in 1583. He predicted his own death and the coming destruction of the Monastery by the Swedes, which came to pass in 1590. All the monks were massacred.

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