From the calendar, 2027.

Sunday, January 24

New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia

Fast-free

Appointed to be read.

At the
1. EpistleColossians 3:4–11
2. GospelLuke 18:35–43
At
1. GospelMatthew 28:16–20

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Epistle.

Colossians 3:4–11

1 min read

4When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

5Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

6Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience,

7in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.

8But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.

9Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,

10and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,

11where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

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Gospel.

Luke 18:35–43

1 min read

35Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging.

36And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant.

37So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.

38And he cried out, saying, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!'

39Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, 'Son of David, have mercy on me!'

40So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him,

41saying, 'What do you want Me to do for you?'

42He said, 'Lord, that I may receive my sight.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.'

43And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

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Matins Gospel.

Matthew 28:16–20

1 min read

16Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.

17When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.

18And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

19Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.' Amen.

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vigil.

New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia

In remembrance.

Ven. Xenia of RomeRead the life

She was the daughter of a noble Christian family in Rome, and was named Eusebia in Baptism. Though she desired to offer up her virginity to Christ, her parents arranged a marriage for her against her wishes. On her wedding night, she secretly fled the city, accompanied by two slaves, and took ship for Alexandria. When she reached the island of Kos, she changed her name to Xenia (‘Stranger’), and prayed to God that, as he had sent the Apostle Paul to St Thecla (see September 24), he would send her a true guide on the path to salvation. Soon a holy Elder named Paul found her and made her his spiritual child. He took her and her two companions to Mylassa in Caria (where he later became Bishop), and established them in a monastery there. For many years they lived the ‘angelic life’ very fully, and Xenia reposed in peace at an advanced age.

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Bl. Xenia of St PetersburgRead the life

She was born about 1730, and as a young woman married an army colonel named Andrei, a handsome and dashing man fond of worldly living. When she was twenty-six years old, her husband died suddenly after drinking with his friends, leaving Xenia a childless widow. Soon afterward, she gave away all her possessions and disappeared from St Petersburg for eight years; it is believed that she spent the time in a hermitage, or even a monastery, learning the ways of the spiritual life. When she returned to St Petersburg, she appeared to have lost her reason: she dressed in her husband’s army overcoat, and would only answer to his name. She lived without a home, wandering the streets of the city, mocked and abused by many. She accepted alms from charitable people, but immediately gave them away to the poor: her only food came from meals that she sometimes accepted from those she knew.

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Our Holy Father Macedonian (ca. 430)Read the life

He lived in asceticism in the wild hills outside Antioch. For forty-five years he had no tent or house of any kind, but wandered from place to place, living in caves or in clefts. In his old age, his disciples finally prevailed on him to build a small hut. Altogether he spent seventy years living in solitary ascesis.

Once a hunter met the recluse and asked him what he did in the mountains. The Saint answered ‘Like you, I have come to the mountain to hunt. I am hunting for God, whom I long to see. I ardently desire to catch Him and will never tire of so excellent a chase!’

Read the full life

Further.

The Library

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

Study

Ask a question about a passage. Answers cite their sources.

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.