From the calendar, 2027.

Thursday, February 25

St Tarasius, Abp. of Constantinople

Fast-free

Appointed to be read.

At the
1. Epistle1 John 1:8–2:6
2. GospelMark 13:31–14:2

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Epistle.

1 John 1:8–2:6

1 min read

8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

10If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

2:1My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

2And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

3Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.

4He who says, 'I know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

5But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.

6He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

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Gospel.

Mark 13:31–14:2

1 min read

31Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

32'But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

33Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.

34It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch.

35Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—

36lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping.

37And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!'

14:1After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death.

2But they said, 'Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people.'

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In remembrance.

St Tarasius, Abp. of ConstantinopleRead the life

He was a nobleman born in Constantinople, and distinguished himself in a secular career, rising in the year 780 to the rank of protasecretis, Principal Secretary of State to the Emperor Constantine VI and his mother the Empress Irene, who was serving as regent.

His life took a sudden turn when, in 784, Patriarch Paul IV resigned, recommending Tarasios as the only man capable of restoring the Patriarchate, ravaged by the iconoclast heresy, to true Faith and full communion with the other Patriarchates. Tarasios, though unwilling, was virtually forced to accept the Patriarchate by the rulers and the Senate: he agreed at last on condition that an Ecumenical Council be summoned immediately to put an end to the iconoclast heresy. In a few days he was raised from a layman through all the degrees of the clergy and on December 25 784, was consecrated Archbishop of Constantinople.

Read the full life

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.