From the calendar, 2027.

Thursday, May 27

Hieromartyr Therapon

Fast-free

Appointed to be read.

At the
1. EpistleActs 10:34–43
2. GospelJohn 8:12–20

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Epistle.

Acts 10:34–43

1 min read

34Then Peter opened his mouth and said: 'In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.

35But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.

36The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—

37that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached:

38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

39And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree.

40Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly,

41not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.

42And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead.

43To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.'

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Gospel.

John 8:12–20

1 min read

12And Jesus said to her, 'Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.' Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, 'I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.'

13The Pharisees therefore said to Him, 'You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.'

14Jesus answered and said to them, 'Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going.

15You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.

16And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me.

17It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true.

18I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.'

19Then they said to Him, 'Where is Your Father?'

20Jesus answered, 'You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.' These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come.

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In remembrance.

Hieromartyr TheraponRead the life

For boldly preaching Christ and bringing many to the Faith, he was seized and tortured by the pagans. After imprisoning and starving him, his persecutors bound him to four posts and flogged him until the flesh was stripped from his bones. But he remained alive, and the four dead posts to which he was tied sprouted into tall, green trees, from which many received healing. At last St Therapon was slain by the sword, during the reign of the Emperor Valerian.

Trans. Rel. Ven. Nilus of Stolbensk

Holy Martyrs Theodora and Didymus (304)Read the life

“In the reign of the wicked Emperor Maximilian, there lived in Alexandria a maiden, Theodora, well-educated and of noble lineage. She was brought to trial before the pagans for her Christian faith. After long interrogation and torture for the Faith, the prince, her tormentor, ordered that she be thrown into a brothel and the soldiers given free access to her to indulge their carnal lusts. Theodora prayed fervently to God to save her from defilement, and, when she had prayed, a soldier called Didymus came in to her and told her that he was a servant of Christ. He dressed her in his soldier’s garb and himself in her dress, then let her out and remained in the brothel himself. He was seized and brought before the judge, where he acknowledged that he was a Christian and had saved Theodora, and was now prepared to die for Christ.

Read the full life

Holy New Confessor John the Russian (1730)Read the life

He was captured during a Russian campaign against the Turks in 1711, and sold into slavery in Asia Minor. As a slave he strove to serve God faithfully, while serving his earthly master in everything honorable. Despite many enticements offered by the Muslims to renounce his faith, he remained steadfast, and was permitted to work miracles through his prayers. He reposed in peace in 1730. His relics remained incorrupt.

Saint David of Garesjei (6th c.)Read the life

“This David is one of the thirteen Georgian Fathers (May 7). He is thus named for the Garajeli desert near Tiflis, where he lived the ascetic life. In old age, David decided to visit the Holy Land with several of his disciples. He left the direction of the monastery to two elders, Lucian and Dodo, and set out on the way. When they came to a hill from which Jerusalem was visible, David burst into tears and said: ‘How can I dare to walk in the steps of God incarnate with these sinful feet?’, and he told his disciples to go and worship at the holy places, but he himself took up three stones and set off to return.

Read the full life

Venerable Bede (Baeda) (735)Read the life

He spent almost his entire life as a monk in England, and is known primarily for his many writings. He entered the monastery at Wearmouth at the age of seven, and later moved (perhaps as one of the founders) to the monastery of Jarrow, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was ordained to the priesthood in his thirtieth year. In addition to many works of biblical exegesis, very popular in the middle ages, he compiled the Ecclesiastical History, still the primary source for the history of Christianity’s establishment in the British isles. He reposed in peace.

A problem: Bede lived during the time of the undivided Church, but was only canonized, in the west, in 1899, centuries after the Great Schism. Presumably, then, he has never been formally glorified by the Orthodox Church. Is he a Saint of the Church? We leave the answer to wiser heads.

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.