From the calendar, 2027.

Saturday, June 26

Leavetaking of Pentecost

Fast-free

Appointed to be read.

At the
1. EpistleRomans 1:7–12
2. GospelMatthew 5:42–48

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Epistle.

Romans 1:7–12

1 min read

7To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

9For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers,

10making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you.

11For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established—

12that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.

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Gospel.

Matthew 5:42–48

1 min read

42Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.

43'You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'

44But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,

45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

46For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

47And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?

48Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

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polyeleos · leavetaking.

Leavetaking of Pentecost

In remembrance.

Ven. David of ThessalonicaRead the life

For years he lived the ascetic life in a crude tree- house he had fashioned in the branches of an almond tree. Then he moved to Thessaly, where he continued his life of fasting, prayer and vigil, cleansing his soul and being made worthy to perform many miracles. Once, when the Emperor Justinian visited him, he took a live coal in his bare hand and censed the Emperor. The Emperor, seeing this, bowed to the ground before David. He reposed in peace.

Tikhvin IconRead the life

This icon was once kept in the Church of Blachernae in Constantinople. In 1383, it suddenly appeared in the sky over Lake Ladoga, then travelled through the air to the city of Tikhvin, where it alit by the River Tikhvina. A monastery was built there to house it. In the twentieth century it was brought to America. Innumerable miracles have been worked through this wonderworking icon, especially healings of children.

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.