From the calendar, 2027.

Saturday, July 3

Martyr Hyacinth

Fast-free

Appointed to be read.

At the
1. EpistleRomans 3:19–26
2. GospelMatthew 7:1–8

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Epistle.

Romans 3:19–26

1 min read

19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

20Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

21But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,

22even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;

23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

24being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

25whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,

26to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

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Gospel.

Matthew 7:1–8

1 min read

1Judge not, that you be not judged.

2For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

3And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?

4Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?

5Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

6'Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

7'Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

8For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

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In remembrance.

Martyr HyacinthRead the life

He was a young courtier to the Emperor Trajan, and a secret Christian. When the Emperor and his court were offering sacrifice to the idols, Hyacinth stood apart; he was noticed and brought before the Emperor where, when interrogated, he proclaimed himself a Christian and refused to make sacrifice to the pagan gods. For this he was brutally whipped, then thrown into prison, where the Emperor ordered that he be given only food that had been sacrificed to idols. This Hyacinth refused to eat and, after eight days, died in prison.

Trans. Rel. Philip, Metr. Moscow

Our Holy Father Isaiah the Solitary (491)Read the life

One of the Desert Fathers, he lived in asceticism first at Scetis in Egypt, then in Palestine; he died in Gaza. His instructive writings are often quoted by the Fathers.

Abba Isaiah said: The crown of all good works consists in this: that a man place all his hope in God, that he flee to Him once and for all with all his heart and strength, that he be filled with compassion for all and weep before God, imploring His help and mercy.

Our Holy Father Alexander, founder of the Monastery of the Unsleeping Ones (430)Read the life

“Born in Asia and educated in Constantinople, he went into the army after completing his studies and became an officer. Reading the Holy Scriptures, he came upon the Saviour’s words: ‘If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and follow Me’ (Matt. 19:21). These words made such an impression on him that he sold and gave away all that he had, and went off to the desert. After long asceticism and striving for purification, he founded the community of the ‘Wakeful Ones’ (Acoemetae) with a special rule. According to this rule, the services in the church continued day and night in unbroken sequence. The brethren were divided into six groups, each having its appointed hours of day or night to go to church and take over the reading and singing from the previous group.

Read the full life

Our Father among the Saints Anatolios, Archbishop of Constantinople (458)Read the life

He was a priest from Alexandria. At the ‘Robber Council’ at Ephesus in 449, Dioscoros, the monophysite who occupied the Patriarchal throne in Alexandria, had Anatolios installed as Patriarch of Constantinople, thinking that he would prove an ally. But Anatolios quickly emerged as a fervent champion of Orthodoxy: he convened a council of bishops just before the Council of Chalcedon in 451, at which Pope Leo’s Orthodox “Tome” (see February 18) was approved, though Dioscoros had not allowed it to be read at the Robber Council. At the Council of Chalcedon, Anatolios condemned Nestorius, Eutyches, and his frustrated patron Dioscoros. He reposed in peace in 458.

Anatolios is believed to be the author of the ‘Anatolian Stichera’ found in the weekly Vespers and Matins services; but these may have been composed by another Anatolios, a monk and a disciple of St Theodore the Studite.

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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.