From the calendar, 2027.

Friday, July 16

Hieromartyr Athenogenes, Bishop of Heracleopolis

Strict fastNo meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or oil.

Appointed to be read.

At the
1. EpistleRomans 11:25–36
2. GospelMatthew 12:1–8

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Epistle.

Romans 11:25–36

1 min read

25For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

26And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: 'The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;

27For this is My covenant with them,When I take away their sins.'

28Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.

29For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

30For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience,

31even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy.

32For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.

33Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

34'For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?'

35'Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?'

36For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

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Gospel.

Matthew 12:1–8

1 min read

1At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.

2And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, 'Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!'

3But He said to them, 'Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:

4how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?

5Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?

6Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.

7But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.

8For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.'

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In remembrance.

Hieromartyr Athenogenes, Bishop of HeracleopolisRead the life

“In the time of Diocletian, a fierce persecutor of Christians called Philomarchus came to Sebaste. He arrested and killed many Christians in the town. When he saw Athenogenes and his disciples, he told the elder to sacrifice to the idols, that they should not perish as had the other Christians. Athenogenes replied: ‘O Torturer, those whom you describe as having perished have not perished, but are in heaven and make merry with the angels!’ There was a touching moment when a deer, which had been hand-fed by the compassionate Athenogenes, ran up to him and, seeing him in such straits, shed tears. Wild animals of the hills had more pity on the martyrs than did the pagans! After harsh torture, during which an angel of God comforted them, they were all beheaded, first the priests and fellow workers of Athenogenes and then Athenogenes himself, and went to their heavenly home in the year 311.”

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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.