From the calendar 2027

Wednesday, November 17

St Gregory the Wonderworker

Appointed readings

2 passages

Epistle

Colossians 3:17–4:1

17And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

18Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

19Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.

20Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.

21Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

22Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.

23And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,

24knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

25But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.

1Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

Gospel

Luke 15:1–10

Open Reader ↗

1Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.

2And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, 'This Man receives sinners and eats with them.'

3So He spoke this parable to them, saying:

4'What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?

5And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

6And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'

7I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

8'Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?

9And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!'

10Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.'

The rhythm of the day

Fasting: Strict fast
Weekly tone: Tone 4

In remembrance

The saints commemorated this day

St Gregory the WonderworkerRead the life

He was born to a prominent pagan family in Neocaesarea, where Christianity was at the time almost unknown. Nonetheless, Gregory found and embraced the faith of Christ at an early age. His parents educated him at the finest schools of the day in Athens, Alexandria, and Beirut; he and his brother spent five years studying under the great Origen, though, the Synaxarion is quick to note, “They possessed enough discernment, however, to avoid certain errors into which Origen was led by the excessive boldness of his speculations about the mysteries of God.”

Refusing many tempting offers of worldly position, Gregory withdrew to the wilderness to live in ascesis. However, the Archbishop of Amesia, familiar with his holiness and ability, consecrated him Bishop of Neocaesarea against his will, and Gregory in obedience took up his see at about the age of thirty.

Read the full life

Ven. Nikon of RadonezhRead the life

He was born in 1350 in the town of Yuriev-in-the-fields, between Rostov and Radonezh. At a very young age he sought out St Sergius of Radonezh, seeking to be his disciple; but the Saint placed him in another monastery, where he soon became known as the ‘lover of obedience’ for his humility and selflessness. At last, when he was about thirty and had been ordained to the priesthood, he was able to go to Radonezh, where St Sergius, discerning his advanced spiritual state, made Nikon his cell-attendant. At the death of St Sergius, the brethren unanimously elected Nikon as their Abbot. In 1408, St Nikon was warned in an apparition that the monastery would be sacked by Tatars, so he and his monks fled with the monastery’s books and sacred vessels. When they returned they found that the monastery had been burned to the ground.

Read the full life

Our Holy Father Longinus (4th or 5th c.)Read the life

“Our holy Father Longinus lived in the Egyptian deserts during the fourth or fifth century. Among other sayings of his, are the following: A dead man judges no one, and it is just the same with the man who is humble. To someone who wanted to go to live in exile, he replied: Unless you guard your tongue, you will not be able to live in exile wherever you go. To someone else who wanted to live in solitude, he said: If you do not exercise the virtues in the midst of men, still less will you be able to do so in solitude. By his life and his words he taught love of humility as superior to all the works of ascesis, saying: Fasting humbles the body, vigil purifies the intellect and stillness leads to the affliction that baptizes man anew and cleanses him of all sin.

We also owe to him the famous saying: Shed your blood and receive the Spirit.” (Synaxarion)

Our Holy Mother Hilda, Abbess of Whitby (680)Read the life

A noble kinswoman of St Edwin, king of Northumbria (commemorated October 12), Hilda was baptized at a young age through the preaching of St Paulinus, one of the first missionaries sent from Rome to British Isles. At the age of thirty-three she renounced the world and entered monastic life. At first, she sought to enter a monastery near Paris in Gaul, but she was called back to her homeland by St Aidan, Bishop of Lindisfarne (August 31), who, discerning her already-apparent spiritual gifts, set her as Abbess of a small monastery. As her gifts of discernment and spiritual guidance became more widely-known, she led larger monasteries, finally establishing the Monastery of Whitby in 657. The Saint spent the next thirty-three years directing the Monastery, which became a beacon of Christian life throughout the British Isles and beyond.

Read the full life

Follow a little further

Explore the Library

Writings handed down through the life of the Church.

Carry this reading into Study Beta

Follow a question, gather passages, and give your reading room to grow.