From the calendar, 2028.

Thursday, September 21

Leavetaking Exaltation

Fast-free

Appointed to be read.

At the
1. EpistleEphesians 1:1–9
2. GospelLuke 4:16–22

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Epistle.

Ephesians 1:1–9

1 min read

1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:

2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

4just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,

5having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

6to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

7In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

8which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,

9having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,

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Gospel.

Luke 4:16–22

1 min read

16So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.

17And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

18'The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

19To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.'

20Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

21And He began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.'

22So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, 'Is this not Joseph's son?'

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polyeleos · leavetaking.

Leavetaking Exaltation

In remembrance.

Apostle Quadratus of the SeventyRead the life

He was one of the Seventy appointed by Christ Himself. After Christ’s Ascension, Quadratus preached the Gospel in Athens, then served as a bishop in Athens, then in Magnesia. He was stoned by the pagans, then imprisoned and starved to death in prison. It is said that he wrote a defense of the Christian faith which caused the Emperor Hadrian to decree that Christians were not to be persecuted without special cause. He was buried in Magnesia.

Unc. Rel. St Dimitry, Metr. RostovRead the life

St Dimitri is commemorated October 28.

Holy Prophet Jonas (Jonah) (9th c. BC)Read the life

His story is told in the Old Testament book that bears his name. He is counted as one of the twelve ‘minor prophets.’ According to one tradition recorded in the Synaxaria, he was the son of the widow of Zarephath, resurrected by the holy Elias (July 20).

The song of Jonah, I called to the Lord out of my distress (Jonah 2:2-9) is the Sixth Biblical Ode of the Matins canon, and forms the basis of countless troparia, many of which meditate upon the Jonah’s time in the belly of the sea-monster as a type of Christ’s sojourn in the tomb. The Book of Jonah is read in its entirety on Holy Saturday.

The Prophet Jonah is commemorated tomorrow, September 22, on the Slavic calendar.

Our Venerable Father Joseph of Zaonikiev Monastery(1612)Read the life

He was a peasant named Hilarion in the district of Vologda, and lived a simple, laboring life until he began to lose his sight. Not despairing, Hilarion went to all the churches nearby and asked that services of intercession be offered for him. One day, during the Divine Liturgy, Hilarion beheld a man in white clothing who told him that his name was Cosmas, blessed him, and told him that he would soon be healed. The next day Hilarion was going to church again and the Holy Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian appeared to him along with an icon of the Mother of God. A voice from the icon said that the people must cleanse the place where he stood and erect a cross there. Upon venerating the icon, Hilarion was instantly and completely healed. Returning to his village, he joyfully told what had happened.

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.