Today in the Church.

Thursday, November 5

Martyrs Galacteon and Wife Epistemis

Fast-free

Appointed to be read.

At the
1. Epistle1 Thessalonians 2:9–14
2. GospelLuke 11:47–12:1

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Epistle.

1 Thessalonians 2:9–14

1 min read

9For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil; for laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God.

10You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe;

11as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children,

12that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

13For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.

14For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans,

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Gospel.

Luke 11:47–12:1

1 min read

47Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.

48In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs.

49Therefore the wisdom of God also said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,'

50that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation,

51from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.

52'Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.'

53And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things,

54lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.

12:1In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, 'Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

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In remembrance.

Martyrs Galacteon and Wife EpistemisRead the life

A pagan couple, Cleitophon and Leucippe, who lived in Emesa in the reign of the Emperor Decius, were grieved that they were unable to have children. One day a monk named Onuphrius came to their door seeking alms to give to the poor, and seeing Leucippe’s downcast face, asked her what was wrong. When she replied that she was barren, Onuphrius told her that this was by God’s providence, to prevent their child from being given over to idolatry, and that if they accepted Christ she would bear a child. Leucippe was baptized into the Faith and bore a son not long after, which in turn brought her husband to faith in Christ. The son was named Galaction in baptism.

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Repose St Jonah of Novgorod

Holy Apostles Patrobas, Hermas, Linus, Gaius and PhilologusRead the life

They are numbered among the Seventy Disciples of the Lord.

Saint Hermas and Saint Patrobolus are both mentioned by St Paul in Romans 16:4. Saint Hermas became Bishop of Philippi. Some believe him to be the author of The Shepherd, which was so cherished by the early Church that is included in some early versions of the New Testament. Saint Patrobolus became Bishop of Pozzuoli in Italy.

Saint Linus (mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:21) was ordained by St Peter as first Bishop of Rome. He was martyred, perhaps in AD 76.

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Our Holy Father Gregory the Confessor, Patriarch of Alexandria (early 9th c.)Read the life

This much-loved shepherd of the Church at Alexandria was unanimously elected to the Patriarchate by the Bishops and people of that city. Though meek and humble, he was a fierce defender of holy Orthodoxy, which was then under attack by the Emperor Leo the Armenian (813-820). For his fearless defense of the holy Icons, Gregory was arrested at the Emperor’s orders and brought in chains to Constantinople. Brought before Leo, the holy Patriarch told him clearly that he was a heretic and an enemy of the Church. The enraged Emperor had Gregory scourged, then sent into exile, where he reposed three years later.

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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.