From The Greek Orthodox Arch-Diocese of America:
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Daily Scripture Readings and Lives of the Saints for Sunday, December 12, 2010
Fast Day (Wine and Oil Allowed)
Readings for today:
John 20:1-10
St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians 5:8-19
Luke 14:16-24; Matthew 22:14
Feasts and Saints celebrated today:
11th Sunday of Luke
Spyridon the Wonderworker of Trymithous
Holy New Martyr Peter the Aleut
Orthros Gospel Reading
The reading is from John 20:1-10
At that time, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was
still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.
So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one
whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of
the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." Peter then
came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. They
both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb
first; and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but
he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went
into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, which
had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up
in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb
first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not
know the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the
disciples went back to their homes.
(C) 2010 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Epistle Reading
The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians 5:8-19
Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that
is good and right and true), and try to learn what is pleasing to
the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but
instead expose them. For it is a shame even to speak of the things that
they do in secret; but when anything is exposed by the light it
becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it
is said, "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ
shall give you light." Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise
men but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are
evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the
Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but
be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with
all your heart.
(C) 2010 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Gospel Reading
The reading is from Luke 14:16-24; Matthew 22:14
The Lord said this parable: "A man once gave a great banquet, and
invited many; and at the time of the banquet he sent his servant to say
to those who had been invited, 'Come; for all is now ready.' But
they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, 'I have
bought a field, and I go out and see it; I pray you, have me excused.'
And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go to
examine them; I pray you, have me excused.' And another said, 'I have
married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.' So the servant came and
reported this to his master. Then the householder in anger said to his
servant, 'Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring
in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.' And the servant said,
'Sir, what you commanded has been done, and there is still room.' And
the master said to the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedges,
and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell
you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet. For
many are called, but few are chosen.'"
(C) 2010 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
11th Sunday of Luke
Reading from the Synaxarion:
On the Sunday that occurs on or immediately after the eleventh of
this month, we commemorate Christ's forefathers according to the
flesh, both those that came before the Law, and those that lived after
the giving of the Law.
Special commemoration is made of the Patriarch Abraham, to whom the
promise was first given, when God said to him, "In thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 22:18). This promise was given
some two thousand years before Christ, when Abraham was seventy-five
years of age. God called him and commanded him to forsake his country,
parents, and kinsmen, and to depart to the land of the Canaanites. When
he arrived there, God told him, "I will give this land to thy seed"
(Gen. 12:7); for this cause, that land was called the "Promised Land,"
which later became the country of the Hebrew people, and which is also
called Palestine by the historians. There, after the passage of
twenty-four years, Abraham received God's law concerning circumcision. In
the one hundredth year of his life, when Sarah was in her ninetieth
year, they became the parents of Isaac. Having lived 175 years
altogether, he reposed in peace, a venerable elder full of days.
Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Second Tone
When You descended unto death, O Lord who yourself are immortal Life,
then did You mortify Hades by the lightning flash of Your Divinity.
Also when You raised the dead from the netherworld, all the Powers of
the heavens were crying out: O Giver of life, Christ our God, glory
be to You.
Resurrectional Kontakion in the Second Tone
You rose from the tomb, O Savior all-powerful, * and Hades beheld the
marvel and was struck with fear, * and the dead were rising up, and
creation beholds and rejoices with You, * and Adam is also exultant; O my
Savior, and the world ever sings Your praise.
Seasonal Kontakion in the Third Tone
On this day the Virgin cometh to the cave to give birth to * God the
Word ineffably, * Who was before all the ages. * Dance for joy, O
earth, on hearing * the gladsome tidings; * with the Angels and the
shepherds now glorify Him * Who is willing to be gazed on * as a young
Child Who * before the ages is God.
Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery
Apolytikion courtesy of St. Gregory Palamas Monastery
Kontakion courtesy of St. Gregory Palamas Monastery
Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery
Spyridon the Wonderworker of Trymithous
Reading from the Synaxarion:
Spyridon, the God-bearing Father of the Church, the great defender of Corfu
and the boast of all the Orthodox, had Cyprus as his homeland. He was
simple in manner and humble of heart, and was a shepherd of sheep. When
he was joined to a wife, he begat of her a daughter whom they named
Irene. After his wife's departure from this life, he was appointed
Bishop of Trimythus, and thus he became also a shepherd of rational
sheep. When the First Ecumenical Council was assembled in Nicaea, he
also was present, and by means of his most simple words stopped the
mouths of the Arians who were wise in their own conceit. By the divine
grace which dwelt in him, he wrought such great wonders that he
received the surname 'Wonderworker." So it is that, having tended his
flock piously and in a manner pleasing to God, he reposed in the Lord
about the year 350, leaving to his country his sacred relics as a
consolation and source of healing for the faithful.
About the middle of the seventh century, because of the incursions made
by the barbarians at that time, his sacred relics were taken to
Constantinople, where they remained, being honoured by the emperors themselves.
But before the fall of Constantinople, which took place on May 29,
1453, a certain priest named George Kalokhairetes, the parish priest of
the church where the Saint's sacred relics, as well as those of Saint
Theodora the Empress, were kept, took them away on account of the
impending peril. Travelling by way of Serbia, he came as far as Arta in
Epirus, a region in Western Greece opposite to the isle of Corfu. From
there, while the misfortunes of the Christian people were increasing
with every day, he passed over to Corfu about the year 1460. The
relics of Saint Theodora were given to the people of Corfu; but those of
Saint Spyridon remain to this day, according to the rights of
inheritance, the most precious treasure of the priest's own descendants, and
they continue to be a staff for the faithful in Orthodoxy, and a
supernatural wonder for those that behold him; for even after the passage of
1,500 years, they have remained incorrupt, and even the flexibility of
his flesh has been preserved. Truly wondrous is God in His Saints!
(Ps. 67:3 5)
Apolytikion in the First Tone
O Father, God-bearer, Spyridon, you were proven a champion and
Wonder Worker of the First Ecumenical Council. You spoke to the girl in
the grave and turned the serpent to gold. And, when chanting your
prayers, most sacred One, angels ministered with you. Glory to Him who
glorified you; glory to Him who crowned you; glory to Him who, through you,
works healing for all.
Kontakion in the Second Tone
Wounded by your love for Christ, O holy One, your mind given wings by the
radiance of the Spirit, you put the practice of theory into deeds,
becoming a sacred altar, O Chosen by God, and praying for the divine
illumination of all.
Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery
Apolytikion courtesy of Narthex Press
Kontakion courtesy of Narthex Press
Holy New Martyr Peter the Aleut
Reading from the Synaxarion:
The holy New Martyr Peter suffered martyrdom in San Francisco at the
time that California belonged to Spain. An Aleut from Alaska, he and
his companions were captured in California by the Spaniards. When he
refused to abandon Orthodoxy to accept Latinism, which they wished to
force upon him, the Spaniards submitted him to a martyrdom like that
suffered by Saint James the Persian, cutting him apart joint by joint. He
died from loss of blood in steadfast confession of the Faith in 1815.
Apolytikion in the First Tone
O Peter, upon the rock of thy faith hath Christ built His Church,
and in the streams of thy blood hath He hallowed our land. In thee
thy people hath been sanctified, O Aleut; from the farthest islands
of the west hath He raised thee, a light unto all. Glory to Him
that hath glorified thee. Glory to Him that worketh healings for all
through thee.
Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
As a skilful fisherman, the Martyr Peter was not harmed when he was
caught by adversaries of the Faith; but in a sea of martyric blood, he
gained the Kingdom and drowned bitter heresy.
Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery
Apolytikion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery
Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery
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