From The Greek Orthodox Arch-Diocese of America:
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2010-2011 Digital Planner
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Daily Scripture Readings and Lives of the Saints for Thursday, December 30, 2010
Fast Free
Readings for today:
St. James' Universal Letter 4:7-17; 5:1-9
Mark 11:27-33
Feasts and Saints celebrated today:
Thursday of the 15th Week
Anysia the Virgin-martyr of Thessaloniki
Gideon the New Martyr of Mount Athos
Holy Martyr Philetaerus
Righteous Father Leondus the Archimandrite
Afterfeast of the Nativity
Epistle Reading
The reading is from St. James' Universal Letter 4:7-17; 5:1-9
BRETHREN, submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will
flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse
your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you men of double
mind. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to
mourning and your joy to dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord and
he will exalt you. Do not speak evil against one another, brethren.
He that speaks evil against a brother or judges his brother, speaks
evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you
are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one lawgiver and
judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you that you
judge your neighbor? Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will
go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and
get gain"; whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your life?
For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall
do this or that." As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such
boasting is evil. Whoever knows what is right to do and fails to do it,
for him it is sin. Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries
that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments
are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will
be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have
laid up treasure for the last days. Behold the wages of the laborers
who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the
cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You
have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened
your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have killed
the righteous man; he does not resist you. Be patient, therefore,
brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the
precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it until it receives the
early and the late rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts,
for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble, brethren,
against one another, that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is
standing at the doors.
(C) 2010 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Gospel Reading
The reading is from Mark 11:27-33
At that time, Jesus came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking
in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came
to him, and they said to him, "By what authority are you doing these
things, or who gave you this authority to do them?" Jesus said to them,
"I will ask you a question; answer me, and I will tell you by what
authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from
men? Answer me." And they argued with one another, "If we say, 'From
heaven,' he will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?' But shall we
say, 'From men'?" -- they were afraid of the people, for all held that
John was a real prophet. So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And
Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do
these things."
(C) 2010 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Anysia the Virgin-martyr of Thessaloniki
Reading from the Synaxarion:
This Saint, who was from Thessalonica, was the daughter of pious and
wealthy parents, After their death, she passed her life in virginity,
serving God by means of good deeds. One day, as she was on her way to
church, a pagan soldier approached her and asked her to accompany him to
the temple of the idols, but she refused. When he began to drag her
with him, she spit in his face and confessed Christ. Filled with
anger, he thrust his sword into her side and slew her, in the year 299,
during the reign of Maximian.
Kontakion in the Third Tone
As a doubly-shining lamp of truly mystical brightness do ye shine
upon the Church like a high-towering beacon: thou with beams of
martyr's glory, O Anysia; thou with rays of great ascetic deeds, O
Melania. Now together ye are honoured by Christ your Bridegroom for your
travails in His Name.
Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery
Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery
Afterfeast of the Nativity
Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
Thy Nativity, O Christ our God, hath shined the light of knowledge
upon the world; for thereby they that worshipped the stars were
instructed by a star to worship Thee, the Sun of Righteousness, and to know
Thee, the Dayspring from on high. O Lord, glory be to Thee.
Apolytikion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery
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