Monday May 26/June 8 ns 2026 • Holy Apostle Cárpos of the Seventy; St. Augustine, Bishop of Canterbury, Enlightener of England ~ Apostles’ Fast Begins ~ Wine and olive oil are permitted ~ Apostle: II St. Tim. 4:9-22; Day: St. Matt. 6:31-34, 7:9-11 ~ ON THE SPIRITUAL LAW

Monday

May 26 / June 8 ns 2026

Holy Apostle Cárpos of the Seventy;

St. Augustine, Bishop of Canterbury,

Enlightener of England

Cárpos was one of the Seventy Apostles.

He was a follower and companion of the Apostle Paul by whom he was appointed as bishop of Varna in Thrace. He also preached the Gospel on Crete where he received St. Dionysius the Areopagite in his home.

St. Dionysius testifies that Cárpos was a man with an exceptionally pure mind, meekness and innocence and that the Lord Jesus, with His angels, appeared to him in a vision. He never began the Divine Liturgy that he did not have a heavenly vision beforehand.

Enduring many assaults for the Name of Christ, he finally suffered at the hands of the unbelieving Jews and was killed and, with his soul, took up habitation in the kingdom of God to delight eternally gazing upon the Lord in glory.

2 Saint Timothy 4:9-22 KJV

9 Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me:

10 For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.

11 Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.

12 And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus.

13 The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments.

14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:

15 Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.

16 At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.

17 Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

19 Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.

20 Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.

21 Do thy diligence to come before winter. Eubulus greeteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren.

22 The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.

Saint Matthew 6:31-34; 7:9-11 KJV

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

7:9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?

10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

 

Saint Mark the Ascetic

ON THE SPIRITUAL LAW

He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
St. Matthew 11:15 KJV

A self-indulgent heart becomes a prison and chain for the soul when it leaves this life; whereas an assiduous heart is an open door.

At the times when you remember God, increase your prayers, so that when you forget Him, the Lord may remind you.

God and our conscience know our secrets. Let them correct us.

SUNDAY May 25/June 7 ns 2026 † 1st St. Matthew, All Saints • The 3rd Finding of the Precious Head of St. John the Forerunner ~ 1st Matins Gospel: St. Matt. 28:16-20 Forerunner: II Cor. 4:6-15; Sunday: St. Matt. 10:32-33, 37-38, 19:27-30 ~ HE WHO IS WITHIN

 

Sunday

May 25 / June 7 ns 2026

† All Saints

• The 3rd Finding

of the Precious Head

of St. John the Forerunner

The Third Discovery of the Venerable Head of the Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John occurred in about the year 850 (see the account of the First and Second Discoveries on February 24). The head of Saint John the Forerunner was first found on the Mount of Olives, where it had been hidden by Joanna, wife of Chusa, after the Saint's beheading; and found the second time in the city of Emesia during a time of unrest at Constantinople connected with the exile of Saint John Chrysostom (November 13).

It was transferred to Komana during the Saracen raids (about 810-820) and it was hidden in the ground during a period of iconoclastic persecution. When the veneration of icons was restored, Patriarch Ignatius (847-857) saw in a vision the place where the head of Saint John the Forerunner was hidden. The patriarch communicated this to the emperor, who sent a delegation to Komana. There the head was found a third time around the year 850.

Afterwards the head was again transferred to Constantinople, and here on May 25 it was placed in a church at the court. Part of the head is on Mt. Athos. The Third Discovery of the Head of John the Baptist is commemorated on May 25.

Orthros Saint Matthew 28:16-20 KJV

16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.

17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.

18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

2 Corinthians 4:6-15 KJV

6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

11 For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

12 So then death worketh in us, but life in you.

13 We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;

14 Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.

15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.


Saint Matthew 10:32-33, 37-38; 19:27-30 KJV

32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

19:27 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?

28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

30 But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.

"He who is within is greater

than he who is in the world"

Holy Apostle and Evangelist John

You look in a mirror and you say it is you; others see you and say the same and call you by name. But it isn't you, you are within, the soul is you. Can you deny that what you see in a mirror and what others see and name is but a reflection, like what we see when we bend and look into a pond, especially knowing exactly how, beyond a doubt, how temporary it is? What we see is an image that carries with it a termination date; and most gravely it carries with it a responsibility and an accountability. For its actions determine what the soul experiences for eternity since unlike the transient image, the soul is eternal.

ANECDOTE (Ed.)

During confession, an Orthodox Christian stated:  "I have a lot to learn!"

Think about "learning".  Is it not a most demanding and tedious process that we find ourselves shackled to in this transient state/world, especially since we are made in the image of the Omniscient Holy Trinity, Who clearly says we only need ASK but we must do so as purely as a child.

As aforementioned, while in this world, we must "learn" and  having done so to our liking, by means of our sincere desire and the grace of our Creator and Father Christ, we wake up from the dream of this "life" and realize that even if we have acquired a universe of knowledge it is nothing compared to omniscience.  Then by expressing gratitude ceaselessly to God for all things (pleasant and unpleasant), we entirely discard what we have "learned", denying everything except Christ, then, like innocent children - we ASK.

What then occurs is called THEOSIS !

Saturday May 24/June 6 + Apodosis of Pentecost • St. Symeon of the Wondrous Mountain, St. Vincent of Lérins • No Fasting • Rom. 1:7-12; St. Matt. 5:42-48 ~ HATE YOUR ENEMIES?

Most Holy Virgin Mother Intercede for Us

Saturday

May 24 / June 6 ns 2026

~ No Fasting ~ 

until 
Monday May 26/June 8 ns

+ Apodosis of Pentecost

• St. Symeon of the Wondrous Mountain,

St. Vincent of Lérins

This wonderful and holy Symeon was born in Antioch in 522, in the reign of the Emperor Justin I the Elder. His father perished in an earthquake and he was left alone with his mother, Martha.

When he was six years old, he went away into the desert to John, a spiritual teacher there and, under his guidance, gave himself to a strict asceticism of fasting and prayer, to the wonderment of all who saw him. Whilst enduring fearful demonic trials, he received great comfort and grace from the Lord and His angels.

Christ the Lord appeared to him in the form of a handsome youth, and, after this vision, Symeon's heart was inflamed with great love for Christ. He spent many years on a pillar, praying and singing psalms. Led by God, he took himself off to the mountain called `Wonderful' by the Lord Himself, and is known as 'of the Wonderful Mountain' because of this. The measure of his love for God was such that rare grace was given him, by the help of which he was able to heal every sort of illness, tame wild beasts and perceive the most distant regions of the earth and the hearts of men. He was taken out of the body and saw the heavens, conversed with angels, harried the demons, prophesied, spent thirty days at a time without sleep and even longer without food, receiving nourishment at the hands of angels. The words of the Savior: 'He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do' (St John 14:12), were completely fulfilled in him. In the year 596, at the age of seventy-five, Simeon went to the Lord, to the eternal enjoyment of the vision of the face of God in the company of the angels.

Romans 1:7-12 KJV

7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;

10 Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.

11 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;

12 That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.

Saint Matthew 5:42-48 KJV

42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.

44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Saint Theophylactos 

On Saint Matthew 5:44-45

Here the Lord has reached the very pinnacle of virtues. For what is greater than to love one's enemies? But it is not impossible to accomplish! For Moses and Paul loved the Jews, who were raging against them, more than they loved themselves and all the Saints have loved their enemies. We bless them because we must consider them our benefactors. For anyone who persecutes us and puts us to the test, lightens the punishment that we will suffer for our own sins. We will also bless them when God gives us the great crown of the contest. For hear what he says: 45: That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Do you see how good a gift is given to you by him who hates and abuses you, if only you will endure it with patience? By rain and sun, understand knowledge and teaching, for God enlightens and teaches all.

How often did Adam and Eve take Communion while they were still in Paradise with God?

Since God made them in His own image and likeness, did they need Communion?

God took human form and came to Earth but why did He give us His Body and Blood to eat?