Tuesday Oct 14/27 ns / 2026 • Holy Martyrs Nazários, Gervásios, Protásios, and Célsios; St. Cosmás the Hymnographer, Bishop of Maïouma; St. Paraskevé the New of Epivat • Col. 2:20-3:3; St. Luke 8:1-3

Tuesday

Oct. 14/27 ns / 2026

 • Holy Martyrs Nazários, Gervásios,

Protásios, and Célsios;

• St. Cosmás the Hymnographer,

Bishop of Maïouma;

• St. Paraskevé the New of Epivat

Nazários was born in Rome of a Jewish father and a Christian mother. His mother, Perpetua, was baptized by the Apostle Peter himself. Confessing his mother's Faith, Nazários sincerely fulfilled all the precepts of the Church. Fearlessly preaching the Gospel, Nazários went to Milan. There, he found the Christians Gervásios and Protásios in prison, and ministered to them with great love. Learning of this, the local eparch ordered Nazários to be beaten and driven from the city. His mother came to him in a vision and told him to go to Gaul, and to preach the Gospel there; and this is what Nazários did.

After several years, Nazários returned to Milan-this time with a disciple, the young man Celsus, whom he had baptized in Gaul. There he found the brothers Gervásios and Protásios still in prison, and he was soon thrown in with them by the governor Anulinus. Christ's martyrs rejoiced because of this reunion brought about by God's providence. Emperor Nero ordered Nazários slain, and the governor brought Nazários and Celsus out of prison and beheaded them. Soon after that, General Astazius, passing through Milan enroute to battle against the Moravians, beheaded St. Gervásios along with St. Protásios. He had heard that these two brothers would not sacrifice to idols, and fearing that he might lose the battle by losing favor with his false gods, he commanded that they be executed immediately. Gervásios and Protásios were twins, born of the blessed parents Vitalius and Valeria, who were also martyred for the Faith.

The relics of St. Nazários were translated by St. Ambrose from a garden outside the city to the Church of the Holy Apostles. The relics of St. Gervásios and St. Protásios were revealed to him in a miraculous vision.

Colossians 2:20-3:3 KJV

20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,

21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not;

22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?

23 Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body: not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.

3 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Saint Luke 8:1-3 KJV

8 And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him,

2 And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils,

3 And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.

Ascetical homlies are treasures from the saints that bring crucial clarity to our spiritual status and that greatly facilitate and expedites our transition from the Struggle to Illumination.

ON ETERNAL LIFE

St. John of Kronstadt

You know that eternal life in God has been promised to you and that it must be attained in this brief life through obedience to God and His Church and through patiently enduring illnesses, sorrows, misfortunes, and various privations. Yet you live carelessly, neglecting your soul and virtue...

When you glorify a pious neighbor, you glorify God. When you do good to your neighbor, you do good to yourself, for we are one body.

Read on and don't miss a word.

When you do good to your neighbor, you make God your debtor, for your neighbor is God’s image and God is all in all. When you do good to a Christian, you make Christ, the Son of God, your debtor, for Christians are His Body and His members. When you lend to a Christian, you lend to the Holy Spirit, for Christians are temples of the Holy Spirit. “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).

A MUTUAL EXPERIENCE DURING CONFESSION

While confessing to God from the heart before the priest, emptying it of sin with tears, whether wet or dry, in sincere sorrow and regret for our offences against LOVE itself - that Is CHRIST; who among us hasn't gently felt Him listening and already blessing us with a dew drop of forgiveness that lifts us from sorrow and then in the end, gives the treasure that confirms that He has washed us completely clean and we are void of everything and only He remains?

Monday Oct. 13/26 ns / 2026 • Martyrs Cárpos, Pápylos, Agathódoros, and Agathoníke; Holy New Martyr Zláta • Day: Col. 2:13-20; Saints: St. Matt. 7:12-21

Monday

Oct. 13/26 ns / 2026

 • Holy Martyrs Cárpos, Pápylos,

Agathódoros, and Agathoníke;

 • Holy New Martyr Zláta

Cárpos was Bishop of Thyateira and Pápylos was a deacon. They were born in Pergamum where they finally suffered for the Christian Faith at the hands of the evil proconsul Valerius, during the reign of Decius.

Valerius tied them to horses and dragged them to Sardis, where he subjected them to harsh tortures. Then an angel of God appeared to them, healed them of their wounds and encouraged them. Cárpos's servant, Agathódoros, followed his master with great sorrow. Valerius then condemned him to torture as well. The saints were again tied to horses, and were dragged from Sardis to Pergamum. They tied holy Cárpos to a tree and flogged him so that his body was covered with wounds, and his blood flowed like a stream, soaking the ground; but Cárpos smiled in the midst of these horrible tortures. When they asked him why he was smiling, the holy martyr replied that he saw the heavens opened and the Lord seated on His throne, surrounded by Cherubim and Seraphim.

As Pápylos was being tortured, by prayer he healed a man blind in one eye, and many who witnessed this came to believe in Christ the Lord. Thrown to wild beasts, the martyrs remained unharmed. Then they were thrown into a fiery furnace. Agathonica, Cárpos sister, also leaped into the fire, but the fire did not consume them.

Finally, they were all beheaded with the sword, in the year 251. Thus, after their righteous endeavors, they received a wreath of glory in the Kingdom.

Colossians 2:13-20 KJV

13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:

17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

19 And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.

20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,

Saint Matthew 7:12-21 KJV

12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

THE CROSS

by Saint John the Wonderworker

of Shanghai and San Francisco

In the prophet Ezekiel (9:6), it is said, that when the Angel of the Lord was sent to punish and destroy the sinning people, it was told him not to strike those on whom the “mark” had been made. In the original text this mark is called “tau,” the Hebrew letter corresponding to the letter “T,” which is how in ancient times the cross was made, which then was an instrument of punishment.

And so, even then was foretold the power of the Cross, which preserves those who venerate it. Likewise by many other events in the Old Testament the power of the Cross was indicated. Moses, who held his arms raised in the form of a cross during the battle, gave victory to the Israelites over the Amalekites. He also, dividing the Red Sea by a blow of his rod and by a transverse blow uniting the waters again, saved Israel from Pharaoh, who drowned in the water, while Israel crossed over on the dry bottom (Exodus, Chs. 14, 17).

Through the laying on of his hands in the form of a cross on his grandsons, Jacob gave a blessing to his descendants, foretelling at the same time their future until the coming of the “expectation of the nations” (Genesis, Ch. 48).

By the Cross, the Son of God having become man, accomplished our salvation. He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross (Phil. 2:8). Having stretched out His hands upon the Cross, the Saviour with them, as it were, embraced the world, and by His blood shed on it, like a king with red ink, He signed the forgiveness of the human race.

The Cross of the Lord was the instrument by which He saved the world after the fall into sin. Through the Cross, He descended with His soul into hell so as to raise up from it the souls who were awaiting Him. By the Cross, Christ opened the doors of paradise which had been closed after our first ancestors had been banished from it. The Cross was sanctified by the Body of Christ which was nailed to it when He gave Himself over to torments and death for the salvation of the world, and it itself was then filled with life-giving power. By the Cross on Golgotha, the prince of this world was cast out (St. John 12:31) and an end was put to his authority. The weapon by which he was crushed became the sign of Christ’s victory.

The demonic hosts tremble when they see the Cross, for by the Cross the kingdom of hell was destroyed. They do not dare to draw near to anyone who is guarded by the Cross.

The whole human race, by the death of Christ on the Cross, received deliverance from the authority of the devil, and everyone who makes use of this saving weapon is inaccessible to the demons.

When legions of demons appeared to St. Anthony the Great and other desert-dwellers, they guarded themselves with the Sign of the Cross, and the demons vanished.

When they appeared to Saint Symeon the Stylite, who was standing on his pillar, what seemed to be a chariot to carry him to heaven, the Saint, before mounting it, crossed himself; it disappeared and the enemy, who had hoped to cast down the ascetic from the height of his pillar, was put to shame.

One cannot enumerate all the separate examples of the manifestation of the power of the Cross in various incidents. Invisibly and unceasingly there gushes from it the Divine grace that saves the world.

The Sign of the Cross is made at all the Mysteries and prayers of the Church. With the making of the Sign of the Cross over the bread and wine, they become the Body and Blood of Christ. With the immersion of the Cross, the waters are sanctified. The Sign of the Cross looses us from sins. “When we are guarded by the Cross, we oppose the enemy, not fearing his nets and barking.” Just as the flaming sword in the hands of the Cherubim barred the entrance into paradise of old, so the Cross now acts invisibly in the world, guarding it from perdition.

The Cross is the unconquerable weapon of pious kings in the battle with enemies. Through the apparition of the Cross in the sky, the dominion of Emperor Constantine was confirmed and an end was put to the persecution against the Church. The apparition of the Cross in the sky in Jerusalem in the days of Constantius the Arian proclaimed the victory of Orthodoxy. By the power of the Cross of the Lord, Christian kings reign and will reign until Antichrist, barring his path to power and restraining lawlessness (Saint John Chrysostomos, Commentary on 11 Thes. 2:6-7).

The “sign of the Son of Man” (St. Matt. 24:30), that is, the Cross, will appear in the sky in order to proclaim the end of the present world and the coming of the eternal Kingdom of the Son of God. Then all the tribes of the earth shall weep, because they loved the present age and its lusts, but all who have endured persecution for righteousness and called on the name of the Lord shall rejoice and be glad. The Cross then will save from eternal perdition all who conquered temptations by the Cross, who crucified their flesh with its passions and lusts, and took up their cross and followed their Christ.

But those who hated the Cross of the Lord and did not engrave the Cross in their soul will perish forever. For “the Cross is the preserver of the whole universe, the Cross is the beauty of the Church, the Cross is the might of kings, the Cross is the confirmation of the faithful, the Cross is the glory of angels and the scourge of demons” (Monday Matins).

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The Incredible Tailor bird

Great art Thou O Lord and marvelous are Thy Works

And words cannot suffice to sing the praises of Thy wonders.

Sunday oct. 12/25 ns/2026 Holy Fathers of the 7th Œcumenial Synod • Martyrs Cárpos, Próbus, Tárachos, and Andrónicos; St. Symeon the New Theologian 10th Matins Gospel: St. John 21:1-14; St. Tit. 3:8-15; Sunday: St. Luke 8:4-15

Rejoice, Endower of Divine goodness

SUNDAY

October 12/25 ns 2026

Holy Fathers of the 7th Œcumenical Synod

• Martyrs Carpos, Próbus,

Tárachos, and Andrónicos;

• St. Symeon the new Theologian

Cárpos was Bishop of Thyateira and Pápylos was a deacon. They were born in Pergamum where theáy finally suffered for the Christian Faith at the hands of the evil proconsul Valerius, during the reign of Decius.

Valerius tied them to horses and dragged them to Sardis, where he subjected them to harsh tortures. Then an angel of God appeared to them, healed them of their wounds and encouraged them. Cárpos's servant, Agathódoros, followed his master with great sorrow. Valerius then condemned him to torture as well. The saints were again tied to horses, and were dragged from Sardis to Pergamum. They tied holy Cárpos to a tree and flogged him so that his body was covered with wounds, and his blood flowed like a stream, soaking the ground; but Cárpos smiled in the midst of these horrible tortures. When they asked him why he was smiling, the holy martyr replied that he saw the heavens opened and the Lord seated on His throne, surrounded by Cherubim and Seraphim.

As Pápylos was being tortured, by prayer he healed a man blind in one eye, and many who witnessed this came to believe in Christ the Lord. Thrown to wild beasts, the martyrs remained unharmed. Then they were thrown into a fiery furnace. Agathoníke, Cárpos sister, also leaped into the fire, but the fire did not consume them.

Finally, they were all beheaded with the sword, in the year 251. Thus, after their righteous endeavors, they received a wreath of glory in the Kingdom of Christ.

Saint John 21:1-14 KJV

21 After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself.

2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples.

3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.

4 But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.

5 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.

6 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.

7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.

8 And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes.

9 As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread.

10 Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught.

11 Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.

12 Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.

13 Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise.

14 This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.

St.Titus 3:8-15 KJV

8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.

10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;

11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.

12 When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis: for I have determined there to winter.

13 Bring Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them.

14 And let our's also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful.

15 All that are with me salute thee. Greet them that love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.

Saint Luke 8:4-15 KJV

4 And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:

5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.

6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.

7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.

8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?

10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.

11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

With What Kind of Body Will The Dead Rise?
by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"But someone may say, `How are the dead raised?' 'With what kind of
body will they come back?'" (1 Corinthians 15:35).

The Apostle Paul knows in advance the objections which the
unbelievers will make concerning the resurrection from the dead and,
in advance, he rejects them. Even today, the non-believers who have
not seen with the physical eyes the miracle of the resurrection in
nature, much less the spiritual resurrection, ask: "How will the dead
be raised?" "You fool!" continues the apostle, "What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies" (1 Corinthians 15:36). Until the seed
dies in the ground, the plant will not grow, in other words, something totally different than the seed will sprout up.



The non-believers see through their eyes and do not see, but further
ask: "How will a dead man resurrect?" How? In the same way that
Christ resurrected. He lowered Himself lifeless in the tomb and rose
alive. Even nature manifests the resurrection from the dead; but
stronger than nature, it is manifested by the resurrected Lord. In order
to make it easier for us to believe and to hope - to believe in the resurrection in general and to have hope in our own resurrection, He Himself resurrected from the grave and prior to that resurrecting
Lazarus who lay in the grave for four days, the son of the widow of
Nain and the daughter of Jarius.

The non-believers ask: "With what kind of body will the dead rise?"
In that kind of body which God wills. With God there are many kinds
of bodies. The Apostle Paul divides all bodies into two groups: into
earthly bodies and into heavenly bodies. Therefore, they who have
died in earthly bodies will be clothed with heavenly bodies: the incorruptible will replace the corruptible, the immortal will replace
the mortal, the beautiful will replace the ugly. In this heavenly body
man will also recognize himself and others around him as man
recognizes himself or even when he is clothed in beggar's rags or
even when he is clothed in royal purple.

Lord, All-plentious, do not hand us over to eternal corruption but,
as royal sons, clothe us in the garment of immortality. Amen

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