Tuesday July 22 / August 4 ns 2-26 † St. Mary Magdalene, Equal-to-the-Apostles; Holy Virgin-Martyr Markélla of Chíos; Holy New Hieromartyr Joseph of Desphina St. Mary: I Cor. 9:2-12; St. Luke 8:1-3

Tuesday

July 22 / August 4 ns

2026

 † St. Mary Magdalene
Equal-to-the-Apostles

Holy Virgin-Martyr Markélla
of Chíos
Holy New Hieromartyr Joseph
of Desphina

One of the myrrh-bearing women and "equal to the apostles," Mary was born in the town of Magdala, along the shore of Lake Gennesaret, and was of the tribe of Issachar.
She was tormented by seven evil spirits--from which she was freed by the Lord Jesus and made her whole.
She was a faithful follower and servant of the Lord during His earthly life. She stood beneath the Cross on Golgotha, and grieved bitterly with the All-Holy Birth-giver of God.
After the death of the Lord she visited His sepulcher three times. When the Lord rose again she saw Him on two occasions: once by herself, and once with the other myrrh-bearing women.
She traveled to Rome and appeared before Tiberias Caesar, presenting him with a red-colored egg, and giving him the salutation: "Christ is Risen!"

 

She also denounced Pontius Pilate to Caesar for his unjust condemnation of the Lord Jesus. Caesar accepted her accusation and transferred Pilate from Jerusalem to Gaul where, in disfavor with the emperor, this unjust judge died of a dread disease. After this, she returned from Rome to Ephesus, to assist St. John the Theologian in the work of preaching the Gospel.
With great love toward the resurrected Lord, with great zeal for the Faith and as a true apostle of Christ, she proclaimed the Holy Gospel to the world. She died peacefully in Ephesus. According to tradition, the cave she was buried in was the same cave in which the Seven Youths (August 4) later slept a wondrous sleep for hundreds of years, then came to life and again died. The relics of St. Mary Magdalene were later transferred to Constantinople. There is a beautiful Russian Orthodox convent dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene near the Garden of Gethsemane.

Saint Markella is greatly venerated on the Greek island of Chios. In the church dedicated to her there, miracles occur every year. However, her life is briefly known. According to tradition Markella was an unusually pious girl who was left motherless at an early age. Her bestial, pagan father wanted to live with his daughter as with a wife. Markella fled from her father, but he, enraged like a wild beast, caught up with her and cut her into pieces.
In the proximity of her church, there are certain stones that, from time to time, become as if covered with blood. People take these stones, bring them to church, and pray to St. Markella . They then touch the sick with them, who are thereby healed.

1 Corinthians 9:2-12
King James Version

2 If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.

3 Mine answer to them that do examine me is this,

4 Have we not power to eat and to drink?

5 Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?

6 Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working?

7 Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?

8 Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also?

9 For it is written in the law of Moses, thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?

10 Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.

11 If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?

12 If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.

Saint Luke 8:1-3
King James Version

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.

WHAT IS STOPPING YOU?

St. Peter of Damascus

Briefly, we may say that in the nature of things, if someone wants to be saved, no person and no time, place or occupation can prevent him. He must not, however, act contrary to the objective that he has in view, but must with discrimination refer every thought to the divine purpose. Things do not happen out of necessity: they depend upon the person through whom they happen. We do not sin against our will, but we first assent to an evil thought and so fall into captivity. Then the thought itself carries the captive forcibly and against his wishes into sin.

The same is true of sins that occur through ignorance: they arise from sins consciously committed. For unless a man is drunk with either wine or desire, he is not unaware of what he is doing; but such drunkenness obscures the intellect and so it falls, and dies as a result. Yet that death has not come about inexplicably: it has been unwittingly induced by the drunkenness to which we consciously assented. We will find many instances, especially in our thoughts, where we fall from what is within our control to what is outside it, and from what we are consciously aware of to what is unwitting. But because the first appears unimportant and attractive, we slip unintentionally and unawares into the second. Yet if from the start we had wanted to keep the commandments and to remain as we were when baptized, we would not have fallen into so many sins or have needed the trials and tribulations of repentance.

V 

P A R A G O N Monday July 21 / August 3 ns 2026 • St. John and St. Symeon the Fool for Christ; St. Parthenios, Bishop of Rasdobýsdios ~ I Cor. 15:12-19; St. Matt. 21:18-22 ABOUT FALSE TEACHERS SAINT NIKOLAI VELIMIROVITCH

Monday

July 21 / August 3 ns

2026

St. John and St. Symeon

the Fool for Christ

St. Parthenios,

Bishop of Rasdobýsdios

These two young men left their homes and relatives: Simeon left his aged mother, and John left his young wife. Both received the monastic tonsure at the hands of Abbot Nicon in the Monastery of St. Gerasimus, and withdrew into the desert, where they lived an austere life of self denial for many years. They chastised their bodies with rigorous asceticism to the point that they resembled two withered trees. One day Simeon said to John that, according to God’s command, he must depart from the desert and go among the people and serve God there. John gave him this counsel: “Guard your heart against all that you will see in the world. Whatever you touch with your hand, do not allow it to touch your heart. Whatever you eat with your mouth, let not your heart take delight in it. When you use your feet to walk, let there be peace within you. And whatever you do outwardly, let not your mind be disturbed by it. Pray for me, that God does not separate us from one another in the future life.” St. Simeon accepted the counsel of his companion, embraced him and then left the desert and went among the people as a “fool for Christ,” to teach men and to convert them to the Faith of Christ. He pretended insanity before men, but his heart was a temple of the Holy Spirit, in which dwelt unceasing prayer. He possessed abundant grace from God. He could discern all the inner secrets of men, both close at hand or afar off, and had the power to heal men from evil spirits and sickness. Dancing in the streets like a madman, he would suddenly approach people and whisper their secret sins in their ears, and call them to repentance. He appeared to sinners in dreams, rebuked them, and called them to repentance. Thus it was with Bali, a pagan actor who openly mocked Christian shrines—St. Simeon appeared to him in a dream and rebuked him, and he repented and became a good Christian. A young libertine went out of his mind from sexual promiscuity. Confronting this insane young man, St. Simeon struck him across the face with his hand and said: “Do not commit fornication.” At that moment the unclean demon departed from the young man, and he became well.

1 Corinthians 15:12-19
King James Version

12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.

16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

Saint Matthew 21:18-22
King James Version

18 Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.

19 And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.

20 And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!

21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

ABOUT FALSE TEACHERS

SAINT NIKOLAI VELIMIROVITCH

Man is at war in this world. The battle is continual and the enemies are numerous. False teachers are among the most dangerous enemies. Only if the mind of man is directed toward the Living God will he be safeguarded from these dangerous enemies. False teachers are either as blind men or robbers: the first, because of their blindness, lead both themselves and others into destruction; the others, because of their malice, intentionally lead others astray and consign their souls and bodies to the fires of hell. The Lord Himself prophesied: Many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many (St Matthew 24:11). The apostle only confirms the words of the Lord. Both false prophets and false teachers will sow the seeds of destruction among the people. These are damnable heresies by which some will deny their Lord, Who redeemed mankind by His Most-pure Blood. Many false teachers have already appeared and sown many heresies, destructive as cockles, throughout the world. Brethren, if you know those damnable heresies which the Holy Fathers condemned at the Councils, then you will be able to recognize the principle seed of poison which the devil, through his servants, sows in the field wherein the Savior has sown pure wheat.

But whether you know or not, direct your mind toward the Lord; guard yourself with the sign of the Cross; call upon the Holy and All-pure One [The Theotokos] and the holy God-pleasers, and especially upon your guardian angel for aid—and do not be afraid. In addition to this, always ask the Church, and the Church, being greatly experienced and victorious against all falsehoods, will tell you what is true. For you are of yesterday, while the Church is from time immemorial. Your memory is shorter than the memory of the Church.

O Lord Jesus, Thou art the only Way, the only Truth and the only Life. O Lord, do not let us follow false teachers and thus fall away from Thee.

To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen

THE GATE

When we fail to dismiss temptations and attachments to that which is transient, we have opened the gate to the heart and thereby given the heart leave to not only sin but we have embarked on the path away from eternal life, which is Christ.  Moreover, once we have chosen the transient over the eternal and allowed it to enter the heart, it creates a disguise that blinds us to the reality that we are shackled. 

Everything and everyone is transient except Christ.  When we have denied ourselves, taken up the cross and are following Christ, then we have put on Christ because denying ourselves for Christ only, is the 'bridal gown'. But we must remain with Him ceaselessly, then the 'bridal gown' which He will look for when we meet Him face to face, will make us worthy of the gift of Paradise Eternal.

Sunday July 20 / August 2 ns 2026 † Holy Prophet Elias the Thesbite ~ 9th Matins Gospel: St. John 20:19-31 Saint: St. James 5:10-20; Sunday: St. Matt. 14:22-34 ~ REMINDER ~ Council from Saint Augustine of Hippo

Sunday

July 20 / August 2 ns

2026

† Holy Prophet Elias the Thesbite

A man who saw God, a wonderworker and a zealot for faith in God, Elias was of the tribe of Aaron, from the city of Tishba, whence he was known as 'the Tishbite'. When Elias was born, his father Sabah saw angels of God around the child, swaddling it with fire and feeding it with flames. This was a foreshadowing of Elias's fiery character and his God-given fiery powers.

He spent his whole youth in prayer and meditation, withdrawing often to the desert to ponder and pray in tranquility. At that time, the Jewish Kingdom was divided into two unequal parts: the Kingdom of Judah consisted only of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with its capital at Jerusalem, while the Kingdom of Israel consisted of the other ten tribes, with its capital at Samaria. The former kingdom was ruled by the descendants of Solomon, and the latter by the descendants of Jeroboam, a servant of Solomon's. The prophet Elias came into the greatest conflict with the Israelite king, Ahab, and his evil wife Jezebel, for they worshipped idols and turned the people from the service of the one, living God. On top of this, Jezebel, being a Syrian, persuaded her husband to build a temple to the Syrian god, Baal, and appointed many priests to the service of this false god.

Elias performed many miracles by the power of God: he closed the heavens, that no rain should fall for three years and six months; called down fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice to his God, while the priests of Baal were unable to do this; brought rain from the heavens at his prayers; miraculously multiplied corn and oil in the widow's house at Zarephath, and restored her dead son to life; prophesied to Ahab that the dogs would lick up his blood, and to Jezebel that the dogs would devour her - which came to pass; and performed many other miracles and foretold many events.

He talked with God on Horeb, and heard His voice in the calm after the great wind. At the time of his death, he took Elisha and appointed him his heir as a prophet; he parted the Jordan with his mantle and was finally borne to heaven in a fiery chariot drawn by fiery horses.

He appeared together with Moses, to our Lord Jesus Christ on Tabor at the Lord's Transfiguration.

At the end of the world, Elias will appear again, to break the power of antichrist (Rev. 11).

Orthros (Matins) Saint John 20:19-31
King James Version

19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.

21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit:

23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:

31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

Saint James 5:10-20
King James Version

10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.

13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.

14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.

18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;

20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

Saint Matthew 14:22-34
King James Version

22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.

23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.

25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.

26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

34 And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.

REMINDER 

FROM THE PREPARATION OF THE

RECEPTION OF THE LIFE-GIVING GIFTS

Into the splendor of thy Saints how shall I the unworthy one enter? For should I dare to enter the bridal chamber my vesture doth betray me for it is not a wedding garment; and as bound I shall be cast out by the Angels.  Cleanse O Lord the defilement of my soul, and save me, in Thy love for mankind.

If prepared, describe the wedding garment God expects to see when we meet Him!

Council

of Saint Augustine of Hippo

“If you believe what you like in the Gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself.”

“What is perfection in love? Love your enemies in such a way that you would desire to make them your brothers … For so did He love, Who hanging on the Cross, said ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.'” (St. Luke 23:34)