If they hear not Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded,
though one rose from the dead.
S U N D A Y
November 3 / 16 ns 2025
† Three New Great Hierarchs:
Sts. Photios the Great, Gregory Palamas,
and Mark of Ephesus;
Holy Martyrs Akepsimás, Joseph,
and Mark of Ephesus;
Holy Martyrs Akepsimás, Joseph,
and Aïthalás of Persia;
The Translation of the Relics of
St. George the Great Martyr
St. George the Great Martyr
It is right to honor the three Fathers together,
For they set up a trophy of Orthodoxy.
It behoveth us to sing a Divinely-inspired song to all three Hierarchs.
The great and holy Photios flourished in the ninth century, being Archbishop of Constantinople and achieving a reputation as one mighty in wisdom, oratory, and the dogmas of the true Faith. St. Gregory Palamas, who was Archbishop of Thessalonica, flourished in the fourteenth century, being distinguished for his virtuous life and his illumination by Divine light and renowned for his discourses and struggles for the truth. The Holy Mark Evgenikos, who flourished in the fifteenth century, was Metropolitan of Ephesus and proved to be an invincible champion of Orthodoxy at the false Council of Florence.
These thrice-great Hierarchs, having taken up the panoply of the Holy Spirit, “at sundry times and in divers manners” struggled for the sake of the blameless and Orthodox Faith, and having by their doctrines and struggles refuted and put to shame the false teachings of the Latin Church and the overweening and blasphemous claims of her chief Hierarch, the Pope of Rome, they both proclaimed and demonstrated to all the exactitude of the dogmas of the Eastern Church and the genuineness of her good confession. For this reason, they are worthily honored and acclaimed by us as our preceptors and teachers, and as champions and impregnable bulwarks of the Holy Church of Christ. Glory to God!
By their intercessions, O Christ our God,
have mercy on us and save us. Amen.
Orthros Gospel
Saint Matthew 28:16-20
King James Version
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 Spirit:
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.
Ephesians 2:4-10
King James Version
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Divine Liturgy Gospel
Saint Luke 16:19-31
King James Version
19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
St. Mark of Ephesus: . . . What sort of union is this then, when it has no external sign? How could they come together,
each retaining his own?”
The Latins say that the Holy Spirit proceeds and derives His existence from the Son. Yet, with us, they say the Spirit proceeds from the Father. The Latins imagine that this addition to the Creed is lawful and just, but we will not so much as pronounce it. They state that unleavened bread is the body of Christ, but we dare not communicate it.
Is this not sufficient to exhibit that they came to the Latin council not to investigate the truth, which they once possessed and then betrayed, but simply to earn some gold and attain a false union?
Behold, they read two Creeds as they did before. They perform two different liturgies – one on leavened and the other on unleavened bread. They perform two baptisms – one by triple immersion and the other by aspersion (sprinkling); one with Holy Chrism and the other without it.
All our Orthodox customs are different from those of the Latins, including our fasts, Church rites, icons, and many other things.
What sort of union is this then, when it has no external sign? How could they come together, each retaining his own?
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