The holy apostle Hermes, bishop of Philipi, was a disciple of St. Paul. He endured much grief from the pagans for preaching the Gospel, but he died in peace. According to tradition, he composed the instructive book “The Shepherd,” based on revelations from angels.
The holy martyr Hermeas, suffered during the persecution under the emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161). He was a soldier in the imperial army till old age. He was urged by his governor to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods in exchange for military honors and mercy from the emperor, but the old soldier turned him down, and bravely confessed his faith in Christ. He was tortured repeatedly, but all attempts to end the life of the saint failed. Finally he was beheaded by the governor’s own hand. Christians secretly buried the body of St. Hermeas, whose relics bestowed numerous healings.
O holy apostle Hermes, intercede with the all-merciful God that He may grant us forgiveness of our sins.
O Lord our God, your holy martyr Hermeas has deserved the crown of immortality on account of his good fight. Armed with your strength, he has vanquished his persecutors and crushed Satan’s dreadful might. Through his supplications, O Christ our God, save our souls.
You glimmered over the earth like a star, supporting Paul, that beam from the Divine Light who enlightens the whole world. Therefore, O Hermes, we venerate you.
You fought well for Christ, finding strength and courage in your old age. Having overturned the plots of evil conceived by sinners, you were kept from the harm of poisoned food, O Hermeas. You cried out loudly: God is with me, and no one can prevail against me.
Romans 1: 18-27
Brothers and sisters: The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against the irreligious and perverse spirit of men who, in this perversity of theirs, hinder the truth. In fact, whatever can be known about God is clear to them; he himself made it so. Since the creation of the world, invisible realities, God’s eternal power and divinity, have become visible, recognized through many things he has made. Therefore these men are inexcusable. They certainly had knowledge of God, yet they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks; they stultified themselves through speculation to no purpose, and their senseless hearts were darkened. They claimed to be wise, but turned into fools instead; they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images representing mortal man, birds, beasts, and snakes. In consequence, God delivered them up in their lusts to unclean practices; they engaged in the mutual degradation of their bodies, these men who exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator blessed be he forever, amen! God therefore delivered them up to disgraceful passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and the men gave up natural intercourse with women and burned with lust for one another. Men did shameful things with men, and thus received in their own persons the penalty for their perversity.
Matthew 5: 20-26
The Lord said to his disciples: “I tell you, unless your holiness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees you shall not enter the kingdom of God. You have heard the commandment imposed on your forefathers, ‘You shall not commit murder; every murderer shall be liable to judgment.’ What I say to you is: everyone who grows angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; any man who uses abusive language toward his brother shall be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and if he holds his brother in contempt he risks the fires of Gehenna. If you bring your gift to the altar and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift at the altar, go first to be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Lose no time; settle with your opponent while on your way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent may hand you over to the guard, who will throw you into prison. I warn you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”
Icon courtesy of Jack Figel, Eastern Christian Publications – ecpubs.com
Tuesday, May 30 –
