The holy venerable martyr Stephen the younger was a monk and martyr, who, under Constantine Copronymus, was tortured by various punishments for the cult of sacred images and confirmed the Catholic truth by his shed blood. (767)
The holy martyr Irenarchus was a torturer in Sebaste in Armenia. He was converted to Christ by the steadfastness of Christian women martyrs. Under Diocletian the emperor and Maximus the governor, he was struck down with an ax in the 4th century.
At first you were radiant with the light of fasting, but now you are more brilliant with your martyr’s blood. You burnt off the fog of those who spoke heresy, and showed the true glory of the orthodox faith. You have been glorified as a divine witness to Christ, O holy martyr Stephen.
Your martyr, Irenarchus, O Lord our God, in his struggle received an incorruptible crown from You. With Your strength, he brought down the tyrants and broke the cowardly valor of demons. Through his prayers, O Christ our God, save our souls.
O lover of feasts, in our hearts let us faithfully praise in hymns the divine Stephen, servant of the Holy Trinity, for he has honored the beautiful icons of the Master and His Mother together now, let us who rejoice lovingly sing to him; rejoice, O ever-glorious father.
May you have an abundance of peace, O martyr, for you laid hold of the enemy. You defeated that army of spiritual deception by the power of divine grace. You endured the most terrible sufferings. Now we beseech you to deliver from all harm those who keep your memory, O Irenarchus.
Titus 1: 5-14
Titus, my son: My purpose in leaving you in Crete was that you might accomplish what had been left undone, especially the appointment of presbyters in every town. As I instructed you, a presbyter must be irreproachable, married only once, the father of children who are believers and are known not to be wild and insubordinate. The bishop as God’s steward must be blameless. He may not be self-willed or arrogant, a drunkard, a violent or greedy man. He should, on the contrary, be hospitable and a lover of goodness; steady, just, holy, and self-controlled. In his teaching he must hold fast to the authentic message, so that he will be able both to encourage men to follow sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it. There are many irresponsible teachers, especially those among the Jewish converts – men who are simply talkers and deceivers. These must be silence. They are upsetting whole families by teaching things they have no right to teach – and all for sordid gain! A man of Crete, one of their own prophets, has testified, “Cretans have ever been liars, beasts, and lazy gluttons,” and that is the simple truth!
Admonish them sharply, in an attempt to keep them close to sound faith, and unaffected by Jewish myths or rules invented by men who have swerved from the truth.
Luke 20: 9-18
The Lord told this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and went away for a long time. At vintage time he sent a servant to the tenant farmers to receive his share of the crop from them; but they beat him and sent him away empty-handed. He sent a second servant whom they also beat. Him too they sent away empty-handed, after treating him shamefully. He sent still a third, whom they likewise maltreated before driving him away. The owner of the vineyard asked himself, ‘What am I to do now? Perhaps if I send the son I love, they will respect him.’
“But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they reflected, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’ With that, they dragged him outside the vineyard and killed him. What fate do you suppose the owner of the vineyard has in store for them? I will tell you. He will make an end to those tenant farmers and give the vineyard to others.”
When they heard this they said, “God forbid!” Jesus looked directly at them and said, “What do the Scriptures mean when they say, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the keystone of the structure’? The man who falls on that stone will be smashed to pieces. It will make dust of anyone on whom it falls.”
Icon courtesy of Jack Figel, Eastern Christian Publications – ecpubs.com
Wednesday, November 27 –
