The holy apostle Thaddeus was one of the Seventy, not the same as the Jude Thaddeus who was one of the Twelve. He went to Edessa in Syria and preached the gospel, there and throughout Syria and Phoenicia, and fell asleep in the Lord in Beirut.
The holy martyr Bassa, who was the wife of a pagan priest, was a secret Christian. She brought up her sons in the Faith as well. Her husband handed her over to the torturers with her sons. They were beheaded in the persecutions of Maximian in the 3rd century.
Edessa rejoices today as its baptism through you. Abgar has been freed from passion and praises you. We join in his hymn, and we sing to you: Fill our lives with spiritual happiness and heal our passions through your prayers, O apostle Thaddeus.
Your lamb Bassa, O Jesus, cries out in a loud voice: I love You my Bridegroom; I seek You with painful longing; I am crucified with You; in Your baptism, I am buried with You; I suffer for You that I may reign with You; and I die for You that I may live with You. Receive me as a spotless sacrifice immolated with love for You. By her prayers, O merciful One, save our souls.
O Apostle Thaddeus, the Church recognizes you as a brilliant star and she is ever illumined by your miracles. Save those who keep your memory with faith.
You put out the fires of the torments by the dew of the Spirit, O blessed saint. You were taken into the divine and spiritual light, and after your passing, you shower cures upon us, suppressing the urge of passions through your prayers.
2 Corinthians 13: 3-13
Brothers and sisters: You are, after all, looking for a proof of the Christ who speaks in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful in you. It is true he was crucified out of weakness, but he lives by the power of God. We too are weak in him, but we live with him by God’s power in us. Test yourselves to see whether you are living in faith; examine yourselves. Perhaps you yourselves do not realize the Christ Jesus is in you — unless, of course, you have failed the challenge. I hope you will understand that we have not failed. We pray to God that you may do no evil — not in order that we may appear approved but simply that you may do what is good, even though we may seem to have failed. We cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the sake of the truth. We even rejoice when we are weak and you are strong. Our prayer is that you may be built up to completion.
I am writing in this way while away from you, so that when I am with you I may not have to exercise with severity the authority the Lord has given me — authority to build up rather than to destroy. And now, brethren, I must say goodbye. Mend your ways. Encourage one another. Live in harmony and peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the holy ones send greetings to you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all!
Mark 4: 35-41
The Lord said to his disciples: “Let us cross over to the farther shore.” Leaving the crowd, they took him away in the boat in which he was sitting, while the other boats accompanied him. It happened that a bad squall blew up. The waves were breaking over the boat and it began to ship water badly. Jesus was in the stern through it all, sound asleep on a cushion. They finally woke him and said to him, “Teacher, does it not matter to you that we are going to drown?” He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea: “Quiet! Be still!” The wind fell off and everything grew calm. Then he said to them, “Why are you so terrified? Why are you lacking in faith?” A great awe overcame them at this. They kept saying to one another, “Who can this be that the wind and sea obey him?”
Icon courtesy of Jack Figel, Eastern Christian Publications – ecpubs.com
Tuesday, August 20 –
