The holy seven children of Ephesus: During the persecution of the emperor Decius, seven young soldiers refused to sacrifice to idols. Tradition says that their names were: Maximilian, Iamblichus, Martinian, John, Dionysius, Exacustodianus, and Antoninus. They concealed themselves in a cave outside of Ephesus, and the emperor sealed them into that cave to kill them in the year 250. In the year 454, during the reign of the Christian emperor Theodosius the Younger (408-450), a dispute arose about the veracity of the Christian teaching on the resurrection of the dead. The youths awoke, testified to the true teaching, and one week later died.
The venerable martyr Eudoxia was a native of Heliopolis in Phoenicia who lived in the times of the emperor Trajan (98-117). At first she led a licentious life, enticed a large number of men to evil by her rare beauty, and amassed riches of great value. Having heard a certain Germanus, a monk, speak on religion and repentance, she was converted to Christ and baptized by Bishop Theodotos. After having distributed her goods to the poor, the saint retired to a monastery and there practiced all the ascetical exercises. She was brought before Emperor Adrian (177-138), accused by the very ones who she had formerly corrupted. Working miracles and curing the Emperor’s son, she converted the latter to the Christian faith. She received her crown of martyrdom through beheading.
What a marvel of faith! The seven holy youths lived in a cave as in a palace, and they passed on without corruption. After time had marched on, they came out as if from sleep and are fitting signs of the resurrection of all. Have mercy on us, O Christ, through their prayers.
Despising the corruptible things of this world, they received gifts which were incorruptible. They died but did not decay. Coming out after many years, they bury unbelief. O faithful people, come to praise them today, and let us raise a hymn to Christ.
2 Corinthians 2:14 – 3:3
Brothers and sisters: Thanks be to God, who unfailingly leads us on in Christ’s triumphal train, and employs us to diffuse the fragrance of his knowledge everywhere! We are an aroma of Christ for God’s sake, both among those who are being saved and those on the way to destruction; to the latter an odor dealing death, to the former a breath bringing life. For such a mission as this, is anyone really qualified? We at least are not like so many who trade on the word of God. We speak in Christ’s name, pure in motivation, conscious of having been sent by God and of standing in his presence.
Am I beginning to speak well of myself again? Or do I need letters of recommendation to you or from you as others might? You are my letter, known and read by all men, written on your hearts. Clearly you are a letter of Christ which I have delivered, a letter written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh in the heart.
Matthew 23: 23-28
The Lord said: “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, you frauds! You pay tithes on mint and herbs and seeds while neglecting the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and good faith. It is these you should have practiced, without neglecting the others.
“Blind guides! You strain out the gnat and swallow the camel! Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, you frauds! You cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, and leave the inside filled with loot and lust! Blind Pharisees! First cleanse the inside of the cup so that its outside may be clean. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, you frauds! You are like whitewashed tombs, beautiful to look at on the outside but inside full of filth and dead men’s bones. Thus you present to view a holy exterior while hypocrisy and evil fill you within.”
Icon courtesy of Jack Figel, Eastern Christian Publications – ecpubs.com
Monday, August 3 –
