Hebrews 13:7-16

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁷ Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God; consider the outcome of their life, and imitate their faith. ⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever. ⁹ Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings; for it is well that the heart be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited their adherents.^[a] 10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent^[b] have no right to eat. ¹¹ For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. ¹² So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. ¹³ Therefore let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing abuse for him.^[c] 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come. ¹⁵ Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. ¹⁶ Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Matthew 5:14-19

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵ Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

The Law and the Prophets

¹⁷ “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them.^[a] 18 For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹ Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

30 THE THREE HOLY HIERARCHS: BASIL THE GREAT, GREGORY THE THEOLOGIAN, AND JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. All three of these saints have their own feast days. This celebration began in 1100 in the days of the Emperor Alexis Comnenus. A great quarrel arose in Constantinople as to which of these three was the greatest theologian. They appeared in a dream to then Patriarch John and told him that they were equal before God, and each had his special gifts and talents. John chose the 30th of January to commemorate all three of them together, and composed the office.

SIMPLE = Divine Liturgy at convenient time. Vigil Feast. Mitigation for wine and oil.

The holy bishop martyr Hippolytus was a priest of the Church of Rome famous for his learning. After he unjustly accused Archdeacon Callistus, he was exiled from Rome and rebelled against the authority of the Pope. He repented and was reconciled to the Church, and was martyred. (235)

1 John 2:7-17

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

A New Commandment

⁷ Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. ⁸ Yet I am writing you a new commandment, which is true in him and in you, because^[a] the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. ⁹ He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in the darkness still. ¹⁰ He who loves his brother abides in the light, and in it^[b] there is no cause for stumbling. ¹¹ But he who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

¹² I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his sake. ¹³ I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. ¹⁴ I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

¹⁵ Do not love the world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides for ever.

Mark 14:3-9

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

The Anointing at Bethany

³ And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the jar and poured it over his head. ⁴ But there were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment thus wasted? ⁵ For this ointment might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii,^[a] and given to the poor.” And they reproached her. ⁶ But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷ For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you will, you can do good to them; but you will not always have me. ⁸ She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burying. ⁹ And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

29 Translation of the Relics of the holy bishop and martyr Ignatius of Antioch. Ignatius was martyred in Rome at the beginning of the second century. His remains were later translated to Antioch, the place of his birth and his episcopacy. During the invasion of the Persians, the relics were once again taken from Antioch to Rome (in the sixth century). 6 stichera. 24

1 John 1:8-2:6

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁸ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Christ Our Advocate

2 My little children, I am writing this to you so that you may not sin; but if any one does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; ² and he is the expiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. ³ And by this we may be sure that we know him, if we keep his commandments.^[a] 4 He who says “I know him” but disobeys his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him; ⁵ but whoever keeps his word, in him truly love for God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him: ⁶ he who says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Mark 13:31-14:2

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

The Necessity for Watchfulness

³² “But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³ Take heed, watch and pray;^[a] for you do not know when the time will come. ³⁴ It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. ³⁵ Watch therefore—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning— ³⁶ lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. ³⁷ And what I say to you I say to all: Watch.”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

14 It was now two days before the Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth, and kill him; ² for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be a tumult of the people.”

28 Our Venerable Father Ephrem the Syrian, who exercised the office of preaching and of handing on holy teaching as a deacon. When his native land ceded to the Persians, he fled with his disciples to Edessa in Syria, where he set down the fundamentals of a school of theology, fulfilling his ministry by his words and writings. So striking is the austerity of his life and the clarity of his teaching that from the exquisite hymns he composed he has deserved to be called the harp of the Holy Spirit. (378) 6 stichera.

Readings for Wed. 27^th of Jan.: Thirty-Fourth Week After Pentecost

Hebrews 7:26-8:2

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

²⁶ For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens. ²⁷ He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did this once for all when he offered up himself. ²⁸ Indeed, the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect for ever.

Mediator of a Better Covenant

8 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, ² a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent^[a] which is set up not by man but by the Lord.

John 10:9-16

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁹ I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. ¹¹ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³ He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep. ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd;^[a] I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵ as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.

27 The Translation of the Relics of our holy father John Chrysostom. In the year 438, from Coman of Armenia, his relics were transferred to his episcopal see of Constantinople. This occurred during the reign of Emperor Theodosius the Lesser.

Readings at Vespers. Polyeleos at Matins. Mitigation for wine and oil.

2 Peter 2:9-22

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁹ then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, ¹⁰ and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.

Bold and wilful, they are not afraid to revile the glorious ones, ¹¹ whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a reviling judgment upon them before the Lord. ¹² But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and killed, reviling in matters of which they are ignorant, will be destroyed in the same destruction with them, ¹³ suffering wrong for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their dissipation,^[a] carousing with you. ¹⁴ They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! ¹⁵ Forsaking the right way they have gone astray; they have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Be′or, who loved gain from wrongdoing, ¹⁶ but was rebuked for his own transgression; a dumb ass spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

¹⁷ These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm; for them the nether gloom of darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ For, uttering loud boasts of folly, they entice with licentious passions of the flesh men who have barely escaped from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for whatever overcomes a man, to that he is enslaved. ²⁰ For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overpowered, the last state has become worse for them than the first. ²¹ For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. ²² It has happened to them according to the true proverb, The dog turns back to his own vomit, and the sow is washed only to wallow in the mire.

Mark 13:14-23

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

The Desolating Sacrilege

¹⁴ “But when you see the desolating sacrilege set up where it ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; ¹⁵ let him who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything away; ¹⁶ and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his mantle. ¹⁷ And alas for those who are with child and for those who give suck in those days! ¹⁸ Pray that it may not happen in winter. ¹⁹ For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will be. ²⁰ And if the Lord had not shortened the days, no human being would be saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days. ²¹ And then if any one says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. ²² False Christs and false prophets will arise and show signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. ²³ But take heed; I have told you all things beforehand.

26 Our venerable father Xenophon and his wife Mary. Xenophon was a senator in Constantinople, where he led a holy Christian life with his wife Mary and their two sons, Arcadius and John. On their way to Phoenicia to study law, the young men were shipwrecked and barely managed to escape with their lives. The parents set out to find them, and, on discovering them in a monastery in Jerusalem, they too entered the monastic life, equal to one another in the ardor of their souls. (520)

1 Corinthians 12:7-11

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁷ To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ⁸ To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

John 10:9-16

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁹ I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. ¹¹ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³ He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep. ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd;^[a] I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵ as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.

25 Our holy father Gregory the Theologian, archbishop of Constantinople. He was bishop of Sebaste, then of Constantinople, and finally Nazianzus. He defended the divinity of the Word with great ardor, for which reason he is named “the Theologian.” During his time as patriarch of Constantinople, he presided over the Second Ecumenical Council (Constantinople, 381). (389)

Readings at Vespers. Polyeleos at Matins. Mitigation for wine and oil.

2 Timothy 3:10-15

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

Paul’s Charge to Timothy

¹⁰ Now you have observed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, ¹¹ my persecutions, my sufferings, what befell me at Antioch, at Ico′nium, and at Lystra, what persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. ¹² Indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³ while evil men and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived. ¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it ¹⁵ and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Luke 18:10-14

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

¹⁰ “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.’ ¹³ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

24 Our venerable mother Xenia of Rome, born of a noble Roman family, lived a holy life with other virgins at Mylassa of Caria in the fifth century. (450)