Acts 19:1-8

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

Paul in Ephesus

19 While Apol′los was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. ² And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” ³ And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” ⁴ And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” ⁵ On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. ⁷ There were about twelve of them in all.

⁸ And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, arguing and pleading about the kingdom of God;

John 1:29-34

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

The Lamb of God

²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!^[a] 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, for he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him; but for this I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³² And John bore witness, “I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. ³³ I myself did not know him; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

7 The Synaxis of the holy Forerunner, Prophet, and Baptist John. The day after the Theophany the Church remembers the work of the Forerunner, John, who baptized Christ.

Great Doxology at Matins. Mitigation for fish, wine, and oil.

Blessing of Homes begins.

Readings for Wed.6^th of Jan.: Thirty First Week After Pentecost: THEOPHANY

Titus 2:11-15

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men, ¹² training us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world, ¹³ awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior^[a][b] Jesus Christ, ¹⁴ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.

¹⁵ Declare these things; exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

Titus 3:4-7

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁴ but when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, ⁵ he saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, ⁶ which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.^[a]

Matthew 3:13-17

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

The Baptism of Jesus

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” ¹⁵ But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.” Then he consented.^[a] 16 And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened^[b] and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him; ¹⁷ and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son,^[c] with whom I am well pleased.”

6 THE THEOPHANY OF OUR LORD, GOD, AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. Since the second century, the Church has celebrated the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan River and the manifestation of the Most Holy Trinity. OBLIGATORY. Great Feast Day of Pascha of the Lord. AKATHIST: I-31 (to “Sweetest Jesus”)

Full mitigation. Great Blessing of Water. Greeting: “Christ is baptized!”

Hebrews 11:8

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

The Faith of Abraham

⁸ By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was to go.

Hebrews 11:11-16

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

¹¹ By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. ¹² Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

¹³ These all died in faith, not having received what was promised, but having seen it and greeted it from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. ¹⁴ For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

Luke 21:37-22:8

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

³⁷ And every day he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet. ³⁸ And early in the morning all the people came to him in the temple to hear him.

The Plot to Kill Jesus

22 Now the feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover. ² And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death; for they feared the people.

³ Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve; ⁴ he went away and conferred with the chief priests and captains how he might betray him to them. ⁵ And they were glad, and engaged to give him money. ⁶ So he agreed, and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of the multitude.

The Preparation of the Passover

⁷ Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the passover lamb had to be sacrificed. ⁸ So Jesus^[a] sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the passover for us, that we may eat it.”

5 The holy martyrs Theopempt and Theona, of Nicomedia in Bithynia, who met martyrdom in the persecution of the Emperor Diocletian. (c. 350)

Our venerable mother Syncletica of Alexandria in Egypt, virgin, who is said to have led a solitary ascetical life that influenced many women of her day. (4th century)

The holy prophet Micah. Vigil of the Theophany.

Mitigation for wine and oil (if Saturday or Sunday, mitigation for fish, wine, and oil).

Readings for Mon.4^th of Jan.: Thirty First Week After Pentecost

James 2:14-26

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

Faith without Works Is Dead

¹⁴ What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him?^[a] 15 If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? ¹⁷ So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

¹⁸ But some one will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. ¹⁹ You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. ²⁰ Do you want to be shown, you foolish fellow, that faith apart from works is barren? ²¹ Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? ²² You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, ²³ and the scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God. ²⁴ You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. ²⁵ And in the same way was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? ²⁶ For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead.

Mark 10:46-52

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus

⁴⁶ And they came to Jericho; and as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude, Bartimae′us, a blind beggar, the son of Timae′us, was sitting by the roadside. ⁴⁷ And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸ And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹ And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; rise, he is calling you.” ⁵⁰ And throwing off his mantle he sprang up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹ And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Master,^[a] let me receive my sight.” ⁵² And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.

4 The Synaxis of the holy seventy Apostles, whose names were recorded by Saint Dorotheus. In addition to the Twelve Apostles, our Lord chose seventy other apostles and sent them out to preach. (cf. Luke 10:1-5)

Our venerable father Theoctist, hegumen of Cuomo in Sicily which he founded. At this monastery lived Greek monks, having fled persecution by the iconoclasts. (800) 21

2 Timothy 4:5-8

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁵ As for you, always be steady, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil your ministry.

⁶ For I am already on the point of being sacrificed;^[a] the time of my departure has come. ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

Mark 1:1-8

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

The Proclamation of John the Baptist

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.^[a]

² As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,^[b]

“Behold, I send my messenger before thy face,
who shall prepare thy way;
³ the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight—”

⁴ John the baptizer appeared^[c] in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵ And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁶ Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, and had a leather girdle around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷ And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. ⁸ I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

3 The holy prophet Malachi, who, after the return from the Babylonian Captivity, announced the great day of the Lord and his coming to his temple, and that, always and everywhere, a pure offering should be made to the name of the Lord. He prophesied of the coming kingdom which would be heralded by the return of Elijah, fulfilled in the Forerunner. After Malachi, no prophet arose in Israel until his words were fulfilled four hundred years later in the coming of the Holy Prophet and Forerunner, John the Baptist.

The holy martyr Gordius, praised in the writings of our Holy Father Basil the Great, was a centurion who suffered for the faith. (304)

1 John 3:21-4:6

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

²¹ Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God; ²² and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. ²³ And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. ²⁴ All who keep his commandments abide in him, and he in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given us.

Testing the Spirits

4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits^[a] to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, ³ and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist, of which you heard that it was coming, and now it is in the world already. ⁴ Little children, you are of God, and have overcome them; for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. ⁵ They are of the world, therefore what they say is of the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶ We are of God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and he who is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

3 The Synaxis of the holy prophet Simeon and the prophetess Anna, who, the one a righteous and devout old man and the other a widow and prophetess, were worthy to hail the infant Jesus as the Messiah and Savior, the blessed hope and redemption of Israel. All we know of them is given in the second chapter of the Gospel according to holy evangelist Luke.

1 Timothy 3:14-4:5

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

The Mystery of Our Religion

¹⁴ I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these instructions to you so that, ¹⁵ if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth. ¹⁶ Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of our religion:

He^[a] was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated^[b] in the Spirit,
    seen by angels,
preached among the nations,
believed on in the world,
    taken up in glory.

False Asceticism

4 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, ² through the pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared, ³ who forbid marriage^[c] and enjoin abstinence from foods^[d] which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. ⁴ For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving; ⁵ for then it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

Matthew 3:1-11

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

The Proclamation of John the Baptist

3 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ² “Repent,^[a] for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” ³ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.”

⁴ Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair, and a leather girdle around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan, ⁶ and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.^[b]

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sad′ducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruit that befits repentance, ⁹ and do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. ¹⁰ Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹ “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

2 Our holy father Sylvester, Pope of Rome who piously ruled the Church for many years. During his pontificate, Constantine the Emperor built basilicas worthy of veneration and the Nicene Council of 325 acclaimed Christ the Son of God. On this day in Rome in the cemetery of Priscilla his body was laid to rest. (335) Pre-festive days begin.