Our holy father Andrew of Jerusalem, archbishop of Crete, whose passing over is remembered this day at Erissus on the island of Lesbos. He was bishop of Gortyna, and sang –a singular art– praises to God by his prayers, hymns, and songs. He exalted the Virgin Mother of God, immaculate, and assumed into heaven.
Our venerable mother Martha, mother of St. Simeon the Venerable, on the Admirable Mountain in Syria. She was notable for following the ancient practice of rising at midnight for prayer, and gave help to the needy with great compassion by visiting the sick and the poor.
You elated Christ’s Church with your beautiful hymns showing in theology the glory of the Holy Trinity. Therefore, O Andrew, we sing of you as a man of insight. And glorify your memory, O shepherd of Crete. We praise you as Christ’s friend among the saints.
By your love for the Theotokos and a holy life you were graced to give birth to a child of light for the world. This child was radiant with the light of the Trinity. Therefore, we ask you to pray unceasingly for all of us.
Having sounded sublime praise with the trumpet of your spirit, you were shown to the world as a beacon of the Trinity. We call to you, O Andrew: Pray without ceasing for all of us.
You gave birth to a holy child, O Martha, after you offered fervent prayers to the Lord and after you had interceded with the virgin Theotokos. This child was Simeon who became a light for the world. Pray with him for the salvation of our souls.
Romans 11: 25-36
Brothers and sisters: I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery lest you be conceited: blindness has come upon part of Israel until the full number of Gentiles enter in, and then all Israel will be saved. As Scripture says: “Out of Zion will come the deliverer who shall remove all impiety from Jacob; and this is the covenant I will make with them when I take away their sins.” In respect to the gospel, the Jews are enemies of God for your sake; in respect to the election, they are beloved by him because of the patriarchs. God’s gift and his call are irrevocable.
Just as you were once disobedient to God and now have received mercy through their disobedience, so they have become disobedient – since God wished to show you mercy – that they too may receive mercy. God has imprisoned all in disobedience that he might have mercy on all.
How deep are the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How inscrutable his judgments, how unsearchable his ways! For, [Scripture says:] who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has given him anything so as to deserve return? For from him and through him and for him all things are. To him be glory forever. Amen.
Matthew 12: 1-8
Once on the sabbath Jesus walked through the standing grain. His disciples felt hungry, so they began to pull off the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees spied this, they protested: “See here! Your disciples are doing what is not permitted on the sabbath.” Jesus replied: “Have you not read what David did when he and his men were hungry, how he entered God’s house and ate the holy bread, a thing forbidden to him and his men to anyone other than priests? Have you not read in the law how the priests on temple duty can break the sabbath rest without incurring guilt? I assure you, there is something greater than the temple here. If you understood the meaning of the text, ‘It is mercy I desire and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned these innocent men. The Son of Man is indeed Lord of the sabbath.”
Icon courtesy of Jack Figel, Eastern Christian Publications – ecpubs.com
Thursday, July 3 –
