The holy martyr Paramon was martyred in Bithynia in Asia Minor along with 370 other Christians during the persecution of the governor Aquilinus in the year 250.
The holy martyr Philemon was martyred at Ancyra in Galatia. It is said that in the persecution of Aurlian the emperor Philemon was taken to the fire. Then his feet and head were pierced with nails leading to his martyrdom.
Our venerable father Acacius, mentioned in “The Ladder”, was a novice living under an evil Elder. Through all of the abuse the Elder gave, Acacius was patiently trusting that the Lord would bring good out of evil. He died an early death and testified from the grave against the elder, who repented.
Troparion
Your martyrs, O Lord our God, in their struggle received incorruptible crowns from You. With Your strength, they brought down the tyrants and broke the cowardly valor of demons. Through their prayers, O Christ our God, save our souls.
Kontakion
You washed your soul clean from all impurity by following the divine mandates. This is how you endured your martyrdom. You refused to offer sacrifice to any idols; therefore, they pierced you with a spear. This is how you followed Christ. O all-blessed Paramon, pray for the world.
Epistle
1 Timothy 5:22 – 6:11
Timothy, my son: Never lay your hands hastily on anyone, or you may be sharing in the misdeeds of others. Keep yourself pure. Stop drinking water only. Take in a little wine for the good of your stomach, and because of your frequent illnesses.
Some men’s sins are flagrant and cry out for judgment now, while other men’s sins will appear only later. Similarly, some good deeds stand out clearly as such; even inconspicuous ones cannot be hidden forever.
All under the yoke of slavery must regard their masters as worthy of full respect; otherwise the name of God and the church’s teaching suffer abuse. Those slaves whose masters are brothers in the faith must not take liberties with them on that account. They must perform their tasks even more faithfully, since those who will profit from their work are believers and beloved brothers. These are the things you must teach and preach. Whoever teaches in any other way, not holding to the sound doctrines of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching proper to true religion, should be recognized as both conceited and ignorant, a sick man in his passion for polemics and controversy. From these come envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions – in a word, the bickering of men with twisted minds who have lost all sense of truth. Such men value religion only as a means of personal gain. There is, of course, great gain in religion – provided one is content with a sufficiency. We brought nothing into this world, nor have we the power to take anything out. If we have food and clothing we have all that we need. Those who want to be rich are falling into temptation and a trap. They are letting themselves be captured by foolish and harmful desires which drag men down to ruin and destruction. The love of money is the root of all evil. Some men in their passion for it have strayed from the faith, and have come to grief amid great pains. Man of God that you are, flee from all this.
Gospel
Luke 20: 1-8
At that time when Jesus was in the temple proclaiming the good news, the high priests and Pharisees, accompanied by the elders, approached him with the question, “Tell us, by what authority do you do these things? In other words, who has authorized you?” Jesus replied, “Let me put a question for you to answer: Did the baptism of John come from God or from men?” They held a brief conference during which someone said, “If we answer, ‘From God,’ he will say, ‘Then why do you not believe in it?’; whereas if we say, ‘From men,’ the people will stone us, so convinced are they that John was a prophet.” They ended by replying they did not know where it came from. Jesus said to them, “In that case, neither will I tell you by whose authority I act.”
Icon courtesy of Jack Figel, Eastern Christian Publications – ecpubs.com
Tuesday, November 28 –
