2024

On Thursday | November 14

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The Readings from the Regular Cycle

The Epistle

Thursday of the 21st Week

The reading is from Paul’s Letter to the Colossians.

Col. 1:24 – 29, 2:1

Brethren, now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the divine office which was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now made manifest to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man mature in Christ Jesus. For this I toil, striving with all the energy which he mightily inspires within me. For I want you to know how greatly I strive for you. [RSV]

The Gospel

Thursday of the 9th Week of Luke

The reading is from the holy Gospel according to Luke.

Lk. 16:1 – 9

The Lord said this parable, “There was a rich man who had a steward, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’ And the steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that people may receive me into their houses when I am put out of the stewardship.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ The master commended the dishonest steward for his shrewdness; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal habitations.” [RSV]

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The Readings for the Commemoration

Memory of the Holy Apostle Philip

The Epistle

For the Apostle.

The reading is from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians.

1 Cor. 4:9 – 16

Brethren, God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become, and are now, as the refuse of the world, the off-scouring of all things. I do not write this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me. [RSV]

The Gospel

For the Apostle.

The reading is from the holy Gospel according to John.

Jn. 1:43 – 51

At that time, Jesus decided to go to Galilee. And he found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael, and he said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.” [RSV]

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The Readings for the Commemoration

2024

November 14

Memory of St. Gregory Palamas

The Readings from Vespers the Previous Evening

Menaion Supplement - - -

Pr 10:8a, 7a; 3:13 – 16, 18; 8:32, 34, 4, 12, 14, 17, 5 – 9; 22:24, 22; 15:4b

The remembrance of the righteous is with eulogies; the blessing of the Lord is upon the head of a righteous man. Blessed is a man who finds wisdom, and a mortal who sees discernment; for the profits gained from wisdom are better than the treasures of gold and silver. Wisdom is more valuable than precious stones, and nothing evil will withstand her. She is well known to all who come near her, and no honor is worthy of her. Righteousness proceeds from her mouth, and she carries law and mercy upon her tongue. Now therefore, my son, hear me: Blessed is the man who shall hearken to me and the man who shall guard my ways; for my issues are the issues of life, and grace is prepared from the Lord. You, O men, I exhort, and I utter my voice to the sons of men. I, wisdom, dwell with counsel, and I call upon knowledge and understanding. Counsel and safety are mine; discernment is mine, and strength is mine. I love those who love me, and those who seek me shall find me. Understand astuteness, O simple ones, and put it in your heart, O uninstructed ones. Obey me, for I speak sacred things, and from my lips I will bring forth things that are true. For my mouth shall speak the truth, but false lips are an abomination before me. All the words of my mouth are with righteousness; there is nothing in them crooked or twisted. All things are evident to those who understand and true to those who find knowledge. Therefore, I teach you a true word and good knowledge to be obeyed, that you might answer words of truth to those who question you, that your hope might be in the Lord, and the one who guards it will be filled with the Spirit. [SAAS]

WSol Proverbs 10:32a, 33a; 11:2b, 5a, 6a, 18a; 13:2a, 9a; 15:2a; 14:34a; 22:12. Wisdom of Solomon 6:12a, 13, 12b, 14a, 15b, 16a; 7:30b; 8:2c, 2a-b, 3b-4, 7b-d, 8, 17c, 18d, 21e; 9:1 – 3a, 4 – 5a, 10 – 11, 14

The mouth of a righteous man distills wisdom; the lips of righteous men distill grace, but the mouth of the humble meditates on wisdom. The righteousness of upright men delivers them. When a righteous man dies, his hope does not perish. A righteous son is begotten unto life; a good man eats from the fruits of righteousness. Light is with the righteous continually, and they will find grace and glory from the Lord. The tongue of the wise understands good things. There is wisdom in the good heart of a man. The Lord loves holy hearts, and all the blameless are acceptable to Him. Wisdom is radiant and unfading; she comes upon those who long to know her beforehand, and is easily perceived by those who love her. He who rises early in the morning to seek her will not grow weary, and he who keeps watch for her will soon be free from worry; because she goes about seeking those worthy of her, and she appears to them favorably in their paths. Evil cannot overcome wisdom. I became a lover of her beauty, I loved her and sought her from my youth, and desired to take her as a bride for myself. The Master of all loves her. For she is the initiate of the knowledge of God and one who chooses His works. The products of righteousness are the virtues. For wisdom teaches self-control, discernment, righteousness and courage, concerning which things there is nothing more valuable in the life of man. But also, if anyone longs for great experience, she knows the things of old and portrays the things to come; she understands subtlety of words and the solution of riddles; she has foreknowledge of signs and wonders and the outcomes of times and seasons. And to all she is a good counselor. In kinship with wisdom there is immortality, and in the fellowship of her words there is good repute. So I entreated the Lord and besought Him, and with all my heart, I said: “O God of our fathers and the Lord of mercy, who made all things by Your word and in Your wisdom built a man, that by You He might be the master of what is created, and manage the world in holiness and righteousness, give me the wisdom that sits by Your throne, and do not reject me from among Your servants; because I am Your servant and the son of Your maidservant. Send her forth from Your holy heavens, and send her from Your glorious throne, that she might be present with me and labor and that I might know what is well-pleasing to You. For she knows and understands all things, and she will guide me wisely in my actions and guard me with her glory. For the reasoning of mortals is cowardly, and our intents are unsafe. [SAAS]

WSol Proverbs 29:2a; Wisdom of Solomon 4:1b-c, 14a; 6:11, 18a, 21b, 22b; 7:15c, 16a, 21b, 22a, 26, 27d, 29; 10:9, 10a, 10d, 12; 7:30b; 1:8c; 2:1a, 10 – 11a, 12a, 12b, 12d, 13 – 16c, 17, 19 – 22a, 16:13a; Wisdom of Sirach 2:11b; Wisdom of Solomon 16:8b; Wisdom of Sirach 2:11a; Proverbs 3:37

When the righteous are praised, the people shall rejoice, for immortality is in its memory because it is known both by God and by man. For his soul was pleasing to the Lord. Therefore long for my words; yearn for them, and you will be instructed. Now this love is the keeping of her laws. Honor wisdom, that you may reign forever, and I will hide no mysteries from you; for He is also the guide of wisdom and the corrector of the wise. For both we and our words are in His hand. For wisdom, the artisan of all things, taught me. So in herself, wisdom is a spirit that is rational, holy, for she is the radiance of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the operative power of God and the image of His goodness, and makes holy souls friends of God and prophets. For wisdom is more beautiful than the sun and more than every constellation of stars. Compared with light she is found to be superior. Wisdom rescued from troubles those who served her. She guided a righteous man on straight paths and gave him knowledge of holy things. She protected him from his enemies, kept him safe from those who plotted against him, and arbitrated a strong contest for him, so he might know that godliness is more powerful than anything, but evil cannot overcome wisdom. Nor will justice, when it cross-examines, pass him by. For they said among themselves, as they reasoned incorrectly: Let us oppress the righteous poor man; let us not spare a widow, nor respect the aged gray hair of an old man. Let our might be our law of righteousness. Let us lie in ambush for the righteous man, because he is useless to us and opposes our deeds and accuses us of sins against our upbringing. He claims to have knowledge of God, and he calls himself a child of the Lord. He has become for us as a refutation of our purposes; even seeing him is a burden to us, because his life is unlike that of others; for his paths go in a different direction. We are considered by him as a hybrid, and he avoids our ways as something immoral. He considers the last things of the righteous as blessed. Let us see if his words are true, and let us put these last things to the test at the end of his life. Let us test him with insult and torture that we may know his gentleness and test his patient endurance. Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for there shall be a visitation because of his words. So they reasoned these things and were led astray, for their malice blinded them. But they did not know the mysteries of God, who has authority over life and death, who forgives sins and saves in time of affliction, the One who saves from every evil, because the Lord is compassionate and merciful. The Lord opposes the arrogant, but He gives grace to the humble. [SAAS]

The Epistle

For the Saint.

The reading is from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians.

1 Cor. 12:7 – 11

Brethren, to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 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. All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. [RSV]

The Gospel

For the Saint.

The reading is from the holy Gospel according to John.

Jn. 10:9 – 16

The Lord said, “I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 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. He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 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.” [RSV]

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Stand for the reading of the Synaxarion.

Synaxarion

From the Menaion.

On November 14, we commemorate the holy, glorious and all-lauded Apostle Philip, one of the first group of Twelve.

On this day we also commemorate our father among the saints Gregory Palamas, the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Thessaloniki, who flourished around 1340.

On this day the holy Neo-martyr Constantine, who was born in Hydra, but witnesed in Rhodes in the year 1800, died by hanging.

By their holy intercessions, O God, have mercy on us. Amen.

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Fasting Rule

Fast Free: All foods allowed.