2025 |
On Wednesday | January 1 |
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The Readings for the Commemoration |
2025 |
January 1 |
Memory of our Father among the saints Basil the Great |
The Readings from Vespers the Previous Evening |
From Menaion - - - |
Gn 17:1 – 2, 4b-7, 3a, 9 – 12a, 14 |
The Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am your God; be pleasing before Me and blameless. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly; and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be your God and the God of your seed after you.” Then Abram fell on his face [and worshiped the Lord]. Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your seed after you throughout their generations. This is the covenant you shall keep, between Me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. A child of eight days old shall be circumcised by you – every male child throughout your genealogy. And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin on the eighth day, that soul shall be cut off from his people; for he has broken My covenant.” [SAAS] |
Pr 8:23 – 30 |
The Lord created me in the beginning of His ways for His works; He established me in the beginning before time. Before He made the earth, and before He made the abysses, before the going forth of the fountains of waters, before the mountains were created; and He begot me before all hills. The Lord made the fields and the uninhabited places and the inhabited heights under heaven. When He prepared heaven, I was present with Him, and when He set apart His throne upon the winds. When He made strong the things above the clouds, and made sure the fountains under heaven, and made strong the foundations of the earth, I was working beside Him; I was He in whom He rejoiced; daily and continually I was gladdened by His face. [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] |
The Epistle |
For the Feast. |
The reading is from Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. |
Col. 2:8 – 12 |
Brethren, see to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental principles of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness of life in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; and you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. [RSV] |
The Gospel |
For the Feast. |
The reading is from the holy Gospel according to Luke. |
Lk. 2:20 – 21, 40 – 52 |
At that time, the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him. Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom; and when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the company they went a day’s journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances; and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him. After three days, they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when they saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.” And he said to them, “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” And they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man. [RSV] |
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Stand for the reading of the Synaxarion. |
Synaxarion |
From the Menaion. |
On January 1, we celebrate the circumcision in the flesh of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ. |
On this day we also commemorate our father among the saints Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia. |
On this day the holy Martyr Theodotos died by the sword. |
On this day, Saint Gregory, the father of Saint Gregory the Theologian, died in peace. |
By their holy intercessions, O God, have mercy on us. Amen. |
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Fasting Rule |
Fast Free: All foods allowed. |
It is the ru.Twelve Days of Christmas |