2025

On Sunday | October 26

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The Readings from the Regular Cycle

The Epistle

Twentieth Sunday

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

Gal. 1:11 – 19

Brethren, I would have you know that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it; and I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when God who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia; and again I returned to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas, and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. [RSV]

The Gospel

Sixth Sunday of Luke

The reading is from the holy Gospel according to Luke.

Lk. 8:26 – 39

At that time, as Jesus arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, there met him a man from the city who had demons; for a long time he had worn no clothes and he lived not in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beseech you, do not torment me.” For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him; he was kept under guard, and bound with chains and fetters, but he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the desert.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside; and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them leave. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. When the herdsmen saw what happened, they fled, and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how he who had been possessed with demons was healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gadarenes asked him to depart from them; for they were seized with great fear; so he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. [RSV]

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The Readings for the Commemoration

2025

October 26

Memory of the Holy Great-martyr Demetrios, the Myrrh-streamer

The Readings from Vespers the Previous Evening

From Menaion - - -

Is 63:15 – 20; 64:1 – 4a, 7 – 8

Return from heaven, and look from Your holy and glorious dwelling-place. Where are Your zeal and Your strength; where is the multitude of Your mercy and Your compassion, so as to be patient with us? You are our Father, although Abraham did not know us, and Israel did not acknowledge us; but You, O Lord, are our Father. You delivered us, and from the beginning Your name was upon us. Why have you led us astray, O Lord, from Your path, and hardened our hearts so as not to fear You? Return for the sake of Your servants, for the sake of the tribes of Your inheritance, that we may inherit a small portion of Your holy mountain. For our adversaries trampled down Your sanctuary, and we have become as we were from the beginning, when You did not rule us, neither did we call upon Your name. If You open heaven, trembling shall take hold of the mountains before You, and they shall melt as wax melts before the fire. The fire shall burn up the adversaries, and the Lord’s name shall be manifest among the adversaries; and the nations shall be troubled by Your presence. When You do glorious things, trembling shall take hold of the mountains because of You. From of old we have not heard, nor have our eyes seen any God but You, and Your works which You shall do for those who wait for Your mercy. For mercy shall meet with those who do righteousness, and they shall remember Your ways. And now, O Lord, You are our Father, and all we are clay, the work of Your hands. Do not be exceedingly angry with us, and do not remember our sins in an opportune time. And now look upon us, for we are all Your people. [SAAS]

Jer 2:1 – 12

Thus says the Lord: ‘I remember your compassion and youth and your love and maturity, so as to follow the Holy One of Israel,’ says the Lord. ‘Israel, the beginning of His harvest, was holy to the Lord. All who devour him shall transgress, and evils will come upon them,’” says the Lord. Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all families of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: “What transgression have your fathers found in Me, so as to go far from Me, to follow after vain and worthless things? They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord, who led us out of the land of Egypt, who guided us in the wilderness, in an unknown and untrodden land, a land that was waterless and barren, in which no one traversed and where no son of man dwelt?’ I brought you into Carmel to eat its fruit and its good things, but you entered and defiled My land, and made My heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ But those who handle the law did not trust Me, and the shepherds acted profanely toward Me. The prophets prophesied by Baal and walked after unprofitable things. Therefore I will yet bring charges against you,” says the Lord, “and I will bring charges against the sons of your sons. For pass by the islands of Chettim and see. Send to Kedar and consider diligently. See if such things happened, whether nations will change their gods; though they are not gods. But My people changed their glory to a glory from which they will not profit. Heaven was amazed at this and was exceedingly horror-struck,” says the Lord. [SAAS]

WSol 3:1 – 9

The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torture will ever touch them. In the eyes of the undiscerning they seemed to have died, and their departure was considered to be misfortune, and their passage from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace. For though in man’s view they were punished, their hope is full of immortality. Though chastened in a few things, great kindness will be shown them, for God tested them and found them worthy of Himself. He tested them like gold in a furnace and accepted them as a whole burnt offering. In the time of their visitation they will shine forth, and they will run about like sparks through straw. They will judge nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord shall reign over them unto the ages. Those who trust in Him will understand truth, and the faithful shall continue with Him in love, because grace and mercy are upon His elect [and He watches over His holy ones]. [SAAS]

The Epistle

For the Martyr.

The reading is from Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy.

2 Tim. 2:1 – 10

Timothy, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier on service gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to satisfy the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will grant you understanding in everything. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descended from David, as preached in my gospel, the gospel for which I am suffering and wearing fetters like a criminal. But the word of God is not fettered. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain salvation in Christ Jesus with its eternal glory. [RSV]

The Gospel

For the Martyr.

The reading is from the holy Gospel according to John.

Jn. 15:17 – 16:2

The Lord said to his disciples, “This I command you, to love one another. If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But all this they will do to you on my account, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. It is to fulfill the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’ But when the Comforter comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me; and you also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning. I have said all this to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues; indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.” [RSV]

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Stand for the reading of the Synaxarion.

Synaxarion

From the Menaion.

On October 26, we commemorate the holy and glorious Great-martyr Demetrios the Myrrh-streamer and Wonder-worker.

On this day the holy Martyrs Artemidoros and Basil died by the sword.

On this day the holy Martyr Leptina died being dragged on the ground.

On this day, the holy Martyr Glycon died by the sword.

On this day we remember the great and awful earthquake.

We commemorate the holy New Monastic Martyr Ioasaf, who died by the sword in Constantinople in the year 1536.

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

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Fasting Rule

Fast Free: All foods allowed.