2026

On Friday | February 6

The Epistle

Friday of the 34th Week

The reading is from John’s First Universal Letter.

1 Jn. 2:7 – 17

Brethren, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new commandment, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in the darkness still. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But he who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides for ever. [RSV]

The Gospel

Friday of the 17th Week of Luke

The reading is from the holy Gospel according to Mark.

Mk. 18:10 – 14

At that time, while Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. But there were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment thus wasted? For this ointment might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and given to the poor.” And they reproached her. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you will, you can do good to them; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burying. And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” [RSV]

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The Readings for the Commemoration

2026

February 6

Memory of St. Photios the Great

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 Letter to the Hebrews.

Heb. 7:26 – 28; 8:1 – 2

Brethren, it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did this once for all when he offered up himself. Indeed, the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect for ever. Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent which is set up not by man but by the Lord. [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 February 6, we commemorate our devout father Boukolos, Bishop of Smyrna.

On this day we also commemorate the holy Martyr Julian of Emesa.

On this day we also commemorate the holy Martyrs Fausta, Evilasios, and Maximus.

On this day we also commemorate our father among the saints Photios, Patriarch of Constantinople, the Peer of the Apostles and Confessor.

We also commemorate our devout and God-bearing fathers Barsanouphios the Great Elder, and John who was known as the Prophet.

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

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Fasting Rule

Fast Free: All foods allowed.

It is the first week of the Triodion.