2026

On Thursday | February 26

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THE PROPHECY

READER

Prokeimenon. Mode 4.

Psalm 13 (14).

When the Lord returns His people from captivity.

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” [SAAS]

The reading is from the Prophecy of Isaiah.

PRIEST

Wisdom. Let us be attentive.

READER

Is 2:11 – 21

The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall come upon all who are insolent, arrogant, high and lifted up, and they shall be humbled; and upon every cedar tree of Lebanon, high and lifted up, and upon every oak of Bashan, and upon every mountain and lofty hill, and upon every high tower and fortified wall, and upon every ship of the sea, and upon every sight of beautiful ships. Every man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of man shall fall. The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. But they shall hide all the things made by hands. They shall carry them into the caves and cracks of the rocks, and into the holes of the earth, from fear of the Lord’s presence and the glory of His might when He arises to strike the earth. For in that day, man will cast away his abominations of silver and gold, which they made to worship worthless things and bats, so as to enter into the holes of solid rocks and clefts of the rugged rocks, from fear of the Lord and the glory of His might when He arises to strike the earth. [SAAS]

Prokeimenon. Mode 4.

Psalm 14 (15).

O Lord, who shall dwell in Your tabernacle.

He who walks blamelessly, and works righteousness. [SAAS]

The Readings from Vespers

READER

Prokeimenon. Mode 4.

Psalm 15 (16).

I will bless the Lord who caused me to understand.

Preserve me, O Lord, because I hope in You. [SAAS]

The reading is from the book of Genesis.

PRIEST

Wisdom. Let us be attentive.

READER

Gn 2:4 – 19

This is the book of the genesis of heaven and earth when they were made, in the day the Lord God made heaven and earth, before any plant of the field was on earth and before any herb of the field sprang up. For God had not sent rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a fountain came up from the ground and watered the whole face of the earth. Then God formed man out of dust from the ground, and breathed in his face the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Then the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man He formed. Besides this, God caused every tree beautiful to the sight and good for food to grow from the ground. Also, in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of learning the knowledge of good and evil. Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it separated into four heads. The name of the first is Pishon. It circles all the land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good. The carbuncle and the emerald are there as well. The name of the second river is Gihon. It circles all the land of Ethiopia. The name of the third river is Tigris. It flows over against the Assyrians. And the fourth river is Euphrates. Then the Lord God took the man He formed and put him in the garden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded Adam, saying, “You may eat food from every tree in the garden; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you may not eat; for in whatever day you eat from it, you shall die by death.” And the Lord God said, “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.” Also, God formed out of the ground all the wild animals of the field and all the birds of heaven, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. Thus whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. [SAAS]

Prokeimenon. Mode 4.

Psalm 16 (17).

Keep me as the apple of Your eye.

Listen, O Lord of my righteousness. [SAAS]

The reading is from the Proverbs of Solomon.

PRIEST

Wisdom. Let us be attentive.

READER

Pr 3:1 – 20

My son, do not forget my laws, but let your heart keep my words; for length of days, and years of life and peace they will add to you. Do not let almsgiving and faithfulness forsake you, but hang them upon your neck; and you will find grace and provide good things before the Lord and men. Trust in God with all your heart, and do not exalt your own wisdom. In all your ways know wisdom, that she may cut a straight path for you; and your foot will not stumble. Do not rely on your own discernment, but fear God, and turn away from every evil. Then there shall be healing for your body and care for your bones. Honor the Lord from your righteous labors, and offer Him the firstfruits from the fruits of your righteousness, that your storehouses may be filled with abundance of grain, and your winepresses may gush with wine. My son, do not despise the instruction of the Lord, neither grow weary under His reproof. For whom the Lord loves He instructs, and chastises every son He receives. 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. And 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. For length of days and years of life are in her right hand, and in her left hand are riches and glory; righteousness proceeds from her mouth, and she carries law and mercy upon her tongue. Her ways are good ways, and all her paths are in peace. She is a tree of life for all who cleave to her, and she is security for those who lean upon her as upon the Lord. [SAAS]

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The Readings for the Commemoration

2026

February 26

Memory of the Holy Great-martyr Photini the Samaritan Woman

The Readings from Vespers the Previous Evening

Menaion Supplement - - -

Pr 1:20; 3:21 – 37

Wisdom sings in the streets; she moves boldly in the squares. God by wisdom founded the earth and prepared the heavens with discernment. With perception the depths were broken up, and the clouds flowed with dew. My son, do not be careless, but keep my counsel and thinking, that your soul may live, and grace may be around your neck. And there will be healing for your flesh and care for your bones, that you may walk confidently in peace in all your ways, and your foot may not stumble. For if you sit down, you will be without fear, and if you lie down, your sleep will be pleasant. And do not be afraid of intimidation when it comes upon you, nor of the attack of the ungodly when it comes at you; for the Lord will be over all your ways, and He will plant your feet firmly, that you may not be shaken. Do not withhold doing good to the needy, when you may give a helping hand; do not say, when you are able to do good, “Come back tomorrow, and I will give you something”; for you do not know what the next day will bring forth. Do not devise evil things against your friend who dwells beside you and trusts in you. Do not be ready to quarrel with a man in vain, lest he do you some harm. Do not incur the reproach of evil men, neither seek their ways; for every lawless man is unclean before the Lord, and he does not sit among the righteous. The curse of God is in the houses of the ungodly, but He blesses the dwellings of the righteous. The Lord opposes the arrogant, but He gives grace to the humble. [SAAS]

Pr 31:8 – 30

Open your mouth for the word of God, and judge all men fairly; Open your mouth and judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and helpless. Who will find a courageous wife? For such a one is more valuable than precious stones. The heart of her husband trusts in her; she will not be at a loss for fine spoils, for she provides good things for her husband all her life. She weaves wool and linen cloth and is productive with her hands. She is like a ship trading afar off, so she procures her livelihood. She also rises before dawn and gives food to her household, and appoints tasks for her maidservants. Seeing a farm, she buys it, and from the fruits of her hands she plants her plot of land. Strongly girding her loins, she strengthens her arms for work. She experiences work as a good thing, and her lamp is not quenched all night. She extends her arms to do profitable things, and she applies her hands to the spindle. She opens her hands to the poor and reaches out with her fruit to the needy. Her husband is not anxious about those at home when he spends a long time elsewhere, for all her household are clothed. She makes a double upper garment for her husband and garments of fine linen and purple for herself. Her husband is respected at the gates and when he sits in council with the elders who inhabit the land. She makes and sells fine linens and girdles to the Canaanites. She opens her mouth carefully and lawfully and controls her tongue. She clothes herself with strength and dignity and rejoices in the last days. She runs her household carefully, and she does not eat the bread of idleness. She opens her mouth wisely and lawfully, and her charity raises her children, and they become rich, and her husband praises her, “Many daughters acquire riches; many do mighty things, but you excel and surpass all.” Desires to please are deceitful, and the beauty of a wife is vain; for a wise wife is blessed, and let her in fear praise the Lord. Give to her from the fruits of her hands, and let her husband praise her at the gates. [SAAS]

Pr Κεφ. 3, 11 – 18

My son, do not despise the instruction of the Lord, neither grow weary under His reproof. For whom the Lord loves He instructs, and chastises every son He receives. 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. And 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. For length of days and years of life are in her right hand, and in her left hand are riches and glory; righteousness proceeds from her mouth, and she carries law and mercy upon her tongue. Her ways are good ways, and all her paths are in peace. [Wickedness shall never prevail over wisdom.] [SAAS]

The Epistle

For the Holy Woman.

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

2 Cor. 4:1 – 12

Brethren, having this ministry as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. We have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways; we refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of truth we would commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the likeness of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For while we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. [RSV]

The Gospel

For the Holy Woman.

The reading is from the holy Gospel according to John.

Jn. 4:5 – 42

At that time, Jesus came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and so Jesus, wearied as he was with his journey, sat down beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband; this you said truly.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain; and you say that Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ); when he comes, he will show us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” Just then his disciples came. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but none said, “What do you wish?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar, and went away into the city and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the city and were coming to him. Meanwhile the disciples besought him, saying “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him food?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see how the fields are already white for harvest. He who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony. “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard ourselves, and we know that this is indeed Christ the Savior of the world.” [RSV]

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Stand for the reading of the Synaxarion.

Synaxarion

From the Menaion.

On February 26, we commemorate our devout father Porphyrios, Bishop of Gaza.

On this day we also commemorate the holy martyr Photini the Samaritan woman with whom Christ spoke at the well, and those with her.

On this day St. Photo, her sister, died by the sword.

On this day St. Photis, another of her sisters, died when she was tied to two trees and split in two.

On this day St. Paraskeve, another of her sisters, died by the sword.

On this day St. Kyriaki, another of her sisters, died by the sword.

On this day the holy martyr Joses, son of St. Photini, died by the sword.

On this day St. Photinos, another of her sons, died by the sword.

On this day St. Sebastian the Duke died by the sword.

The holy new martyr John the craftsman died by the sword in Constantinople in the year 1575.

By the intercessions of Your Saints, O God, have mercy on us. Amen.

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Fasting Rule

Strict: Refrain from meat, fish, oil, dairy, and eggs.

It is a weekday in Lent.