Saturday 27th December 2025
Saturday after the Nativity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
Holy Protomartyr and Protodeacon Stephen
Afterfeast of The Nativity of Christ
Today we commemorate:
St. Theodore the Confessor, archbishop of Constantinople (686). St. Theodore Graptus (‘the branded’), Confessor and brother of Theophanes the Hymnographer (840).
1 Timothy 6:11-16; Matthew 12:15-21
For the Commemoration: Acts 6:8-7:5,47-60; Matthew 21:33-42
Readings in bold type are those appointed by the Typikon for use at the Liturgy
1 Timothy 6:11-16
Timothy, my son, pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, humility. Fight the good fight of faith; lay hold of the everlasting life to which you were called, and of the noble confession that you professed in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus who bore witness to the noble confession before Pontius Pilate, to keep the commandment unblemished, blameless, until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ which he will reveal in his own time. He is the blessed and only Mighty One, the King of kings and Lord of lords who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no human being has seen or is able to see. To him be honour and everlasting dominion. Amen.
Matthew 12:15-21
At that time great crowds followed Jesus, and he healed them all; and he cautioned them not to make him known. This is how what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet was fulfilled: ‘Behold my servant whom I chose, my beloved in whom my soul delights. I shall put my Spirit upon him and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not rampage or roar, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, a smouldering wick he will not snuff out, until he has driven justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope.’
Acts 6:8-7:5,47-60
In those days Stephen, full of faith and power, was performing wonders and great signs among the people. But there arose from the Synagogue of the Freedmen, as it was called, some Cyrenians and Alexandrians and those from Cilicia and Asia who argued with Stephen, though they were not able to stand up against the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. They then induced men to say, ‘We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.’ They also stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they confronted him, seized him, and brought him before the Sanhedrin. They also produced false witnesses who said, ‘This man never stops blaspheming against the Holy Place and against the Law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will demolish this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.’ And as they looked closely at him, all those sitting in the Sanhedrin saw his face as the face of an angel. The High Priest asked, ‘Is this really so?’ And he declared, ‘Men, brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived at Haran, and said to him, “Leave your land and your relatives and come here to the land that I shall show you.” At that time he left the land of the Chaldaeans and settled at Haran, and from there, after the death of his father, he moved him to this land where you now live. He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foothold, but he promised to give it to him and to his descendants after him as a possession, though he had no child. … Solomon built God a house, but the Most High does not live in sanctuaries made by hands. As the prophet says, “Heaven is my throne and the earth my footstool. What kind of house would you build for me,” says the Lord, “and where would I reside? Have my hands not made all of this?” Obstinate people and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit; you do as your ancestors did. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers, you who received the law through the ministration of angels but did not keep it.’ When they heard this they were cut to the heart and ground their teeth at him. Filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. He exclaimed, ‘Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ They cried out in a loud voice and covered their ears, and as one they rushed upon him. They threw him out of the city and stoned him, while the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they were stoning him, Stephen called out, saying, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he fell to his knees and cried in a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ After saying this he fell asleep.
Matthew 21:33-42
The Lord told this parable. ‘There was a property owner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a wine vat in it and built a tower. Then he let it out to vine-growers and went abroad. When the fruit season drew near he sent his servants to the vine-growers to collect his produce, but the vine-growers seized his servants. One they beat, one they killed, and one they stoned. Again he sent other servants, more than at first, and they treated them in the same way. Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” But when the vine-growers saw the son they said to each other, “This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take possession of his inheritance.” And they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the master of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those vine-growers?’ They told him, ‘He will bring those wretches to a miserable end, and then let out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will hand over the produce to him at the appropriate season.’ Jesus asked them, ‘Have you never read in the Scriptures, “The stone that the builders rejected is the one that became the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvellous in our eyes”?’