Friday 27th February 2026
Lenten Fast: strict fast
Today we commemorate:
St. Procopios the Confessor of The Decapolis (8th C). St. Thallelaeus, hermit, of Syria (460). SS Asclepios and James of Syria, monks (5th C). Holy Martyr Gelasius the Actor at Heliopolis (297). St. Stephen, monk of Constantinople (614).
British Isles and Ireland:
St. Comgan, abbot of Glenthsen or Killeshin (c.565). Holy Martyr Alnoth of Stowe, nr. Bugbrooke (c.700).
Isaiah 3:1-14; Genesis 2:20-3:20; Proverbs 3:19-34; Little Compline: John 15:1-7
Isaiah 3:1-14
Now behold, the Master, the Lord of hosts, will remove from Judah and from Jerusalem the strong man and the strong woman, the supply of bread and the supply of water, the giant and the mighty man of war, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, the captain of fifty and the wonderful counsellor, the skilled craftsman and the intelligent listener. I shall set up youths as their rulers and mockers will lord it over them. The people will fall together, man against man, a man against his neighbour. The child will stumble against the elderly and the dishonourable against the honourable. Because of that a man will grab hold of his brother, or one of his father’s household, saying, ‘You have a coat. You be our leader and I shall eat at your table.’ On that day he will reply, ‘I will not be your leader for in my house there is neither food nor clothing. I will not be the leader of this people.’ For Jerusalem has been abandoned and Judah has fallen because their tongues are devoted to lawlessness; they are disobedient to the Lord, and so their glory is now overthrown. The shame on their faces testifies against them. They have openly displayed their sin like that of Sodom and have flaunted it. Alas for their souls. They have devised an evil scheme against themselves and said, ‘Let us put the righteous one in chains for he is a nuisance to us.’ But they will reap the fruits of their actions. Alas for the transgressor. It will go ill with him because of what he has done. O my people, your assessors will strip you and your creditors will rule you. O my people, those who bless you lead you astray and divert the path beneath your feet. The Lord will stand up to judge; he will bring his people to judgement. The Lord himself will enter into judgement with the elders of the people, with their rulers.
Genesis 2:20-3:20
Adam gave names to all the livestock and to all the birds of the air and to all the wild animals of the field, but for Adam no helper like him was found. And so God put Adam into a trance, and he slept. He took one of his ribs and filled up the flesh in its place. God formed the rib that he had taken from Adam into a woman, and he brought her to Adam, and Adam said, ‘This now is bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh. She will be called woman because she was taken from man.’ A man will therefore leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two will become one flesh. The two were naked, both Adam and his wife, and they were not ashamed. Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals upon earth that the Lord God had made. The serpent said to the woman, ‘Why has God said, “You may not eat from any tree in the garden?”’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat from the fruit of the trees of the garden, but not the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden. God has said, “You may not eat it or touch it, or you will die.”’ And the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die, but God knows that on the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.’ The woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was attractive to look at and beautiful to contemplate, and so she took some of its fruit and ate, and she also gave it to her husband with her, and they ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together to make loincloths for themselves. They heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the evening, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. The Lord God called to Adam and said to him, ‘Adam, where are you?’ And he answered him, ‘I heard your voice as you walked in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.’ And God said to him, ‘Who told you that you were naked, unless you have eaten from the one tree from which I commanded you not to eat?’ Adam said, ‘The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave it to me from the tree and I ate.’ The Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this that you have done?’ And the woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me and I ate.’ The Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this you are cursed more than the livestock, more than all the wild animals upon earth. On your front, on your belly you will move, and you will eat earth all the days of your life. And I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; they will watch your head, and you will watch their heel.’ He said to the woman, ‘I will greatly multiply your pain and suffering. In pain you will give birth to children. You will be dependent on your husband and he will rule over you.’ And to Adam he said, ‘Because you have listened to what your wife told you and have eaten from the one tree from which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground where you labour, and with toil you will eat from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles, and you will eat plants from the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread until you return to the earth from which you were taken. For you are earth, and to earth you will return.’ Adam called his wife Life because she is the mother of all the living.
Proverbs 3:19-34
God by wisdom founded the earth. By prudence he prepared the heavens. By insight the depths were broken up and the clouds dropped rain. My son, do not let this pass you by. Keep my counsel and understanding so that your soul may live, so that grace may adorn your neck, so that your body may be healthy and your bones sound, so that in all your ways you may walk confidently in peace, and so that your foot may not stumble. For if you sit down, you will not be dismayed, and if you sleep, you will slumber sweetly. And you will not be afraid of terror that comes upon you, nor of assaults by ungodly men who come at you, for the Lord will oversee all your ways and establish your feet so that you are not moved. Do not neglect to do good to the needy whenever your hand has opportunity to help. Do not say, “Come back another time. Tomorrow I will give you something,” for you do not know what the next day will bring. Do not devise evils against your friend who lives near you and trusts you. Do not contend with anyone without reason, or he may do some evil to you. Do not acquire the notoriety of evil men, nor imitate their ways. For every transgressor is unclean in the sight of the Lord; he does not sit with the righteous. The curse of God is in the homes of the ungodly, but the dwellings of the just are blessed. The Lord resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.
Little Compline:
John 15:1-7
The Lord said to his disciples, ‘I am the True Vine and my Father is the vine-grower. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he removes, but every one that bears fruit he prunes so that it may bear more fruit. You are already pruned through the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit unless it remains in the vine, nor can you unless you remain in me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. Those who remain in me and I in them bear much fruit, but separated from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown out like a branch and withers. They then gather them up to be thrown on the fire and burnt. If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.’
The text and chapter and verse references of the Old Testament readings are those of the Septuagint