Tuesday 20th January 2026
Our Holy and Godbearing Father Euthymios the Great of Palestine (473)
Today we commemorate:
New Martyr Zacharias in Patrai in Morea (1782). St. Leo the Great, confessor, Emperor of the East (474). Blessed Peter the Customs Inspector of Constantinople (6th C). Holy Martyr Sebastian (288)
British Isles and Ireland:
St. Fechin, abbot of Fobhar (664). St. Molagga, disciple of St. David and abbot of Fermoy (664).
1 Peter 3:10-22; Mark 6:1-7
For the Commemoration: 2 Corinthians 4:6-15; Luke 6:17-23
Readings in bold type are those appointed by the Typikon for use at the Liturgy
1 Peter 3:10-22
Beloved, ‘Those who desire to love life and to see good days should restrain their tongue from evil and their lips from speaking deceitfully. Let them turn away from evil and do good. Let them seek peace and pursue it, for the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.’ And who will harm you if you become a model of virtue? But even if you should suffer because of righteousness, blessed ones, ‘do not be alarmed by the fear of them, and do not be troubled.’ Reverence the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready with an answer for everyone who asks you for an account of the hope that is in you; but do it with humility and fear. Keep a good conscience so that those who slander you as evildoers and despise your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. And it is better to suffer while doing good, if it is God’s will, than to do evil, for Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, so that he might lead us to God. He was put to death in the flesh and made alive in the Spirit, in which he went and preached to the spirits in prison who refused to believe at the time when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while an ark was being built in which a few, that is eight souls, were saved through water. Baptism, which this prefigured, now saves us. It is not a removal of bodily dirt, but a question of a good conscience before God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ who has gone on into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels, authorities and powers subject to him.
Mark 6:1-7
At that time Jesus set out and returned to his home town, and his disciples followed him. When the Sabbath came round he began to teach in the synagogue, and many listening were amazed, saying, ‘Where did this man get these things?’ and, ‘What wisdom has been given him,’ and, ‘Such miracles happen at his hands.’ ‘Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon; and are his sisters not here with us?’ And they took offence at him. Jesus told them, ‘A prophet is not without honour except in his home town and among his own relatives and in his own house.’ He was not able to perform even a single miracle there, apart from laying hands on a few who were ill and healing them, and he was astonished at their lack of faith. He was travelling around the villages in a circle, teaching. He summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs, giving them authority over the unclean spirits.
2 Corinthians 4:6-15
Brothers and sisters, God, who has said, ‘Out of the darkness light shall shine,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in clay pots, because the supreme power is from God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; we are persecuted, but not abandoned; we are struck down, but not destroyed. At all times we carry in our bodies the death of the Lord Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being delivered up to death for the sake of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our mortal flesh. Death is therefore at work in us, but life in you. We have the same Spirit of faith as that which is written: ‘I believed and therefore I spoke.’ We too believe and therefore we speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will also through Jesus raise us up and present us with you. Everything is because of you, for as grace increases, the thanksgiving of many more will overflow to the glory of God.
Luke 6:17-23
At that time Jesus came down and stopped at a level place. A crowd of his disciples and a great number from all Judaea, Jerusalem, and from the coastal areas of Tyre and Sidon came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases, those too who were troubled by unclean spirits, and they were healed. The whole crowd was trying to touch him because power was coming from him, and he was healing them all. Then he raised his eyes to his disciples and said, ‘Blessed are the poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God. Blessed are those who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are those who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you and drag down your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for you know that your reward is great in heaven.’