Wednesday 11th March 2026
Lenten Fast: strict fast
Today we commemorate:
St. Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem (638). St. Theodora the Righteous, Queen of Arta (13th C). St. George, abbot of Sinai, brother of St. John Climacus (6th C). Hieromartyr Pionius of Smyrna and those with him (250). St. John Moschus, author of ‘The Spiritual Meadow’ (622). St. George the New, Wonderworker of Constantinople. Repose of St. Euthymius, bishop of Novgorod, Wonderworker (1458).
British Isles and Ireland:
St. Oengus the Culdee, compiler of the first Irish Martyrology (824).
Isaiah 10:12-20; Genesis 7:6-9; Proverbs 9:12-18
Isaiah 10:12-20
It will be, when the Lord has accomplished everything on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, that he will turn upon the presumptuous mind of the ruler of the Assyrians and upon the arrogant pride of his eyes. For he said, ‘In my own strength I shall act, and through the wisdom of my understanding I will remove the nations’ frontiers and plunder their strength. I will make populous cities quake. I will take hold of the whole world like a nest, and like eggs that are abandoned I will gather them. No one will escape me or contradict me.’ Does an axe gain glory without the one who wields it? Or is a saw exalted without the one who draws it? And so it would be if someone were to lift up a stick or a staff. But it will not be like that. The Lord of hosts will send dishonour upon your honour, and set a flaming fire upon your reputation. The light of Israel will be as a fire, and it will sanctify him with burning fire and devour wood like grass. On that day the mountains and hills and forests will be snuffed out. They will be devoured soul and body, and anyone who flees will be like someone fleeing from a burning fire. Those among them who remain will be few in number; a child will record them. It will be on that day that the remnant of Israel and those of Jacob who are saved will no longer continue to put their trust in those who wronged them, but in truth they will trust in God, the Holy One of Israel.
Genesis 7:6-9
‘Noah was six hundred years old when the flood waters appeared on the earth. He went into the ark with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives because of the flood waters. From the clean birds and from the unclean birds, and from the clean livestock and from the unclean animals, and from all that moves upon the earth, two by two, male and female, they came to Noah in the ark as God had commanded.
Proverbs 9:12-18δ
Son, if you become wise for yourself, you will be wise for your neighbours as well. But if you turn out evil, you will bear the evil alone. He who relies on lies will be herding the winds, he will be chasing the birds that fly. For he has abandoned the paths of his own vineyard, and wandered from the tracks of his own farm. He travels through waterless desert, a land designed for thirst, and what his hands gather is fruitless. A foolish and brazen woman becomes in need of a crust, she who knows no shame. She sits at the door of her own house, seated openly in the street. She invites those who pass by, and those who keep to their straight roads. ‘Whoever among you is the most stupid, let him turn to me; and those who lack intelligence I encourage, and say, “Take, enjoy secret bread, and sweet stolen water.”’ But he does not know that the earth-born perish with her; she meets them in the roost of Hades. But instead, turn away; do not linger in the place; do not fix your eye upon her. In that way you would pass through alien water and cross an alien river. Keep away from alien water and do not drink from an alien spring, so that you may live long and years may be added to your life.
The text and chapter and verse references of the Old Testament readings are those of the Septuagint