Monday 3rd November 2025
Dedication of the Church of the Great Martyr George in Lydda
Today we commemorate:
Holy Martyrs Acepsimas the bishop, Joseph the presbyter, and Aithalas the deacon, of Persia (4th C). New Martyr hieromonk George of Neopolis, Asia Minor (1797). St. Theodore the confessor, bishop of Ancyra (9th C). St. Nicholas of Iveron and Georgia (1308).
British Isles and Ireland:
St. Winifred of Treffynon (Holywell) (7th C). St. Elerius, abbot (6th C). St. Clodock, hermit (6th C). St. Wulgan of Canterbury, confessor (8th C). St. Romwold of Northumbria, confessor (7th C). St. Cristiolus (7th C) brother of St. Sulian and founder of churches. St. Englatius of Tarves, Aberdeenshire (966). St. Vulganius hermit in Arras (c.704).
Colossians 2:13-20; Luke 11:29-33
For the Commemoration: Acts 12:1-11; John 15:17-16:2
Readings in bold type are those appointed by the Typikon for use at the Liturgy
Colossians 2:13-20
Brothers and sisters, you, who were dead in the transgressions and uncircumcision of your flesh, he made alive with him by forgiving us every transgression. He erased what was written against us in law. He lifted it away, nailing it to the cross, through which he stripped bare the powers and authorities, making a public spectacle of them and triumphing over them. Therefore let no one judge you concerning eating or drinking, or with regard to a feast day or a new moon or Sabbaths. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one defraud you with a passion for abasement or worshipping angels, trespassing into what is not seen with the foolish arrogance of a mind of flesh, and not holding on to the head from whom the whole body is supported; for, knit together by the joints and ligaments, it grows in the strength of God. If with Christ you died to the elemental principles of the world, why then are you bound by its rules as though you were living in the world?
Luke 11:29-33
At that time, with the crowds gathering, Jesus began to say, ‘This generation is an evil generation; it looks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so too the Son of Man will be a sign to this generation. The Queen of the South will rise up at the judgement with the men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and what you see here is greater than Solomon. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and what you see here is greater than Jonah. No one lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a measuring tub, but on a lamp stand so that those entering may see the light.’
Acts 12:1-11
At that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to inflict evil upon some of those in the Church. James the brother of John he put to the sword, and when he saw that this pleased the Jews he went further. During the Days of Unleavened Bread he also took Peter whom he arrested and put in prison, handing him over to four squads of four soldiers to guard him. He intended after Passover to bring him out before the people. While Peter was being held in prison, fervent prayer to God was being kept up by the Church on his behalf. The very night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, and in front of the gate sentries were guarding the prison. Suddenly an angel of the Lord was there, and a light shone in the cell. Prodding Peter in the ribs, he roused him saying, ‘Get up quickly.’ And his chains fell from his hands. The angel then said to him, ‘Get dressed and put on your sandals,’ and he did so. Then he told him, ‘Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.’ He set off and followed him, but he did not realise that what the angel was doing was real; he supposed he was seeing a vision. When they had passed through the first and second guardrooms they arrived at the iron gate leading out into the city, and it opened for them of its own accord. They went through it and continued down one street, and then the angel suddenly left him. Peter came to himself and said, ‘Now I know it is true that the Lord sent his angel, and that he has rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.’
John 15:17-16:2
The Lord said to his disciples, ‘These things I command you so that you may love one another. If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But you are not of the world because I chose you from the world, and that is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: the slave is not greater than the master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you as well. If they heeded my word, they will heed yours as well. Yes, they will do all these things to you on account of my name because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me, also hates my Father. If I had not done among them the works that no one else has done they would have no sin, but now they have seen me they hate both me and my Father. It is so that the words written in their law may be fulfilled: “They hated me for no reason.” When the Advocate comes whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me. You will also bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning. I have told you these things so that you may not stumble. They will expel you from the synagogues. Indeed the time is coming when those who kill you will think that they are offering worship to God.’