December 28, 2023 
Venerable Simon the Myrrh-gusher of Mt Athos and Bulgaria (1287)
New Hieromartyr Priest Pavel Florensky
20,000 Martyrs burned at Nicomedia including Glycerios the Presbyter, Zeno, Theophilus the Deacon, Dorotheus, Mardonius, Migdonius the Deacon, Indysos, Gorgonios, Peter, Euthymios, Secundos, Nicostrates, the Women martyrs Agatha, Domna, Theophila, Antonia Antonia and others (302)
Venerable Babylas of Tarsus
Venerable Ignatius of Lomsk and Yaroslavl (1591)
Apostle of the 70 Nicanor the Deacon (38)
RSS feed
Subscribe via email
Thursday of the 30th week after Pentecost
Heb 10.35-11.7 (Epistle)
Brethren, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
Mark 11.27-33 (Gospel)
At that time, Jesus came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him. And they said to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?” But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John – was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men’ – they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed. So they answered and said to Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus answered and said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”