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Sunday of the Thirteenth Week
Mode Four — Second Eothinon
The commemoration of the miracle performed by the Archangel Michael at Colossae (also known as Chonæ).
No Fasting.
The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 166]. Brethren:
16 13Keep on watching, standing fast in the faith, conducting yourselves in a courageous way, and being strong. 14Let all your things be done in love.
15But, I beseech you, brethren—ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they set themselves to ministering to the saints— 16that ye also be submitting to such, and to everyone who is helping in the work and toiling. 17And I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas, and of Fortunatos, and of Achaikos; for that which ye lacked, these supplied. 18For they refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore be acknowledging such ones as these.
19The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you much in the Lord, with the church in their house. 20All the brethren greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
21The greeting of me Paul with mine own hand. 22If anyone love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. The Lord hath come. 23The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 24My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.
The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 87]. The Lord said this parable:
21 33“There was a certain man, a master of a house, who planted a vineyard, and put a hedge around it, and dug a wine-vat in it in which to press grapes, and built a tower. And he let it out to vinedressers, and went abroad. 34“And when the season of the fruits drew near, he sent forth his slaves to the vinedressers to receive his fruits. 35“And the vinedressers took his slaves, and indeed beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. 36“Again he sent forth other slaves, more than the first; and they did to them in like manner. 37“But afterwards he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38“But after the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and let us gain possession of his inheritance.’ 39“And they took him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. 40“Whenever the lord, therefore, of the vineyard should come, what shall he do to those vinedressers?” 41They say to Him, “He will evilly destroy those evil men, and will let out the vineyard to other vinedressers who shall render to him the fruits in their seasons.” 42Jesus saith to them, “Did ye never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, this became the head of the corner; this came to be from the Lord, and it is marvellous in our eyes [Ps. 117(118):22, 23; cf. Is. 28:16]’?”
The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 305]. Brethren:
2 2If the word spoken by angels was confirmed, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, 3how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation, which received a beginning to be spoken of by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard, 4God also bearing them witness with both signs and wonders, and various works of power, and by distributions of the Holy Spirit, according to His will?
5For not to angels did He subject the coming inhabited world about which we speak; 6but one bore witness somewhere, saying, “What is man that Thou art mindful of him or the Son of Man that Thou visitest Him [Ps. 8:4]? 7“Thou didst make Him for a short time less than the angels; Thou didst crown Him with glory and honor [Ps. 8:5], 8“Thou didst subject all things under His feet [Ps. 8:6].” For in subjecting all things to Him, He left nothing not subject to Him. But now we see not yet all things subjected to Him. 9But we see Jesus, Who for a short time was made less than the angels on account of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, so that He, by the grace of God, should taste death for everyone. 10For it was becoming to Him, because of Whom are all things and by means of Whom are all things, bringing many sons to glory, to have perfected the originator of their salvation through sufferings.
The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 51]. The Lord said to His disciples:
10 16“The one who heareth you heareth Me, and the one who rejecteth you rejecteth Me, and the one who rejecteth Me rejecteth the One Who sent Me forth.”
17And the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are being made subject to us in Thy name.” 18And He said to them, “I was beholding Satan as lightning having fallen out of the heaven. 19“Behold, I give you the authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy; and nothing in anywise shall injure you. 20“However cease rejoicing in this, that the spirits are being made subject to you; but be rejoicing that your names were written in the heavens.” 21In the same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit, and said, “I give thanks to Thee, O Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent, and didst reveal them to babes. Yea, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing before Thee.”
September 19th — Civil Calendar September 6th — Church Calendar
1. The Commemoration of the Miracles of the Holy Archangel Michael.
There was in Phrygia a place called Chonae (plunging), not far from Hierapolis, and in that place there was a miraculous spring of water. When the Apostle John the Theologian, together with Philip, was preaching the Gospel in Hierapolis, he looked at this place and foretold that a spring would gush forth in it, a spring of healing water from which many would he restored to health, and that the place would be visited by Michael, the great archangel of God. This prophecy was very soon fulfilled: a spring of water appeared, which became known far and wide for its miraculous power. A pagan in Laodicea had a dumb daughter which caused him great grief, but the Archangel Michael appeared to him in a dream and urged him to take his daughter to this spring, that she might he restored to health. The father immediately obeyed, took his daughter and there encountered many people who had come to seek deliverance from various ills. They were all Christians. The man asked how he should seek healing, and the Christians told him: ‘In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, you must beg the Archangel Michael.’ The father made his petition accordingly and dipped his daughter in the water, and the girl began to speak. Then this pagan was baptised along with his daughter and his whole household, and built a church to the Archangel Michael over the spring.
Later, a young man called Archippus settled there. Pagans did him much malicious harm, for they did not want such power to be felt from a Christian holy place and many people be drawn to it. In their wickedness, they altered the course of a nearby river, so that it innundated the church and the spring. But, at the prayers of Archippus, the Archangel Michael appeared and opened a fissure in the rock at the end of the church, through which the flooding river plunged. So the place was saved, and became known as Chonae—plunging—from the river’s plunge through the opened fissure. St. Archippus lived there in asceticism till the age of seventy, and entered peacefully into rest in the Lord.
2. The Holy Martyr Romulus, and the 11,000 soldiers.
When the Emperor Trajan was waging war in the East, he once ordered a count of the Christians in his army, and it was found that there were eleven thousand Christians in the imperial army. The Emperor ordered that they all be dismissed from the army and sent to Armenia. St. Romulus was an official at the Emperor’s court. He went to the Emperor and chided him for these dismissals, acknowledging that he himself was a Christian. The Emperor ordered that Romulus be beheaded. Of the exiled soldiers, ten thousand were crucified and the others died under various tortures.
3. St. Eudoxius.
A commander in the Roman army, he suffered for Christ in the time of Diocletian, being judged and tortured by the governor of Melitene in Armenia. With him suffered his friends Zeno and Macarius, and 1,104 other soldiers whom Eudoxius had brought to the Christian faith. After his death, he appeared to his wife Vasilissa, who was faithful to Christ till her death and entered peacefully into rest.
4. Our Holy Father David.
He was a robber leader near Hermopolis in Egypt, and only in his later years came to himself, repented and became a monk. He entered peacefully into rest in the sixth century, being worthy of the Kingdom of God through his great asceticism.
FOR CONSIDERATION
Christianity has uprooted many barbaric customs from human society, but some of these customs, praiseworthy from the pagan point of view and shameful from the Christian, have remained to the present day as a hidden putrefaction from seemingly-healed wounds. One of these customs was the seizing and carrying-off of girls. St Basil writes strongly about this to one of his priests on the occasion of such an occurrence: ‘Do all in your power, when you find this girl, to take her away and return her to her parents, and deprive the abductor of participation in worship, and also those who helped him, according to my earlier direction—each of them with his whole house to be debarred from participation in worship for the space of three years. Any village that receives an abducted girl and hides her, and even holds her by force, is also deprived of such participation, and also anyone who encourages others to do this; that the abductor, like a snake or some such wild beast and universal enemy, may be driven from among them, and that we may show protection to the abused.
Daily Scripture Readings taken from The Orthodox New Testament, translated and published by Holy Apostles Convent, Buena Vista, Colorado, copyright © 2000, used with permission, all rights reserved.
Daily Prologue Readings taken from The Prologue of Ochrid, by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic, translated by Mother Maria, published by Lazarica Press, Birmingham, England, copyright © 1985, all rights reserved.
