Prayer Before Reading Holy Scripture
O Master Who loves mankind, illuminate our hearts with the pure light of Your divine knowledge and open the eyes of our mind to understand the teachings of Your Gospel. Instill in us also the fear of Your blessed commandments, that we may overcome all carnal desires, entering upon a spiritual life and understanding and acting in all things according to Your holy will. For You are the enlightenment of our souls and bodies, O Christ God, and to You we give glory together with Your eternal Father and Your all-holy, gracious and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and forever. Amen.
Epistle Reading: Romans 5:17-6:2
For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one,
much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of
righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all
men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the
free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.
For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so
also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.
Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But
where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,
so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign
through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace
may abound?
Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in
it?
Gospel Reading: Matthew 9:14-17
Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we
and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"
And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom
mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when
the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
"No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment;
for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.
"Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins, or else the
wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But
they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."
Saints and Feasts
The Saturday of Souls; Bartholomew the Holy Apostle; Barnabas the Holy Apostle; Revelation of the Hymn Axion Estin to a monk on Mt. Athos by the Archangel Gabriel; Luke of Simferopol
