Friday September 18, 2026 / September 5, 2026
16th Week after Pentecost. Tone six.
Fast.
Holy Prophet Zacharias and Righteous Elizabeth (1st c.), parents of St. John the Forerunner.
Martyrdom of St. Athanasius, abbot, of Brest, by the Latins (1649).
New Hieromartyr Alexis, archbishop of Velikoustiuzh, Martyr Euthymius (1937).
Uncovering of the relics of Venerable Alexander Urodov (2001).
Martyrdom of the Holy Passion-bearer Gleb of Russia, in holy baptism David (1051).
Martyrs Thiphael and his sister, Thivea (or Vivea) (98-138).
Martyr Sarbelus of Edessa.
Virgin-martyr Rhais (Raisa) of Alexandria (308).
Martyrs Juventinus and Maximus at Antioch (4th c.).
Martyrs Urban, Theodore, Medimnus, and 77 Companions at Nicomedia (370).
Martyrs Abdas, Hormizd, and Sunin of Persia (ca. 424).
Icon of the Mother of God Orshansk (1631).
Appearance of the Holy Apostle Peter to Emperor Justinian at Athira near Constantinople.
The Scripture Readings
7
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
8
which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
9
having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,
10
that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth-in Him.
11
In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,
12
that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
13
In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
14
who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
15
Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
16
do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
17
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
Mark 8:1-10
1
In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them,
2
I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.
3
And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar.
4
Then His disciples answered Him, “How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?”
5
He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.”
6
So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.
7
They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.
8
So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.
9
Now those who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away,
10
immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.
11
Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.
Hebrews 6:13-20 Prophet
13
For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself,
14
saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.”
15
And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
16
For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute.
17
Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath,
18
that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
19
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,
20
where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Matthew 23:29-39 Prophet
29
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,
30
and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’
31
Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
32
Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt.
33
Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?
34
Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city,
35
that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
36
Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
37
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!
38
See! Your house is left to you desolate;
39
for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’