May 13, 2024

Events of the day

• Apostle James son of Zebedee; St Ignatius Brianchaninov

  Polyeleos rank

• Afterfeast: Pascha. The Bright Resurrection of Christ

Fasting

No fast

No fast today.

Food rules are reference church information. Agree your personal measure of fasting with a priest; consult a doctor if you are ill.

Readings of the day

• Vespers · St James

  James 1:1–12

• Vespers · St James

  James 1:13–27

• Vespers · St James

  James 2:1–13

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  ¹My brothers, don’t hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory with partiality.

  ²For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in,

  ³and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing and say, “Sit here in a good place;” and you tell the poor man, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool”

  ⁴haven’t you shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

  ⁵Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?

  ⁶But you have dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you, and personally drag you before the courts?

  ⁷Don’t they blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called?

  ⁸However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well.

  ⁹But if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors.

  ¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.

  ¹¹For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

  ¹²So speak and so do, as men who are to be judged by a law of freedom.

  ¹³For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

• Matins Gospel

  John 21:15–25

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  ¹⁵So when they had eaten their breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I have affection for you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

  ¹⁶He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I have affection for you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”

  ¹⁷He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you have affection for me?” Peter was grieved because he asked him the third time, “Do you have affection for me?” He said to him, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I have affection for you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.

  ¹⁸Most certainly I tell you, when you were young, you dressed yourself and walked where you wanted to. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you don’t want to go.”

  ¹⁹Now he said this, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. When he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”

  ²⁰Then Peter, turning around, saw a disciple following. This was the disciple whom Jesus loved, the one who had also leaned on Jesus’ breast at the supper and asked, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”

  ²¹Peter seeing him, said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?”

  ²²Jesus said to him, “If I desire that he stay until I come, what is that to you? You follow me.”

  ²³This saying therefore went out among the brothers, that this disciple wouldn’t die. Yet Jesus didn’t say to him that he wouldn’t die, but, “If I desire that he stay until I come, what is that to you?”

  ²⁴This is the disciple who testifies about these things, and wrote these things. We know that his witness is true.

  ²⁵There are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they would all be written, I suppose that even the world itself wouldn’t have room for the books that would be written.

• Epistle

  Acts 3:19–26

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  ¹⁹“Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord,

  ²⁰and that he may send Christ Jesus, who was ordained for you before,

  ²¹whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God spoke long ago by the mouth of his holy prophets.

  ²²For Moses indeed said to the fathers, ‘The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him in all things whatever he says to you.

  ²³It will be that every soul that will not listen to that prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.’

  ²⁴Yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and those who followed after, as many as have spoken, they also told of these days.

  ²⁵You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘All the families of the earth will be blessed through your offspring.’

  ²⁶God, having raised up his servant Jesus, sent him to you first to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your wickedness.”

• Epistle · St James

  Acts 12:1–11

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  ¹Now about that time, King Herod stretched out his hands to oppress some of the assembly.

  ²He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword.

  ³When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This was during the days of unleavened bread.

  ⁴When he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover.

  ⁵Peter therefore was kept in the prison, but constant prayer was made by the assembly to God for him.

  ⁶The same night when Herod was about to bring him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains. Guards in front of the door kept the prison.

  ⁷And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side, and woke him up, saying, “Stand up quickly!” His chains fell off his hands.

  ⁸The angel said to him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” He did so. He said to him, “Put on your cloak and follow me.”

  ⁹And he went out and followed him. He didn’t know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he saw a vision.

  ¹⁰When they were past the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them by itself. They went out, and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

  ¹¹When Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I truly know that the Lord has sent out his angel and delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from everything the Jewish people were expecting.”

• Gospel

  John 2:1–11

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  ¹The third day, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there.

  ²Jesus also was invited, with his disciples, to the wedding.

  ³When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine.”

  ⁴Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with you and me? My hour has not yet come.”

  ⁵His mother said to the servants, “Whatever he says to you, do it.”

  ⁶Now there were six water pots of stone set there after the Jews’ way of purifying, containing two or three metretes apiece.

  ⁷Jesus said to them, “Fill the water pots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim.

  ⁸He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the ruler of the feast.” So they took it.

  ⁹When the ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and didn’t know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the ruler of the feast called the bridegroom

  ¹⁰and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the guests have drunk freely, then that which is worse. You have kept the good wine until now!”

  ¹¹This beginning of his signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

• Gospel · St James

  Luke 5:1–11

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  ¹Now while the multitude pressed on him and heard the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret.

  ²He saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

  ³He entered into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.

  ⁴When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch.”

  ⁵Simon answered him, “Master, we worked all night, and took nothing; but at your word I will let down the net.”

  ⁶When they had done this, they caught a great multitude of fish, and their net was breaking.

  ⁷They beckoned to their partners in the other boat, that they should come and help them. They came, and filled both boats, so that they began to sink.

  ⁸But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.”

  ⁹For he was amazed, and all who were with him, at the catch of fish which they had caught;

  ¹⁰and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will be catching people alive.”

  ¹¹When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything, and followed him.

Source: Orthocal: lectionary data — Slavic tradition, Julian calendar. Text: World English Bible.

Saints and icons

• Prayer of the day: Morning prayer of St Macarius the Great