--- title: "July 3, 2026 — Hieromartyr Methodius, Bishop of Patara" description: "Friday, July 3, 2026. 20 June (Old Style). Hieromartyr Methodius, Bishop of Patara. Fast day" url: "https://spas.life/en/orthodoxy/calendar/2026-07-03" language: "en" --- Friday # July 3, 2026 20 June (Old Style) · 5th week after Pentecost Russian Orthodox Church (Old Calendar) [Old Style](https://spas.life/en/orthodoxy/calendar/2026-07-03) [New Style](https://spas.life/en/orthodoxy/calendar/new-style/2026-07-03) [Month calendar](https://spas.life/en/orthodoxy/calendar/2026-07) [← July 2](https://spas.life/en/orthodoxy/calendar/2026-07-02) [July 4 →](https://spas.life/en/orthodoxy/calendar/2026-07-04) ## Events of the day - Hieromartyr Methodius, Bishop of Patara Commemoration ## Fasting Fast day · Apostles' Fast Apostles' Fast, Wednesday and Friday: xerophagy. - Meat: not allowed - Dairy & eggs: not allowed - Fish: not allowed - Oil: not allowed - Wine: not allowed - Xerophagy 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 - Epistle Romans 16:1–16 - Gospel Matthew 13:3–9 **Show the text** 3 He spoke to them many things in parables, saying, “Behold, a farmer went out to sow. 4 As he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Others fell on rocky ground, where they didn’t have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth. 6 When the sun had risen, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away. 7 Others fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Others fell on good soil, and yielded fruit: some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty. 9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Source: Orthocal: lectionary data — Slavic tradition, Julian calendar. Text: World English Bible. ## Saints and icons - Prayer of the day: [Short penitential prayers](https://spas.life/en/orthodoxy/prayers/penitential-short)