April 6, 2026

Events of the day

• Great and Holy Monday

  Commemoration

  Holy Week: a distinct period of strict fasting following Great Lent.

• St Zacharias the Monk

  Commemoration

• Holy Week begins

  Informational

• ? The forefeast/leave-taking of “Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos” this year depends on Triodion rules not yet in the verified table — check a printed calendar.

Fasting

Fast day · Holy Week

Holy Week (Monday–Wednesday): 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

• Gospel · Bridegroom

  Matthew 21:18–43

• 6th Hour

  Ezekiel 1:1–20

• Vespers

  Exodus 1:1–20

• Vespers

  Job 1:1–12

• Vespers · Annunciation

  Genesis 28:10–17

• Vespers · Annunciation

  Ezekiel 43:27–44:4

• Vespers · Annunciation

  Proverbs 9:1–11

• Gospel · Presanctified

  Matthew 24:3–35

  Show the text

  ³As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?”

  ⁴Jesus answered them, “Be careful that no one leads you astray.

  ⁵For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will lead many astray.

  ⁶You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you aren’t troubled, for all this must happen, but the end is not yet.

  ⁷For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be famines, plagues, and earthquakes in various places.

  ⁸But all these things are the beginning of birth pains.

  ⁹Then they will deliver you up to oppression, and will kill you. You will be hated by all of the nations for my name’s sake.

  ¹⁰Then many will stumble, and will deliver up one another, and will hate one another.

  ¹¹Many false prophets will arise, and will lead many astray.

  ¹²Because iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold.

  ¹³But he who endures to the end will be saved.

  ¹⁴This Good News of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

  ¹⁵“When, therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),

  ¹⁶then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

  ¹⁷Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take out the things that are in his house.

  ¹⁸Let him who is in the field not return back to get his clothes.

  ¹⁹But woe to those who are with child and to nursing mothers in those days!

  ²⁰Pray that your flight will not be in the winter, nor on a Sabbath,

  ²¹for then there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be.

  ²²Unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones, those days will be shortened.

  ²³“Then if any man tells you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or, ‘There,’ don’t believe it.

  ²⁴For there will arise false christs, and false prophets, and they will show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones.

  ²⁵“Behold, I have told you beforehand.

  ²⁶If therefore they tell you, ‘Behold, he is in the wilderness,’ don’t go out; or ‘Behold, he is in the inner rooms,’ don’t believe it.

  ²⁷For as the lightning flashes from the east, and is seen even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

  ²⁸For wherever the carcass is, that is where the vultures gather together.

  ²⁹But immediately after the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken;

  ³⁰and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.

  ³¹He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

  ³²“Now from the fig tree learn this parable. When its branch has now become tender, and produces its leaves, you know that the summer is near.

  ³³Even so you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

  ³⁴Most certainly I tell you, this generation will not pass away, until all these things are accomplished.

  ³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

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

Saints and icons

• Prayer of the day: Prayer of St Ephrem the Syrian