September 14, 2023

Events of the day

• Exaltation of the Precious and Life-giving Cross

  Twelve Great Feast

  Commemorates the finding of the Lord's Cross by the holy Empress Helena in Jerusalem (4th century). A strict fast day.

Fasting

Fast day · Exaltation of the Cross

Exaltation of the Cross: strict fast, food with oil.

• Meat: not allowed
• Dairy & eggs: not allowed
• Fish: not allowed
• Oil: allowed
• Wine: allowed

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

  Exodus 15:22–16:1

• Vespers

  Proverbs 3:11–18

• Vespers

  Isaiah 60:11–16

• Matins Gospel

  John 12:28–36

  Show the text

  ²⁸Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came out of the sky, saying, “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

  ²⁹Therefore the multitude who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”

  ³⁰Jesus answered, “This voice hasn’t come for my sake, but for your sakes.

  ³¹Now is the judgment of this world. Now the prince of this world will be cast out.

  ³²And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

  ³³But he said this, signifying by what kind of death he should die.

  ³⁴The multitude answered him, “We have heard out of the law that the Christ remains forever. How do you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up?’ Who is this Son of Man?”

  ³⁵Jesus therefore said to them, “Yet a little while the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, that darkness doesn’t overtake you. He who walks in the darkness doesn’t know where he is going.

  ³⁶While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become children of light.” Jesus said these things, and he departed and hid himself from them.

• Epistle · Elevation

  1 Corinthians 1:18–24

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  ¹⁸For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

  ¹⁹For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. I will bring the discernment of the discerning to nothing.”

  ²⁰Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Hasn’t God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

  ²¹For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn’t know God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe.

  ²²For Jews ask for signs, Greeks seek after wisdom,

  ²³but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Greeks,

  ²⁴but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God;

• Epistle

  Galatians 3:23–4:5

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  ²³But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, confined for the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

  ²⁴So that the law has become our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

  ²⁵But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

  ²⁶For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus.

  ²⁷For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

  ²⁸There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

  ²⁹If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to promise.

  ¹But I say that so long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a bondservant, though he is lord of all,

  ²but is under guardians and stewards until the day appointed by the father.

  ³So we also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental principles of the world.

  ⁴But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law,

  ⁵that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of children.

• Gospel · Elevation

  John 19:6–11, 13–20, 25–28, 30–35

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  ⁶When therefore the chief priests and the officers saw him, they shouted, saying, “Crucify! Crucify!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves, and crucify him, for I find no basis for a charge against him.”

  ⁷The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”

  ⁸When therefore Pilate heard this saying, he was more afraid.

  ⁹He entered into the Praetorium again, and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.

  ¹⁰Pilate therefore said to him, “Aren’t you speaking to me? Don’t you know that I have power to release you and have power to crucify you?”

  ¹¹Jesus answered, “You would have no power at all against me, unless it were given to you from above. Therefore he who delivered me to you has greater sin.”

  ¹³When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called “The Pavement”, but in Hebrew, “Gabbatha.”

  ¹⁴Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, at about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!”

  ¹⁵They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”

  ¹⁶So then he delivered him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led him away.

  ¹⁷He went out, bearing his cross, to the place called “The Place of a Skull”, which is called in Hebrew, “Golgotha”,

  ¹⁸where they crucified him, and with him two others, on either side one, and Jesus in the middle.

  ¹⁹Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. There was written, “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

  ²⁰Therefore many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek.

  ²⁵But standing by Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

  ²⁶Therefore when Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”

  ²⁷Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour, the disciple took her to his own home.

  ²⁸After this, Jesus, seeing that all things were now finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I am thirsty.”

  ³⁰When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished.” He bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.

  ³¹Therefore the Jews, because it was the Preparation Day, so that the bodies wouldn’t remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a special one), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

  ³²Therefore the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who was crucified with him;

  ³³but when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was already dead, they didn’t break his legs.

  ³⁴However one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

  ³⁵He who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, that you may believe.

• Gospel

  Mark 6:30–45

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  ³⁰The apostles gathered themselves together to Jesus, and they told him all things, whatever they had done, and whatever they had taught.

  ³¹He said to them, “You come apart into a deserted place, and rest awhile.” For there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

  ³²They went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.

  ³³They saw them going, and many recognized him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to him.

  ³⁴Jesus came out, saw a great multitude, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.

  ³⁵When it was late in the day, his disciples came to him, and said, “This place is deserted, and it is late in the day.

  ³⁶Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages, and buy themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat.”

  ³⁷But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” They asked him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give them something to eat?”

  ³⁸He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go see.” When they knew, they said, “Five, and two fish.”

  ³⁹He commanded them that everyone should sit down in groups on the green grass.

  ⁴⁰They sat down in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties.

  ⁴¹He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke the loaves, and he gave to his disciples to set before them, and he divided the two fish among them all.

  ⁴²They all ate, and were filled.

  ⁴³They took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and also of the fish.

  ⁴⁴Those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

  ⁴⁵Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat, and to go ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he himself sent the multitude away.

Source: Orthocal: lectionary data — Slavic tradition, New Calendar (OCA practice). Text: World English Bible.