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The Ascension of our Lord. Tone five.
Today is fast-free!
Today’s Commemorations
- Holy Georgian Martyrs of Persia (17th-18th c.) ( movable holiday on the day of the Holy Ascension ) ( Georgia ).
- Apostle Hermes of the Seventy (1st c.).
- Martyr Hermias at Comana (160).
- New Hieromartyr Archpriest Philosoph Ornatsky with his sons Boris and Nicholas, in St. Petersburg (1918).
- New Hieromartyrs Hierotheus, bishop of Nikolsk (1928), and his friend Hieroschemamonk Seraphim (Nikolsky) (1923).
- Martyr Philosophus at Alexandria (252).
- Martyr Marus the Magician who was converted on witnessing the martyrdom of Hermias.
- Five Martyrs of Ascalon (Greek).
- Martyrs Eusebius and Charalampus (Greek).
- St. Eustathius, patriarch of Constantinople (1025).
- Finding of the relics of New Martyr Nicholas the Deacon of Lesbos.
- Translation of the relics (1591) of St. Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow (1569), to Solovki.
- St. Philotheus, metropolitan of Tobolsk (1727).
Scripture Readings
Mark 16:9-20 (Matins Gospel)
Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either. Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
Acts 1:1-12
The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey.
Luke 24:36-53
Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have. When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence. Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.
Saints and Feasts Celebrated Today
Holy Georgian Martyrs of Persia (17th-18th c.) ( movable holiday on the day of the Holy Ascension ) ( Georgia ).
Throughout history Georgia has frequently been forced to defend what St. Ilia the Righteous called its threefold treasure language, fatherland, and Faith. In this regard, the events of the 17th century are some of the most tragic in all of Georgian history. In 1616 the bloodthirsty Persian ruler Shah Abbas I invaded Georgia with a massive army. His goal was to level the country completely, to leave not a single building standing. The shahs army kidnapped hundreds of thousands of Kakhetian Georgians and then sent them to Persia to be sold as slaves. They settled Turkmen in the newly depopulated Georgian regions. In collaboration with the shah, many Lezgin peoples from the mountainous North Caucasus moved south to occupy the homes of the exiled Georgians. The 17th-century Italian traveler Pietro della Valle described the Georgian exile in Persia: It would be too long to narrate all that has passed in this miserable migration, how many murders, how many deaths caused by privation, how many seductions, rapes, and acts of violence, how many children drowned by their own parents or cast into rivers through despair, some snatched by force from their mothers breasts because they seemed too weak to live and thrown down by the wayside and abandoned there to be food for wild beasts or trampled underfoot by the horses and camels of the army, which marched for a whole day on top of dead bodies; how many sons separated from their fathers, wives from their husbands, sisters from their brothers, and carried off to distant countries without hope of ever meeting again. Throughout the camp, men and women were sold on this occasion much cheaper than beasts, because of the great number of them. (Quoted in David Marshall Lang, Lives and Legends of the Georgian Church (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1956), p. 170.) The Georgian exiles in Persia included a large number of clergy. Many of them celebrated the divine services in secret and inspired the people to remain faithful to God. Those discovered were punished severely. Many Georgians were martyred for the Christian Faith during the Persian exile. Not only Georgian researchers, but historians and travelers of other nationalities attest to the truth of this. Furthermore, ethnic Georgians currently residing in formerly Persian territories continue to commemorate their fallen ancestors to this day. They make pilgrimages to the sites where their ancestors were martyred and prepare feasts there in honor of their memory. One of these sites has been called Ascension. Of language, fatherland, and Faith, only language remains alive among Georgians in the formerly Persian territories. Most have lost touch with both their fatherland and the Christian Faith. Those fortunate enough to be able to return to Georgia often convert to Orthodox Christianity. In 2001, when Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II visited the ethnic Georgians in Iran, he presented them with a mound of Georgian soil. With great emotion the Georgians scattered the soil over the ground where their ancestors were martyred. On September 18, 2003, the Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church prayerfully considered the martyric contest of the Georgians in Persia. The Synod declared all those martyred at the hands of Muslims in the 17th and 18th centuries worthy to be numbered among the saints. Their commemoration day was set on the feast of Holy Ascension, in honor of the place where many of them were martyred.
Apostle Hermes of the Seventy (1st c.).
The Holy Disciple Hermas was a bishop in Thracian Philippopolis. The holy Apostle Paul greets him in the Epistle to the Romans (Rom. 16: 14). Preaching the Gospel, the Disciple Hermas endured much grief from the pagans, but he died peacefully.
Martyr Hermias at Comana (160).
The Holy Martyr Hermias suffered for Christ in the city of Komana during the time of persecution under the emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161). The governor Sebastian, having arrived in Cappadocia to carry out a commission to chase down Christians, urged the saint to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods, promising for this both honours and the mercy of the emperor. But the soldier grey with age bravely confessed his faith in Christ. After long exhortation the governor gave orders to torture the saint. They beat him on the face such that the skin peeled from his face, and they threw him into a red-hot oven. When the oven was opened after 3 days, the Martyr Hermias emerged from it unharmed. The governor Sebastian ordered a sorcerer to poison Saint Hermias with a potion. The poisonous drink did the saint no harm. So likewise a second goblet with even stronger poison failed to kill the saint. The sorcerer believed and offered repentance to Christ the Saviour and was immediately beheaded, baptised by his own blood and receiving a martyr’s crown. But Saint Hermias was subjected to even more terrible torturings: they tore at his sinews, threw him in boiling oil, dug out his eyes, but he humbly gave thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ. Then they suspended the Martyr Hermias head downwards. For three days he hung in such a position. People, sent by the governor to verify his death, found him alive. Struck by the miracle, they were blinded with fright and began to call out to the saint that he should help them. The holy martyr ordered the blind to approach to him, laid hands on and healed them in the Name of Jesus Christ. In anger the governor ordered to flay the skin on the body of the saint, but as before he remained alive. Then the crazed Sebastian by his own hand beheaded him. Christians secretly buried the body of the Martyr Hermias, from whose relics numerous relics were bestowed.
Martyr Philosophus at Alexandria (252).
The Holy Martyr Philosophos suffered for Christ in Alexandria during the persecution by the emperor Decius (249-251). They urged the youth to recant from Christ, but he remained steadfast. Then the torturers decided to dispose him towards sinfulness. They led the saint into a flowery garden and left him bound alone with a profligate woman. In order not to yield to sin, the saint bit his tongue and by this pain of suffering defended himself from fleshly passion. He spit out his bloody tongue in the face of the profligate. The executioners, seeing the bravery and fearlessness of the martyr, beheaded the saint with a sword.
Martyr Marus the Magician who was converted on witnessing the martyrdom of Hermias.
The Holy Martyr Magus (Magician-Sorcerer) suffered together with the Martyr Hermias during the persecution under the emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161).
Additional Saints and Feasts Celebrated Today
New Hieromartyr Archpriest Philosoph Ornatsky with his sons Boris and Nicholas, in St. Petersburg (1918).
New Hieromartyrs Hierotheus, bishop of Nikolsk (1928), and his friend Hieroschemamonk Seraphim (Nikolsky) (1923).
Five Martyrs of Ascalon (Greek).
Martyrs Eusebius and Charalampus (Greek).
St. Eustathius, patriarch of Constantinople (1025).
Finding of the relics of New Martyr Nicholas the Deacon of Lesbos.
Translation of the relics (1591) of St. Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow (1569), to Solovki.
St. Philotheus, metropolitan of Tobolsk (1727).
Today’s Hymns
Ascension of the Lord, Troparion, Tone IV
Thou didst ascend into glory, O Christ our God, having gladdened Thy
disciples by the promise of the Holy Spirit. And this blessing convinced them
that Thou art the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world.
Kontakion, Tone VI
Having accomplished for us Thy mission and united things on earth with
things in heaven, Thou didst ascend into glory, O Christ our God, being nowhere
separated from those who love Thee, but remaining everpresent with us and
calling: I am with you and no one is against you.
Holy Martyr Hermias, Troparion, Tone IV
In his suffering, O Lord,
Thy martyr Hermias received an imperishable crown
from Thee our God;
for, possessed of Thy might,
he set at nought the
tormentors and crushed the feeble audacity of the demons.
By his supplications
save Thou our souls.
Download today’s octoechos HERE.
Download today’s menaion HERE.
Courtesy of St. Sergius Church
Hymns, Readings, Feast Day, and Fasting Information provided by Holy Trinity Orthodox Church.
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