Saints Peter and Paul Parish

09/03/2026

Daily Entry — Thursday, 3 September 2026 (NS) · 21 August 2026 (OS)
Apostle Thaddeus of the Seventy; Avram of Smolensk; Holy Martyrs Bassa, Theognis, Agapios, and Pistis — Tone 5

Today we honor the Apostle Thaddeus, the holy disciple who brought the light of Christ to Edessa and completed the healing of King Avgar, revealing how apostolic preaching perfects what divine grace begins; we also commemorate Avram, Archimandrite of Smolensk, whose ascetic life teaches us that quiet fidelity and hidden labor in Christ build the true strength of the Church; and we venerate the Martyr Bassa and her sons Theognis, Agapios, and Pistis, whose steadfast confession in the face of torment shows that faith is stronger than fear, family bonds are sanctified in Christ, and the witness of one mother can strengthen generations. Their lives together proclaim that the Gospel is spread through preaching, preserved through ascetic struggle, and sealed through martyrdom. As we continue in Tone 5, the Church calls us to discernment, sobriety, and courage, remembering that the Lord who strengthened Thaddeus, Avram, and the holy martyrs also strengthens us to bear His image faithfully in every circumstance, rendering unto God the things that are God’s—our hearts, our choices, and our whole life.
https://theorthodox.org/documents.../orthodox-calendar/
Have a blessed day

09/02/2026

Daily Entry — Wednesday, 2 September (NS) / 20 August (OS)
Tone 5 — Fast Day
Today we honor the Prophet Samuel, the Hieromartyr Philip of Heraklion with his fellow martyrs, and the repose of Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose) of Platina; let their steadfast faith, courage, and quiet perseverance strengthen us to examine ourselves in the light of Christ, to live in peace as St Paul exhorts in the Epistle, and to trust the Lord who calms every storm as in today’s Gospel, remembering that holiness is found in fidelity, humility, and the unwavering hope that God is truly with His people.
https://theorthodox.org/documents.../orthodox-calendar/
Have a blessed day

09/01/2026

Tuesday, 1 September 2026 (Civil) / 19 August 2026 (Julian)
Tone 5 Beginning of the Indiction Martyr Andrew Stratelates and Companions
Fasting Rule: According to the New Year’s Indiction rubric (usually no fast unless Wednesday/Friday)
Today we celebrate the Ecclesiastical New Year, the Beginning of the Indiction, the cycle by which the Church orders her liturgical year. We also commemorate the Holy Martyr Andrew Stratelates, the valiant commander who, confessing Christ openly, led his soldiers into baptism and martyrdom. Pursued by the pagans, he and 2,593 Christian soldiers were slaughtered for the faith, receiving crowns of victory. Their witness stands as a radiant proclamation that the Church’s year begins not in earthly prosperity but in the steadfast confession of Christ.
The Epistle for the Indiction proclaims the Lord’s sovereignty over creation and time, while the Gospel calls the faithful to spiritual vigilance as the new year begins. The hymns of the day glorify the martyrs’ steadfastness and invoke God’s blessing upon the year now opened.
https://theorthodox.org/documents.../orthodox-calendar/

08/31/2026

DAILY ENTRY — DIOCESAN CALENDAR
Monday, 31 August 2026 (Civil) / 18 August 2026 (Julian)
Tone 5 — No Fast
Today we commemorate the Holy Martyrs Florus and Laurus of Illyria, brothers in the flesh and spirit who, as stonemasons, healed the pagan priest’s son, converted him, and were cast alive into a well for confessing Christ; and Our Holy Father John, Abbot of Rila (946), the great Bulgarian ascetic who lived in caves and hollow trees, endured demonic assaults, became a spiritual beacon to multitudes, and whose relics at Rila Monastery remain a lighthouse of Orthodox spirituality. The Epistle is 2 Corinthians 12:10–19, in which the Apostle teaches that strength is perfected in weakness and that his labors are for the edification of the faithful; the Gospel is Mark 4:10–23, where the Lord explains the Parable of the Sower, revealing the mysteries of the Kingdom and calling all to hear with understanding. The hymns of the day include the Troparion and Kontakion of the Heavenly Hosts (Tone 5), together with the proper hymns for the Martyrs Florus and Laurus and St. John of Rila, glorifying their steadfastness, radiant witness, and intercession for the salvation of the faithful.
Have a blessed day
https://theorthodox.org/documents.../orthodox-calendar/

08/31/2026

08/29/2026

Daily Entry — Saturday, 29 August 2026 (NS) / 16 August 2026 (OS)
Tone 4 — No Fast.
Today we celebrate the Image of Christ Not Made by Hands, the Third Feast of the Savior in August, commemorating the miraculous imprint of the Lord’s face upon a cloth given to Ananias and later translated from Edessa to Constantinople in 944. We also honor Martyr Diomedes the Physician of Tarsus, one of the Holy Unmercenaries, who healed both bodies and souls and whose relics worked wonders even after his repose. The appointed readings proclaim the hidden wisdom of God (1 Cor. 2.6–9), the cosmic primacy of Christ (Col. 1.12–18), the Lord’s teaching on rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s (Matt. 22.15–22), and His rebuke of the disciples’ zeal without discernment (Luke 9.51–56; 10.22–24). The hymns of the day extol the martyrs, the righteous, and the saints who intercede for the Church, and they glorify Christ whose divine image and saving power are revealed to the faithful.
+Alexios

08/28/2026

Friday, 28 August Julian: 15 August
Dormition of the Most-Holy Theotokos (Tone 4)
Fasting Rule Fish, Wine and Oil are Allowed Fast
Troparion & Kontakion
Tone 1: In giving birth thou didst preserve thy virginity; / in thy dormition thou didst not forsake the world, O Theotokos. / Thou wast translated unto life, / since thou art the Mother of Life; // and by thine intercessions dost thou deliver our souls from death.
Glory… Both now…
Tone 2:
The grave and death could not hold the Theotokos, / who is sleepless in her intercessions and an unfailing hope in her mediations. /For as the Mother of Life she was translated unto life // by Him Who dwelt in her ever-virgin womb.
Gospel [Luke 10:38-42;11:27-28]
Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.
And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word.
But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me."
And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.
But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.
And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!"
But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"
Daily Entry — Friday, 28 August 2026 (NS) / 15 August 2026 (OS)
Today we celebrate the Dormition of the Most‑Holy Theotokos, the feast in which the Church beholds the mystery of her holy repose and her translation into life by the One who dwelt in her womb. In the quiet majesty of this day, the Mother of God reveals the path of perfect obedience, humility, and love, showing that death itself becomes a passage into glory for those who cleave to Christ. The hymns of Tone 4 lift our hearts to contemplate her as the unfailing protection of Christians, who does not forsake the world after her Dormition but intercedes ceaselessly for all who call upon her. As the Apostles gathered around her bier and beheld the radiant victory of divine grace, so may we, in reverence and tenderness, entrust our lives to her maternal care, seeking the peace, purity, and steadfast hope that flow from her holy feast.
+Alexios
Have a blessed day

08/23/2026

Sunday, 23 August Julian: 10 August
12th Sunday after Pentecost Tone 4
Fasting Rule
Wine and Oil are Allowed, Dormition Fast
Daily Entry — 12th Sunday after Pentecost (Tone 4)
On this radiant Afterfeast of the Transfiguration, kept within the sober discipline of the Dormition Fast, the Church sets before us the fiery witness of Holy Archdeacon Lawrence, who revealed the true treasure of the Church in the faces of the poor and endured the grill with a joy born of divine love. Today’s Gospel warns that earthly riches can bind the heart, while the Epistle proclaims the apostolic preaching of Christ’s death and resurrection as the foundation of our salvation. The Lord who shone on Tabor now calls us, like the young man in the Gospel, to seek perfection through generosity, humility, and obedience. As Lawrence offered himself wholly to God and as the Apostles proclaimed the risen Christ with boldness, may we also labor with the grace that is “not in vain,” trusting that with men salvation is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
+Alexios