9th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST — Translation of the Relics of the Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stephen from Jerusalem to Constantinople (ca. 428), and the finding of the Relics of the Righteous Νikόdēmos, Gamaliel, and Abibas (ca. 428).
Tone 8 Troparion (Resurrection)
You descended from on high, O Merciful One! You accepted the three day burial to free us from our sufferings!// O Lord, our Life and Resurrection, glory to You!
Tone 4 Troparion (St. Nicholas)
The truth of your deeds has revealed you to your flock as a rule of faith, an image of meekness and a teacher of self-control; your humility exalted you; your poverty enriched you.// O Father Bishop Nicholas, pray to Christ God that our souls may be saved.
Tone 4 Troparion (St. Stephen)
Your relics have risen from the depths of the earth, like a treasury for the immortal life of all creation. The Church, rejoicing in the grace that she receives from them, dutifully honors you, O Protomartyr Stephen.// Preserve us from error and heresy by your intercession!
Tone 8 Kontakion (Resurrection)
By rising from the tomb, You raised the dead and resurrected Adam. Eve exults in Your Resurrection,// and the world celebrates Your rising from the dead, O greatly Merciful One!
Tone 3 Kontakion (St. Nicholas)
You proved yourself to be be a holy priest, O Nicholas. You served God in Myra and lived the gospel of Christ. You offered your life for your people, And rescued the innocent from death. Therefore God has glorified you as a trustworthy guide of things divine.
Tone 6 Kontakion (St. Stephen)
You were the first to be sown on the earth by the Heavenly Husbandman, O all-praised one, and were the first to shed your blood on the earth for Christ, O blessed one. You were the first to receive the crown of victory from Him in heaven,//O Stephen, first of the suffering God-crowned martyrs.
Tone 6 Kontakion (Steadfast Protectress)
Steadfast Protectress of Christians, Constant Advocate before the Creator; despise not the cry of us sinners, but in your goodness come speedily to help us who call on you in faith. Hasten to hear our petition and to intercede for us, O Theotokos, for you always protect those who honor you!
Tone 8 Prokeimenon (Resurrection)
Pray and make your vows / before the Lord, our God! (Ps. 75:10a)
V. In Judah God is known; His Name is great in Israel. (Ps. 75:1)
1 Corinthians 3:9-17 (Epistle)
For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
Tone 8
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
V. Come, let us rejoice in the Lord! Let us make a joyful noise to God our Savior! (Ps. 94:1)
V. Let us come before His face with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise! (Ps. 94:2)
Matthew 14:22-34 (Gospel)
Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.” When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret.
Translation of the relics of the Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stephen from Jerusalem to Constantinople
The Transfer of the Relics of the Holy Protomartyr Stephen from Jerusalem to Constantinople took place about the year 428.
After the holy Protomartyr Archdeacon Stephen was stoned by the Jews, they left his holy body unburied to be devoured by the beasts and birds. After a day and a night the renowned Jewish teacher of the Law, Gamaliel sent people to take up the body of the Protomartyr. Gamaliel buried him on his own property, in his own tomb, not far from Jerusalem.
When Lord’s secret disciple Νikόdēmos died, Gamaliel also buried him near the grave of Saint Stephen. Afterwards Gamaliel himself, who had been baptized with his son Abibas, was buried near the grave of the Protomartyr Stephen and Saint Νikόdēmos.
In the year 415 the relics of the saint were uncovered in a miraculous manner and solemnly transferred to Jerusalem by Bishop John and the bishops Eutonius of Sebaste and Eleutherius of Jericho. From that time healings took place from the relics.
Afterwards, during the reign of holy Emperor Theodosius the Younger (408-450), the relics of the holy Protomartyr Stephen were transferred from Jerusalem to Constantinople and placed in the church of the holy deacon Laurence (August 10). When a church dedicated to the Protomartyr Stephen was built, the relics were transferred there on August 2. Saint Stephen’s right hand is preserved in the Serapionov chamber of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
More wisdom from the Prologue
Not one passion is conquered without a great struggle. The Holy Fathers have referred to the passion of fornication as death. When a fornicator is saved from the passion of fornication, it is as though he has risen from the dead. For those who live in the world, the passion of fornication is chiefly inflamed through sight, while for those who live a life of asceticism in the wilderness the passion is inflamed through thoughts and imagination. St. Sarah, a great ascetic, was tortured by the demon of fornication for thirty years. She always defeated it by prayer and drove it away from her. Once the demon of fornication came to her in bodily form, and said: “Sarah, you have defeated me!” Sarah humbly answered: “I have not defeated you, but the Lord Christ has defeated you.” From that time on, the thought of fornication left her forever. When St. Poemen was asked how a man can struggle against the demon of fornication, he replied: “If man suppresses his stomach and his tongue, then he will be able to rule over himself.” St. Anthony said that three kinds of impulse exist in the body: “The first is from nature, the second is from lack of restraint in food and the third is from the demons.” Others have said that the vice of fornication is strengthened by anger and pride. But all agree that, in addition to man’s sobriety and spiritual effort, God’s help is necessary to uproot this repulsive passion completely. The life of St. Moses the Ugrian, among many others, is a witness that it is possible for man to preserve himself in purity. St. Moses lived fifty years in the world and ten in the monastery; altogether, a total of sixty years lived in complete virginal purity.
— Velimirovic, Saint Nikolai. The Prologue of Ohrid
A question and answer from Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives
Q. How can one stop oneself from committing a sin against one’s parents who oppose the Church, who blaspheme against Christ, and who even threaten to disown us?
A. Parents have a great influence over their children. Whether they are good or bad is their own problem, and they will give an answer to God. There is a lot of evil in the world because people have lost respect for their Heavenly Father and for their own parents. I did not know this when I was young. I take after my mother, as most men do, and like her, I am overly sensitive. I thought that my father should do more for his children. I was his oldest son. I was born in 1914. These kinds of thoughts almost ruined my life. I should not have had such thoughts about my father. These thoughts had such a negative influence on my life—and the fact that I was a bright child did not help at all. We must pray to the Most Holy Theotokos to give us the strength and the will to love our parents, and these difficulties in our life will disappear. The Lord will open our path and give us what is best for us. The Lord is great and He is good. He will forgive all our sins. We must love our parents regardless of what they are like. If our thoughts are good, they will have a positive influence on our parents. We must have good thoughts for the whole world. If we quarrel with our teachers or our parents, we will have hell in our souls. It has happened many times: one learns to love his teacher, and the teacher gives him good marks. If you sin against your parents, you will suffer grave consequences. Our parents have a great influence on our lives. The Holy Fathers say, “It is impossible to have peace, yet to be full of envy and malice.” Those are the properties of hades. If we can free ourselves from them, we can live a happy life. Let us pray to the Lord, for He alone can change the state of our soul. It is better to be insulted than to insult. For if we bear an insult, we can still keep our peace; but if we insult someone, then our conscience will not give us peace.
— Smiljanic, Ana. Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives: the Life and Teachings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica
From Spiritual Counsels of St. Paisios
Q. Can [our] will be cultivated and strengthened?
A:“Haven’t we already said that everything can be cultivated? The will exists in all people, in varying degrees. When a person has the desire to struggle, he prays; and asks God to increase his will, and God helps. When a person does not progress in the spiritual life, he should know that this is because he either does not contribute any [of his own] will; or his will is insufficient or too weak, in which case it is of no help. A bird, for example, has one strong wing, but neglects the other; it loses some feathers, and then cannot fly right. One wing works well, but the other is like a broken comb. The bird flaps it, but the wind passes through it… It flies a bit, but then falls down. It must have both wings intact, in order to be able to fly. What I’m trying to say is that if a man… wants to fly securely and properly – that is, spiritually – then he must be careful not to neglect the human will. Do you know what the devil does? He slowly creeps up, and – little by little – plucks some small feather from the human wing — and then another, a larger one… And if several feathers are plucked, when he tries to ‘fly,’ … he rolls over instead of flying.
“The divine wing is always full and complete. There are no ‘missing feathers,’ because the devil cannot pluck them out; it is a divine wing. Man must be careful not to be negligent, and allow the devil to remove any feathers from his own wing. When laziness and indifference creep in, will power is eventually weakened. What can God do, if man is not willing? He does not wish to interfere, because He has respect for human freedom… [Of course], when I talk about flying, I mean our spiritual ascent toward Heaven, not about flying onto some cypress tree!… If [we] are not careful, the devil can rob [us] of all [our] efforts. One who is heedful, and takes the salvation of his soul seriously, [that is, the person who is struggling to unite the ‘wing’ of his will to the ‘wing’ of God’s will, such a person] progresses, bears fruit, is nourished spiritually and rejoices angelically.”
From Volume II of the Spiritual Counsels of St. Paisios of Mt. Athos
Sunday Bulletin July 26, 2026