18th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST — Tone 1. Fathers of the 7th Ecumenical Council. Martyrs Probus, Tarachus, and Andronicus, at Tarsus in Cilicia (304).
Tone 1 Troparion (Resurrection)
When the stone had been sealed by the Jews, while the soldiers were guarding Your most pure body, You rose on the third day, O Savior, granting life to the world. The powers of heaven therefore cried to You, O Giver of Life: “Glory to Your Resurrection, O Christ! Glory to Your Kingdom!// Glory to Your dispensation, O Lover of mankind!”
Tone 8 Troparion (Fathers)
You are most glorious, O Christ our God! You have established the Holy Fathers as lights on the earth. Through them You have guided us to the true Faith.// O greatly compassionate One, glory to You!
Tone 5 Troparion (Martyrs Probus, Tarachus, and Andronicus)
The heavenly powers were amazed at the triumph of the holy martyrs Probus, Tarachus, and Andronicus. / For having fought the good fight with their mortal bodies, / they conquered bodiless enemies by the power of the Cross. / Now they intercede with the Lord / that He may save our souls.
Tone 6 Kontakion (Fathers)
The Son Who shone forth from the Father was ineffably born, two-fold in nature, of a woman. Having beheld Him, we do not deny the image of His form, but depict it piously and revere it faithfully. Thus, keeping the True Faith,// the Church venerates the icon of Christ Incarnate.
Tone 2 Kontakion (Martyrs Probus, Tarachus, and Andronicus)
The brave warriors of Christ, the martyrs Probus, Tarachus, and Andronicus, / revealed to us the glory of the Trinity. / They refuted the godlessness of their torturers / by bravely contending for the Faith.
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 1 Prokeimenon (Resurrection)
Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us /as we have set our hope on You! (Ps. 32:22)
V. Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the just! (Ps. 32:1)
Tone 4 Prokeimenon (Song of the Three Holy Children)
Blessed are You, O Lord God of our fathers, / and praised and glorified is Your Name forever! (Song of the Three Holy Children, v. 3)
2 Corinthians 9:6-11 (Epistle)
But this I say: “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written: “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.” Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.
Hebrews 13:7-16 (Epistle, Fathers)
Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them. We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
Tone 1
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
V. God gives vengeance unto me, and subdues people under me. (Ps. 17:48)
V. He magnifies the salvation of the King and deals mercifully with David, His anointed, and his seed forever. (Ps. 17:51)
Tone 1
V. The Lord, the God of gods, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. (Ps. 49:1)
Luke 7:11-16 (Gospel)
Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother. Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us”; and, “God has visited His people.”
John 17:1-13 (Gospel, Fathers)
Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.
Martyrs Probus, Tarachus, and Andronicus, at Tarsus in Cilicia
The Martyrs Tarachus, Probus, and Andronicus suffered for Christ in the year 304 at Tarsus in Cilicia. When the pagans ordered him to offer sacrifice to idols, the old soldier Tarachus replied that he would offer a pure heart to the one true God instead of sacrifices of blood. Seeing the firmness of the saint’s confession the true Faith, the proconsul gave them all over to torture. “When my body suffers,” Saint Probus said to the idol worshippers, “then my soul is healed and invigorated.” The tormentors refined their tortures, such as their rage could invent, and then they tore the bodies of the saints apart. Christians secretly took up the relics of the saints and buried them.
Commemoration of the Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council
Today the Church remembers the 350 holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council under the holy Patriarch Tarasius (February 25).
The Synod of 787, the second to meet at Nicea, refuted the Iconoclast heresy during the reign of Empress Irene and her son Constantine VI.
The Council decreed that the veneration of icons was not idolatry (Exodus 20:4-5), because the honor shown to them is not directed to the wood or paint, but passes to the prototype (the person depicted). It also upheld the possibility of depicting Christ, Who became man and took flesh at His Incarnation. The Father, on the other hand, cannot be represented in His eternal nature, because “no man has seen God at any time” (John 1:18).
Living a Christian Life
Excerpt from the book Every Sigh Can Be a Prayer: Elder Arsenie Papacioc
Look, I’ll tell you three things. If you bring them to fruition you can hope for salvation.
Confess properly!
Seek to be commemorated at the Divine Liturgy.
Do charity, give alms!
1. Confess Properly! You see, if you consider that you must make a thorough Confession, you’ll control yourself in all you do, and this is a way of life. Instead, you embark on something you already consider finished. (You confess carelessly, as though you have already completed the Confession). “Father, I kiss you hand. I came, I confessed, and now I’m leaving!” No, no, Brother! Take heed to yourself at all times and in all places! When you start to examine yourself – your words, deeds, and thoughts – you see deeper within yourself. Thus, Confession never ends, and you become attentive in all things. Carelessness is a grave fault that can cause a sin to be repeated. It’s like washing yourself only under one armpit, which means you haven’t paid heed to yourself. You must be conscious of your existence. I even ask you to write down the sins you’ve committed, so that you won’t forget them. Don’t just let the priest ask you if you’ve committed a particular sin or not. There is only one person in the seat of Confession, the one who is confessing!
You grow to realize that Confession is the Mystery that saves us. For whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them (John 20:23). The Sacrament of Confession is performed on a Scriptural foundation. Confessed sins are no longer taken into account at the Last Judgment, nor at the toll houses. You see, you’re loosed through an easy absolution – but it’s confession (not a dialogue) before God through the mediation of the priest, by the grace he received at Ordination. The absolution of our sins is the greatest thing we have to present for ourselves at the Last Judgment.
Therefore, my dear ones, Confession is the Sacrament that saves! Not Holy Communion! Holy Communion perfects. Obviously, if you confess, God gives you absolution through the spiritual father, and then you go to Communion. But he has to absolve your sins first!
— Elder Arsenie Papacioc
Every Sigh Can Be a Prayer is published by St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood.
Sunday Bulletin October 5, 2025