Apostle Thaddeus of the Seventy; Avram, Archimandrite of Smolensk; Holy Martyrs Bassa and her sons Theognis, Agapios, and Pistis (4th c.)

For this service of giving that you perform not only makes up for lack among the saints, but abounds also through much giving of thanks to God, ¹³seeing that through the proof given by this service, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the Good News of Christ and for the generosity of your contribution to them and to all, ¹⁴while they themselves also, with supplication on your behalf, yearn for you by reason of the exceeding grace of God in you. ¹⁵Now thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift!

¹Now I Paul, myself, entreat you by the humility and gentleness of Christ, I who in your presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you. ²Yes, I beg you that I may not, when present, show courage with the confidence with which I intend to be bold against some, who consider us to be walking according to the flesh. ³For though we walk in the flesh, we don’t wage war according to the flesh; ⁴for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds, ⁵throwing down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, ⁶and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience when your obedience is made full.

⁷Do you look at things only as they appear in front of your face? If anyone trusts in himself that he is Christ’s, let him consider this again with himself, that even as he is Christ’s, so we also are Christ’s.

He went up into the mountain and called to himself those whom he wanted, and they went to him. ¹⁴He appointed twelve, that they might be with him, and that he might send them out to preach ¹⁵and to have authority to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: ¹⁶Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); ¹⁷James the son of Zebedee; and John, the brother of James, (whom he called Boanerges, which means, Sons of Thunder); ¹⁸Andrew; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James, the son of Alphaeus; Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot;

¹⁹and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. Then he came into a house. ²⁰The multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. ²¹When his friends heard it, they went out to seize him; for they said, “He is insane.”