Martyrs Sergius and Bacchus in Syria; Holy Hieromartyr Polychronius (4th c.); The Ninety-nine Fathers of Crete (date unknown)

Only let your way of life be worthy of the Good News of Christ, that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your state, that you stand firm in one spirit, with one soul striving for the faith of the Good News; ²⁸and in nothing frightened by the adversaries, which is for them a proof of destruction, but to you of salvation, and that from God. ²⁹Because it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer on his behalf, ³⁰having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.

¹If therefore there is any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion, ²make my joy full by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; ³doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself; ⁴each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.

“To what then should I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? ³²They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, saying, ‘We piped to you, and you didn’t dance. We mourned, and you didn’t weep.’ ³³For John the Baptizer came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ³⁴The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ³⁵Wisdom is justified by all her children.”