St Gregory of Nyssa; St Theophan the Recluse; Dometian, Bishop of Melitene

But to each one of us, the grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. ⁸Therefore he says, “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to people.”

⁹Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.

¹¹He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers; ¹²for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ, ¹³until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

but Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things which Herod had done, ²⁰added this also to them all, that he shut up John in prison.

²¹Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus also had been baptized and was praying. The sky was opened, ²²and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form like a dove on him; and a voice came out of the sky, saying “You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased.”