Friday 21st February 2025
Fast day: strict fast
Today we commemorate:
Righteous Timothy of Symbola in Bithynia (795).
St. John Scholasticus of Antioch, patriarch of Constantinople (577).
St. Eustathius (Eustace), archbishop of Antioch (c.337).
St. Zachariah, patriarch of Jerusalem (633).
St. George, bishop of Amastris on the Black Sea (811).
British Isles and Ireland:
St. Erkengota, Princess of Kent (660).
2 John 1:1-13; Mark 15:22-25, 33-41
Readings in bold type are those appointed by the Typikon for use at the Liturgy
Epistle
2 John 1:1-13
The presbyter to the chosen lady and her children whom I truly love, and not I alone but all who know the truth, because of the truth that lives in us and will be with us for ever. Grace, mercy, peace be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. I am delighted that I have found some of your children walking in the truth according to the commandment we received from the Father. And now I am appealing to you, lady, not as someone writing to you a new commandment but the one we have had from the beginning, that we should love one another. And love is this, that we should walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment and, as you heard from the beginning, you are to walk in it because many deceivers have come into the world, those who do not acknowledge that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. They are the Deceiver and the Antichrist. Look to yourselves so that we do not lose what we have worked for, but may receive a full reward. All who transgress and do not keep to the teaching of Christ do not have God; those who keep to the teaching of Christ have both the Father and the Son. If any should come to you and not bring this teaching, do not invite them into the house and do not greet them, because those who welcome them are associated with their evil deeds. I have many things to write to you. I do not intend to use paper and ink, but I am hoping to come to you and speak face to face so that our joy may be complete. The children of your chosen sister greet you. Amen.
Gospel
Mark 15:22-25, 33-41
They brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha, meaning Place of the Skull, and they offered him wine mixed with myrrh to drink, but he did not accept it. They then crucified him. They shared out his clothes by throwing dice for what each would carry away. It was the third hour when they crucified him. … When the sixth hour came, darkness fell upon the whole land until the ninth hour, and at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lima sabachthani?’ It means, ‘My God, my God, why did you forsake me?’ On hearing this, some of the bystanders said, ‘Listen, he is calling Elijah.’ One person ran and filled a sponge with vinegar, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, ‘Wait, let us see if Elijah is coming to take him down.’ Then Jesus gave a great cry and breathed his last. The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. When the centurion who stood facing him saw the way he cried out and breathed his last, he said, ‘In truth, this man was God’s Son.’ There were women there as well, looking on from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Little and of Joses, and Salome. They followed him when he was in Galilee and ministered to him, and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.