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Saturday, October 3, 2026

On the Old (Julian) Calendar this is 20 September.

Readings for October 3, 2026: Saturday of the 18th week after Pentecost

The Scripture readings appointed for the Divine Liturgy, following the practice of the Orthodox Church in America.

New Calendar Old Calendar

Commemorated today: Greatmartyr Eustathius and Martyr Theopistes; Martyrs Michael and Theodore of Chernigov

A prayer before reading the Scriptures

The priest says this prayer quietly before the Gospel at the Divine Liturgy. Many Orthodox Christians also say it before reading the Bible at home.

Illumine our hearts, O God who lovest mankind, with the pure light of thy divine knowledge, and open the eyes of our understanding to the comprehension of the proclamation of thy Gospel. Implant in us, likewise, the fear of thy blessed commandments; that, trampling down all carnal desires, we may pursue a godly life, both thinking and performing such things as are well-pleasing unto thee. For thou art the light of our souls, and of our bodies, O Christ our God, and unto thee do we ascribe glory, together with thy Father who is from everlasting, and thy holy, and blessed, and life-giving Spirit, now, and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

From the Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, in Isabel F. Hapgood's translation (Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic (Greco-Russian) Church, Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1906, pp. 88–89; public domain). See the scan

At the Divine Liturgy

For Saturday after the Exaltation of the Cross

Epistle 1 Corinthians 1:26–29 WEB

26 For you see your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble; 27 but God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world that he might put to shame the things that are strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that don’t exist, that he might bring to nothing the things that exist, 29 that no flesh should boast before God.

Read the whole chapter →

Gospel John 8:21–30 WEB

21 Jesus said therefore again to them, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sins. Where I go, you can’t come.” 22 The Jews therefore said, “Will he kill himself, because he says, ‘Where I am going, you can’t come’?” 23 He said to them, “You are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. 24 I said therefore to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.” 25 They said therefore to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. 26 I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you. However, he who sent me is true; and the things which I heard from him, these I say to the world.” 27 They didn’t understand that he spoke to them about the Father. 28 Jesus therefore said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, I say these things. 29 He who sent me is with me. The Father hasn’t left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” 30 As he spoke these things, many believed in him.

Read the whole chapter →

Readings of the day

Epistle 1 Corinthians 15:39–45 WEB

39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. 40 There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial. 41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown perishable; it is raised imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body. 45 So also it is written, “The first man Adam became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

Read the whole chapter →

Gospel Matthew 19:3–12 WEB

3 Pharisees came to him, testing him and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?” 4 He answered, “Haven’t you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, don’t let man tear apart.” 7 They asked him, “Why then did Moses command us to give her a certificate of divorce and divorce her?” 8 He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so. 9 I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her when she is divorced commits adultery.” 10 His disciples said to him, “If this is the case of the man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry.” 11 But he said to them, “Not all men can receive this saying, but those to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven’s sake. He who is able to receive it, let him receive it.”

Read the whole chapter →

All readings of the day

Vespers, Matins, the Hours and the Liturgy, as listed in our tables.

Divine Liturgy

About these readings

The readings follow the usage of the Orthodox Church in America (Slavic practice) and are calculated from the MIT-licensed tables of Paul Kachur's orthodox_calendar, checked day by day against the OCA's published readings for 2023 to 2027. Greek practice differs on many days and is not offered yet, because no openly licensed table of it exists. Your parish calendar always comes first.

Psalms are numbered as in the Septuagint, with the Hebrew numbering in brackets.