November 12 / October 30

1.  The Hieromartyr Zenobius and his sister Zenobia

They were from the town of Aegea in Cilicia. They inherited the true Faith and great material wealth from their parents. Working zealously for the Faith and with great love, they distributed all their wealth to the poor. Because their hands were so generous, the hand of God shielded them from every evil intent of men and demons. The generous hands of Zeno- bius, which gave to the poor, were endowed by God with the gift of mira- cle-working, and Zenobius healed the sick of every kind of infirmity mere- ly by touching them. Zenobius was appointed Bishop of Aegea. During a persecution, the Prefect Lysias arrested him and said: “I offer you two choices: life or death; life if you worship the gods, or death if you do not.” St. Zenobius replied: “Life without Christ is not life but death, whereas death for the sake of Christ is not death but life.” When Zenobius was subjected to cruel tortures, Zenobia came to the judge and said: “I also want to drink from this cup of suffering, and be crowned with that wreath.” After be- ing tortured in fire and in boiling pitch, both were beheaded with the sword in about the year 285. Thus this brother and sister took up their hab- itation in the Kingdom of the Im- mortal Christ the King.

2.  The Holy Apostles Cleopas, Tertius (Terence), Mark, Justus, and Artemas, of the Seventy

They were all numbered among the Seventy. The risen Lord appeared to Cleopas on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13–33). Tertius wrote down the Epistle to the Romans for Paul (Romans 16:22), and died a martyr as Bishop of Iconium after the Apostle Sosipater (November 10). St. Mark (or John) was the son of the devout Mary (whose home was a refuge for the apostles and the first Christians), and a kinsman of Barnabas (Acts 12:12). He became the bishop of the Samaritan town of Apollonia. Justus was a son of Joseph the Betrothed. Together with Matthias, he was one of those selected as a pos- sible replacement for Judas the traitor, but he was not chosen. He suffered for the Gospel as a bishop in Eleutheropolis. St. Artemas was Bishop of Lystra in Lycaonia, and reposed peacefully.

3.  The Holy King Stephen Milutin, king of Serbia (1320), his brother Dragutin (monk Theoctistus) (1316), and their mother St. Helen (1306), wife of Urosh I of Serbia

Milutin was the son of Uroš I and Queen Helena and brother of Dra- gutin. He fought many battles defending his Faith and his people. He fought against Emperor Michael Palaeologus because Palaeologus accepted union with Rome and tried to force the Balkan peoples and the monks of Athos to recognize the pope. He fought against Shishman, King of Bulgaria, and Nogai, King of the Tartars, in order to defend his lands. All his wars were successful, for he constantly prayed to God and hoped in God. He built more than forty churches: beside those that he built in his own land—Tres- kavac, Gračanica, St. George in Nagorič, the Church of the Holy Theoto- kos in Skoplje, Banjska and so forth—he also built churches outside of his land, in Thessalonica, Sofia, Constantinople, Jerusalem and the Holy Moun- tain. He entered into rest in the Lord on October 29, 1320. His body was soon shown to be incorrupt and miracle-working; and as such, it reposes even today in the Church of the Holy King in Sofia, Bulgaria.*)

• Hieromartyr Marcian, bishop of Syracuse (2nd ).
• Martyr Eutropia of Alexandria (250).
• Martyrs Alexander, Cronion, Julian, Macarius, and 13 companions, at Alexandria (250).
• Asterius, metropolitan of Amasea (before 431).
• Joseph I, patriarch of Constantinople (1283).
• Finding of the relics (1338) of Great-martyr Stephen-Urosh III of Decani, Serbia (1331).
• Martyr Iotam Zedghinidze, near Lake Paravani (Georgia) (1465).
• New Hiero-confessor Varnava, bishop of Hvosno (1964).
• Uncovering of the relics (2009) of Eutropia of Kherson (1968).

HYMN OF PRAISE

The Holy King Milutin

The saint of God, Milutin the gallant,
Had a great and difficult task:

To defend the Faith against evil schismatics,
And the people against many cruel tyrants.

He was a scourge to Palaeologus, and a scourge to the Latins—
Milutin triumphed over all the unbelievers.

The Orthodox Faith was his great treasure,
As it was Justinian’s crown of pearls!

And, like Justinian, he built many churches,

And raised up glory to the glorious Christ throughout the world.
Royally he attended to matters imperial,

But his mind was not parted from Christ God.
Thus, pure and innocent in heart was he,

A venerable mind in the whirlpool of the world. God,
Who looks at the heart and judges accordingly,
Granted King Milutin immortality—

Immortality of soul, and an incorrupt body.
And lo, our holy king, even now, is intact!
As you fear no man, O wondrous King,

Be our defender before the Living God,
That he forgive our sinful monstrosities,

And vouchsafe us, with you, the Heavenly Kingdom.

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