Epistle Reading: Ephesians 2:4-10
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love
with which He loved us,
even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive
together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the
heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches
of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that
not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
not of works, lest anyone should boast.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for
good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Gospel Reading: Luke 8:26-39
Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is
opposite Galilee.
And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain
man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes,
nor did he live in a house but in the tombs.
When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with
a loud voice said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High
God? I beg You, do not torment me!"
For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man.
For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains
and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the
wilderness.
Jesus asked him, saying, "What is your name?" And he said, "
Legion," because many demons had entered him.
And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out
into the abyss.
Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. And
they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted
them.
Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and
the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned.
When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and
told it in the city and in the country.
Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus,
and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of
Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.
They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had
been demon-possessed was healed.
Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the
Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great
fear. And He got into the boat and returned.
Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that
he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying,
"Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has
done for you." And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city
what great things Jesus had done for him.
Saints and Feasts
Anastasia the Martyr of Rome; Our Righteous Father Abramius
