This page offers a year-long series for reading through the Gospel lectionary according to the Byzantine liturgical cycle. Each Sunday, images of the appointed Gospel reading are presented as they appear in a Greek lectionary manuscript. Through this approach, readers encounter the Gospel text in a way that closely reflects how it has been received, preserved, and proclaimed within the rhythms of ecclesial worship for centuries.
The readings are drawn from L434 (Athens, National Library of Greece, EBE 68), a twelfth-century Gospel lectionary manuscript written on parchment. Reading the biblical text from this source connects us to the historical continuity of the Church’s proclamation—the same Gospel that has been read aloud within the same liturgical context for hundreds of years. This manuscript was digitized by CSNTM, and full images are available through the CSNTM database and the National Library of Greece.
Through this series, we invite readers to encounter the richness of lectionary reading by engaging the text directly in its manuscript form—the way these words have been handed down for centuries and shared by generations of the faithful.
For those who prefer to read the day’s lesson in English or the modern Greek lectionary, you can find these directly on the links below that take you to the website of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
Week 1: Easter – The Holy and Great Sunday of Pascha (John 1:1-17)
While September 1st marks the beginning of the church year in the Orthodox calendar, the true center and culmination of the church’s worship is Pascha, the feast of the resurrection of Christ. This day begins the Johannine period of readings, the first of four periods encountered in the annual cycle of readings.
Pascha is the preeminent feast of the Byzantine Church and the heart of the liturgical year. The entire cycle through Lent and Holy Week leads up to Pascha with anticipation—and from it, all the weeks that follow take their shape. For this reason, the Gospel proclaimed at Pascha is not only a celebration of the resurrection of Christ but also the beginning of the annual cycle of Gospel readings.
In the Byzantine tradition, the paschal Gospel is John 1:1–17—“In the beginning was the Word…”—a fitting proclamation of both the triumph over death and the dawning of the new creation.
Read the full text on the images below.
For those who prefer, you can read the passage in English or Greek here.
The celebration of Pascha extends far beyond a single day into Bright Week, inaugurating a fifty-day season of sustained Easter joy that culminates in Pentecost. Throughout this week, Paschal hymns resound, festal meals are shared, and fasting is set aside.
The doors of the iconostasis—the screen of icons separating the nave from the altar—remain open. This happens only during this time of the year and symbolizes the stone rolled away from Christ’s tomb and the opening of the gates of heaven.
During this week, the reality of the resurrection is so deeply interwoven into the public worship that there can be no doubt in the minds of those celebrating: what has taken place on Pascha has transformed the world and humanity, now and forevermore.
We begin this week, as the Church does, with the proclamation:
Χριστὸς ἀνέστη!
Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη!
Week 2: The First Sunday after Pascha: Thomas Sunday (John 20:19–31)
In the liturgical calendar of the Orthodox Church, the first Sunday after Pascha is known as Thomas Sunday, named for the appointed Gospel lectionary reading. This Sunday follows Bright Week and continues the celebration of the new life brought forth by Christ’s resurrection. Although Bright Week has concluded, the church does not return to ordinary time but remains in the joy of the resurrection, continuing to proclaim the renewal of the world and of humanity through the risen Christ.
In the Byzantine tradition, the Gospel reading for Thomas Sunday is John 20:19–31. In this passage, the risen Christ appears to His disciples and later reveals Himself to the Apostle Thomas, inviting him to behold and touch the marks of the crucifixion.
Read the full text in the images below.
For those who prefer, you can read the passage in English or Greek here.
While the Apostle Thomas is often remembered as doubting or faithless, this passage actually reveals the depth of his faith. Face to face with the risen Christ, he reaches out and examines the wounds of the cross, and utters one of the most theologically significant confessions in the New Testament:
Ὁ κύριός μου καὶ ὁ θεός μου
“My Lord and my God”
John 20:28b
In this moment, Thomas does not merely acknowledge the resurrection intellectually; he addresses Jesus with the very name of God, θεός, in a profound confession of faith that reveals the mystery of the Incarnation—recognizing that the One who stands before him is God made flesh.
For nearly two millennia, the church has echoed this same confession in the kontakion for Thomas Sunday, a liturgical hymn that reflects on this Gospel encounter:
Thomas examined Your life-giving side with his probing right hand, O Christ our God. As You entered, though the doors were closed, he cried out to You, with the other Apostles: “You are my Lord and my God.”
(Kontakion for Thomas Sunday)
Week 3: The Second Sunday After Pascha, the Sunday of the Myrrh Bearing Women (Mark 15:43–16:8)
The second Sunday after Pascha is known as the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women. The Gospel reading appointed for this day is Mark 15:43–16:8, a passage that ends strikingly with ἐφοβοῦντο γάρ (“for they were afraid”) at 16:8, which many regard as the original ending of Mark.
In this passage, Joseph of Arimathea boldly approaches Pilate and asks for the body of Jesus, then lays it in a tomb. After the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bring spices to anoint the body (myrrh is not specifically mentioned in this passage). When they arrive, they encounter a young man dressed in white who announces that Jesus has been raised and instructs them to tell the disciples. However, the passage ends with the women fleeing in fear and astonishment, saying nothing to anyone, “for they were afraid.”
Read the full text in the images below.
For those who prefer, you can read the passage in English or Greek here.
This abrupt and paradoxical ending has been the subject of extensive interpretation. While Mark 16:8 emphasizes silence and fear, the broader Gospel tradition makes clear that the women did in fact proclaim the Resurrection. The Church reads these accounts together, so that fear is not their final state; rather, they become the first witnesses and proclaimers of the Resurrection. In this sense, the role of women—despite their marginal social status in the ancient world—becomes central to the Gospel proclamation.
This the only instance in the Johannine period of the lectionary where the Sunday Gospel reading during liturgy is not taken from John, but a connection to John is not totally absent. Today also commemorates Nicodemus, who, according to John 19:39, brought myrrh for Jesus’ burial together with Joseph of Arimathea. Since Nicodemus appears only in John’s Gospel, this commemoration subtly links the day back to the Johannine tradition.
In addition to the women named in Mark, tradition expands the group of Myrrh-Bearers to include others such as Mary the wife of Cleophas, Joanna, Salome, Susanna, and Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus. In other traditions, like Georgian and Armenian, Mark 16 is read on Easter Sunday itself, highlighting its importance in early Christian memory.
Thus, this Sunday functions as a collective remembrance of those who witnessed both the burial of Christ and the discovery of the empty tomb. It emphasizes not only the events themselves, but also a transformation: fear gives way to proclamation, and those once on the margins become central bearers of the Resurrection message.