Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Special Commemorations

The Saturday Before the Theophany

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to Saint Timothy [§ 284]. Child Timothy:

For Gk. usage, see 1 Tim. 3:13-4:5; for Sl. usage, see 1 Tim. 3:14-4:5.

3 ¹³They who have served well as deacons acquire a good degree for themselves and much boldness in faith which is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴These things I write to thee, hoping to come to thee more quickly. ¹⁵But if I delay, I write in order that thou mayest know how one ought to be conducting oneself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, pillar and stay of the truth. ¹⁶And confessedly, great is the mystery of piety: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

4 ¹Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in latter times some shall apostatize from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and teachings of demons, ²speaking lies in hypocrisy, having been branded as to their own conscience, ³forbidding to marry, bidding to abstain from foods, which God created for partaking with giving of thanks by the faithful and those who have fully known the truth. ⁴For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be cast away, if it is received with giving of thanks; ⁵for it is sanctified by the word of God and intercessory prayer.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 5]. At that time:

For Gk. usage, read only Mt. 3:1-6, hereunder; for Sl. usage, see Mt. 3:1-11, hereunder.

3 ¹John the Baptist came forth proclaiming in the wilderness of Judæa, ²and saying, “Repent ye; for the kingdom of the heavens hath drawn near.” ³For this is he who was spoken of by Esaias the prophet, saying, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; be making His paths straight [cf. Is. 40:3].’” ⁴And John himself was having his raiment of camel hairs, and a leathern belt about his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵Then Jerusalem, and all Judæa, and all the country round about the Jordan were going out to him, ⁶and were being baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

In Sl. usage, Gospel Reading continues with Mt. 3:7-11.

⁷But after he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “O offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸“Produce therefore fruits worthy of repentance, ⁹“and think not to say within yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for a father’; for I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. ¹⁰“And even now the axe is laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree which produceth not good fruit is being cut out and cast into the fire. ¹¹“I indeed baptize you in water toward repentance, but the One Who cometh after me is mightier than I, of Whom I am not fit to bear His sandals. He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire.”

Pascalion — Movable Calendar

Saturday of the Thirty-Second Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians [§ 273].

5 ¹⁴Brethren, we exhort you, be admonishing the disorderly, be consoling the fainthearted, be supporting the weak, be long-suffering toward all. ¹⁵See ye that no one render evil for evil to anyone, but always be pursuing the good both toward one another and toward all. ¹⁶Be rejoicing always; ¹⁷be praying unceasingly. ¹⁸In everything be giving thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ¹⁹Cease quenching the Spirit. ²⁰Cease setting at nought prophecies. ²¹Be testing all things, holding fast to the good. ²²Abstain from every form of evil. ²³Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly; and may your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 88]. The Lord said this parable:

18 ²“There was a certain judge in a certain city, who feared not God nor regarded man. ³“Now there was a widow in that city; and she kept on coming to him, saying, ‘Avenge me of mine adversary.’ ⁴“And he would not for a time; but afterwards he said within himself, ‘Even if I fear not God nor regard man, ⁵“‘at any rate, because this widow giveth me trouble, I will avenge her, that in the end she may not wear me out by her coming.’” ⁶And the Lord said, “Hear what the judge of injustice saith. ⁷“And God, shall He in no wise bring about the avenging of His elect who cry aloud to Him day and night, and yet He is long-suffering over them? ⁸“I tell you that He will bring about the avenging of them quickly.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Forefeast of Theophany, and the Synaxis of the holy Seventy Apostles.

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 131]. Brethren:

4 ⁹I think that God showed forth us the apostles last, as condemned to death; for we became a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. ¹⁰We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ. We are weak, but ye are strong. Ye are held in honor, but we are dishonored. ¹¹Until the present hour, we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are being buffeted, and never at rest. ¹²And we toil working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we bear up; ¹³being evilly spoken of, we beseech. We became as the filth of the world, the off-scouring of all until now. ¹⁴I do not write these things shaming you, but admonishing you as my beloved children. ¹⁵For if ye have myriads of tutors in Christ, yet ye have not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I begot you through the Gospel. ¹⁶Therefore, I beseech you, keep on becoming imitators of me.

For Sl. usage, see [Rom. 8:8-14].

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 2].

1 ¹⁸No one hath seen God at any time. The only-begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father, that One declareth Him.

¹⁹And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent forth priests and Levites from Jerusalem that they should ask him, “Who art thou?” ²⁰He not only confessed and denied not, but also confessed, “I am not the Christ.” ²¹And they questioned him, “What then? Art thou Elias?” And he saith, “I am not.” “Art thou the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²²Then they said to him, “Who art thou, that we might give an answer to those who sent us? What sayest thou about thyself?” ²³He said, “I am a voice crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord [Is. 40:3],’ even as the Prophet Esaias said.” ²⁴And they who had been sent forth were from the Pharisees. ²⁵And they asked him, and said to him, “Why baptizest thou then, if thou art not the Christ, nor Elias, nor the Prophet?” ²⁶John answered them, saying, “I baptize in water, but there standeth One in your midst Whom ye know not. ²⁷“He it is, the One Who cometh after me, Who hath come to be before me, of Whom I am not worthy that I should loose the thong of His sandal.” ²⁸These things took place in Bethabara across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

For Sl. usage, see [Lk. 10:1-21]

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

January 17th – Civil Calendar
January 4th – Church Calendar

1. The Assembly of the Seventy Apostles.

In addition to the twelve great apostles, the Lord chose besides seventy other, lesser apostles, and sent them to preach to the Jews. He sent them out two by two before His face, to each town and place, saying: “Behold, I send you as sheep among wolves” (Lk. 10:1-5). But as Judas, one of the Twelve, fell away from the Lord, so some among these Seventy withdrew from Him, not with the intention of betraying Him but from human weakness and lack of faith (Jn. 6:66). And as Judas’ place was filled from among the other apostles, so the places of these were filled with others chosen. These apostles labored in the same way as the twelve great apostles; they were the assistants of the Twelve in the spreading and strengthening of the Church of God in the world. They suffered much torture and malice, from men and from demons, but their firm faith and burning love for the risen Lord made them conquerors of the world and heirs of the kingdom of heaven.

2. St. Evstathius (Jevstatije), Archbishop of Serbia.

Born in the diocese of Budim (Budimlje), of God-fearing parents, he became a monk as a young man in Zeta, then moved on to greater asceticism at Hilandar. In time he became abbot of Hilandar, was then chosen to be Bishop of Zeta, and after some time had elapsed, to be Archbishop of Serbia. He was a man of great virtue and led Christ’s flock with zeal and love. He entered peacefully into rest at a great age in 1279, exclaiming as death drew near: “Into Thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.” His relics are preserved in the crypt of the church at Peć.

3. The Eunuch of Queen Candace.

The Apostle Philip baptized this negro eunuch (Acts 8:26-40). After his Baptism, the eunuch returned home and began to teach about Christ. He was the first apostle of the Faith among the negroes of Ethiopia. He died a martyr and was counted worthy of the kingdom of God.

4. Our Holy Father, the Martyr Onuphrius of Hilandar.

He was possessed of great anger towards his parents in his youth, and declared to the Turks that he wished to become one of them. He immediately repented of these words, went to Hilandar and there became a monk. Tormented by his conscience, he determined on martyrdom. So, with the blessing of his spiritual father, he went to Trnovo and presented himself to the Turkish authorities, stating that he was a Christian and mocking Mohammed, as a result of which he was slain on January 4th, 1818, at the age of 32. The body of this spiritual hero was lost, as the Turks threw it into the sea.

FOR CONSIDERATION

How do we reply to those who say that there is no room in our logic for Christ the worker of miracles? Answer simply: Place yourself within His. In His logic are contained all eternity and all transient goodness, so you could, if you wished, find a place therein for yourself. If you cannot fit a barrel into a thimble, you can fit a thimble into a barrel. Clement of Alexandria says: ‘Philosophers are as children until they become mature in Christ...’ for the truth is never contained only in the processes of rational thought. Christ came to make men new, and so also to make new the logic of men. He is our Logos and our logic. Thus we must direct our minds in accordance with His, not He with ours. He is the corrective of our minds. The sun does not adjust itself to our clocks, but they to the sun.

Daily Scripture Readings taken from The Orthodox New Testament, translated and published by Holy Apostles Convent, Buena Vista, Colorado, copyright © 2000, used with permission, all rights reserved.

Daily Prologue Readings taken from The Prologue of Ochrid, by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic, translated by Mother Maria, published by Lazarica Press, Birmingham, England, copyright © 1985, all rights reserved. Edited by Dormition Skete.