Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Friday of the Thirteenth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 192]. Brethren:

11 ⁵I reckon to have come behind in nothing of the exceedingly super apostles. ⁶But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet not in knowledge; but in every way we have been made manifest to you in all things. ⁷Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself in order that ye might be exalted, because I preached the Gospel of God to you as a free gift? ⁸I stripped other churches, having received wages from them with a view to your ministration. ⁹And when I was present with you, and in need, I burdened no one; for that which I lacked the brethren who came from Macedonia supplied. And in all things I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and I will keep myself. ¹⁰As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting in regard to me in the regions of Achaia shall not be fenced in. ¹¹Why? Because I do not love you? God knoweth. ¹²But what I do, also I will do, that I might cut off the occasion of those wishing an occasion, that in what they boast, they might be found even as we. ¹³For such are false apostles, guileful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. ¹⁴And a marvellous thing it is not; for Satan himself transformeth himself into an angel of light. ¹⁵Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves as ministers of righteousness, of whom the end shall be according to their works. ¹⁶Again I say, let no one think me to be foolish; but if otherwise, receive me even if as foolish, in order that I also might boast a little. ¹⁷What I speak, I speak it not according to the Lord, but as in foolishness, in this basis of the boasting. ¹⁸Since many boast according to the flesh, I also will boast. ¹⁹For ye bear with fools gladly, being wise yourselves; ²⁰for ye bear it if anyone enslave you, if anyone devour you, if anyone take from you, if anyone exalt himself, if anyone smite you on the face. ²¹I speak by way of dishonor, as though we weakened.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 15]. At that time:

4 ¹Jesus began to teach by the sea. And a great crowd was gathered together to Him, so that He stepped into the ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole crowd was on the land toward the sea. ²And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, ³“Hearken: Behold, the one who soweth went out to sow. ⁴“And it came to pass, as he was sowing, some seed indeed fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured it. ⁵“And other seed fell upon the rocky place, where it had not much earth; and straightway it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth. ⁶“But after the sun rose, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it was dried up. ⁷“And other seed fell into the thorns; and the thorns shot up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. ⁸“But other seed fell into the good ground, and it kept on yielding fruit that was springing up and increasing: and one was bearing thirty, and one sixty, and one a hundred.” ⁹And He was saying to them, “The one who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

7. The commemoration of the holy Martyr Sozon, and the venerable Martyr Makarios, Wonder-worker of Kanev.

Epistle

For the Martyr:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 93]. Brethren:

6 ¹⁸Having been freed from sin, ye were made slaves to righteousness. ¹⁹I speak in human terms on account of the weakness of your flesh. For as ye presented your members as slaves to uncleanness and to lawlessness unto lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness unto sanctification. ²⁰For when ye were slaves of sin, ye were free as to righteousness. ²¹Therefore what fruit were ye having then in the things of which ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ²²But now having been freed from sin, and having been made slaves to God, ye have your fruit to sanctification, and the end everlasting life. ²³For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

for Sl. usage, see [Eph. 6:10-17].

For the venerable Martyr:

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to Saint Timothy [§ 292]. Child Timothy:

2 ¹Be thou empowered in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; ²and the things which thou heardest from me in the midst of many witnesses, commit thou these things to faithful men who shall be competent also to teach others. ³Thou therefore suffer hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. ⁴No one serving as a soldier is entangled with the affairs of life, in order that he might please the one who enlisted him. ⁵And if anyone also contend as an athlete in the games, he is not crowned unless he contend lawfully. ⁶The farmer who laboreth must be first to partake of the fruits. ⁷Be considering what I say; O may the Lord give thee understanding in all things! ⁸Be remembering Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, Who hath been raised from the dead, according to my Gospel, ⁹in which I suffer hardship even to bonds as a malefactor, but the word of God hath not been bound. ¹⁰On this account I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they might also attain salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

Gospel

For the Martyr:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 106]. The Lord said to His disciples, “Be taking heed of men:

21 ¹²“For they shall lay their hands upon you and persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors on account of My name; ¹³“but it shall prove to be a testimony for you. ¹⁴“Therefore settle it for yourselves in your hearts not to premeditate to make a defense; ¹⁵“for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all those who oppose you shall not be able to contradict nor withstand. ¹⁶“And ye shall be delivered up also by parents, and kinfolk, and friends, and brethren; and they shall put some of you to death. ¹⁷“And ye shall be hated by all for My name’s sake. ¹⁸“But a hair of your head in no wise shall perish. ¹⁹“In your patience win your souls.”

for Sl. usage, see [Jn. 15:17-16:2].

For the venerable Martyr:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 38]. The Lord said to His disciples:

10 ³²“Everyone therefore who shall confess in Me before men, I also will confess in him before My Father Who is in the heavens. ³³“But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father Who is in the heavens. ³⁴“Never think that I came to cast peace on the earth; I came not to cast peace, but a sword. ³⁵“For I came to divide in two a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; ³⁶“and a man’s enemies shall be those of his own household. ³⁷“The one who loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and the one who loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁸“And whosoever taketh not his cross and followeth after Me is not worthy of Me.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

September 20th – Civil Calendar
September 7th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Sozon.

Born in Lykaonia, Sozon was a shepherd and lived by the law of God, teaching his brothers and sisters, and his friends, his devout faith. He learned in a vision that he would suffer martyrdom for Christ. At that time, there was a great persecution of Christians near the city of Pompeiopolis on the part of Maximian, the governor of Cilicia. In the city, there was a golden idol which was worshipped by the pagans. Sozon left his sheep, went to the city, entered the pagan temple and knocked an arm off the golden idol, melting it down and giving the gold to the poor. There was a great outcry in the city because of this, and the pagans began to search for the guilty man. That no one else should suffer for his action, Sozon went to the governor and declared himself to be a Christian and the performer of that act. The torturers first beat him, then chained him to a tree and flogged him with iron flails. When he was at his last breath, they cast him into the flames, where holy Sozon gave his soul to God. He suffered in about 304. His relics were found to be wonder-working, and a church dedicated to him was built over them.

2. The Holy Apostles Evodus and Onesiphorus.

These apostles were among the Seventy. St. Ignatius the God-Bearer mentions St. Evodus in glowing terms in his Epistle to the Antiochians. Evodus was a disciple of the Apostle Peter, and his successor at his hands as Bishop of Antioch. Evodus wrote a work on the holy Mother of God, in which he expounds how the holy Virgin was taken to the Temple at the age of three, how she stayed there for eleven years and was given into Joseph’s keeping at the age of fifteen, and how she gave birth to the Lord at that age. He wrote another work under the title ‘The Lighthouse,’ but both these works were destroyed during a time of persecution of Christians. He was killed for Christ during one of the Emperor Vespasian’s visits to Antioch.

St. Onesiphorus is mentioned by the Apostle Paul (II Tim. 1:16— 18) as his sincere friend and helper. He suffered for Christ in Colophon, where he had been bishop. It is said that he was bound behind wild horses and torn asunder. Thus these faithful soldiers of Christ served with honor on earth and entered into the joy of their Lord.

3. The Holy Martyr Efpsychios (Eupsychius).

Son of Dionysius, a senator, he was brutally tortured for Christ, whipped and flogged and then flung half-dead into prison, where an angel of God appeared to him and healed him. Freed from prison, he gave away all his possessions, some to the poor and some to his slanderers. Arrested afresh, he was flogged until he gave his soul to God. Milk and water flowed from his wounds in place of blood. He suffered in the time of the Emperor Hadrian (117-38).

4. St. John (Ioann), Archbishop of Novgorod.

He was first a married priest and then, from 1163, bishop in Novgorod, building seven churches during his lifetime. He had a vision of the holy Mother of God and a rare power over demons, making them obey him, and he once miraculously preserved Novgorod from an attack by seventy-two princes. He suffered from diabolical temptations, but overcame them all by the power of the Cross and by prayer. Retiring to a monastery in old age, he received the Great Habit and entered peacefully into rest in the Lord on September 7th, 1185.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Victory over anger is one of the greatest Christian victories. We generally become angry either with those whom we desire to turn from sin or with our calumniators. In relation to this, we forget that anger is a mortal sin and that, in seeking the salvation of another, we risk losing our own, in the words of St. Makarios. Anger against an enemy usually involves some other evil sentiment, and that is the desire for revenge. St. Efpsychios had so conquered the passion of anger within himself that, in the face of death, he gave half of his possessions to the poor and half to his slanderers, because of whom he was being tortured and killed. He regarded his slanderers as his benefactors. St. Chrysostom writes: ‘Let us clip the wings of anger, and evil will not gain any height. Anger,’ he says, ‘is an evil sickness that can destroy our souls. Anger is a terrible fire that devours everything. If an angry man could see himself in the moment of anger, he would need no other counsel to cease from anger, because there is nothing more unpleasant than an angry face.’ Abba Ammon confessed of himself: ‘I spent fourteen years in Sketis, praying to God day and night to give me victory over anger.’

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.