Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Friday of the Twenty-First Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Colossians [§ 253]. Brethren:

2 ¹I wish you to know how great a struggle I have for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, ²that their hearts might be comforted, having been knit together in love and unto all wealth of the full assurance of understanding, to a full knowledge of the mystery of the God and Father, and of the Christ, ³in Whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴And this I say, in order that no one may be beguiling you by persuasive speech; ⁵for even though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing and seeing your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

⁶As ye therefore received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, be walking in Him, ⁷rooted and built up in Him, and confirmed in the faith, even as ye were taught, abounding in it in giving of thanks.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 63]. The Lord said to His disciples:

12 ²“There is nothing which hath been covered up which shall not be uncovered, nor hidden which shall not be known. ³“Wherefore, whatsoever ye said in the darkness shall be heard in the light; and what ye spoke in the ear in the closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. ⁴“And I say to you, My friends, do not become afraid because of those who kill the body, and after these things are not able to do anything more. ⁵“But I will show you Whom ye should fear: fear the One Who after the killing hath power to cast into Gehenna; yea, I say to you, this One fear. ⁶“Five sparrows are sold for two assaria, are they not? And not one of them is forgotten before the face of God. ⁷“Yea, even the hairs of your head have all been numbered. Therefore cease being afraid; ye excel many sparrows. ⁸“But I say to you, everyone who shall confess in Me before men, the Son of Man also shall confess in him before the angels of God. ⁹“But the one who denieth Me before the face of men shall be denied before the face of the angels of God. ¹⁰“And everyone who shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but to the one who blasphemeth against the Holy Spirit it shall not be forgiven. ¹¹“And whenever they bring you in before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, cease being anxious how or what ye should speak in defense, or what ye should say; ¹²“for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in the same hour what things it is needful to say.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Martyrs Akindynos and those with him.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 331]. Brethren:

12 ¹We also, having so great a cloud of witnesses which is set around us, and having laid aside every weight and sin that is easily circumvented, let us by means of patience be running the course which is set before us, ²looking to Jesus, the originator and accomplisher of our faith, Who, in exchange for the joy set before Him, endured a cross, having despised the shame, and hath sat down on the right of the throne of God. ³For consider the One Who hath endured contradiction by sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your souls.

⁴Ye did not yet resist as far as blood, struggling against sin. ⁵And ye have utterly forgotten the exhortation which He discourseth with you as to sons, “My son, cease making small account of the chastisement of the Lord, nor be faint when reproved by Him [Prov. 3:11]. ⁶“For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth [cf. Prov. 3:12].” ⁷If ye endure chastisement, God is dealing with you as with sons; for who is a son whom the father chastiseth not? ⁸But if ye are without chastisement, of which all have become partakers, then ye are bastards and not sons. ⁹Furthermore, we indeed used to have fathers of our flesh as instructors, and we were giving them respect. We shall much more be subject to the Father of the spirits and live, shall we not? ¹⁰For they indeed for a few days were chastening us according to that which seemed fit to them; but He for our profit, for us to partake of His holiness.

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

Gospel

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 [Mt. 10:16-22].

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

November 15th – Civil Calendar
November 2nd – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyrs Acyndinus, Pegasius, Anempodistus, Aphthonius, Elpidephorus and others with them.

They were Persian Christians, and suffered in the time of King Sapor, in 355. The first three were servants at the court of this king, but secretly served Christ their Lord. When they were arrested and brought to trial before the king, he asked them whence they came. To this they replied: ‘Our paternity and life is the most holy Trinity, coessential and undivided, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God.’ The king gave them over to harsh torture, and they endured it all courageously, singing psalms and with prayer on their lips. At the time of their torture and imprisonment, angels of God appeared to them several times, and once the Lord Christ Himself, as a Man ‘with a face radiant as the sun’. When one of the torturers, Aphthonius, saw with wonder that boiling lead did no harm to the martyrs, he believed in Christ and cried out: ‘Great is the Christian God!’ He was then immediately beheaded, and many others saw and believed. Then the king commanded that Acyndinus, Pegasius and Anempodistus be sewn into goat-skins and thrown into the sea. Then St. Aphthonius appeared from the other world with three shining angels, and they bore the martyrs to dry land and set them free. Elpidephorus was a courtier. When he revealed that he was a Christian, and denounced the king for his slaughter of innocent Christians, the king condemned him to death, and Elpidephorus was beheaded along with about seven thousand other Christians. Then the three first-named martyrs were finally thrown into a burning furnace, along with twenty-eight soldiers and the king’s mother, who had also come to faith in Christ. And so, in the flames, they gave their righteous souls into the hands of the Lord.

2. Our Holy Father Markianos (Marcian) of Kyros.

He was from the town of Kyros (Cyrus) in Syria, and was distinguished by noble birth and physical beauty. He left all for Christ, and withdrew to the desert of Halkis as a solitary. He was a contemporary of Patriarch Flavian of Antioch and the Emperors Constantius and Valens. A divine light, by which he read the holy Scriptures, shone in his cell at night, and he never had need of any other light, being a great wonder-worker both during his lifetime and after his death. At the time of his death, he commanded his disciple Evsevios to conceal his body and bury it in secret, to avoid veneration. He entered into rest in the Lord in the year 387.

3. The Hieromartyr Victorinus, Bishop of Patav.

Many assert that he was a Slovene. Blessed Jerome cites him as a man learned and devout. He knew Greek better than Latin, and wrote commentaries on several books of the Old and New Testaments. He suffered for the Christian Faith in about 303.

FOR CONSIDERATION

How shall he attain to love for his enemies who sets aside love for his parents? Love for one’s parents is the chief and fundamental school of love. Without this schooling, one cannot go further. The Serbian King Dragutin stood in arms against his father in order to seize his throne. But it so happened that he broke his leg, and this awakened his conscience, which tormented him till his death, giving him no peace. Dragutin relinquished his throne, and gave over his power to his younger brother Milutin. He embarked on great works of mercy, built churches and performed other good deeds. He also lived an intensive, secret ascetic life. He girded his naked body with a belt of reeds, dressed in coarse sackcloth and prayed to God at night in a secretly-prepared grave. The repentant king did all this only to gain God’s forgiveness for his lack of love towards his parents, and God forgave him.

Many holy martyrs, whom their executioners had come to seek out, welcomed them with joy and entertained them in their homes until the time came for them to be put to death. To entertain the man who is to shed one’s blood is indeed a great expression of love for one’s enemies. When King Sapor put Acyndinus, Pegasius and the others to harsh torture, he suddenly went out of his mind and became dumb, being unable to speak, and clawed at his face in his great fury. Seeing his tormentor in such despair, St. Acyndinus wept, and prayed to God for the king, saying: ‘In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, speak!’ and the king was loosed from his dumbness and began to speak. Here is an example of true love for one’s enemies.

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.