Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Twenty-Sixth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to Saint Timothy [§ 278].

1 ¹Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to a command of God our Savior, and of the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope, ²to Timothy, my genuine child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

³As I besought thee to remain in Ephesus when I was going to Macedonia, it was so that thou mightest command some not to teach different doctrines, ⁴nor to give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which produce inquiries rather than the dispensation of God which is in faith. ⁵Now the end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith without hypocrisy, ⁶which some, having missed the mark, turned aside to vain talking, ⁷wishing to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say, nor about what kind of things they are of which they affirm for themselves.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 102]. At that time:

20 ²⁷Some of the Sadducees, those who contradict that there is any resurrection, came to Jesus and questioned Him, ²⁸saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote to us: ‘If anyone’s brother should die, having a wife, and this man should die childless, that his brother should take the wife and raise up seed to his brother [cf. Gen. 38:8; Deut. 25:5].’ ²⁹“There were then seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died childless. ³⁰“And the second took the woman, and this man died childless. ³¹“And the third took her in like manner. And likewise also the seven, they left behind no children, and they died. ³²“And last of all the woman died also. ³³“Therefore, in the resurrection, of which of them doth she become wife? For the seven had her to wife.” ³⁴And Jesus answered and said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage; ³⁵“but those having been counted worthy to attain to that age, and the resurrection which is from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage, ³⁶“for neither are they able to die any more, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. ³⁷“But that the dead are raised, even Moses indicated in the passage concerning the bush where the Lord saith, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob [Ex. 3:6].’ ³⁸“Now He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to Him.” ³⁹And some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, Thou didst speak well.” ⁴⁰And no longer were they daring to ask Him anything.

⁴¹And He said to them, “How do they say the Christ is David’s Son? ⁴²“And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit Thou on My right, ⁴³“‘“until I should place Thine enemies as a footstool of Thy feet [Ps. 109(110):1].”’ ⁴⁴“David then calleth Him Lord; and yet how is He his Son?”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Prophet Sophonios (Zephaniah).

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 104]. Brethren:

10 ¹¹The Scripture saith, “Everyone who believeth on Him shall not be ashamed [cf. Is. 28:16].” ¹²For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord of all is rich to all those who call upon Him. ¹³For, “Everyone, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved [Joel 2:32].” ¹⁴How then shall they call on One in Whom they believed not? And how shall they believe in One of Whom they heard not? And how shall they hear without one preaching? ¹⁵And how shall they preach, unless they are sent forth? Even as it hath been written: “How beautiful are the feet of those preaching the glad tidings of peace, of those preaching the glad tidings of good things [cf. Is. 52:7]!” ¹⁶But not all obeyed the Gospel. For Esaias saith, “Lord, who hath believed our report [Is. 53:1]?” ¹⁷So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by that which is said of God. ¹⁸But I say, they heard, did they not? Yea rather, “Their sound went forth into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the inhabited world [Ps. 18(19):4].” ¹⁹But I say, Israel did not know, did it? First Moses saith, “I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no nation, by a nation without understanding will I anger you [Deut. 32:21].” ²⁰But Esaias is very bold, and saith, “I was found by those not seeking Me; I became manifest to those not asking after Me [Is. 65:1].” ²¹But to Israel He saith, “The whole day I stretched forth My hands to a disobedient and contradicting people [Is. 65:2].”

11 ¹I say then, God did not thrust away His people, did He? May it not be! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. ²God did not thrust away His people whom He foreknew.

Gospel

No reading given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

December 16th – Civil Calendar
December 3rd – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Prophet Sophonias (Zephaniah).

Born on the mountain of Savarat and of the tribe of Simeon, he lived and prophesied in the seventh century before Christ, in the time of Josiah the pious King of Judah, and was a contemporary of the Prophet Jeremias. With his great humility, pure mind and constant striving after God, he was found worthy of seeing into the future. He foretold the day of the wrath of God and the punishment of Gaza, Ashkalon, Ashdod, Ekron, Nineveh, Jerusalem and Egypt. He looked upon Jerusalem as ‘a filthy, polluted and oppressing city;...her princes within her are like roaring lions; her judges are ravening wolves;...her prophets are insolent and treacherous persons; her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law’ (Zeph. 3:1-4). Foreseeing the coming of the Messiah, he cried out with rapture: ‘Sing, O daughter of Sion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all thy heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!’ (3:14). This clairvoyant of secrets and mysteries went to his rest in the place where he was born, there to await the general resurrection and his reward from God.

2. St. John the Silent (the Hesychast).

Born in Nicopolis in Armenia, he was the son of Encratius and Ephemia. He became a monk at the age of eighteen and gave himself to asceticism, thoroughly cleansing his heart with tears, prayer and fasting. After ten years, he was made Bishop of Colonia. The example of his life drew his brother, Pergamius, and his uncle, Theodore, both noted members of the court of the Emperors Zeno and Justinian, to lead lives pleasing to God. Seeing the evil and intrigues of the world and his inability to put matters right, he abandoned the episcopal throne and went to the monastery of St. Sava near Jerusalem, disguised as a simple monk. He remained there a number of years quite unknown, conscientiously and capably performing whatever service the abbot gave him. Thereupon St. Sava suggested to the patriarch that he be ordained priest. When the patriarch came to do this, John confessed that he already bore the rank of bishop. Then St. John shut himself into his cell and spent year after year in silence and prayer. Afterwards, he spent nine years in the desert, sustaining himself with wild herbs, and then he returned to the monastery. He wrested the faithful away from the heresy of Origen, and made a great contribution to the struggle against that heresy and its condemnation. He was able to perceive the spiritual realm with clarity, and heal the sick. He could easily subdue demons, having already conquered himself. He entered peacefully into rest in 558 at the age of a hundred and four, being great in humility, power and godly wisdom.

3. The Hieromartyr Theodore, Archbishop of Alexandria.

After serving as patriarch for two years, he was tortured by the pagans. They put a crown of thorns on his head, and finally beheaded him for the Faith in 606.

4. Our Holy Father Theodoulos.

A noted patrician at the court of Theodosios the Great, he abandoned the vanity of this world after the death of his wife, and left Constantinople for a pillar near Ephesus, on which he spent a good thirty years in asceticism.

5. Our Holy Father Sava of Storozhev.

He was a disciple of St. Sergius of Radonezh and a great wonder-worker. After his death, he appeared to many people, sometimes to instruct, sometimes to warn and sometimes to heal. He went from this life to the better one in 1406.

FOR CONSIDERATION

God hearkens to the prayers of the just and answers them sometimes at once and in full, and at other times only later, at the proper time and according to the needs of the Church. In other words, in answering the prayer of a righteous man, God has in mind either that man’s salvation or the well-being of the whole Church. St. John the Silent prayed to God to reveal to him how the soul takes leave of the body, and while still at prayer, he was taken out of himself and had the following vision: A good man died in front of the church in Bethlehem, and angels took his soul from his body and bore it up to heaven with sweet singing. Coming out of his ecstasy, St. John set out at once on the road from St. Sava’s to Bethlehem. When he reached Bethlehem, he saw the dead body in front of the church, just as it had been in his vision.

When the great Sava the Sanctified died, John was in great grief and anguish. St. Sava appeared to him in a vision and said: ‘Do not grieve, Father John, because, although I am separated from you in the body, I am still with you in the spirit.’ Then John begged him. ‘Father, pray to the Lord to take me with you!’ and Sava replied: ‘That is impossible for now, for a great tribulation has yet to come on the monastery. God desires you to remain to comfort and strengthen the faithful against the heretics.’ St. John did not realize at once the sort of heretic to which the holy father was referring, but he found out later, when the Origenists began to shake the Church of God.

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.