Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Wednesday of the Twenty-Sixth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to Saint Timothy [§ 281].

1 ¹⁸Child Timothy, this command I commit to thee according to the prophecies which went before concerning thee, that by them thou thyself mayest be waging war for the good campaign, ¹⁹having faith and a good conscience, which some have thrust away and suffered shipwreck concerning the faith, ²⁰of whom are Hymenæos and Alexander, whom I delivered up to Satan, in order that they might be disciplined not to blaspheme....

2 ⁸I wish therefore the men to pray in every place, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. ⁹In like manner also for the women to adorn themselves in modest dress, with regard for others and sober-mindedness, not with plaitings, or gold, or pearls, or expensive apparel, ¹⁰but what becometh women professing reverence of God, by means of good works. ¹¹Let a woman learn in silence, in all subordination. ¹²And I do not permit a woman to teach, nor to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. ¹³For Adam first was fashioned, then Eve. ¹⁴And Adam was not deceived, but the woman, having been deceived, hath come to be in transgression. ¹⁵But she shall be saved through the childbearing, if they abide in faith and love and sanctification with sober-mindedness.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 104]. At that time:

For Gk. usage, see Lk. 21:5-8, 10, 11, 20-24; for Sl. usage, see Lk. 21:5-7, 10, 11, 20-24.

21 ⁵As some spoke to Jesus about the temple, that it had been adorned with goodly stones and votive offerings, He said, ⁶“As for these things which ye behold, the days will come in which not a stone shall be left upon a stone, which shall not be put down.” ⁷And they asked Him, saying, “Teacher, when then shall these things be, and what shall be the sign when these things are about to take place?” ⁸And He said, “Be taking heed lest ye be led astray; for many shall come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and ‘The time hath drawn near.’ Do not then begin to go after them.”... ¹⁰Then He was saying to them, “Nation shall be stirred up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. ¹¹“And there shall be great earthquakes in place after place, and famines, and plagues; there shall be both terrors and great signs from heaven.... ²⁰“But whenever ye see Jerusalem being encircled by encamped armies, then know that her desolation hath drawn near. ²¹“Then those in Judæa, let them flee to the mountains. And those in the midst of her, let them depart. And those in the fields, cease entering into her. ²²“For these are the days of avenging, in order that all things that have been written might be fulfilled. ²³“And woe to those with child and to those who give suck in those days! For there shall be great anguish upon the land and wrath on this people. ²⁴“And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all the nations. And Jerusalem shall be trodden underfoot by the nations, until the times of the nations should be fulfilled.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our holy and God-bearing father, Savvas the Sanctified.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Galatians [§ 213]. Brethren:

5 ²²The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, ²³meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴But they who are of the Christ crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts. ²⁵If we live by the Spirit, let us also be walking by the Spirit. ²⁶Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another.

6 ¹Brethren, even if a man should be overtaken in some transgression, ye, the spiritual ones, be restoring such a one in the spirit of meekness, looking out for thyself, lest thou also be tempted. ²Keep on bearing one another’s burdens, and thus fill up the law of the Christ.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 43]. The Lord said to His disciples:

11 ²⁷“All things were delivered to Me by My Father. And no one doth fully know the Son, except the Father; nor doth anyone fully know the Father, except the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son is willing to reveal Him. ²⁸“Come to Me, all ye who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹“Take up My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and humble in heart; and ye shall find rest to your souls. ³⁰“For My yoke is good and My burden is light.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

December 18th – Civil Calendar
December 5th – Church Calendar

1. Our Holy Father Sava the Sanctified.

The unknown village of Mutalaska, in the province of Cappadocia, became famous through this great light of the Orthodox Church, for St. Sava was born there. He left the home of his parents, John and Sophia, at the age of eight and became a monk in a nearby monastery called ‘Flavian’s’. After ten years, he moved to the monasteries of Palestine, staying longest in the monastery of St. Efthymios the Great (Jan. 20th) and Theoktistos. Efthymios, who had the gift of discernment, foretold that he would be a famous monk and leader of monks, and that he would found a monastery that would be greater than any other of that day. After St. Efthymios’ death, Sava went into the desert, where he lived for five years as a hermit in a cave which an angel of God showed him. After that, when he had become a perfected monk, he began by divine providence to gather round him many desirous of the spiritual life. They very quickly grew in number, so that Sava had to build both a church and many cells. Some Armenians also came to him, and he set aside a cave for them, and they celebrated the services there in their own language. When his father died, his aged mother Sophia came to him and he made her a nun and gave her a cell away from the monastery, where she lived in asceticism till her death. This holy father endured many attacks from those close to him, from heretics, and from demons. But he overcame them all in these ways: those close to him he won over by his goodness and forbearance, the heretics by an unshakable confession of the Orthodox Faith, and the demons with the sign of the Cross and the invocation of God’s aid. He had a particularly severe battle with the demons on the mountain of Castellium, where he founded the second of his seven monasteries. He and his neighbor, Theodosios the Great, are considered to be the greatest lights and pillars of Orthodoxy in the East. Kings and patriarchs were brought to the right Faith by them, and these holy and wonderful men, strong in the power of God, served each and every man as an example of humility. St. Sava entered into rest in 532 at the age of ninety-four, after a life of great labor and great reward.

Among all his other great and good works, let this be remembered above all: that he compiled the first Order of Services for use in monasteries, now known as the Jerusalem Typikon.

2. Our Holy Fathers, the Martyrs of Karyes.

They suffered at the time of the Union of Lyons, at the hands of the Papists. The Union was the work of the pope and the Emperor Michael Palaiologos (1260-81). The Protos of the Holy Mountain was hanged, and the others were beheaded with the sword. For details of this, see October 10th.

3. Our Holy Father Nectarios of Bitola.

Born in Bitola, he lived in asceticism in the monastery of the Holy Physicians Kosmas and Damian, together with his father who was also a monk. He later went to Karyes, where he continued his asceticism in the cell of the Holy Archangels, under the direction of the elders of Philotheou and Dionysiou. After conquering human envy, demonic attacks and painful illnesses, he entered into the kingdom of Christ on December 5th, 1500. His incorrupt and fragrant relics are preserved in his cell.

4. Our Holy Fathers Karion and Zachariah.

Father and son, they were great Egyptian ascetics. Karion left his wife and their two children and went off to become a monk. The young Zachariah was taken into the monastery as a child, and he outstripped in asceticism both his father and many other notable ascetics. When they asked Zachariah: ‘Who is truly a monk?’ he replied: ‘He who constantly exercises himself in the fulfilling of God’s commandments.’

FOR CONSIDERATION

A man may be great in some skill, as a statesman or a military leader, but no one amongst men is greater than the man great in faith, hope and love. The greatness of the faith and hope in God held by St. Sava the Sanctified is best shown by the following incident: One day the monastery treasurer came to Sava and said he would not be able to sound the semantron* the following Saturday and Sunday to summon the brethren for the common service and meal, because there was not a trace of flour in the monastery, nor anything at all to eat or drink. For the same reason, even the divine Liturgy was impossible. The saint replied without hesitation: ‘I shall not cancel the Liturgy because of a lack of flour. He Who commanded us not to be concerned for bodily things is faithful to His word, and is able to sustain us in a time of hunger.’ And he placed all his trust in God. In this extremity, he was prepared to send some of the church vessels and vestments to be sold in the city, so that the divine services might not be foregone, nor the brothers a customary meal. But, before Saturday dawned, some men, moved by divine providence, brought thirty mules laden with wheat, wine and oil to the monastery. ‘What do you say now, my brother?’ Sava asked the treasurer. ‘Shall we not strike the semantron and gather the fathers?’ The treasurer was ashamed of his lack of faith, and begged the abbot’s forgiveness. Sava’s biographer called him ‘severe with demons, but mild with men’. Some monks rebelled against St. Sava, and were driven from the monastery by order of Patriarch Elias. They built themselves huts on the bed of the Tekoa River, and lived there in dire straits without the bare necessities of life. Hearing that they were starving, St. Sava loaded mules with flour and took them to them himself. Seeing that they had no church, he built them one. At first the monks received him with hatred, but afterwards they returned his love with love, and repented of their former evil towards him.

* Semantron (in Serbian, klepalo)—a long piece of wood, shaped for resonance, which is struck rapidly with a mallet. It became widely used in place of a bell under Turkish rule, when Christians were forbidden to ring bells because the Turks held the superstition that bells call demons.—Translator.

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.