Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Wednesday of the Thirty-First Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the General Epistle of Saint Iakovos (James) [§ 50 B].

1 ¹Iakovos, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the diaspora: Rejoice.

²My brethren, deem it all joy whenever ye fall into diverse temptations, ³knowing that the testing of your faith worketh out patience. ⁴But let patience keep on having a perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing. ⁵But if any of you lack wisdom, let him keep on asking from God Who giveth to all liberally, and reproacheth not, and it shall be given to him. ⁶But let him keep on asking in faith, doubting nothing; for he who doubteth is like a billow of the sea being driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷For let not that man be supposing that he shall receive anything from the Lord. ⁸A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. ⁹But let the brother of low degree be boasting in his high estate, ¹⁰and the rich man in his low estate, because as a flower of the grass he shall pass away. ¹¹For the sun ariseth with its burning heat, and drieth up the grass, and its flower falleth, and the comeliness of its appearance perisheth. Thus also the rich man shall wither in his ways. ¹²Happy is the man who endureth temptation; because having become approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love Him. ¹³Let no one when he is tempted be saying, “I am tempted of God”; for God is incapable of being tempted of evils, and He Himself tempteth no one. ¹⁴But each is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own desire. ¹⁵Then after he conceiveth the desire, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, after it is fully formed, bringeth forth death. ¹⁶Cease being led astray, my beloved brethren; ¹⁷every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, with Whom is no alternation or a shadow cast by turning. ¹⁸Having willed it, He brought us forth by the Logos of truth, for us to be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 23]. At that time:

6 ⁷Jesus calleth to Himself His twelve disciples, and began to send them forth two by two; and He was giving them authority over the spirits, the unclean ones. ⁸And He commanded them that they may take nothing for the journey, except a staff only—no leathern pouch, no bread, no money in their belt; ⁹but be shod with sandals, and not to put on two tunics. ¹⁰And He was saying to them, “Wheresoever ye enter into a house, be lodging there until ye go forth from that place. ¹¹“And as many as will not receive you, nor hear you, when ye go out from that place, shake off the dust which is under your feet, for a testimony to them. Verily I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.” ¹²And they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. ¹³And they were casting out many demons, and anointing with oil many sick, and curing them.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Afterfeast of Theophany, and the holy Martyr Polyefktos of Melitene in Armenia, and the holy Metropolitan Philip of Moscow and All Russia, the new confessor.

Epistle

For the 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.

For the Hierarch:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 335]. Brethren:

13 ¹⁷Be obedient to those who lead you, and keep on submitting, for they are watchful for your souls, as those about to render an account, that they may do this with joy, and not groaning; for this would be unprofitable for you. ¹⁸Keep on praying for us; for we trust that we have a good conscience, in all things wishing to conduct ourselves well. ¹⁹But I beseech you more abundantly to do this, that I might be restored more quickly to you.

²⁰Now the God of peace Who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Shepherd of the sheep, the great One, in the blood of an everlasting covenant, ²¹may He render you perfect in every good work, in order to do His will, doing in you that which is well-pleasing before His face, through Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory to the ages of the ages. Amen.

Gospel

For the Mid-feast:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 2]. In those days:

1 ⁹Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰And straightway, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens being parted, and the Spirit as a dove descending upon Him; ¹¹and there came to be a voice out of the heavens, “Thou art My Son, the Beloved, in Thee I am well pleased.”

¹²And straightway, the Spirit driveth Him forth into the desert. ¹³And He was there in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts; and the angels were ministering to Him.

¹⁴Now after John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom of God, ¹⁵and saying, “The time hath been fulfilled, and the kingdom of God hath drawn near; repent ye and believe ye in the Gospel.”

For the Hierarch:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 36]. The Lord said to the Jews who had come to Him:

10 ⁹“I am the door; by Me if anyone should enter, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰“The thief cometh not, except that he might steal, and slay, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. ¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep. ¹²“But the hireling, who indeed is not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep and fleeth; and the wolf seizeth them and scattereth the sheep. ¹³“Now the hireling fleeth, because he is a hireling and careth not about the sheep. ¹⁴“I am the good shepherd; and I know those that are Mine, and am known of those that are Mine. ¹⁵“Even as the Father knoweth Me, I also know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. ¹⁶“And I have other sheep which are not of this fold; them also it is needful for Me to bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

January 22nd – Civil Calendar
January 9th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Polyefktos (Polyeuctus).

The Armenian town of Melitene was soaked in Christian blood, as was all the land of Armenia. The first blood shed for Christ in that town was that of St. Polyefktos, spilled in about the year 259, during the reign of Valerian. There were in the town two friends who were officers: Nearchos and Polyefktos, the former baptized and the latter unbaptized. When a decree went out from the emperor that all Christians were to be killed, Nearchos prepared himself for death, though with great sorrow at not having brought his friend Polyefktos to the true Faith. When Polyefktos became aware of Nearchos’ sorrow, he promised to become a believer. On the following day, he related to Nearchos a dream that he had: the Lord Himself had appeared to him in light, stripped his old clothing from him, clothed him in new and shining raiment and set him upon the saddle of a winged horse. After relating this dream, Polyefktos went off to the town, tore up the royal decree on the persecution of Christians and smashed many statues of idols. He was tortured and condemned to death. On the way to the place of execution, he caught sight of Nearchos in the crowd and called joyfully to him: ‘O Nearchos, farewell, and remember the pact between us!’ And St. Nearchos later ended a martyr for Christ in the fire. His feast is on April 22nd.

2. Our Holy Father Efstratios.

A native of Tarsus, he was a great ascetic and man of prayer. During seventy-five years of monastic life, he never lay on his left side to sleep, but always on his right. In church, he repeated to himself throughout the service: ‘Lord, have mercy’. He died at the age of 95.

3. St. Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow.

Born on February 11th, 1507, he was standing one day in church, while still a young man, when he heard the priest read from the Gospel the words: “No man can serve two masters” (Matt. 6:24). He was filled with awe at these words, as though they were said to him alone, and was enlightened in that same moment. He went off to the monastery of Solovetsky (Solovki), where, after a long and hard novitiate, he received the monastic schema. In time he became abbot, and resplendent as the sun in holiness, became known throughout the land of Russia. Because of this, Tsar Ivan the Formidable, a great ally of the saint, translated him to the vacant See of Moscow as metropolitan in 1566. But soon the Judaizer sect and the nobles plotted against the new metropolitan, slandering him and succeeding in having him deposed and imprisoned at Tver. When Tsar Ivan later began to investigate the lawfulness of this deposition, the Judaizer conspirators, desiring to silence Philip, murdered him in the monastery of his exile on December 23rd, 1569.

After some years, the body of the saint was found to be whole and incorrupt, and giving off a very beautiful fragrance. It was transferred to the monastery of Solovetsky.

FOR CONSIDERATION

The Orthodox Church, in teaching men perfect love, at the same time teaches them perfect obedience, from which flow both order and harmony among the faithful. The bishops owe obedience to the Lord, the priests to the bishops and the faithful to the one and the other. St. Ignatius writes about this: “It is your duty to obey without hypocrisy; he who would deceive his visible bishop would scorn also the Invisible.... I beg you, take care to fulfill all in the unity of God, under the guidance of your bishops, who occupy the place of God, and the priests, who constitute the assembly of the apostles,...not thinking that whatever may seem to you to be right, that should you do on your own, in isolation.”

[The Orthodox have always accepted this, but when the bishop preaches anything other than true Orthodoxy, the faithful are admonished by the testimony of the apostles, who were contemporaries of St. Ignatius, that they must not be obedient to disobedience. The faithful have, in such instances, ousted the bishop and replaced him with one who is Orthodox.]

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.