Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Special Commemorations

The Saturday After the Theophany

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 233].

6 ¹⁰Brethren, keep on being empowered in the Lord and in the strength of His might. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God, for you to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil; ¹²because for us the wrestling is not against blood and flesh, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the cosmic rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of evil on account of the heavenly things. ¹³For this cause take up the full armor of God, in order that ye might be able to withstand in the evil day, and having counteracted all things, to stand. ¹⁴Stand therefore, having girt your loins with truth, and having put on for yourselves the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵and having shod your feet in readiness of the Gospel of peace; ¹⁶on the whole, take up the shield of faith, with which ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. ¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 7]. At that time:

4 ¹Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ²And having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards He hungered. ³And the tempter, having come to Him, said, “If Thou art God’s Son, command that these stones become loaves.” ⁴But He answered and said, “It hath been written: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which goeth forth out of the mouth of God [cf. Deut. 8:3].’” ⁵Then the devil taketh Him to the holy city, and setteth Him upon the wing of the temple, ⁶and saith to Him, “If Thou art God’s Son, cast Thyself down; for it hath been written: ‘He shall enjoin His angels concerning Thee; and upon their hands shall they take Thee up, lest ever Thou strike Thy foot against a stone [cf. Ps. 90(91):11, 12].’” ⁷Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it hath been written: ‘Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God [Deut. 6:16].’” ⁸Again, the devil taketh Him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showeth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them. ⁹And he saith to Him, “All these things will I give to Thee if Thou wilt fall down and make obeisance to me.” ¹⁰Then Jesus saith to him, “Get thee behind Me, Satan. For it hath been written: ‘Thou shalt make obeisance to the Lord thy God, and Him alone shalt thou worship [cf. Deut. 6:13].’” ¹¹Then the devil leaveth Him, and behold, angels drew near and were ministering to Him.

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Saturday of the Thirty-First Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Colossians [§ 249].

For Gk. usage, see Col. 1:1-6; for Sl. usage, see Col. 1:3-6.

1 ¹Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, ²to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ at Colossæ: Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, ⁴after we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and the love which ye have toward all the saints, ⁵on account of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, which ye heard before in the word of the truth of the Gospel, ⁶which is come to you, even as it is also in all the world, and is bearing fruit and increasing, as also in you, from the day in which ye heard and knew the grace of God in truth.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 97]. At that time:

24 ¹The disciples of Jesus came to Him to show Him the buildings of the temple. ²But Jesus said to them, “See ye not all these things? Verily I say to you, in no wise shall there be left here a stone upon a stone which shall not be put down.” ³And as He sat upon the Mount of Olives, His disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the completion of the age?” ⁴And Jesus answered and said to them, “Be taking heed, lest anyone lead you astray. ⁵“For many shall come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ’; and they shall lead astray many. ⁶“But ye are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars; keep on looking out and cease being clamorous; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁷“For nation shall be stirred up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there shall be famines, and plagues, and earthquakes, in place after place. ⁸“But all these are a beginning of birth pangs. ⁹“Then they shall deliver you up to affliction, and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated by all the nations for My name’s sake. ¹⁰“And then many shall be made to stumble, and shall deliver up one another, and shall hate one another. ¹¹“And many false prophets shall be raised up, and shall lead astray many. ¹²“And because lawlessness shall have been multiplied, the love of the multitude shall grow cold. ¹³“But the one who endureth to the end, this one shall be saved.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Afterfeast of Theophany, and the Virgin-martyr Tatiane the deaconess of Old Rome, and our father among the saints, Savva, first Archbishop and Teacher of the Serbs.

Epistle

For the Hierarch:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 318]. Brethren:

7 ²⁶Such a High Priest was fitting for us: holy, guileless, undefiled, Who hath been separated from the sinners and hath become higher than the heavens, ²⁷Who hath no need daily, even as the high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, then for those of the people; for this He did once for all after He offered up Himself. ²⁸For the law appointeth men high priests who have weakness; but the word of the oath, which is after the law, appointeth the Son, Who hath been perfected forever.

8 ¹Now in reference to the things being spoken of, the chief point is: We have such a High Priest, Who sat down on the right of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, ²a Liturgist of the holies and of the tabernacle, the true one, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

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 25th – Civil Calendar
January 12th – Church Calendar

1. St. Sava, Archbishop of Serbia.

The son of Stefan Nemanja, the great Serbian national leader, he was born in 1169. As a young man he yearned for the spiritual life. This led him to flee to the Holy Mountain, where he became a monk and with rare zeal followed all the ascetic practices. Nemanja followed his son’s example and himself went to the Holy Mountain, where he lived and ended his days as the monk Simeon. Sava obtained the independence of the Serbian Church from the emperor and the patriarch and became its first archbishop. He, together with his father, built the monastery of Hilandar and many other monasteries, churches and schools throughout the land of Serbia. He traveled to the Holy Land on two occasions, on pilgrimage to the holy places. He made peace among his brothers, who were in conflict over their rights, and also between the Serbs and their neighbors. In creating the Serbian Church, he created the Serbian state and Serbian culture along with it. He brought peace to all the Balkan peoples, working for the good of all, for which he was venerated and loved by all on the Balkan peninsula. He gave a Christian soul to the people of Serbia, which survived the fall of the Serbian state. He died in Trnovo in the reign of King Asen, being taken ill after the divine Liturgy on the Feast of the Theophany in 1236. King Vladislav took his body to Mileševa, whence Sinan Pasha, the impious Moslem, removed it, burning it at Vračar in Belgrade on April 27th, 1595.

2. The Holy Martyr Tatiana of Rome.

She was a Christian of an eminent family and a deaconess in the Church. After the death of the Emperor Heliogabalus, the Emperor Alexander came to the throne in Rome. His mother, Julia Mammaea, was a Christian, but the emperor himself was unsure and hesitant about his faith; an uncertainty that was clearly expressed by his keeping statues of both Christ and Apollo, of both Abraham and Orpheus, in his palace. His chief advisors took it into their own hands to persecute the Christians without his orders.

When the virgin Tatiana was led to martyrdom, she prayed for her executioners. And lo, their eyes were opened and they saw four angels around the martyr. Seeing this, eight of them were converted to Christ, for which they were tortured and killed. St. Tatiana’s martyrdom was long-drawn-out: she was flogged, parts of her flesh were cut off, she was sawn with an iron saw, and then, all disfigured and bleeding, was flung that evening into prison to be brought out on the following day for further torture. But God sent His angel to the prison to give her courage and heal her wounds. Tatiana, therefore, appeared before her torturers each morning in perfect health. She was thrown to a lion, but the lion became tame before her and did her no harm. Her hair was shorn—from an idea that occurred to their godless minds that some sorcery, some magical strength, might be hidden in it. Finally she was led out, together with her father, and the two were beheaded. In such manner this heroic maiden finished her earthly life in about the year 225, and was crowned with an immortal crown of glory. She had the weak body of a woman, but a manly and valiant spirit.

3. The Holy Martyr Peter Apselamus.

A native of Eleftheropolis in Palestine, he suffered as a youth for the Christian Faith in the year 311 under the Emperor Maximian. After terrible tortures, he was condemned to death. Hearing the sentence pronounced, he cried out with great joy: ‘My one desire is to die for my God!’ He was crucified, like his Lord, and gave up his spirit on the cross.

4. The Icon of the Mother of God, “Milk-Giver”.

This is the name given to the icon of the Mother of God that St. Sava of Serbia brought from the monastery of St. Sava the Sanctified near Jerusalem and placed in his hermitage at Karyes on the Holy Mountain. In that way a prophecy, made 800 years previously by St. Sava the Sanctified, was fulfilled—that one day a Serbian priest called Sava would come and would be given the icon and his staff. When Sava of Serbia visited the community of St. Sava the Sanctified, the monks called to mind the prophecy of their founder and gave the icon and the staff to Sava. The icon was placed at the right-hand side of the Beautiful Gates in the hermitage, and the staff in a cell which received the name ‘Pateritsa’*, also situated at Karyes.

* Pateritsa—The name used for a bishop’s staff, the father’s rod. —Tr.

5. Our Holy Mother Theodora

A famous nun and instructress of nuns from Alexandria, this holy woman said: ‘As cold and snow are necessary to a tree for it to bear fruit, so are trials and temptations to our life.’ She entered peacefully into rest at the beginning of the fifth century.

FOR CONSIDERATION

There is no greater honor or calling on earth than to be a Christian. When the judge-torturer Severus asked the young Peter Apselamus: ‘Of what family are you?’ Peter replied: ‘I am a Christian.’ The judge questioned him further: ‘Of what rank are you?’ To this he replied: ‘There is no higher or finer rank than that of a Christian.’ Saint John of Kronstadt writes: ‘The whole world is as thistledown in comparison with the soul of a Christian man.’ A Christian is an earthen vessel into which are poured godly strength and light. If that vessel be placed on a king’s golden throne or tucked away in some lightless beggar’s hovel, its worth is thereby neither magnified nor diminished. Does not gold have the same worth, whether wrapped in a silk scarf or a cabbage leaf?

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.