Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Tuesday of the Thirty-Fifth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First General Epistle of Saint John [§ 72]. Brethren:

For Gk. usage, see 1 Jn. 3:9-22; for Sl. usage, see 1 Jn. 3:10-20, beginning in the middle of verse 10, “My beloved: Everyone who doeth not righteousness....”

3 ⁹Everyone who hath been born of God doeth no sin, because His seed abideth in him; and he is not able to sin, because he hath been born of God. ¹⁰In this are manifest the children of God and the children of the devil. Everyone who doeth not righteousness is not of God, and neither is the one who loveth not his brother. ¹¹Because this is the message which ye heard from the beginning, that we be loving one another, ¹²not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And on account of what did he slay him? Because his works were evil, but those of his brother righteous. ¹³Cease marvelling, my brethren, if the world hate you. ¹⁴We know that we have passed over out of death into life, because we love the brethren. The one not loving his brother abideth in death. ¹⁵Everyone who hateth his brother is a manslayer, and ye know that every manslayer hath not eternal life abiding in him. ¹⁶In this we have come to know love, because He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. ¹⁷But whosoever may have the world’s means of livelihood, and may observe his brother having need, and shutteth up from him his compassion from the inward parts, how doth the love of God abide in him? ¹⁸My little children, let us not be loving in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. ¹⁹And in this we know that we are of the truth, and shall persuade our hearts before Him, ²⁰that if our heart be condemning us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things. ²¹Beloved, if our heart be not condemning us, we have boldness toward God. ²²And whatsoever we may ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing before Him.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 64]. At that time:

14 ¹⁰Judas the Iscariote, one of the twelve, went away to the chief priests, in order that he might deliver Him up to them. ¹¹And after they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money; and he was seeking how he might opportunely deliver Him up.

¹²And on the first day of the unleavened bread, when they used to slay the passover, His disciples said to Him, “Where dost Thou wish that we go and prepare, that Thou mightest eat the passover?” ¹³And He sendeth forth two of His disciples, and saith to them, “Go ye into the city, and a man shall meet you bearing an earthenware vessel of water; follow him. ¹⁴“And wheresoever he should enter, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher saith, “Where is the lodging-place, where I shall eat the passover with My disciples?”’ ¹⁵“And he will show you a large upper room, which hath been furnished and prepared; there make ready for us.” ¹⁶And His disciples went away, and came into the city, and found it even as He said to them; and they made ready the passover. ¹⁷And evening having come to pass, He cometh with the twelve. ¹⁸And as they reclined at table and ate, Jesus said, “Verily I say to you, that one of you who is eating with Me shall deliver Me up.” ¹⁹And they began to be grieved, and to say to Him, one by one, “It is not I, is it?” And another, “It is not I, is it?” ²⁰But He answered and said to them, “It is one of the twelve, who dippeth with Me in the dish. ²¹“The Son of Man indeed goeth even as it hath been written concerning Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is delivered up! Good were it for that man if he had not been born.” ²²And as they ate, Jesus took bread, blessed it, and broke it, and gave to them, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” ²³And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them; and they all drank of it. ²⁴And He said to them, “This is My blood, that of the new covenant, which is being poured out for many. ²⁵“Verily I say to you that in no wise will I drink any more of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

²⁶And having sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. ²⁷And Jesus saith to them, “Ye all shall be made to stumble because of Me during this night, for it hath been written: ‘I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered abroad [cf. Zach. 13:7].’ ²⁸“But after I have risen, I will go before you into Galilee.” ²⁹But Peter said to Him, “Though all shall be made to stumble, yet not I.” ³⁰And Jesus saith to him, “Verily I say to thee that today, during the night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny Me thrice.” ³¹But he kept on speaking more vehemently, “If it should be necessary for me to die with Thee, in no wise will I deny Thee.” And in like manner also, they all were speaking.

³²And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He saith to His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” ³³And He taketh along with Him Peter and Iakovos and John, and began to be amazed and sorely troubled. ³⁴And He saith to them, “My soul is very sad unto death. Tarry here and be watching.” ³⁵And having gone forth a little, He fell upon His face on the ground, and was praying that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. ³⁶And He was saying, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to Thee. Take away this cup from Me; but not what I will, but what Thou wilt.” ³⁷And He cometh and findeth them sleeping, and saith to Peter, “Simon, sleepest thou? Wast thou not able to watch one hour? ³⁸“Be watching and praying that ye enter not into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ³⁹And again He went away and prayed, saying the same utterance. ⁴⁰And having returned, He found them again sleeping; for their eyes were weighed down, and they knew not what they should answer Him. ⁴¹And He cometh the third time, and saith to them, “Sleep on for what time remaineth and be taking your rest! It is enough, the hour hath come; behold, the Son of Man is being delivered up into the hands of the sinners. ⁴²“Rouse yourselves, let us be going; behold the one delivering Me up hath drawn near.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Afterfeast of the Meeting of the Lord, and the holy Martyr Agatha of Palermo in Sicily, and our father among the saints, Theodosios, Archbishop of Chernigov, the Wonder-worker.

Epistle

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

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 24]. At that time:

6 ¹⁷Jesus stood upon a level place. And there was a crowd of His disciples, and a great multitude of the people from all of Judæa and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him, and to be healed of their diseases— ¹⁸even those who were troubled by unclean spirits; and they were cured. ¹⁹And all the crowd was seeking to touch Him, for power was coming forth from Him and healing all. ²⁰And He lifted up His eyes to His disciples, and began to say:
   “Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
   ²¹“Blessed are ye who hunger now, for ye shall be filled.
Blessed are ye who weep now, for ye shall laugh.
   ²²“Blessed are ye whenever men hate you, and whenever they separate you, and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man.
   ²³“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in the heavens.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

February 18th – Civil Calendar
February 5th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Agatha.

This glorious virgin and martyr for Christ was born in the Sicilian town of Palermo of noble and prosperous parents. When Emperor Decius launched a persecution of Christians, St. Agatha was arrested and brought to judgement before Quintian, the judge. He saw Agatha’s beauty and desired her for his wife. When he suggested this to her, she replied that she was the bride of Christ and could not be faithless to her Betrothed. The judge condemned her to cruel torture: Agatha was flogged, mocked, bound to a tree and beaten till the blood flowed. After that, the judge again urged her to deny Christ and so escape further torture, to which Christ’s bride replied: ‘These tortures are of great help to me. As wheat cannot come to the granary until it is cleansed of its chaff, so my soul cannot enter Paradise unless my body has first been broken by torture.’ Then the torturer ordered that her breasts be cut off, and that she then be thrown into prison. The holy Apostle Peter appeared to her in the prison and restored her to physical wholeness and health. She was once again taken out for torture and again cast back into prison, where she gave her soul to God in the town of Catania in the year 251. After her death, her torturer, Quintian, set out to appropriate her lands; but on the way, the horses became maddened under him and his soldiers. They were savaged on the face, thrown onto the ground and trampled to death. Thus God’s punishment came swiftly upon him for his ferocious crime against St. Agatha.

2. The Holy Martyr Theodula.

She suffered for Christ in the time of Diocletian, the impious Roman emperor. During her tortures, Theodula brought one of her torturers, Helladius, to his senses and to the Christian Faith. When Helladius openly confessed his faith in Christ, he was beheaded. Theodula showed great courage at her trial, for which the judge considered her witless. To this, she retorted: ‘It is you who are witless, for you forget the one true God and bow down to lifeless stones.’ The judge put her to cruel torture, which Theodula endured with heroism, making her torturers marvel and bringing them to Christ. Among these were two eminent citizens, Makarius and Evagrius. With these two and many others, Theodula was thrown into a red-hot furnace, where they all finished this life with honor and were made worthy of the kingdom of Christ.

3. St. Polyefktos, Patriarch of Constantinople.

For his great mind, his zeal for the Faith and his power of oratory, he was called a second Chrysostom. The Russian Princess Olga came to Constantinople in the time of Patriarch Polyefktos and Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus, and was baptized there in 957. The patriarch baptized her, and the emperor stood godfather. St. Polyefktos prophesied: ‘Blessed art thou among Russian women, for thou hast desired the light and cast away darkness; the sons of Russia will bless thee to the last generation.’ From being a simple monk, Polyefktos was raised to the patriarchate in 946, and remained on the patriarchal throne until his death in 970.

FOR CONSIDERATION

The great Abba Ischyrion was asked by his monks: ‘What have we accomplished?’ ‘We have fulfilled the commandments of God,’ replied Ischyrion. ‘And what will those who come after us accomplish?’ ‘They will accomplish what we have accomplished, but only half as much as we.’ ‘And those after them?’ ‘Those in the last days will have no monastic training, but such assaults and temptations will come upon them that they will, through these trials, be revealed in the kingdom of God as greater than us and than our fathers.’

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.