Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Tuesday of the Cheesefare

Epistle

The Reading is from the General Epistle of Saint Jude [§ 77].

¹Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ, and brother of Iakovos, to those called in God the Father, who have been sanctified and kept for Jesus Christ: ²Mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.

³Beloved, when I myself made every effort to write to you concerning the common salvation, I had need to write to you, exhorting you to contend for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. ⁴For certain men slipped in secretly, who of old were proscribed to this judgment, ungodly ones, transposing the grace of our God into licentiousness, and denying the only Master and our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁵But I wish to remind you, though ye know this once for all, that the Lord, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, later destroyed those who believed not. ⁶And those angels who kept not their first place, but deserted their own habitation, He hath kept in everlasting bonds under darkness until the judgment of the great day; ⁷as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in like manner to these, having committed fornication and gone away after other flesh, are set forth for an example, undergoing the punishment of everlasting fire. ⁸Yet in like manner also these dreamers indeed defile the flesh, and set at nought dominion, and blaspheme dignities. ⁹Now Michael the archangel, when he took issue with the devil and was disputing about the body of Moses, did not dare to lay upon him a judgment of blasphemy, but said, “May the Lord rebuke thee [cf. Zach. 3:3].” ¹⁰But these blaspheme indeed whatever things they do not know; and whatever things they understand naturally, as the irrational animals, in these things they corrupt themselves.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 109]. At that time:

22 ³⁹Jesus, having gone forth, went, according to His custom, to the Mount of Olives; and His disciples also followed Him. ⁴⁰And having arrived at the place, He said to them, “Be praying not to enter into temptation.” ⁴¹And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw; and having kneeled down, He was praying, ⁴²saying, “Father, if Thou art willing to take away this cup from Me—; but not My will, but Thine be done.”... ⁴⁵And having risen up from the prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from the grief, ⁴⁶and He said to them, “Why sleep ye? Rise up and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.”

⁴⁷And while He yet spoke, behold, a crowd, and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them forth and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him; for he had given this sign to them, “Whomsoever I shall kiss, it is He Himself.” ⁴⁸But Jesus said to him, “Judas, deliverest thou up the Son of Man with a kiss?” ⁴⁹And after they who were around Him saw that which was about to happen, they said to Him, “Lord, shall we smite with a sword?” ⁵⁰And a certain one of them smote the slave of the high priest and took off his ear, the right one. ⁵¹And Jesus answered and said, “Let it be, even to this.” And He touched his ear and healed him. ⁵²And Jesus said to those chief priests, and captains of the temple, and elders, who came against Him, “As against a robber ye have come out with swords and clubs. ⁵³“Daily, when I was with you in the temple, ye did not stretch forth your hands against Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”

⁵⁴And having arrested Him, they led Him and brought Him into the house of the high priest. And Peter was following from afar. ⁵⁵And after they kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard, they sat down together, and Peter was sitting among them. ⁵⁶And a certain young maidservant, having seen him sitting before the light of the fire, looked intently on him, and said, “This one was also with Him.” ⁵⁷But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.” ⁵⁸And after a short time another saw him, and said, “Thou art also of them.” And Peter said, “Man, I am not.” ⁵⁹And after about one hour intervened, a certain other strongly affirmed, saying, “In truth, this one also was with Him; for he is a Galilæan also.” ⁶⁰And Peter said, “Man, I know not what thou sayest.” And immediately, while he was yet speaking, a cock crowed. ⁶¹And the Lord turned about and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He said to him, “Before a cock crow, thou shalt deny Me thrice.” ⁶²And Peter went outside and wept bitterly.

⁶³And the men who confined Jesus were mocking Him and beating Him. ⁶⁴And having covered Him all around, they were striking His face and were questioning Him, saying, “Prophesy: Who is the one that smote Thee?” ⁶⁵And many other things they were saying to Him, blaspheming.

⁶⁶And when it became day, the council of the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, gathered together and led Him into their sanhedrin, saying, ⁶⁷“If Thou art the Christ, tell us.” And He said to them, “If I should tell you, in no wise will ye believe. ⁶⁸“And if also I should ask you, in no wise will ye answer Me or release Me. ⁶⁹“From now on the Son of Man shall be sitting on the right of the power of God.” ⁷⁰And they all said, “Art Thou then the Son of God?” And Jesus said to them, “Ye say that I am.” ⁷¹And they said, “What need have we still of testimony? For we ourselves heard from His own mouth.”

23 ¹And the whole multitude of them rose up and led Him before Pilate.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our fathers among the saints, Meletios, Patriarch of Antioch the Great, and Alexis, Metropolitan and Wonder-worker of All Russia.

Epistle

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 25th – Civil Calendar
February 12th – Church Calendar

1. St. Meletius, Archbishop of Antioch.

This great and holy man was an outstanding interpreter and defender of Orthodoxy. The whole of his life was devoted to the fight against the Arian heresy, which did not recognize the Son of God and blasphemed against the Holy Trinity. Originally living in Armenia, he was appointed to shepherd the Church of Antioch. In that place, the struggle between the Orthodox and the heretics was so bitter that the first time St. Meletius preached to the people in church on the divine Trinity in unity, the deacon, a heretic, ran up to the bishop and shut his mouth with his hand. Being unable to preach with words, Meletius preached by signs. Thus, he raised his arms on high, opened three fingers to their fullest extent and showed them to the people, then closed his hand and raised the one fist. He was three times removed from his archiepiscopal throne by the heretics, and driven off into Armenia. He took part in the Second Ecumenical Council in 381, where the Emperor Theodosios showed him especially great honor. At that council, God showed a mystery through His archbishop. When Meletius was propounding the doctrine of the Holy Trinity to the Arians, he first raised three fingers, separated one by one, then brought them together; and at that moment lightning flashed from his hand before the gaze of all present. At that council, Meletius established Gregory the Theologian in the seat of Constantinople. While the council was still in session, St. Meletius finished his earthly course in Constantinople. His relics were taken to Antioch.

2. St. Alexis (Alexei), Metropolitan of Moscow.

St. Alexis was a great hierarch of the Russian Church during a difficult period of Cossack warfare with the Russian people. Once in childhood he went bird hunting, and then went to sleep. In a dream he heard a voice that said, ‘Alexis, why rush around so fruitlessly? I will teach you to catch men!’ He became a monk at the age of twenty, and in time became Metropolitan of Moscow. He twice went among the Cossack Horde: once to sooth the wrath of Verdevir Khan against the Russian people, and the second time at the invitation of Amurat Khan, to cure his wife’s blindness. This woman had been blind for three years, but she was healed and her vision restored when Alexis prayed and anointed her with holy water. After a life of great endeavor and fruitfulness, Alexis entered into rest in 1378 at the age of 85, and went to the court of the Lord.

3. Our Holy Mother Mary (Marius).

Mary was a woman with great courage. After the death of her mother, her father desired to become a monk. Mary would not be separated from him, so they decided to go together to a men’s monastery—Mary with short hair and in man’s raiment as a youth. Her father died, and Mary became a monk and received the name Marius. There was an inn near the monastery, and the innkeeper’s daughter fell in love with the pious monk Marius. After pursuing him without success, she accused Marius of unlawful relations with her, because she had known some other man and borne him a son. Mary did not defend herself and was driven forth with scorn from the monastery. With the strange child in her care, she lived for three years in a grove belonging to the monastery, enduring hunger and hatred, and every sort of hardship and privation. As a result of all this, the innkeeper’s daughter became deranged. A little later, Mary died. Immediately after her death it was discovered that the ‘Monk Marius’ was a woman. As soon as the innkeeper’s daughter touched the relics of St. Mary, she was healed of her insanity and confessed her terrible sin. St. Mary entered into rest and went to eternal joy in 508.

4. St. Anthony, Patriarch of Constantinople.

A man of great compassion, he was at first an ascetic and then patriarch in the time of Emperor Leo the Wise (889-912). He professed his father a monk and built a monastery over the relics of St. Callia.

5. St. Callia.

Callia was generous to the poor from pure Christian compassion, both as a young girl and later as a married woman. Her husband was rich, but he was a hard man. Returning on one occasion from his work, he found that his wife had given away all his wealth to the poor. He thereupon killed her. But God glorified this compassionate soul, in that her relics healed many of the sick. Convinced by this of her sanctity, the holy Patriarch Anthony built a monastery over her relics.

FOR CONSIDERATION

St. John Chrysostom quotes the following example from the life of St. Meletius, demonstrating the true nobility of this great hierarch: Meletius was unjustly exiled from Antioch. When the governor got into the coach, seated the saint beside him and then began to drive hurriedly through the square, the citizens rushed from all sides with pebbles, which fell like hail on the governor’s head, the people being loath to part with their archbishop, and being ready to part with life rather than with this saint. But what did the blessed man do? Seeing the stones flying, he covered the governor’s head with his cloak. He thus shamed his enemy by his great meekness and gave his followers a lesson in the goodness we must show to those who insult us; how it is not enough just to do them no evil, but to use our strength to protect them from those dangers that threaten them. On Meletius’ outward appearance, St. Chrysostom writes further: ‘It was truly the greatest delight to see his holy face, and not only when he taught or spoke; when people only looked at him he brought virtue to the soul of the beholder.’

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.