Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

The Saturday of the Fifth Week of the Great Fast and of the Akathist

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 322]. Brethren:

9 ²⁴The Christ entered not into the holies made by hand, antitypes of the true things, but into the heaven itself, now to be manifested before the face of God on our behalf; ²⁵not in order that He may offer Himself many times, even as the high priest entereth into the holies year by year with blood belonging to another; ²⁶for otherwise it would be necessary for Him many times to have suffered from the foundation of the world; but now, once for all, at the consummation of the ages, He hath been manifested for the setting at nought of sin by the sacrifice of Himself. ²⁷And inasmuch as it is laid up for men to die once, but after this, judgment, ²⁸thus the Christ Who was offered once for all to bear up the sins of many, shall appear the second time without sin to those who await Him unto salvation.

Another Reading for Saturday of the Fifth Week of the Great Fast for the Theotokos

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 320]. Brethren:

9 ¹The first tabernacle also used to have both ordinances of worship and the sanctuary of this world. ²For a tabernacle was furnished: the first in which were both the lampstand and the table, and the laying forth of the loaves, which is called Holy; ³and after the second veil, a tabernacle which is called Holy of Holies, ⁴which hath a golden censer, and the ark of the covenant which hath been covered all around from every side with gold, in which was the golden jar having the manna, and the rod of Aaron that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; ⁵and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat, concerning which now is not the time to speak severally. ⁶Now after these things were thus furnished, the priests, on the one hand, enter into the first tabernacle, performing worship services; ⁷on the other hand, into the second, the high priest entereth alone once for all every year, not without blood, which he offereth on behalf of himself and the faults of ignorance of the people.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 35]. At that time:

8 ²⁷Jesus went out, and His disciples, into the villages of Cæsarea Philippi; and on the way He was asking His disciples, saying to them, “Whom do men say that I am?” ²⁸And they answered, “John the Baptist, but others say Elias; and others, one of the prophets.” ²⁹And He saith to them, “But ye, whom do ye say that I am?” And Peter answereth and saith to Him, “Thou art the Christ.” ³⁰And He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him. ³¹And He began to teach them that it is necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things, and to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and to be killed, and after three days to rise.

Another Reading for the Theotokos

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 54]. At that time:

10 ³⁸Jesus entered into a certain village. And a certain woman, by name Martha, received Him into her house. ³⁹And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat down beside the feet of Jesus, and was listening to His word. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted about much serving, and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, is it no concern to Thee that my sister left me to serve alone? Speak to her therefore that she should help me.” ⁴¹And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled about many things. ⁴²“But there is need of one thing, and Mary chose the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”...

11 ²⁷And it came to pass, as He was speaking these things, a certain woman out of the crowd lifted up her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore Thee, and the breasts which Thou didst suck.” ²⁸But He said, “Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our venerable Father Nikon and his 199 Disciples in Sicily.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

April 5th – Civil Calendar
March 23rd – Church Calendar

1. The Hieromartyr Nikon.

Born in Naples of a pagan father and a Christian mother, he was an officer in the Roman army in Naples. He was not baptized, although his mother, unbeknown to his father, had instructed him in the Christian Faith. Once, when he was setting off with his company to war, his mother advised him that if he were in trouble, to make the sign of the Cross and call on Christ to help him. And so, when Nikon’s company was surrounded during the battle and close to final extermination, Nikon made the sign of the Cross and began to call upon Christ. At that moment he was filled with exceptional strength and rushed upon his opponents, killing some and putting the others to flight. Returning home, Nikon could not stop exclaiming in wonder: ‘Great is the God of the Christians!’ After he had brought joy to his mother with his report of the victory by the aid of Christ’s Cross, he set sail in secret for Asia, where the Bishop of Kyzikos, Theodosios, baptized him. After his Baptism, he shut himself up in a monastery and devoted himself to study and to asceticism. However, Bishop Theodosios had a vision before his death, in which he was told to consecrate Nikon as his successor. The aged Theodosios summoned Nikon immediately and ordained him deacon, and then priest and bishop. By divine providence Nikon came soon after this to Neapolis, where he found his mother still alive. On her death, he went to Sicily with nine disciples, one-time comrades in battle, and there devoted himself to preaching the Gospel. There was a terrible persecution of Christians at that time, and Prince Quintianus seized Nikon and his companions and gave them over to great torture. One hundred and ninety of his disciples and friends were slain. The torturer tied Nikon to the tails of horses, threw him from a high cliff into a ravine, beat him and flayed him, yet Nikon survived all these tortures. He was finally slain with the sword and his body was abandoned in a field for the birds to eat, but a shepherd boy, possessed by a raging evil spirit, fell on the dead body of Christ’s martyr, took hold of it, and was immediately healed. He spread the news about Nikon’s body, and Christians came and buried it. St. Nikon suffered and went to the Lord in the reign of the Emperor Decius.

2. Our Holy Father Nikhon of the Kiev Caves.

Nikhon was a friend of St. Anthony of the Caves and the spiritual father of our holy father Theodosius. After the tonsuring of the Boyar Varlaam and the eunuch Ephraim he was threatened by Prince Izyaslav, but the princess turned the prince’s anger to godly fear and holy Nikhon was left in peace. Desiring to beautify the Church with icons, Nikhon prayed for assistance, and through his prayers some Greek iconographers suddenly arrived in Kiev from Constantinople. St. Anthony and St. Theodosius had appeared to them in a vision and sent them to Nikhon in Kiev. He was glorified for his daring asceticism and his spiritual wisdom. He became abbot of the Monastery of the Caves against his will in old age, and went to the Lord in 1066. His incorrupt relics are preserved in the Kiev Caves.

3. The Holy Virgin-martyr Basil of Mangazeya, Protector Against Homosexuality.

St. Basil was born in 1587 in Yaroslavl, and as a very small boy, he used to go to the church every time he could. He loved God’s house and he wanted to be there more than any other place. Because his father, Theodore, was a poor merchant and his family often had very little food, Basil agreed to become an apprentice for a merchant in the faraway Siberian town of Mangazeya. The young Basil was a very good and careful worker, and soon he was given a more responsible job in the company. Siberia was a very dangerous place, full of wild animals, warlike native tribes, and lawless men. There were almost no women in Siberia. Thus, some perverse men used to commit homosexual acts with young men and boys. Soon after the saint had arrived in Mangazeya, his boss tried to entice the youth into homosexual relations, first with flattery and bribes and finally with threats and punishments. Basil, however, rejected the depraved man and continued to fast and pray and ask God to help him remain pure. The boss hated Basil for his meek and humble personality and for his devout religious life. Yet no matter how much he persecuted and mistreated the innocent lad, Basil continued to perform all his duties faithfully and honestly.

During the Paschal Matins, thieves robbed the merchandise house in which Basil worked. Discovering the theft, the boss went to the governor and reported the theft, accusing Basil of the crime. Thus, on the day of Christ’s Bright Pascha, when the holy Church calls all people to peace and love, this innocent, God-fearing boy was betrayed by a false witness, just as Christ had been betrayed by false witnesses. The governor did not even investigate the charges but immediately sent officers to arrest St. Basil and drag him out of the church. The governor and Basil’s boss began to torture the boy in order to force a confession from him. In spite of all the fierce tortures, the blessed one would only reply meekly, “I am innocent.” The pain from the tortures became so unbearable that the youth fainted for a while. His meekness and patient endurance enraged the evil merchant even more, so he finally, in a demonic frenzy, struck the innocent virgin on the head with a heavy chain of keys. The righteous Basil fell to the floor, sighed heavily, and gave up his pure soul into the hands of the Lord, on the day of Christ’s radiant Pascha, 1600. He was thirteen years old.

In order to hide their foul crime, the governor and the passion-crazed merchant placed the body of the holy martyr into a rough coffin and lowered it into a nearby marsh, weighted down with stones. Fifty-two years later, God willed to reveal the glory of His holy virgin-martyr, and many wondrous events began to occur in the area around Mangazeya. Several pious people had dreams in which a beardless youth appeared to them, and many ill people were healed by this holy boy. A strange light was seen over the marsh and unseen voices were heard chanting nearby. Then, the coffin of this saint rose slowly to the top of the mud. A pious archer, Steven Shiryaev, noticed the coffin but did not approach it until St. Basil appeared to him in a dream and told him to open the coffin. Then the whole story of St. Basil’s martyrdom became known, and his relics, whole and incorrupt, were retrieved from the swamp. A chapel was built for the relics, and many people received healings through the prayers of the young martyr.

Author’s note: In the Greek Synaxarion and the Athonite Patrology, the New-Martyr Luke from Jedrene is commemorated on this day. He was taken to Constantinople by the Turks as a child and circumcised. He was greatly troubled in his conscience because of this, regarding his circumcision as the devil’s seal upon him, which he could destroy only by suffering martyrdom for Christ. He became a monk on the Holy Mountain and went with his elder, Vissarion, to Mytilene. There he was murdered by the Turks on March 23rd, 1802. Hanging in the air, the martyr’s body gave forth a fragrant myrrh.

FOR CONSIDERATION

St. Paphnutios prayed to God to reveal to him whom he (Paphnutios) resembled, and he heard a voice that said to him: ‘You are like a merchant seeking goodly pearls: get up, and don’t be lazy!’ But God could not say to all of us that we are like merchants seeking goodly pearls. For many of us do not seek pearls but bury ourselves under thicker and thicker layers of worthless dust. It is not only pearls that a fishing-net brings up from the bottom of the sea, but also mud and sand. An ignoramus grabs at the mud and sand as at the pearl. Only a merchant who can recognize a true pearl throws the net into the sea innumerable times, sifting out the mud and sand until he finds one seed pearl. Why did God compare Paphnutios to a merchant? Because Paphnutios had given all his goods and devoted all his efforts and his time in order somehow to find that one, true seed-pearl. That one pearl is a heart purified from passions and evil thoughts, and inflamed with love for God. Get up, man, and don’t be lazy! The day of your marketing is nearing its twilight.

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.