Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Holy and Great Monday

Epistle

There is no Epistle Reading this day because of Holy Week.

Gospel

In the Orthros

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 84]. At that time:

21 ¹⁸As Jesus returned into the city, He hungered. ¹⁹And having seen a single fig tree in the way, He came to it and found nothing on it, except leaves only, and said to it, “Let there be no more fruit from thee forever.” And forthwith the tree was withered. ²⁰And after the disciples saw it, they wondered, saying, “How was the fig tree withered forthwith?” ²¹And Jesus answered and said to them, “Verily I say to you, if ye have faith and doubt not, ye shall not only do that which was done to the fig tree, but even if ye should say to this mountain, ‘Be thou taken away, and be thou cast into the sea,’ it shall come to pass. ²²“And all things, whatsoever ye ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”

²³And after He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him as He taught, saying, “By what authority doest Thou these things? And who gave Thee this authority?” ²⁴And Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will question you for one word, which if ye tell Me, I also will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ²⁵“The baptism of John—from what place was it? From heaven or from men?” And they were reasoning with themselves, saying, “If we should say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did ye not believe him?’ ²⁶“But if we should say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude; for all hold John as a prophet.” ²⁷And they answered and said to Jesus, “We know not.” And He said to them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ²⁸“But what think ye? A certain man had two children, and he came to the first and said, ‘Child, go today and work in my vineyard.’ ²⁹“And he answered and said, ‘I will not’; but afterward he felt regret and went forth. ³⁰“And he came to the second and spoke in like manner. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir’; and he went not forth. ³¹“Which of the two did the will of the father?” They say to Him, “The first.” Jesus saith to them, “Verily I say to you that the tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. ³²“For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not; but the tax collectors and the harlots believed him; and ye, having seen, felt no regret afterward in order to believe him.

³³“Hear another parable: There was a certain man, a master of a house, who planted a vineyard, and put a hedge around it, and dug a wine-vat in it in which to press grapes, and built a tower. And he let it out to vinedressers, and went abroad. ³⁴“And when the season of the fruits drew near, he sent forth his slaves to the vinedressers to receive his fruits. ³⁵“And the vinedressers took his slaves, and indeed beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶“Again he sent forth other slaves, more than the first; and they did to them in like manner. ³⁷“But afterwards he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸“But after the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and let us gain possession of his inheritance.’ ³⁹“And they took him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. ⁴⁰“Whenever the lord, therefore, of the vineyard should come, what shall he do to those vinedressers?” ⁴¹They say to Him, “He will evilly destroy those evil men, and will let out the vineyard to other vinedressers who shall render to him the fruits in their seasons.” ⁴²Jesus saith to them, “Did ye never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, this became the head of the corner; this came to be from the Lord, and it is marvellous in our eyes [Ps. 117(118):22, 23; cf. Is. 28:16]’? ⁴³“On this account I say to you that the kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and it shall be given to a nation producing the fruits of it.”

In the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 98]. At that time:

24 ³As Jesus 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. ¹⁴“And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the inhabited world, for a testimony to all the nations; and then shall the end come. ¹⁵“Whenever ye therefore see ‘the abomination of the desolation [cf. Dan. 9:27, 12:11],’ which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place”—the one who readeth, let him understand— ¹⁶“then let those in Judæa flee to the mountains. ¹⁷“The one on the housetop, let him not come down to take away anything out of his house. ¹⁸“And the one in the field, let him not return back to take up his clothes. ¹⁹“And woe to those who are with child and to those who give suck in those days. ²⁰“But be praying that your flight might not take place in winter, neither on a sabbath. ²¹“For then there shall be great affliction, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until the present, no, nor ever shall be. ²²“And if those days were not shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. ²³“Then if anyone should say to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘Here,’ do not begin to believe it. ²⁴“For false christs and false prophets shall be raised up, and they shall produce great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵“Behold, I have told you beforehand. ²⁶“If then they should say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the desert,’ do not begin to go forth; ‘Behold, He is in the secret chambers,’ do not begin to believe it. ²⁷“For even as the lightning cometh forth from the east and appeareth as far as the west, so also shall be the coming of the Son of Man. ²⁸“For wheresoever the corpse may be, there will the eagles be gathered together.

²⁹“And straightway after the affliction of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. ³⁰“And then shall the sign of the Son of Man appear in the heaven, and then the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the heaven with power and great glory. ³¹“And He shall send forth His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the uttermost parts of the heavens unto their extremities. ³²“Now learn the parable from the fig tree: Whenever its branch at once should become tender and put forth leaves, ye know that the summer is near. ³³“Thus also ye, whenever ye see all these things, know ye that it is near, even at the doors. ³⁴“Verily I say to you, in no wise shall this generation pass away until all these things shall have taken place. ³⁵“The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but My words in no wise shall pass away.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our holy Mother Mary of Egypt.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Galatians [§§ 208, 209]. Brethren:

3 ²³Before faith came, we were being guarded under the law, having been closed up to the faith about to be revealed. ²⁴Therefore the law hath become our tutor until Christ, in order that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵But faith having come, we are no longer under a tutor. ²⁶For all are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁷For as many as were baptized into Christ, ye put on Christ. ²⁸There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male and female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹And if ye are Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to promise.

4 ¹Now I say, as long as the heir is an infant, he differeth nothing from a slave, though he is lord of all; ²but he is under guardians and stewards until the appointed time of the father. ³So we also, when we were infants, were enslaved under the elements of the world. ⁴But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵in order that He might redeem those under the law, that we might receive what is our due, the adoption as sons.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 28]. At that time:

8 ³The scribes and the Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman who had been caught in adultery. And after they made her stand in the midst, ⁴they say to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught committing adultery, in the very act. ⁵“Now Moses, in the law, commanded us to stone such women. Thou therefore, what sayest Thou?” ⁶But this they were saying, putting Him to the test, in order that they may have an accusation against Him. But Jesus, having stooped down, was writing with His finger on the ground. ⁷And as they continued questioning Him, He lifted up Himself and said to them, “The one who is without sin among you, let him first cast the stone at her.” ⁸And again He stooped down and was writing on the ground. ⁹But after they heard and were convicted by their own conscience, they were going out one by one, beginning from the eldest. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman being in the midst. ¹⁰And after Jesus lifted up Himself, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of thine? Did no one condemn thee?” ¹¹And she said, “No one, Sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn thee; go, and henceforth no longer go on sinning.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

April 14th – Civil Calendar
April 1st – Church Calendar

1. St. Mary of Egypt.

The recorder of the life of this wonderful saint was St. Sophronios, Patriarch of Jerusalem. A hieromonk, the elder Zosimas, had gone off at one time during the Great Fast a twenty-days’ walk into the wilderness across the Jordan. He suddenly caught sight of a human being with a withered and naked body and with hair as white as snow, who fled in its nakedness from Zosimas’ sight. The elder ran a long way, until this figure stopped at a stream and called: ‘Father Zosimas, forgive me for the Lord’s sake. I cannot turn round to you, for I am a naked woman.’ Then Zosimas threw her his outer cloak, and she wrapped herself in it and turned round to him. The elder was amazed at hearing his name from the lips of this unknown woman. After considerable pressure on his part, she told him her life-story. She had been born in Egypt, and from the age of twelve had lived a life enjoying the pleasures of the flesh whenever she could, spending seventeen years in this way of life in Alexandria. Urged by the lustful fire of the flesh, she one day got into a ship that was sailing for Jerusalem. Arriving at the holy city, she made to go into the church to venerate the Precious Cross during the Elevation of the Holy Cross, but some unseen power prevented her from entering. In great fear, she turned to an icon of the Mother of God that was in the entrance, and begged her to let her go in and venerate the Cross, confessing her sin and impurity and promising that she would then go wherever the Panagia led her. She was then allowed to enter the church. After venerating the Cross, she went out again to the entrance, and standing in front of the icon, thanked the Mother of God. Then she heard a voice: ‘If you cross the Jordan, you will find true peace.’ She immediately bought three loaves of bread and set off for the Jordan, arriving there the same evening. She received Communion the following morning in the monastery of St. John, and then crossed the river. She spent forty-eight whole years in the wilderness in the greatest torments, in terror, in struggles with passionate thoughts like gigantic beasts. She fed only on herbs and what could be found in the desert. After that, when she was standing in prayer, Zosimas saw her lifted up in the air. She begged him to bring her Communion the next year on the bank of the Jordan, and she would come to receive it. The following year, Zosimas came with the Holy Gifts to the bank of the Jordan in the evening, and stood in amazement as he saw her cross the river. He saw her coming in the moonlight, and arriving on the further bank, make the sign of the Cross over the river. She then walked across it as though it were dry land. When she had received Communion, she begged him to come again the following year to the same place where they had first met. Zosimas went, and found her dead body there on that spot. Above her head in the sand was written: ‘Abba Zosimas, bury in this place the body of the humble Mary. Give dust to dust. I passed away on April 1st, on the very night of Christ’s Passion, after having partaken of the divine Mysteries.’ Zosimas learned her name for the first time, and also the awe inspiring marvel that she had arrived at that stream the previous year on the night of the same day on which she had received Communion—a place that he had taken twenty days to reach. And thus Zosimas buried the body of the wonderful saint, Mary of Egypt. When he returned to the monastery, he recounted the whole story of her life and the wonders to which he had been an eyewitness. Thus the Lord glorifies repentant sinners. St. Mary is also commemorated in the Fifth Week of the Great Fast. The Church holds her up before the faithful in these days of the Fast as a model of repentance. She entered into rest in 522.

2. Our Holy Father Procopius the Czech.

Born in Hotish, Czechoslovakia, of eminent parents, he became a priest and went off into the mountains to live after the example of the Eastern hermits. Herzog Ulrich came across him by chance and helped him to found the monastery of St. John the Forerunner by the River Sazava. This holy man entered into rest in 1053.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Why is so much said and written about the sufferings of holy men and women? Because these saints are counted as victors—and how can there be victory without struggle, pain and suffering? In ordinary, earthly warfare no man is reckoned as victorious and heroic who has never been in battle, who has not endured and suffered to a very considerable extent. All the more is this so in spiritual warfare, where the truth is clear and where self-assertion is not only of no use but is a real hindrance. He who knows no struggle for the sake of Christ, either with the world or with the devil or with his own self—how can he be counted among Christ’s soldiers? How, indeed, among Christ’s fellow-victors? St. Mary spoke of this gigantic struggle to the elder Zosimas: ‘For the first seventeen years in this wilderness, I struggled with my mindless passions as with fierce beasts. I wanted to eat meat and fish, which I had eaten abundantly in Egypt. I wanted to drink wine, and did not even have water here. I wanted to hear lustful songs. And I wept and smote my breast. I prayed to the most pure Mother of God to remove these thoughts from me. When I had wept and smote my breast for a long time, I then saw a light that flooded over me from all sides, and was filled with a wonderful peace.’

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.