Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Fourth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 26]. In those days:

10 ³⁴Peter opened his mouth and said, “In truth, I comprehend that God is not a respecter of persons, ³⁵“but in every nation, the one who feareth Him and worketh righteousness is acceptable to Him. ³⁶“The Logos Whom He sent forth to the sons of Israel, preaching the Gospel, peace through Jesus Christ—this One is the Lord of all. ³⁷“Ye know the matter which came to pass throughout all of Judæa, which began from Galilee after the baptism which John proclaimed: ³⁸“how God anointed Him, Jesus, the One from Nazareth, with the Holy Spirit and with power, Who went about doing good and healing all those who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. ³⁹“And we are witnesses of all things which He did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, Whom also they killed, having hanged Him on a tree. ⁴⁰“God raised this One on the third day, and gave Him to become manifest, ⁴¹“not to all the people, but to witnesses who had been chosen before by God, to us, who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. ⁴²“And He commanded us to proclaim to the people, and to testify that He is the One Who was ordained by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³“To this One all the prophets bear witness that, through His name, everyone who believeth in Him is to receive forgiveness of sins.”

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 29]. The Lord said to the Jews who had come to Him:

8 ¹²“I am the light of the world; the one who followeth Me in no wise shall walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of the life.” ¹³The Pharisees therefore said to Him, “Thou art bearing witness concerning Thyself; Thy testimony is not true.” ¹⁴Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness concerning Myself, My testimony is true, for I know from what place I came and where I am going; but ye do not know from what place I am coming from and where I am going. ¹⁵“Ye judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. ¹⁶“And even if I should judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I and the Father Who sent Me. ¹⁷“And it hath also been written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. ¹⁸“I am One Who beareth witness concerning Myself, and the Father Who sent Me beareth witness concerning Me.” ¹⁹Then they said to Him, “Where is Thy Father?” Jesus answered, “Ye neither know Me, nor My Father; if ye had known Me, ye would have known My Father also.” ²⁰These words spoke Jesus in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hold of Him, for His hour had not yet come.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the translation of the relics of our father among the saints, Athanasios the Great, Patriarch of Alexandria, and the holy and right-believing King Boris, Equal-to-the-apostles, Enlightener of the Bulgarians, who was given the name Michael in holy Baptism.

Epistle

For the Hierarch:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 334]. Brethren:

13 ⁷Be remembering those who lead you, who spoke to you the word of God, whose faith keep on imitating, observing attentively the end of their conduct: ⁸Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and to the ages. ⁹Cease being carried about by various and strange teachings. For it is good for the heart to be confirmed by grace, not by foods, in which those walking therein were not profited. ¹⁰We have an altar from which those serving the tabernacle have no authority to eat; ¹¹for the bodies of those animals, “whose blood is being brought into the holies for sins” by the high priest, “are being burned outside of the encampment [cf. Lev. 16:27].” ¹²Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people by His own blood, suffered outside of the gate. ¹³Let us be going forth therefore to Him outside of the encampment, bearing His reproach; ¹⁴for we have no abiding city here, but we seek the coming one. ¹⁵Through Him, then, let us be offering up a “sacrifice of praise [Lev. 7:2(12)]” continually to God, that is, “the fruit of the lips [cf. Hos. 14:3(2); Is. 57:19],” giving thanks to His name. ¹⁶But cease being forgetful of doing good and of contributing; for God is well pleased with such sacrifices.

for Sl. usage, see [Heb. 7:26-8:2].

For the King and Equal-to-the-apostles:

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 49]. In those days:

26 ¹Agrippa said to Paul, “It is permitted thee to speak for thyself.” Then Paul, stretching forth his hand, began to defend himself:

For Gk. usage, skip to Acts 26:12-20; for Sl. usage, read Acts 26:2-5, 12-20.

²“Concerning all the things of which I am being accused by the Jews, king Agrippa, I deem myself happy, because I am about to defend myself before thee today, ³“especially because thou art one acquainted with all of the customs and also the subjects of dispute among the Jews. Wherefore I entreat thee to hear me with forbearance. ⁴“So then, my way of life from my youth which was from the beginning among mine own nation in Jerusalem, all the Jews know, ⁵“who knew me before, from the beginning—if they would be willing to testify—that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee.... ¹²“And during these things,...

Gk. and Sl. usages continue the Reading from here, Acts 26:12-20.

¹²“As I went to Damascus with authority and a commission from the chief priests, ¹³“at midday, in the way, I saw, O king, a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and those traveling with me. ¹⁴“And after all of us fell down to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? It is hard for thee to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵“And I said, ‘Who art Thou, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus Whom thou persecutest. ¹⁶“‘But rise up and stand on thy feet; for I appeared to thee for this purpose, to appoint thee a servant and a witness both of what thou didst see and of what I shall appear to thee in visions, ¹⁷“‘taking thee out for Myself from the people and the nations, to whom now I send thee forth, ¹⁸“‘to open their eyes, in order to turn them about from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, in order to receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith that is in Me.’ ¹⁹“Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I did not become disobedient to the heavenly vision; ²⁰“but I was bringing tidings to those in Damascus first and in Jerusalem, and in all the land of Judæa, and to the nations, to repent and turn to God, practising works worthy of repentance.”

Gospel

For the Hierarch:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 11]. The Lord said to His disciples:

5 ¹⁴“Ye are the light of the world. A city situated on the top of a mountain cannot be hid. ¹⁵“Nor do they light a lamp and put it under the bushel, but upon the lampstand, and it giveth light to all those in the house. ¹⁶“Thus, let your light shine before men, that they might see your good works, and might glorify your Father Who is in the heavens.

¹⁷“Do not begin to think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets; I came not to abolish, but to fulfill. ¹⁸“For verily I say to you, until the heaven and the earth shall have passed away, one iota or one tittle in no wise shall pass away from the law, until all shall have taken place. ¹⁹“Whosoever then shall break one of the least of these commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of the heavens; but whosoever shall do and teach them, this one shall be called great in the kingdom of the heavens.”

For the King:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ mid 35]. The Lord said to those Jews who had come to Him:

10 ¹“Verily, verily, I say to you, the one who entereth not by the door into the fold of the sheep, but goeth up from another place, that one is a thief and a robber. ²“But the one who entereth by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. ³“To this one the doorkeeper openeth, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calleth his own sheep by name and leadeth them out. ⁴“And whenever he should put forth his own sheep, he goeth before them; and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice. ⁵“But a stranger in no wise will they follow, but will flee from him, because they know not the voice of strangers.” ⁶This parable Jesus spoke to them; but they understood not what it was which He spoke to them. ⁷Then said Jesus to them again, “Verily, verily, I say to you that I am the door of the sheep. ⁸“All, as many as came before Me, are thieves and robbers; but the sheep heard them not. 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.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

May 15th – Civil Calendar
May 2nd – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyrs Esperos, Zoë, Kyriakos and Theodulos.

In the time of the Emperor Hadrian (117-138), a pagan called Catallus bought Esperos, his wife Zoë and their sons Kyriakos and Theodulos as slaves. Being convinced Christians, they refused to eat anything that had been sacrificed to idols, but threw all that had been thus offered to the dogs, and themselves went hungry. Catallus, discovering this, became very angry and began to torture his slaves cruelly. He first tortured the children, but they remained unfaltering in the Faith and sought yet harsher tortures. At last all four of them were cast into a burning furnace where, after prayers of thanksgiving, they gave their spirits into the Lord’s hands. Their bodies remained whole and untouched by the fire.

2. St. Athanasius the Great, Archbishop of Alexandria.

On this day are commemorated the translation of his relics and their miracles. The life and work of this great saint are written on January 18th.

3. The Holy Martyrs Boris and Gleb.

They were sons of the great Prince Vladimir, Baptizer of the Russian people. Until his Baptism, Vladimir had many wives, and children by them. Boris and Gleb were brothers of one mother. Before his death in 1015, Vladimir divided the kingdom among all his sons. But Svyatopolk, his eldest son and Prince of Kiev, desired to take the parts that were set aside for Boris and Gleb, so he sent men to kill Boris in one place and Gleb in another. Both brothers were deeply devout and pleasing to God in all things, and they met death with prayer and the lifting up of their hearts to Him. Their bodies remained incorrupt and fragrant, and were buried in the town of Vishgorod, where to this day blessed strength flows forth from them to heal men of diverse ills and sufferings.

4. St. Michael (Boris), King of Bulgaria.

Born and brought up as a pagan, Boris was baptized under the guidance of his uncle, Boyan, and his own sister. At his Baptism, he received the name Michael (Mikhail). Patriarch Photius sent him priests, who little by little baptized the whole Bulgarian people. Many of the nobles opposed this new Faith, but it was victorious, and the Cross glittered on many churches built by the devout King Michael. The Faith among the Bulgarians, as among the Serbs, was especially strengthened by the Five Followers of Ochrid, disciples of Saints Kyril and Methodius, who preached the knowledge of Christ to the people in the vernacular Slavonic language.

Michael became a monk in old age, and withdrew to a monastery. But when his son Vladimir began to ruin his father’s work and exterminate the Christians, Michael again put on his military uniform, took his sword, threw Vladimir down from the throne and replaced him with his younger son Simeon. He then put on his monastic schema again and withdrew to tranquillity, where, in asceticism and prayer, he finished his earthly course peacefully, ‘in good faith and a true confession of our Lord Jesus Christ, great and honored,’ and went to the heavenly world on May 2nd, 906.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Blessed Maximus the Fool for Christ walked naked in winter through the streets of Moscow. To the advice of some to put on some clothes and protect himself from the cold, he replied: ‘The winter is hard, but Paradise is sweet!’ He also said: ‘God crowns endurance with salvation.’ If Christ the Lord did not regret giving Himself to torture and death for our sakes, why should we regret giving ourselves for our own sakes? He bequeathed us a prescription, a diet, for our spiritual health, and this He named His easy yoke. The yoke with which we load ourselves is much heavier, for that yoke topples us into still greater and greater spiritual sickness. The earth demands of us many great sacrifices, promising us no reward after death. The earth demands that we sacrifice God to her, and our soul and conscience, our mind and human and divine dignity, and shows us a dark and stinking grave as the end of everything and the payment for everything. Christ seeks that we sacrifice only the earth and our animal nature, and sin and vice and everything that is worthless, and He then promises us resurrection and immortal life in Paradise. Yes, the winter is hard, but Paradise is sweet!

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.