Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Friday of the First Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 82]. Brethren:

2 ¹⁴Whenever the Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature the things of the law, these, who have not the law, are a law to themselves, ¹⁵who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts one with another accusing or also excusing, ¹⁶in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men through Jesus Christ, according to my Gospel.

¹⁷Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and boastest in God, ¹⁸and knowest His will, and approvest the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, ¹⁹and hast persuaded thyself to be a guide of the blind, a light of those in darkness, ²⁰an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, having the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. ²¹Thou therefore who teachest another, dost thou not teach thyself? Thou who preachest not to steal, dost thou steal? ²²Thou who sayest not to commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou who loathest the idols, dost thou rob temples? ²³Thou who boastest in the law, dost thou dishonor God through the transgression of the law? ²⁴“For the name of God is being blasphemed among the nations through you [cf. Is. 52:5],” even as it hath been written. ²⁵For on the one hand circumcision profiteth, if thou continue practising the law; but on the other hand, if thou art a transgressor of the law, thy circumcision hath become uncircumcision. ²⁶Therefore if the uncircumcision be keeping the ordinances of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? ²⁷And the uncircumcision by nature which fulfilleth the law shall judge thee that with the letter and circumcision art a transgressor of the law. ²⁸For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh. ²⁹But he is a Jew who is one in that which is hidden; and circumcision is that of the heart, in spirit, not in letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 14]. The Lord said:

5 ³³“Ye heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘Thou shalt not swear falsely, but thou shalt render to the Lord thine oaths [cf. Deut. 19:12; Num. 30:3].’ ³⁴“But I say to you not to swear at all: neither by the heaven, for it is the throne of God; ³⁵“nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet; nor in regard to Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶“Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, for thou art not able to make one hair white or black. ³⁷“But let your word ‘yes’ be ‘yes,’ and ‘no,’ ‘no’; and what is more than these is from the evil one. ³⁸“Ye heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth [Ex. 21:24; Deut. 19:21; Lev. 24:20].’ ³⁹“But I say to you do not resist the evil one; but whosoever shall strike thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. ⁴⁰“And to the one who doth wish to go to law with thee and take thy tunic, yield to him thine outer garment also. ⁴¹“And whosoever shall compel thee to go one mile, go with him two.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Martyr Hermeas at Comana.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

June 13th – Civil Calendar
May 31st – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Apostle Hermas.

One of the Seventy, he is mentioned in the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans (16:14). A Greek by birth, he spent a long time in Rome. He was bishop in Philippoupolis, and finished his life a martyr. He compiled the very instructive book ‘The Shepherd’ through revelations from the angels of God. Hermas was a rich man, but fell into extreme poverty through his own sins and those of his sons. A man appeared to him, clad in white and with a staff in his hand, and told him that he was the angel of repentance, sent to him before the end of his life. The angel gave him twelve commandments:

1. To believe in God.

2. To live in simplicity and innocence.

3. To love truth and flee from falsehood.

4. To guard his thoughts in chastity.

5. To learn patience and magnanimity of soul.

6. To know that a good and an evil spirit attend every man.

7. To fear God, but not the devil

8. To perform every good deed and to restrain himself from every evil one.

9. To pray to God in faith from the depths of his heart, so that his prayer might be heard.

10. To preserve himself from melancholy, the daughter of doubt, and from anger.

11. To try true and false prophecies.

12. To preserve himself from every evil desire.

2. The Holy Martyr Hermias.

He was a soldier in the imperial army till old age, when he suffered for another Emperor: Christ. The wicked judge tried in vain to make him renounce the Christian Faith and offer sacrifice to idols, then he ordered that Hermias’ teeth be broken with a stone and the skin stripped from his face with a knife. After that, he was thrown into a flaming furnace, but he remained unharmed, protected by the grace of God. He was then made to drink the strongest poison, which was given to him by a magician on the judge’s orders, but the poison did him no harm at all. When the magician saw this, he was so amazed that he confessed Christ himself, and was immediately slain with the sword. They then poked out both of Hermias’ eyes, and he said mildly to the judge: ‘Take the eyes of flesh which used to gaze upon the vanity of the world; I have other eyes in my heart with which I clearly see the true light.’ He was then hung upside down by the feet, and those who were torturing him became blind and staggered around him. St. Hermias called them to himself, laid his hands upon them and restored their sight by his prayers. Seeing all this, the judge became as furious as a lion, and drawing out his sword, cut off the head of the man of God. Christians came and took Hermias’ body in secret, and gave it burial. His relics gave healing to all the sick and wretched. St. Hermias suffered in the reign of the Emperor Antoninus, in the year 160.

3. The Holy Martyr Philosophos.

This martyr of Christ’s was born near Alexandria. During a persecution of Christians, Philosophos refused to renounce Christ the Lord before the pagan princes and judges, and they therefore inflicted terrible tortures on him. After he had been tortured in various ways, they finally placed him on a soft bed, bound hand and foot, and put a harlot in with him to entice him into sin. When Philosophos felt passion awakening in himself through the touch of the woman’s hands, he took the tongue between his teeth, bit it through and spat it out in the harlot’s face. His passion was extinguished, and the harlot was so aghast that she fled from him at once. He was afterwards beheaded with the sword, in about 252, whilst still young in years, and entered into the kingdom of eternal youth. (In the Greek Prologue, St. Philosophos is commemorated on May 1st.).

FOR CONSIDERATION

This life is a spiritual battle: to conquer or be conquered. If we conquer, we shall enjoy the fruits of victory through all eternity; but if we are conquered, we shall suffer the horrors of defeat through all eternity. This life is a duel between man and everything that sets itself against God. God is the almighty Ally of every man who whole-heartedly calls upon Him for aid. Saint John of Kronstadt says: ‘This life is neither a joke nor a plaything, although men may turn it into either. They fritter away the time given to us to prepare for eternity, disporting themselves with empty words. They go about visiting, sitting and gossiping, playing this or that game. They get together in the theaters and amuse themselves there. Life is, for them, amusement. But woe to those who do nothing but amuse themselves!’

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.