Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Twelfth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 183]. Brethren:

7 ¹Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, bringing to perfection holiness in the fear of God.

²Make room for us; we wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we defrauded no one. ³I speak not for condemnation; for I have said before that ye are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. ⁴Great is my boldness toward you, great is my boasting on your behalf; I have been filled with comfort, I am superabounding with joy over all our affliction. ⁵For, even after we came into Macedonia, our flesh hath had no rest, but in every way we were being oppressed: fights from outside, and fears from inside. ⁶But God, the One Who comforteth the humble, comforted us by the coming of Titus; ⁷and not by his coming only, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted over you, when he brought back tidings of your yearning, your mourning, your zeal for me; so as for me to rejoice the more. ⁸For though I sorrowed you in the epistle, I do not feel regret, though I was feeling regret; for I see that the epistle sorrowed you, though for an hour. ⁹Now I rejoice, not that ye were sorrowed, but that ye were sorrowed to repentance; for ye were sorrowed in accordance with God, that ye might suffer loss by us in nothing. ¹⁰For the sorrow in accordance with God worketh out repentance to salvation, not to be regretted.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 5]. At that time:

1 ²⁹Jesus came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with Iakovos and John. ³⁰And the mother-in-law of Simon was lying down ill with a fever. And straightway they speak to Him about her. ³¹And He came and took hold of her hand, and raised her up. And immediately the fever left her, and she began ministering to them. ³²And evening having come to pass, when the sun did set, they kept on bringing to Him all those who were ill, and those possessed by demons. ³³And the whole city was gathered together at the door. ³⁴And He cured many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not allowing the demons to talk, because they knew Him.

³⁵And having risen up very early at night, He went out and departed into a desolate place, and was praying there.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Dormition of our most holy Lady Theotokos.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Philippians [§ 240]. Brethren:

2 ⁵Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶Who, existing in the form of God, deemed it not a prize to be seized to be equal with God; ⁷but He emptied Himself and took the form of a slave, and came to be in the likeness of men. ⁸And having been found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient even to death—indeed, the death of a cross. ⁹Wherefore God also exalted Him exceedingly, and freely gave to Him a name that is above every name, ¹⁰that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth; ¹¹and every tongue should confess for itself that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Gospel

In the Orthros

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 4].

1 ³⁹In those days Mariam rose up and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; ⁴⁰and she entered into the house of Zacharias, and greeted Elisabeth. ⁴¹And it came to pass, as Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴²And she cried out with a loud voice, and said, “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. ⁴³“And whence is this to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴“For behold, as the sound of thy salutation came into mine ears, the babe in my womb leaped in exultant joy. ⁴⁵“And happy is she who believed, for there shall be a fulfillment of those things which were spoken to her from the Lord.” ⁴⁶And Mariam saith:

“My soul doth magnify the Lord, ⁴⁷“and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior,

⁴⁸“for He looked upon the low estate of His slave. For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

⁴⁹“For the mighty One did great things to me, and holy is His name.”... ⁵⁶And Mariam stayed with her about three months, and returned to her own house.

In the Liturgy

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

10 ³⁸ Jesus 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.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

August 28th – Civil Calendar
August 15th – Church Calendar

1. The Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God.

The Lord Who, on Sinai, gave the Fifth Commandment: ‘Honor thy father and thy mother,’ showed by His own example how one must reverence one’s parents. Hanging in agony on the Cross, He remembered His Mother, and indicating the Apostle John, said to her: ‘Woman, behold thy son!’ and to John: ‘Behold thy mother!’ And with this concern for His Mother, He breathed His last. John had a home on Sion in Jerusalem, where he settled the Mother of God and left her to pass her remaining days on earth. By her prayers, her kindly advice, her meekness and patience, she was of immense help to her Son’s apostles. She spent virtually the rest of her life in Jerusalem, often going round the places that reminded her of the great events and the great works associated with and performed by her Son. She especially visited Golgotha, Bethlehem and the Mount of Olives. Of her journeys farther afield, her visit to St. Ignatius the God-Bearer is recorded, as are those to St. Lazarus the Four-days-dead, Bishop of Cyprus, to the Holy Mountain, to which she gave her blessing, and her stay in Ephesus with the Apostle John during a fierce persecution of Christians in Jerusalem. In old age, she often prayed to her Lord and God on the Mount of Olives, on the spot from which He ascended, to take her from this world. One day, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her and revealed that she would enter into rest in three days’ time, and the angel gave her a palm-branch to be carried in her funeral procession. She returned home with great joy, with the heartfelt hope that she would see Christ’s apostles once more in this life. The Lord fulfilled her desire and all the apostles, brought by angels and clouds, gathered together at St. John’s house on Sion. It was with great joy that she saw the holy apostles, and she encouraged, advised and upheld them, then peacefully gave her soul into God’s hands without the slightest physical pain or struggle. The apostles took the coffin containing her body, from which an aromatic fragrance arose, and accompanied by many Christians, took it to the Garden of Gethsemane, to the grave of Ss. Joachim and Anna. By God’s providence, they were hidden from the wicked Jews by a cloud. A Jewish priest, Anthony, touched the coffin with his hand, intending to overturn it, but at that moment an angel of God cut off both his hands. He cried out with the pain, begging the apostles’ help, and was healed in confessing his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It was left to the Apostle Thomas, who was delayed, again by God’s providence, to reveal a new and glorious mystery about the holy Mother of God. He arrived on the third day, and desired to embrace the body of the holy and most pure. When the apostles opened her grave, he found only the winding-sheet—the body was not in the grave. That evening, she appeared to the apostles, surrounded by a multitude of angels, and said to them: ‘Rejoice; I will be with you always!’ It is not known exactly how old the Mother of God was at the time of her falling-asleep, but the prevailing belief is that she had reached the age of seventy.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Oh, how much there is for every one of the faithful to learn from the life of the Virgin Mother of God! Let us consider here only two things. She had the habit of going frequently to Golgotha, to the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane and Bethlehem, and to other places to which her Son had given special meaning. In all these places, and especially on Golgotha, she prayed to God. She thus gave the first example and impetus to the faithful of the practice of visiting the holy places out of love towards Him Who, by the presence of His suffering and glory, made them holy and famous. Secondly, we see how she, in prayer for her swift departure from this life, prayed that her soul, at its parting from the body, might not see the punishment of darkness and its terrors, and shielded from the overshadowing of darkness, might not encounter the power of Satan. If she who bore the Harrier of Hades and herself had a tremendous power over demons could thus pray, what then of us? In her great humility, she commended herself to God, not trusting to her own works. So much the less should we trust in our own works, and so much the more should we commend ourselves to God’s hands, beseeching His mercy most especially in that moment of the soul’s parting from the body.

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.