Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Fourteenth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 195]. Brethren:

12 ¹⁰I am well pleased in weaknesses, in insults, in necessities, in persecutions, in straits, for Christ’s sake; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

¹¹I have become foolish in boasting! Ye compelled me. For I ought to be commended by you; for I lacked nothing of the exceedingly super apostles, even though I am nothing. ¹²Indeed the signs of the apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs and wonders and works of power. ¹³For what is it in which ye were less than the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong. ¹⁴Behold, I am ready to come to you a third time. And I will not burden you; for I seek not your things, but you. For the children ought not to lay up in store for the parents, but the parents for the children. ¹⁵Now I with the greatest pleasure will spend and will be expended utterly for your souls, even if loving you more abundantly, I am being loved the less. ¹⁶But let it be so, I did not burden you; but being crafty, I took you with guile. ¹⁷I did not take advantage of you through any of those whom I have sent forth to you, did I? ¹⁸I besought Titus, and with him I sent the brother. Titus did not take advantage of you in anything, did he? We walked in the same spirit, did we not? We walked in the same steps, did we not? ¹⁹Again, do ye think that we are making a defense to you? We speak before God in Christ; but we do all things, beloved, for your building up.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 16]. At that time:

4 ¹⁰When Jesus was alone, those about Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable of the sower. ¹¹And He began to say to them, “To you it hath been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, everything is done in parables, ¹²“that ‘seeing they see and perceive not, and hearing they hear and understand not, lest they should turn again and their sins be forgiven them [cf. Is. 6:9, 10].’” ¹³And He saith to them, “Know ye not this parable? And how will ye know all the parables? ¹⁴“The sower soweth the word. ¹⁵“And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown; and whenever they hear, Satan straightway cometh and taketh away the word which hath been sown in their hearts. ¹⁶“And these in like manner are the ones who are sown upon the rocky places who, whenever they hear the word, straightway, receive it with joy; ¹⁷“and they have no root in themselves, but are temporary. Then after affliction or persecution ariseth on account of the word, straightway they are made to stumble. ¹⁸“And these are the ones who are sown in the midst of thorns; such as hear the word, ¹⁹“and the cares of this age, and the deceit of wealth, and the desires concerning the rest entering in choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. ²⁰“And these are the ones who were sown on the good ground, such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit: one thirty, and one sixty, and one a hundred.” ²¹And He was saying to them, “The lamp doth not come, in order that it might be put under the bushel or under the couch, doth it? It is in order that it might be placed upon the lampstand, is it not? ²²“For nothing is hidden, except that it should be made manifest; nor did a secret thing take place, but that it should come to light. ²³“If anyone hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Martyrs Adrian, Natalia, and 33 companions of Nicomedia, and the meeting of the wonderworking Vladimir Icon of the all-holy Theotokos.

Epistle

For the Icon:

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.

or

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.

For the Martyrs:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 325]. Brethren:

10 ³²Remind yourselves of the former days in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great contest of sufferings: ³³partly, being made a show of both by reproaches and affliction; and partly, having become partners of those who conducted themselves thus. ³⁴For ye also sympathized with those in bonds and ye yourselves accepted the seizure of your possessions with joy, knowing in yourselves that ye have in the heavens a better and abiding possession. ³⁵Do not begin therefore to cast away your boldness which hath great recompense. ³⁶For ye have need of patience, that, after ye do the will of God, ye might receive for yourselves the promise. ³⁷“For yet a very little while, the One Who cometh will come, and will not delay [cf. Hab. 2:3]. ³⁸“Now the just shall live by faith; and if one should draw himself back, My soul hath no pleasure in him [cf. Hab. 2:4].”

Gospel

For the Icon:

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)

September 8th – Civil Calendar
August 26th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Adrian and his wife Natalia.

Husband and wife, they were both of noble and wealthy families in Nikomedia. Adrian was the governor of the Praetorium and a pagan, and Natalia was a secret Christian. They were both young, and had lived in wedlock for thirteen months in all before their martyrdom. When the wicked Emperor Maximian visited Nikomedia, he ordered that the Christians be seized and put to torture. There were twenty-three Christians hidden in a cave near the city. Someone handed them over to the authorities and they were cruelly flogged with leather whips and staves, and thrown into prison. They were then taken from prison and brought before the Praetor for their names to be noted. Adrian looked at these people, tortured but unbowed, peaceful and meek, and he put them under oath to say what they hoped for from their God, that they should undergo such tortures. They spoke to him of the blessedness of the righteous in the kingdom of God. Hearing this, and again looking at these people, Adrian suddenly turned to the scribe and said: ‘Write my name along with those of these saints; I also am a Christian.’ When the emperor heard this, he asked him: ‘Have you lost your mind?’ Adrian replied: ‘I haven’t lost it, but found it!’ Hearing this, Natalia rejoiced greatly, and when Adrian sat chained with the others in prison, came and ministered to them all. When they flogged her husband and put him to various tortures, she encouraged him to endure to the end. After long torture and imprisonment, the emperor ordered that they be taken to the prison anvil, for their arms and legs to be broken by hammers. This was done and Adrian, along with the twenty-three others, breathed his last under the vicious tortures. Natalia took their relics to Constantinople and there buried them. After several days Adrian appeared to her, bathed in light and beauty and calling her to come to God, and she peacefully gave her soul into her Lord’s hands.

2. Our Holy Father Tithoes.

A disciple of St. Pachomios and great among the Egyptian ascetics, he was abbot of Tabennisi. He spent his whole life in absolute purity. One of the brethren once asked him: ‘What path leads to humility?’ To this Tithoes replied: ‘The path to humility is abstinence, prayer, and the considering of oneself as the least of all creatures.’ He reached a very high peak of perfection, and whenever he raised his hands in prayer, his spirit entered into ecstasy. He entered into rest in the fourth or fifth century. Our Holy Father Ibistion is commemorated together with him.

3. St. Zer-Jacob.

A great Christian missionary in Abyssinia.

Under today’s date in the Greek Synaxarion is also found the life of St. Ioasaph, the heir of the King of India. In the Slav Prologues, though, as in this one, he is to be found under November 19th.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Sometimes the godless word is heard among Christians: ‘God cannot help here!’ There is no danger in which God cannot help, and no enemy who could, in his own strength and without God’s permission, gain the victory. Do not ask how God will crush the power of the armies of our enemies—that is easier to God than the act of breathing is to us. Read how God once, by a hallucination, terrified the Syrian army, so that it was scattered and Israel was saved (II Kings 7:6). Read how Jerusalem was saved from the might of the armies of Babylon without the slightest effort on the part of King Hezekiah other than his weeping before God and his prayers (II Kings 19:35). God did not work such wonders only in former times, but does in every age when the faithful pray to Him. So, in 1395, the Tartar king, Tamerlane, besieged Moscow with a force too vast to number. The Russians took the miraculous icon from the city of Vladimir to Moscow, and the whole people began with tears to pray to the holy Mother of God. Suddenly the Tartar army, for no visible reason, began to withdraw in disorder. What had happened? Tamerlane had had a vision in a dream: a cloud of saints had carried him to the heavens, where, in their midst, stood the Mother of God as Queen, surrounded by a host of angels. The Mother of God had severely reprimanded Tamerlane and commanded that he immediately leave the land of Russia, and the saints threatened him with their scepters. Amazed at this dream, Tamerlane, as soon as day broke, ordered the army to decamp.

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.