Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Eighteenth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 232]. Brethren:

5 ³³Do ye severally be loving in this manner each one his own wife as himself, and the wife in this manner that she be fearing the husband.

6 ¹Children, be obeying your parents in the Lord; for this is right. ²“Be honoring thy father and mother [cf. Ex. 20:12],” which is the first commandment with a promise, ³“in order that it might be well with thee, and thou shalt be long-lived on the earth [cf. Deut. 5:16].” ⁴And fathers, cease provoking your children, but be nurturing them in the instruction and admonition of the Lord. ⁵Slaves, be obeying your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in simplicity of your heart, as to the Christ, ⁶not according to eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of the Christ, doing the will of God, from the soul, ⁷with good will rendering service to the Lord and not to men, ⁸knowing that whatsoever good thing each one might do, this shall he receive from the Lord, whether he be a slave or free. ⁹And ye masters, be doing the same things toward them, forbearing the threat, knowing that their Lord and yours is in the heavens; and there is no respect of persons with Him.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 23]. At that time:

6 ¹²Jesus went out into the mountain to pray, and He was passing the night in prayer to God. ¹³And when it became day, He called to Himself His disciples. And from them He chose for Himself twelve, whom He also named apostles: ¹⁴Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; Iakovos and John; Philip and Bartholomew; ¹⁵Matthew and Thomas; Iakovos the son of Alphæos, and Simon who was called Zealot; ¹⁶Judas the brother of Iakovos, and Judas Iscariote, who also became the betrayer. ¹⁷And He came down with them and stood upon a level place. And there was a crowd of His disciples, and a great multitude of the people from all of Judæa and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him, and to be healed of their diseases— ¹⁸even those who were troubled by unclean spirits; and they were cured. ¹⁹And all the crowd was seeking to touch Him, for power was coming forth from Him and healing all.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the translation of the holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian.

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint John [§ mid 73]. My beloved:

4 ¹²No one hath beheld God at any time. If we be loving one another, God abideth in us, and His love is made perfect in us. ¹³In this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit. ¹⁴And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father hath sent forth the Son as Savior of the world. ¹⁵Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him, and he in God. ¹⁶And we have come to know and have believed the love which God hath in us. God is love; and the one abiding in love, abideth in God, and God in him. ¹⁷In this hath love been made perfect with us, in order that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, that even as He is, we are also in this world. ¹⁸There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath punishment; and the one who feareth hath not been made perfect in love. ¹⁹We love Him, because He first loved us.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§§ 61, mid 67]. At that time:

19 ²⁵There had stood by the Cross of Jesus His Mother, and His Mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶Then Jesus, having seen His Mother and the disciple whom He loved standing by, saith to His Mother, “Woman, behold thy son.” ²⁷Then He saith to the disciple, “Behold, thy Mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home....

21 ²⁴This is the disciple who beareth testimony concerning these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true. ²⁵And there are also many other things, which if as much as Jesus did may be written one by one, I suppose even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

October 9th – Civil Calendar
September 26th – Church Calendar

1. St. John the Theologian, Apostle and Evangelist.

John was the son of Zebedee the fisherman and Salome the daughter of Joseph, the betrothed of the holy Mother of God. Called by the Lord Jesus, John immediately left his father and the fishing nets and followed Christ with his brother Iakovos. From that time, he was not parted from his Lord until the end. With Peter and Iakovos, he was present at the raising of Jairus’ daughter and at the Lord’s Transfiguration, and laid his head on Jesus’ breast at the Mystical Supper. When all the others had forsaken the crucified Lord, John stayed beneath the Cross with the holy Mother of God. In obedience to the Lord’s wish, he was as a son to the holy Virgin Mary, caring for her and serving her, looking after her right up to her falling-asleep. After her dormition, John went off with his disciple Prochorus to preach the Gospel in Asia Minor, and mainly lived and worked in Ephesus. By his inspired preaching and miracles, he brought many to Christianity and undermined the foundations of paganism. The vexed pagans bound him and sent him to Rome to the Emperor Domitian. He was tortured and flogged before the emperor, but when he was unharmed either by the strong poison that he was given to drink or the boiling oil into which he was put, the emperor was afraid, and thinking he was immortal, sent him into exile on the island of Patmos. On this island, St. John brought many to Christianity by his words and miracles, and strengthened the Church of God. He wrote his Gospel and the Revelation there. In the time of the Emperor Nerva, who gave liberty to all the captives, John returned to Ephesus, where he lived for some time, confirming the work that he had earlier begun. He was over a hundred years old when he went to the Lord. When his disciples later opened his grave, they found that his body was not there. Every year, on May 8th, a fine, fragrant dust, endowed with healing power rose from his grave. After a long and fruitful life of labor upon earth, this beloved disciple of Christ and pillar of the Church entered into the joy of his Lord, to peace and eternal rejoicing.

2. Our Holy Father Nilus of Calabria.

A great ascetic among the Greeks of Calabria, the founder of several monasteries, a wonder-worker and defender of the purity of Orthodoxy, he undertook long journeys simply in order to save another man trouble. He had a burning love for his neighbor, and entered into rest in 1005, leaving many disciples of real worth. The best-known among these is St. Bartholomew, the writer of several canons, who died in 1044.

FOR CONSIDERATION

‘The one who turneth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall cover a multitude of sins’—thus writes the Apostle Iakovos (5:20). Christ’s apostles did not only speak in this way, but confirmed their words by their actions. Of St. John the Apostle, Clement of Alexandria relates that in some place in Asia Minor he baptized a pagan youth and confided him to the care of the local bishop, then went off to continue his work of preaching the Gospel. In St. John’s absence, the young man became corrupt and began to drink and steal, and finally joined a band of brigands that fell on men from the forest and robbed them. After a certain time, St. John returned and heard from the bishop what had happened to this young man. Then St. John, without losing a moment, found a horse and a guide and hurried off to the forest where the robber band had its lair. Searching through the forest, the saint found the robbers and came before their chief. The young man, as soon as he saw him, took to his heels. The aged John went after him, and despite his age, came up with him. Seeing that he had caught up with him, the young man fell at the apostle’s feet and could not, for shame, meet his eye. John embraced him and kissed him, as a shepherd does when he finds his lost sheep. St. John brought him back to the city and settled him afresh in a life of faith and good works, and being pleasing to God, the young man entered into rest in due time.

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.