Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Wednesday of the Twenty-Fourth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians [§ 269].

4 ¹Brethren, we beseech you and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, even as ye received from us how ye ought to walk and to please God, in order that ye may abound more and more; ²for ye know what commands we gave you through the Lord Jesus. ³For this is the will of God, your sanctification: for you to be abstaining from fornication, ⁴for each of you to know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor— ⁵not in the passion of lust, even as also the nations which know not God— ⁶in order not to overstep and defraud his brother in the matter, because the Lord is the avenger concerning all these things, even as we also told you before and bore witness. ⁷For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification. ⁸The one therefore who refuseth, refuseth not man, but God, Who also gave His Holy Spirit to you.

⁹But concerning brotherly love, ye have no need for me to write to you, for ye yourselves are taught by God to love one another; ¹⁰for indeed ye do it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we beseech you, brethren, to abound more and more, ¹¹and endeavor earnestly to be quiet, and to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, even as we commanded you, ¹²in order that ye may walk in a manner becoming toward those outside, and that ye may have need of nothing.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 69]. The Lord said:

12 ⁴⁸“Everyone to whom much was given, much shall be required from him; and to whom much was committed, the more they will ask of him. ⁴⁹“I came to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish that it were already kindled! ⁵⁰“But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how I am constrained until which time it should be accomplished! ⁵¹“Do ye suppose that I came to give peace on the earth? By no means, I say to you, but rather division. ⁵²“For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. ⁵³“They shall be divided, a father against a son and a son against a father, a mother against a daughter and a daughter against a mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” ⁵⁴And He was also saying to the crowds, “Whenever ye see a cloud rise up from the west, straightway, ye say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it cometh to pass. ⁵⁵“And whenever ye see a south wind blow, ye say, ‘There will be heat’; and so it cometh to pass. ⁵⁶“Hypocrites, ye know how to scrutinize the face of the heaven and of the earth, but how is it that ye do not scrutinize this time? ⁵⁷“And why even of yourselves do ye not judge what is right? ⁵⁸“For when thou goest with thine adversary before a magistrate, as thou art in the way, endeavor to be released from him, lest he should drag thee to the judge, and the judge should deliver thee up to the exactor, and the exactor shall cast thee into prison. ⁵⁹“I say to thee, in no wise shalt thou come out from that place, until which time thou shouldest pay even the last lepton.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our holy father among the saints, Paul the Confessor, Archbishop of Constantinople.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ mid 318]. Brethren:

For Gk. usage, see Heb. 8:1-6; for Sl. usage, see Heb. 8:3-6.

8 ¹Now in reference to the things being spoken of, the chief point is: We have such a High Priest, Who sat down on the right of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, ²a Liturgist of the holies and of the tabernacle, the true one, which the Lord pitched, and not man. ³For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; wherefore it is necessary for this One to have something also which He might offer. ⁴For if, indeed, He were on earth, He would not even be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law, ⁵who worship a copy and a shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses had been divinely warned when he was about to execute the tabernacle; for, “See,” saith He, “that thou make all things according to the pattern which was shown to thee in the mount [cf. Ex. 25:40].” ⁶But now He hath attained a more excellent liturgy, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which hath been enacted upon better promises.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 64]. The Lord said to His disciples:

12 ⁸“Everyone who shall confess in Me before men, the Son of Man also shall confess in him before the angels of God. ⁹“But the one who denieth Me before the face of men shall be denied before the face of the angels of God. ¹⁰“And everyone who shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but to the one who blasphemeth against the Holy Spirit it shall not be forgiven. ¹¹“And whenever they bring you in before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, cease being anxious how or what ye should speak in defense, or what ye should say; ¹²“for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in the same hour what things it is needful to say.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

November 19th – Civil Calendar
November 6th – Church Calendar

1. St. Paul the Confessor, Patriarch of Constantinople.

When the blessed Patriarch Alexander was lying on his deathbed, the lamenting faithful asked him whom he would leave to follow him as chief pastor of the flock of Christ. Then the sick patriarch said to them: ‘If you want to have a shepherd who will teach you and whose virtues will illumine you, choose Paul; but if you want a suitable man as a figurehead, choose Macedonius.’ The people chose Paul. This was not acceptable to the Arian heretics, nor to the Emperor Constantius, who was at that time in Antioch, and so Paul was quickly deposed and fled to Rome together with St. Athanasius the Great. There, both Pope Julian and the Emperor Constans gave them a warm welcome and upheld them in their Orthodoxy. The emperor and the pope sent letters which restored Paul to his episcopal throne, but after the death of Constans, the Arians raised their heads again and drove the Orthodox Patriarch off to Cucusus in Armenia. While Paul was celebrating the Liturgy one day in exile, he was set on by the Arians and strangled with his pallium. This was in the year 351. In the time of the Emperor Theodosios, in 381, his relics were translated to Constantinople, and in 1236, to Venice, where they still lie.* His beloved priests and secretaries, Markianos and Martyrios, suffered soon after their patriarch, on October 25th, 355 (see their lives on that day).

* A small piece of their relics is kept at the Russian Cathedral in London. —Tr.

2. Our Holy Father Varlaam of Chutinsk, the Wonder-worker.

Born and brought up a Christian in Novgorod the Great, he became a monk on the death of his parents and devoted himself to strict asceticism. He founded a monastery on the bank of the Volkhov River, on a site shown to him by a heavenly light. He was a great wonder-worker both during his lifetime and after his death, being able to penetrate human secrets, to drive out unclean spirits and to heal all sicknesses. A servant of Prince Vasily Vasilievitch was taken seriously ill, and he asked to be carried to the grave of St. Varlaam, and further asked that, if he should die on the way, they should take his dead body to the saint. And so it came to pass: he died on the road, and they brought him dead into the monastery, where he was restored to life, stood up, and prostrated himself before the tomb of the saint. In 1471, Tsar Ivan the Formidable gave orders that the saint’s relics be translated. As soon as his men began to open the tomb, a flame sprang from the grave and blazed along the walls of the church. The tsar was so frightened that he fled from the church, and in his haste, forgot his staff, which is kept to this day beside the saint’s tomb. In commemoration of this wonder, St. Varlaam is also remembered on the Friday after the Sunday of All Saints.

3. Commemoration of the falling of ash from the air.

This occurred in Constantinople in 472 (or 475, according to the Greek Synaxarion), during the reign of the Emperor Leo the Great and Patriarch Gennadios.

FOR CONSIDERATION

If God can bring water from a rock to sustain men, He can also call down fire from heaven as a punishment. The outcome of Sodom and Gomorrah presents a classic example of God’s punishment of incorrigible sinners. That God can repeat this punishment in other places, He demonstrated over Constantinople in the time of Leo the Great and Patriarch Gennadios, in 472. On November 6th, at mid day, the sky suddenly became darkened by thick, dark clouds, which caused darkness to cover the land. These clouds glowed now and then like live coals, and then became dark again, and this phenomenon remained over Constantinople for a full forty days. The terrified people fell to repentance and prayer, and together with the emperor and the patriarch, went in procession through the streets from church to church, praying to God with tears and lamentations. On the final day, hot black ash began to fall from the clouds, and fell from noon till midnight, when it ceased. The following day was clear and fresh, but a hand-high layer of ash lay all over the ground. The people worked to clear their houses and streets of this sooty ash, but all their crops were destroyed. All who had understanding recognized God’s punishment in this event—a gentle punishment because of the speedy repentance of the people before the Lord God. If this had not been so, who knows what would have happened in Constantinople in those days? But timely repentance on the part of sinners, and the prayers of the most holy Mother of God together with the numberless saints and martyrs of Constantinople, greatly mitigated the punishment.

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.