Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Saturday of the Twenty-Eighth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 218]. Brethren:

1 ¹⁶I cease not giving thanks on behalf of you, making mention of you at the time of my prayers, ¹⁷in order that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of the glory, may give to you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, in the full knowledge of Him, ¹⁸having the eyes of your heart enlightened that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what is the wealth of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe according to the energy of the might of His strength, ²⁰which He energized in the Christ, after He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right in the heavenlies, ²¹above every principality and authority and power and lordship, and every name which is named, not only in this age, but also in the coming one. ²²And He put in subjection all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the Church, ²³which is His body, the fullness of Him Who filleth all things in all.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 72]. The Lord said this parable:

13 ¹⁸“To what is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I liken it? ¹⁹“It is like a grain of mustard, which a man took and cast into his own garden; and it grew and became a great tree, and the birds of the heaven settled in its branches.” ²⁰And again He said, “To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? ²¹“It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of wheat meal until the whole was leavened.”

²²And He was going through, by cities and villages, teaching, and making His way toward Jerusalem. ²³And one said to Him, “Lord, are they few who are being saved?” And He said to them, ²⁴“Be striving to enter in through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter in and shall not be able. ²⁵“From the time when the Master of the house riseth and shutteth the door, and ye begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us,’ and He shall answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where ye are from,’ ²⁶“then ye shall begin to say, ‘We ate before Thy face and drank, and Thou didst teach in our streets.’ ²⁷“But He shall say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where ye are from; stand off from Me, all ye workers of unrighteousness.’ ²⁸“There shall be there the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth, whenever ye see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and ye yourselves being cast out. ²⁹“And they shall come from the east and west, and from the north and south, and shall be made to recline in the kingdom of God.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our father among the saints, Ambrose, Bishop of Milan.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians [§ 276]. Brethren:

2 ¹³We are bound to give thanks to God always concerning you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God chose you for Himself from the beginning to salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth, ¹⁴to which He called you through our Gospel, to acquisition of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵So then, brethren, be standing firm and holding fast the traditions which ye were taught, whether by word or by our epistle. ¹⁶Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, the One Who loved us and gave everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, ¹⁷comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.

3 ¹For the rest, brethren, be praying for us, that the word of the Lord may run and be glorified, even as also it is with you, ²and that we might be delivered from wayward and evil men; for not all have the faith. ³But faithful is the Lord, Who shall establish you and guard you from the evil one. ⁴And we trust in the Lord as to you, that ye both do and will do what we command you. ⁵And may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patience of the Christ.

Gospel

No reading given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

December 20th – Civil Calendar
December 7th – Church Calendar

1. St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (Mediolanum).

This great father of the Orthodox Church was of eminent parentage. His father was the imperial governor of Gaul and Spain, and a pagan, while his mother was a Christian. While he was still in his cradle, a swarm of bees once settled on him, left some honey on his lips and flew off; and while still a child, he thrust out his hand and said prophetically: ‘Kiss it, for I shall be a bishop!’ On the death of his father, the emperor made him governor of Liguria, of which province Milan was the chief city. When the bishop of Milan died, there was great dissension between the Orthodox Christians and the heretical Arians about the choice of a new bishop. Ambrose went into the church to keep order, this being his responsibility. Thereupon, a child at its mother’s breast cried out: ‘Ambrose for bishop!’ All the people took this to be the voice of God, and unanimously elected Ambrose as their bishop, although it was against his will. Ambrose was baptized, and passed through all the necessary ranks in one week, and was consecrated bishop. In this capacity, he strengthened the faith of the Orthodox, restrained heretics, adorned churches, spread the Faith among the pagans, wrote many instructive books and was an example of a true Christian and a true shepherd. He also composed the Te Deum, the great hymn of thanksgiving. This renowned hierarch, who was visited by people from distant lands for his wisdom and gracious words, was very austere in his personal life, being no stranger to toil and full of good works. He slept little, worked and prayed constantly and fasted every day except Saturday and Sunday. God therefore permitted him to witness many of His wonders, and to perform many himself. He discovered the relics of Ss. Protasius, Gervasius, Nazarius and Celsus (see Oct. 14th). Humble before lesser men, he was fearless before the great. He reproached the Empress Justina for heresy, cursed Maximus for tyranny and murder and forbade the Emperor Theodosios to enter a church until he had repented of his sin. He refused to meet the powerful Eugenius, the self-styled emperor. God granted this man, who was so pleasing to Him, such grace that he could raise the dead, drive demons from men, heal the sick of every ailment and see into the future. He died peacefully at daybreak on the day of Pascha in the year 397.

2. The Holy Martyrs in Africa.

They suffered for the truth of Orthodoxy in the reign of Gunerik of the Vandals (477-484), at the hands of the heretical Arians. Two priests were burned, sixty had their tongues torn out and three hundred laymen were beheaded. All of them suffered terribly, but they overcame falsehood by their deaths, and Orthodoxy was strengthened and was handed down to us pure and untarnished. The Lord crowned them with crowns of glory in His immortal kingdom.

3. Our Holy Father Gregory the Hesychast.

A Serb by birth, he was the founder of the monastery of St. Nicholas on the Holy Mountain, which is known by the name of Grigoriou after him. He built himself a cell about four hours’ journey from the monastery, where he wept over his sins and prayed. In 1761, a serious fire broke out in the monastery, and at that time some of the monks took his relics to Serbia. This man of God entered into eternal rest in 1406.

4. Our Holy Father Nilus of Stolobnoye.

A worker on the land, born in Novgorod, he went off into a lonely place and survived on plants and gleanings. He was instructed by a voice from on high to move to the island of Stolobnoye (Table Island). Once, some robbers burst into his cell, and were immediately blinded. He dug his own grave close to his cell, and wept over it every day. He entered into eternal rest in the kingdom of Christ in 1554, and his wonder-working relics are preserved in the place where he led his life of fasting.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Fear of God drives all fear of men from the heart. In all the great hierarchs of the Orthodox Church, we notice a wonderful combination of humility and fearlessness. St. Nicholas seized the sword of an executioner so that he could not execute innocent men. St. John Chrysostom castigated the Empress Evdoxia for her misdeeds, with no consideration for the unpleasantness and danger to his life to which he exposed himself in consequence. There are many other similar examples: when the Emperor Valentinian the Elder had listened to the stern criticism of St. Ambrose, he said to him: ‘I knew of your fearlessness when I helped in your election as bishop. Correct our faults, teach the law of God and cure our unrighteousness.’ When Valentinian the Younger, at the instigation of his mother Justina (who was an Arian), ordered that the cathedral in Milan be opened for heretics, Ambrose shut himself in the church with the faithful, and would not come out for three days. He sent word to the emperor and empress that, if they desired his death, he was prepared at any time ‘here in the church to be run through, either by a sword or a spear’. Hearing this, the emperor and empress rescinded their order. When a quarrel broke out in Thessalonica, and the Emperor Theodosios the Great had more than seven thousand people beheaded, Ambrose was so furious with the emperor that, when he visited Milan and wished to enter the church, the saint forbade him to do so. The emperor said to St. Ambrose: ‘David sinned, and yet was not deprived of God’s mercy.’ The bishop replied: ‘As you have imitated David in sin, so now imitate him in repentance also.’ The emperor was ashamed and turned back, and repented bitterly of the sin he had committed.

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.