Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Thirty-First Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 329]. Brethren:

For Gk. usage, see Heb. 11:17-31; for Sl. usage, see Heb. 11:17-23, 27-31.

11 ¹⁷By faith Abraham, when he was put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who received the promises offered up his only-begotten son, ¹⁸as to whom it was said “for in Isaac thy seed shall be called [Gen. 21:12],” ¹⁹reckoning that God was able to raise even from the dead; from which also he received him for himself in a type. ²⁰By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning coming things. ²¹By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and “did reverence upon the top of his staff [Gen. 47:31].” ²²By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention concerning the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave command concerning his bones. ²³By faith Moses, after he was born, was hid three months by his parents, because “they saw the little child was fair [cf. Ex. 2:2],” and they were not afraid of the edict of the king. ²⁴By faith Moses, “having become full-grown [Ex. 2:11],” refused to be called the son of pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵having chosen rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to have the temporary enjoyment of sin, ²⁶since he deemed the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures in Egypt; for he kept on looking away from the treasures to the recompense. ²⁷By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the anger of the king; for he persevered, as seeing the invisible One. ²⁸By faith he hath celebrated the passover and the pouring upon of the blood, lest the one who destroyeth the firstborn should touch them. ²⁹By faith they passed through the Red Sea as through dry land, where the Egyptians, having made an attempt, were swallowed up. ³⁰By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after they were encircled for seven days. ³¹By faith Rahab the harlot, having received the spies with peace, did not perish with those who disobeyed.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 48]. At that time:

10 ⁴⁶As Jesus went out from Jericho, and His disciples and a considerable crowd, Bartimæos the blind man, the son of Timæos, was sitting by the wayside begging. ⁴⁷And having heard, “It is Jesus the Nazaræan,” he began to cry out and to say, “Son of David, Jesus, have mercy on me.” ⁴⁸And many were rebuking him in order that he should keep silent; but he kept on crying out much more, “Son of David, have mercy on me.” ⁴⁹And Jesus stood still and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good courage, arise; He calleth thee.” ⁵⁰And he, having cast off his outer garment, rose up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹And Jesus answered, saying to him, “What dost thou wish that I should do to thee?” And the blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I might recover my sight.” ⁵²And Jesus said to him, “Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee well.” And straightway he recovered his sight and followed Jesus on the way.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Ten Martyrs of Crete, and the holy Nahum, Equal-to-the-apostles and Wonder-worker of Okhrid.

Epistle

For the Martyrs:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 233].

6 ¹⁰Brethren, keep on being empowered in the Lord and in the strength of His might. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God, for you to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil; ¹²because for us the wrestling is not against blood and flesh, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the cosmic rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of evil on account of the heavenly things. ¹³For this cause take up the full armor of God, in order that ye might be able to withstand in the evil day, and having counteracted all things, to stand. ¹⁴Stand therefore, having girt your loins with truth, and having put on for yourselves the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵and having shod your feet in readiness of the Gospel of peace; ¹⁶on the whole, take up the shield of faith, with which ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. ¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

For the Wonder-worker:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 335]. Brethren:

13 ¹⁷Be obedient to those who lead you, and keep on submitting, for they are watchful for your souls, as those about to render an account, that they may do this with joy, and not groaning; for this would be unprofitable for you. ¹⁸Keep on praying for us; for we trust that we have a good conscience, in all things wishing to conduct ourselves well. ¹⁹But I beseech you more abundantly to do this, that I might be restored more quickly to you.

²⁰Now the God of peace Who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Shepherd of the sheep, the great One, in the blood of an everlasting covenant, ²¹may He render you perfect in every good work, in order to do His will, doing in you that which is well-pleasing before His face, through Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory to the ages of the ages. Amen.

Gospel

For the Martyrs:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 106]. The Lord said to His disciples, “Be taking heed of men:

21 ¹²“For they shall lay their hands upon you and persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors on account of My name; ¹³“but it shall prove to be a testimony for you. ¹⁴“Therefore settle it for yourselves in your hearts not to premeditate to make a defense; ¹⁵“for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all those who oppose you shall not be able to contradict nor withstand. ¹⁶“And ye shall be delivered up also by parents, and kinfolk, and friends, and brethren; and they shall put some of you to death. ¹⁷“And ye shall be hated by all for My name’s sake. ¹⁸“But a hair of your head in no wise shall perish. ¹⁹“In your patience win your souls.”

For the Wonder-worker:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 24]. At that time:

6 ¹⁷Jesus 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. ²⁰And He lifted up His eyes to His disciples, and began to say:
   “Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
   ²¹“Blessed are ye who hunger now, for ye shall be filled.
Blessed are ye who weep now, for ye shall laugh.
   ²²“Blessed are ye whenever men hate you, and whenever they separate you, and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man.
   ²³“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in the heavens.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

January 5th – Civil Calendar
December 23rd – Church Calendar

1. The Ten Holy Martyrs of Crete.

They suffered for Christ the Lord during Decius’ persecution, in the year 250. Their names were: Theodulus, Saturninus, Evporus, Gelasius, Evnikian, Zoticus, Pompey, Agathopous, Basilides and Evaristus. They were all honored and eminent citizens, the cream of the cream. When they were taken to the scaffold, they were filled with joy and discussed among themselves who would be the first to be beheaded, because each wanted to be the first to go to his beloved Christ. Then they prayed: ‘O Lord, forgive Thy servants and accept our outpoured blood on our own behalf and that of our kinsfolk and friends and all our fatherland, that all may be released from the darkness of ignorance and come to know Thee, the true light, O eternal King!’ They were beheaded and entered into the kingdom of glory, to eternal rejoicing.

2. St. Niphon the Wonder-worker.

Born in Paphlagonia, he was brought up in Constantinople at the court of a great commander. Falling into low company, the young Niphon became dissolute and gave himself to great sin and vice. Because of his sin, he could not even pray to God. By the mercy of the most holy Mother of God, he was brought back to the way of righteousness and became a monk. He had innumerable visions of the heavenly world and waged a four-year war with the demons, who whispered to him incessantly: ‘There is no God! There is no God!’ but when the Lord Jesus Himself appeared to him alive on an icon, Niphon received great power over the evil spirits and was freed from these heavy temptations. He had such insight that he saw angels and demons around men as clearly as he saw the people themselves, and he could discern men’s thoughts. He often spoke with angels and disputed with demons. He built a church to the most holy Mother of God in Constantinople, gathered many monks together and saved many souls. Alexander, the Archbishop of Alexandria, through a heavenly revelation, consecrated him bishop of the town of Constantia on Cyprus. Niphon was already old by that time, and governing the Church of God well for a short period, entered into Christ’s eternal kingdom. St. Athanasius the Great visited him at the time of his death, being then archdeacon of the church in Alexandria, and he saw Niphon’s face shine like the sun.

3. Our Holy Father Naum, the Wonder-worker of Ochrid.

He was a disciple of Ss. Kyril and Methodius, and one of the Five Followers—those zealous fellow-workers with these apostles of the Slavs. St. Naum traveled to Rome, where he was renowned both for his wonder-working power and his great learning. He knew many languages. At the time of his return from Rome, he settled, with the help of the Emperor Boris-Michael of Bulgaria, on the shores of Lake Ochrid. While St. Clement was working in Ochrid as bishop, St. Naum built a monastery on the southern shore of the lake. This monastery adorns that shore till this day, as the name of St. Naum adorns the history of Slav Christianity, and has been through the ages a fount of strength and recourse for the sick and the wretched. Many monks from all over the Balkans gathered around St. Naum, who was a wise teacher, a strict ascetic, a wonder-worker and a man of prayer. A tireless worker, St. Naum labored especially to translate the holy Scriptures from Greek into Slavonic. He worked wonders both during his lifetime and after his death, and his wonder-working relics to this day perform many miracles, particularly healing from grave illness and from madness. He entered into rest in the first half of the tenth century, and went to the joy of his beloved Christ.

In the Greek Synaxarion, Ss. Clement and Naum are called the new Moses and Aaron, and this marvel is recorded of them: heretics in Germany bound them and threw them into prison, but by God’s power, the prison shook, the chains fell off them, the doors of the prison opened and they went out freely.

FOR CONSIDERATION

While still in the flesh, the saints had great revelations from God and visions both from heaven and of the infernal powers. All the visions and revelations they had confirmed the Orthodox Faith in all its tenets. The saints are thus a very great joy to the faithful. St. Niphon saw the Mother of God and the Lord Christ alive in glory; he saw men’s souls leaving their bodies and their guardian angels meeting them. He spoke with angels in visions and disputed with demons. The Church teaches that sincere repentance on the part of a sinner, even at the eleventh hour, saves the soul of the penitent. St. Niphon saw the soul of one such sinner repenting at the last moment; he saw how an angel defended it from the bullying demons and carried it to Paradise. The Church teaches that suicide is a mortal sin; St. Niphon saw the soul of a suicide being dragged down to Hades by the devil, while the guardian angel of this soul went off, weeping bitterly. That was the soul of a servant who had committed suicide because his master was merciless and he was not willing to endure to the end and be saved.

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.