Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Wednesday of the Thirty-First Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the General Epistle of Saint Iakovos (James) [§ 50 B].

1 ¹Iakovos, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the diaspora: Rejoice.

²My brethren, deem it all joy whenever ye fall into diverse temptations, ³knowing that the testing of your faith worketh out patience. ⁴But let patience keep on having a perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing. ⁵But if any of you lack wisdom, let him keep on asking from God Who giveth to all liberally, and reproacheth not, and it shall be given to him. ⁶But let him keep on asking in faith, doubting nothing; for he who doubteth is like a billow of the sea being driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷For let not that man be supposing that he shall receive anything from the Lord. ⁸A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. ⁹But let the brother of low degree be boasting in his high estate, ¹⁰and the rich man in his low estate, because as a flower of the grass he shall pass away. ¹¹For the sun ariseth with its burning heat, and drieth up the grass, and its flower falleth, and the comeliness of its appearance perisheth. Thus also the rich man shall wither in his ways. ¹²Happy is the man who endureth temptation; because having become approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love Him. ¹³Let no one when he is tempted be saying, “I am tempted of God”; for God is incapable of being tempted of evils, and He Himself tempteth no one. ¹⁴But each is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own desire. ¹⁵Then after he conceiveth the desire, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, after it is fully formed, bringeth forth death. ¹⁶Cease being led astray, my beloved brethren; ¹⁷every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, with Whom is no alternation or a shadow cast by turning. ¹⁸Having willed it, He brought us forth by the Logos of truth, for us to be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 51]. The Lord said:

For Gk. usage, see Mk. 11:22-26; for Sl. usage, see Mk. 11:23-26.

11 ²²“Be having faith in God. ²³“For verily I say to you, that whosoever shall say to this mountain, ‘Be thou taken away and be thou cast into the sea,’ and doubt not in his heart, but shall believe that what he saith is coming to pass, it shall be to him whatsoever he shall say. ²⁴“On this account I say to you, all things, whatsoever ye ask for yourselves when ye pray, keep on believing that ye are receiving them, and they shall be to you. ²⁵“And whenever ye stand praying, be forgiving if ye have anything against anyone, in order that your Father Who is in the heavens might also forgive your transgressions. ²⁶“But if ye forgive not, neither will your Father Who is in the heavens forgive your transgressions.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Nativity according to the flesh of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Galatians [§ 209]. Brethren:

4 ⁴When the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵in order that He might redeem those under the law, that we might receive what is our due, the adoption as sons. ⁶But because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, “Abba, Father.” ⁷So that no longer art thou a slave, but a son; and if a son, also an heir of God through Christ.

Gospel

In the Orthros

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 2].

1 ¹⁸Now the birth of Jesus Christ was thus: For His Mother, Mary, having been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹But Joseph her husband, being just, and yet not willing to make her an example, wished to divorce her secretly. ²⁰And after he pondered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not become afraid to take to thee Mariam thy wife; for that which is in her was begotten of the Holy Spirit. ²¹“And she shall bring forth a Son and thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. ²²“Now all this came to pass, in order that it might be fulfilled that which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, ²³“‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel [cf. Is. 7:14],’” which is, being interpreted, “God with us.” ²⁴And Joseph, having been awakened from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took to him his wife, ²⁵and was not knowing her until she brought forth her Son, the firstborn; and he called His name Jesus.

In the Liturgy

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 3].

2 ¹After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king, behold, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem, ²saying, “Where is He Who was born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and came to do homage to Him.” ³But after Herod the king heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴And after he gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he kept on inquiring of them where the Christ is born. ⁵And they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judæa, for thus it hath been written by the prophet: ⁶“‘And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art in no wise the least among the governors of Juda; for out of thee shall come forth a Governor Who shall shepherd My people Israel [cf. Mic. 5:2].’” ⁷Then Herod, after he secretly called the Magi, inquired carefully of them the time of the appearing star. ⁸And having sent them to Bethlehem, he said, “Go and search out carefully for the young Child; and when ye find Him, bring tidings to me, in order that I also might go and do homage to Him.” ⁹And after they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they saw in the east was going before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. ¹⁰And having seen the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. ¹¹And after they came into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His Mother, and fell down and did homage to Him. And after they opened their treasures, they offered gifts to Him: gold and frankincense and myrrh. ¹²And having been divinely warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed into their own country by another way.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

January 7th – Civil Calendar
December 25th – Church Calendar

1. The Nativity of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ.

‘And when the fullness of time was come, God sent His only-begotten Son’ (Gal. 4:4), to save the human race. And when the ninth month had come after the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the most holy Virgin in Nazareth, saying: ‘Rejoice, thou who art highly favored;...thou shalt conceive and bear a Son’—at that time a decree went forth from Caesar Augustus that all the inhabitants of the Roman Empire be taxed. In accordance with this decree, everyone had to go to his own town and there be inscribed. Therefore righteous Joseph came with the most holy Virgin to Bethlehem, the city of David, for they were both of the royal House of David. But, there being a great many people in that small city for the census, Joseph and Mary could not find lodging in any house, and found shelter in a cave which the shepherds used as a sheepfold. In this cave the most holy Virgin gave birth to the Savior of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ. Bearing Him without pain, as He was conceived without sin of the Holy Spirit and not of man, she herself wrapped Him in swaddling bands, worshipped Him as God and laid Him in a manger. Then righteous Joseph drew near and worshipped Him as the divine Fruit of a virgin womb. Then the shepherds came in from the fields, directed by an angel of God, and worshipped Him as Messiah and Savior. The shepherds had heard a multitude of angels singing: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill among men’ (Luke 2:14). At that time there also came Magi from the East, led by a wonderful star, bearing their gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh, and worshipped Him as King of kings, offering Him their gifts (Matt. 2:11). Thus He came into the world Whose coming had been foretold by the prophets and Who was born in the way that they had prophesied: of the most holy Virgin, in the city of Bethlehem, of the lineage of David according to the flesh, at the time when there was no longer in Jerusalem a king of the tribe of Judah, but Herod the stranger was on the throne. After many types and prefigurings, messengers and heralds, prophets and righteous men, wise men and kings, finally He appeared, the Lord of the world and King of kings, to perform the work of the salvation of mankind that could not be performed by His servants. May His be eternal glory and praise! Amen.

FOR CONSIDERATION

The Lord Jesus, born in Bethlehem, was first worshipped by shepherds and wise men from the East—the simplest and the wisest of this world. In our day also, those who most sincerely worship the Lord Jesus as God and Savior are the simplest and the wisest of this world. Twisted simplicity and crazed wisdom have always been enemies of Christ’s divinity and of His Gospel. But who were these Magi from the East? This question was closely investigated by St. Dimitri of Rostov. He asserts that they were kings of small regions or groups of towns in Persia, Arabia and Egypt. At the same time, they were greatly learned in astrology. The wonderful star that heralded the birth of the new King appeared to them. According to St. Dimitri, this star appeared nine months before the birth of the Lord Jesus; that is, at the time when the most holy Mother of God conceived Him. They spent these nine months in studying this star, in preparing for the journey and in travelling. They arrived in Bethlehem very shortly after the birth of the Savior of the world. One of them was called Melchior. He was old, withered, with long white hair and beard. He brought the Lord the gift of gold. The second man was called Gaspar; ruddy of face, young and beardless. He brought the Lord the gift of frankincense. The third was called Balthazar, black-skinned and heavily bearded. He brought the Lord the gift of myrrh. After their deaths, their bodies were taken to Constantinople, from Constantinople to Milan and from Milan to Cologne. It can be added that these three wise men represented the three chief races of men that descended from Noah’s three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. The Persian represented Japheth, the Arabian Shem and the Egyptian Ham. Thus it can be said that, through these three, the whole human race worshipped our incarnate Lord and God.

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.