Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Thirty-First Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the General Epistle of Saint Iakovos [§ 51 B].

1 ¹⁹My beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; ²⁰for man’s wrath doth not work out God’s righteousness. ²¹Wherefore lay aside all filthiness and surplus of wickedness, and receive in meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. ²²But keep on becoming doers of the word, and not only hearers, falsely reasoning for yourselves. ²³For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, this one is like a man observing carefully the face he was born with in a mirror; ²⁴for he observed himself well, and hath gone away, and straightway forgetteth of what sort he was. ²⁵But the one who looketh into the perfect law, that of freedom, and remaineth therein—because this one did not become a hearer of forgetfulness, but a doer of work—this one shall be happy in his doing. ²⁶If anyone among you seem to be religious, while he bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his heart, the religion of this one is vain. ²⁷Religion pure and undefiled before the God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 52]. At that time:

11 ²⁷Jesus came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking about in the temple, the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders come to Him, ²⁸and say to Him, “By what authority doest Thou these things? And who gave Thee this authority that Thou mayest be doing these things?” ²⁹And Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will question you for one word; and answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things: ³⁰“The baptism of John, was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me.” ³¹And they were reasoning with themselves, saying, “If we should say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did ye not believe him?’ ³²“But if we should say, ‘From men’?”—they were fearing the people; for all held that John was a prophet. ³³And answering, they say to Jesus, “We know not.” And Jesus answered, saying to them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Afterfeast of Nativity, and the Synaxis of our most holy Lady the Theotokos, and Hieromartyr Efthymios, Bishop of Sardis.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 306]. Brethren:

2 ¹¹Both He Who sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one; for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren, ¹²saying, “I will announce Thy name to My brethren, in the midst of the church will I hymn Thee [cf. Ps. 21(22):22]”; ¹³and again, “I will trust in Him [cf. Is. 8:17]”; and again, “Behold, I and the children whom God gave Me [Is. 8:18].” ¹⁴Since then the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He also Himself in like manner partook of the same, in order that through death He might bring to nought the one who hath the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵and might set free those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. ¹⁶For surely He taketh not hold of the nature of the angels, but He taketh hold of the seed of Abraham. ¹⁷Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like His brethren, that He might become a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, in order to be made an expiation for the sins of the people. ¹⁸For having Himself been tempted in that which He suffered, He is able to help those who are tempted.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 4].

2 ¹³After the Magi departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, and take the young Child and His Mother, and flee thou into Egypt, and be thou there until I should tell thee; for Herod is about to seek the young Child, to destroy Him.” ¹⁴And he arose and took the young Child and His Mother by night and departed into Egypt, ¹⁵and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled that which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son [cf. Hos. 11:1].” ¹⁶Then Herod, after he saw that he was mocked by the Magi, was angered exceedingly. And he sent forth and killed all the male children that were in Bethlehem and in all her borders, from two years old and under, according to the time which he inquired carefully from the Magi. ¹⁷Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremias the prophet, saying, ¹⁸“A voice in Rama was heard, lamentation and weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not [cf. Jer. 38(31):15].” ¹⁹But after Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, ²⁰saying, “Arise, and take the young Child and His Mother, and go into the land of Israel; for they who sought the soul of the young Child have died.” ²¹And he arose and took the young Child and His Mother, and came into the land of Israel. ²²But after he heard that Archelaus reigned over Judæa instead of Herod his father, he was afraid to go there. And having been divinely warned in a dream, he withdrew into the parts of Galilee. ²³And he came and dwelt in a city which is called Nazareth, in order that it might be fulfilled that which was spoken by the prophets, that He shall be called a Nazarene.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

January 8th – Civil Calendar
December 26th – Church Calendar

1. The Synaxis of the Most Holy Mother of God.

On the second day of Nativity, the Christian Church gives glory and praise to the most holy Mother of God, who bore our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ. This feast is called a ‘general commemoration’ because, on this day, all the faithful come together to glorify her, the Mother of God, and to celebrate a triumphant, common feast in her honor. In Ochrid, it has been the custom from time immemorial that, on the eve of the second day of Nativity, Vespers has been celebrated only in the church of the Mother of God, the Chieftain. All the clergy and people there together glorify the most pure Mother of God.

2. Commemoration of the Flight into Egypt.

The Magi, astrologers from the East, having worshipped the Lord in Bethlehem, returned home, at the command of an angel, another way. Herod, that wicked king, planned to slaughter all the children in Bethlehem, but God saw Herod’s intention and sent His angel to Joseph. The angel of God spoke to Joseph in a dream and commanded him to take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt. Joseph did this. Taking the divine Child and His most pure Mother, he traveled first to Nazareth (Lk. 2:39), where he set his household affairs in order and then, taking his son Iakovos with them, went off to Egypt (Matt. 2:14). And so the words of the prophet: ‘The Lord, riding upon a swift cloud, shall come into Egypt’ (Is. 19:1), were fulfilled. In old Cairo today the cave where the holy travelers lived can be seen, and in the village of Matarea near Cairo, the tree remains under which the Mother of God rested with the Lord Jesus, where a miraculous spring of water sprang up under the tree. They lived in Egypt for several years, and then the travelers returned to Palestine in response to a command by an angel of God. And so a second prophecy was fulfilled: ‘Out of Egypt have I called My Son’ (Hosea 11:1). Herod was dead, and on his bloodstained throne sat a worthy successor in his wicked son Archelaus. Joseph, hearing that Archelaus was reigning in Jerusalem, returned to Galilee, to his town of Nazareth, where he settled in his own home. Galilee was at that time ruled by another of Herod’s sons, Herod the Younger, who was somewhat better than his wicked brother Archelaus.

3. Our Holy Father Evarestos.

Reading the works of St. Ephraim the Syrian, he abandoned the diplomatic service and became a monk. He was very strict with himself and wore chains on his body, eating dry bread only once a week. He lived for seventy-five years, and went to the Lord in about 825.

4. St. Efthymios the Confessor, Bishop of Sardis.

He took part in the Seventh Ecumenical Council, and spent about thirty years in exile for his veneration of icons. Under the Emperor Theophilus the Iconoclast, he was flogged with bull-whips, during which he died a martyr in 840 and received a wreath of glory in heaven.

5. Our Holy Father Constantine of Synnada.

He was a Jew who came to the Christian Faith. When the Cross was made on his head at his Baptism, it remained visible there till his death in Constantinople in the seventh century. He is famed for his fasting and for his many miracles. He foretold the day of his death seven years in advance.

FOR CONSIDERATION

A story of the divine Christ-Child: When Mary and Joseph were fleeing before Herod’s sword to Egypt, brigands leapt out into the road to steal what they could. Righteous Joseph was leading the donkey on which were some few possessions and on which the most holy Mother of God was riding with her Son at her breast. The robbers seized the donkey, meaning to lead it away. At that moment, one of the robbers went across to the Mother of God to see what she had at her breast. Seeing the Christ-Child, the robber marveled at His beauty and said in wonder: ‘If God were to take human flesh Himself, He would not be more beautiful than this child!’ and the robber told his fellows to take nothing from these travelers. Full of gratitude to this kindly robber, the Mother of God said to him: ‘This Child will reward you richly for having spared Him today’. Thirty-three years later, this same robber was crucified for his wrongdoing on the right of Christ’s cross. His name was Dismas, while the name of the robber on the left was Gestas. Looking at Christ the Lord, crucified in His innocence, Dismas repented of his whole life, and while Gestas reviled the Lord, Dismas rebuked his fellow-robber, saying: ‘He has done no evil’. Dismas is, then, that penitent thief to whom the Lord said: ‘Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise’ (Lk.23:41-43). Thus the Lord rewarded with Paradise him who had spared Him in childhood.

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.