Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Thirty-Third Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First General Epistle of Saint Peter [§ 59]. Beloved:

2 ²¹Christ also suffered for us, leaving behind for you an example, that ye should follow His footsteps: ²²“Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth [cf. Is. 53:9]”; ²³Who, when He was reviled, reviled not in return; when He suffered, He threatened not, but kept on giving Himself over to Him Who judgeth righteously; ²⁴Who “Himself carried up our sins [cf. Is. 53:4]” in His body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, should live to righteousness—by Whose bruise “ye were healed [cf. Is. 53:5].” ²⁵For ye were “as sheep being led astray [cf. Is. 53:6],” but were turned about now to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

3 ¹In like manner, wives, be subordinate to your own husbands, in order that even if any disobey the word, through the behavior of the wives, they might be gained without a word, ²having watched your pure behavior which is in fear; ³whose adorning let it not be the outward one of braiding of hair, and placing around of gold, or putting on of apparel, ⁴but the hidden man of the heart, in the incorruptible adorning of a meek and quiet spirit, which is of great value before God. ⁵For thus also, at one time, the holy women—those who hoped upon God—used to adorn themselves, being subordinate to their own husbands, ⁶as Sarra obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, of whom ye became children, if ye do good and fear not any terror. ⁷In like manner, husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, assigning honor to the woman as to a weaker vessel, and as joint-heirs of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered. ⁸And finally, be ye all of the same mind, sympathetic, loving the brethren, compassionate, kindly, ⁹not rendering evil for evil or reviling for reviling; but on the contrary, blessing, knowing that to this ye were called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

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 Theophany of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to Saint Titus [§ 302]. Child Titus:

2 ¹¹The grace of God which bringeth salvation appeared to all men, ¹²instructing us that, after we deny impiety and worldly lusts, we should live in the present age soberly and righteously and piously, ¹³waiting for the happy hope and appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, ¹⁴Who gave Himself for us, in order that He might ransom us for Himself from all lawlessness and might purify to Himself a people for a private possession, zealous of good works....

3 ⁴But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward mankind appeared— ⁵not by works which we did in righteousness, but according to His mercy—He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶Whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷that having been justified by the grace of this One, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Gospel

In the Orthros

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 2]. In those days:

1 ⁹Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰And straightway, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens being parted, and the Spirit as a dove descending upon Him; ¹¹and there came to be a voice out of the heavens, “Thou art My Son, the Beloved, in Thee I am well pleased.”

In the Liturgy

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 6]. At that time:

3 ¹³Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. ¹⁴But John was trying to hinder Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by Thee, and comest Thou to me?” ¹⁵But Jesus answered and said to him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is becoming for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitteth Him. ¹⁶And Jesus, having been baptized, went up straightway from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and coming upon Him. ¹⁷And behold, there came to be a voice out of the heavens, saying, “This is My Son, the Beloved, in Whom I am well pleased.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

January 19th – Civil Calendar
January 6th – Church Calendar

1. The Theophany.

When the Lord Jesus had lived for thirty years from His birth in the flesh, He began His teaching and saving work. He marked this very beginning of the beginning by His Baptism in the Jordan. St. Kyril of Jerusalem says: ‘The beginning of the world—water; the beginning of the Gospel—the Jordan.’ At the Baptism of the Lord in the water, that mystery was revealed to the world that was predicted in the Old Testament—the mystery of the Holy Trinity of God. The Father revealed Himself to the sense of hearing, the Spirit to the sense of sight and the Son, further beyond these, to the sense of touch. The Father gave His testimony of the Son, the Son was baptized in the waters and the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, hovered over the waters. And when John the Baptist bore witness of Christ and said: ‘Behold the Lamb of God Who taketh away the sin of the world’ (Jn. 1:29), and when he immersed the Lord in the Jordan and baptized Him, there were thus revealed both the mission of Christ in the world and the path of our salvation. That is to say: Christ takes upon Himself the sin of the whole human race. He dies under it (the immersion) and rises again (the coming up out of the water), and we must die to the old, sinful man and rise again, cleansed, renewed and reborn. Here is the Savior and here is the way of salvation. The Feast of the Theophany is also called the Feast of Lights. The word “Theophany” means “the revelation of God”.

FOR CONSIDERATION

In some periods the fables of heretics vexed the Church of God, but now she is vexed by the fables of unbelievers. By endurance in the Faith, by diligent prayer, by witness and even by martyrdom—only by these things will this new vexation be brought to naught. And the Church of God, the vessel of the truth of God, will triumph in the end, for the enemy will lose his weapons (Ps. 9:6). He who falls into heresy wanders through a dry desert, forsaking the one, true God. Separated from God, he seeks water in the arid wastes and moves into an uninhabited and thirsty land. The same can be said today of many who, studying hypotheses and theories, are guided by figments of their own imagination and not by the truth of 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.