Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Thirty-Third Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First General Epistle of Saint Peter [§ 62].

4 ¹²Beloved, cease being astonished by the strangeness of the proving by fire which is taking place among you, in order to test you, as if a strange thing were happening to you, ¹³but according as ye take part in the sufferings of Christ, be rejoicing, that also in the revelation of His glory ye might rejoice exultingly. ¹⁴If ye are being reproached in the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of the glory and power and the Spirit of God resteth upon you. On the one hand, according to them, He is being blasphemed, but on the other hand, according to you, He is being glorified. ¹⁵For let none of you be suffering as a murderer, or a thief, or an evildoer, or as a busybody in the matters of others. ¹⁶But if any suffer as a Christian, let him cease being ashamed, but keep on glorifying God in respect to this. ¹⁷For it is the time for the judgment to begin from the house of God; but if first from us, what shall be the end of those who disobey the Gospel of God? ¹⁸And “if the righteous one scarcely is saved, where shall the ungodly one and sinner appear [cf. Prov. 11:31]?” ¹⁹Therefore, they who suffer indeed according to the will of God, let them be committing their souls in well doing, as to a faithful Creator.

5 ¹The presbyters who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow presbyter and witness of the sufferings of the Christ, who also am a partaker of the coming glory to be revealed: ²Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising the episcopal office, not by constraint, but willingly, not for sordid greed of gain, but readily, ³neither as exercising lordship over the clergy, but becoming examples to the flock; ⁴and after the chief Shepherd hath been made manifest, ye shall carry off the unfading crown of the glory. ⁵In like manner ye younger ones, be subject to the elders. And all being subject to one another, gird yourselves with humility; for God “setteth Himself against the proud, but giveth grace to the humble [Prov. 3:34].”

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 Theophany, and the holy Martyr Polyefktos of Melitene in Armenia, and the holy Metropolitan Philip of Moscow and All Russia, the new confessor.

Epistle

For the Martyr:

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to Saint Timothy [§ 292]. Child Timothy:

2 ¹Be thou empowered in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; ²and the things which thou heardest from me in the midst of many witnesses, commit thou these things to faithful men who shall be competent also to teach others. ³Thou therefore suffer hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. ⁴No one serving as a soldier is entangled with the affairs of life, in order that he might please the one who enlisted him. ⁵And if anyone also contend as an athlete in the games, he is not crowned unless he contend lawfully. ⁶The farmer who laboreth must be first to partake of the fruits. ⁷Be considering what I say; O may the Lord give thee understanding in all things! ⁸Be remembering Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, Who hath been raised from the dead, according to my Gospel, ⁹in which I suffer hardship even to bonds as a malefactor, but the word of God hath not been bound. ¹⁰On this account I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they might also attain salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

For the Hierarch:

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 Mid-feast:

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.”

¹²And straightway, the Spirit driveth Him forth into the desert. ¹³And He was there in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts; and the angels were ministering to Him.

¹⁴Now after John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom of God, ¹⁵and saying, “The time hath been fulfilled, and the kingdom of God hath drawn near; repent ye and believe ye in the Gospel.”

For the Hierarch:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 36]. The Lord said to the Jews who had come to Him:

10 ⁹“I am the door; by Me if anyone should enter, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰“The thief cometh not, except that he might steal, and slay, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. ¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep. ¹²“But the hireling, who indeed is not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep and fleeth; and the wolf seizeth them and scattereth the sheep. ¹³“Now the hireling fleeth, because he is a hireling and careth not about the sheep. ¹⁴“I am the good shepherd; and I know those that are Mine, and am known of those that are Mine. ¹⁵“Even as the Father knoweth Me, I also know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. ¹⁶“And I have other sheep which are not of this fold; them also it is needful for Me to bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

January 22nd – Civil Calendar
January 9th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Polyefktos (Polyeuctus).

The Armenian town of Melitene was soaked in Christian blood, as was all the land of Armenia. The first blood shed for Christ in that town was that of St. Polyefktos, spilled in about the year 259, during the reign of Valerian. There were in the town two friends who were officers: Nearchos and Polyefktos, the former baptized and the latter unbaptized. When a decree went out from the emperor that all Christians were to be killed, Nearchos prepared himself for death, though with great sorrow at not having brought his friend Polyefktos to the true Faith. When Polyefktos became aware of Nearchos’ sorrow, he promised to become a believer. On the following day, he related to Nearchos a dream that he had: the Lord Himself had appeared to him in light, stripped his old clothing from him, clothed him in new and shining raiment and set him upon the saddle of a winged horse. After relating this dream, Polyefktos went off to the town, tore up the royal decree on the persecution of Christians and smashed many statues of idols. He was tortured and condemned to death. On the way to the place of execution, he caught sight of Nearchos in the crowd and called joyfully to him: ‘O Nearchos, farewell, and remember the pact between us!’ And St. Nearchos later ended a martyr for Christ in the fire. His feast is on April 22nd.

2. Our Holy Father Efstratios.

A native of Tarsus, he was a great ascetic and man of prayer. During seventy-five years of monastic life, he never lay on his left side to sleep, but always on his right. In church, he repeated to himself throughout the service: ‘Lord, have mercy’. He died at the age of 95.

3. St. Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow.

Born on February 11th, 1507, he was standing one day in church, while still a young man, when he heard the priest read from the Gospel the words: “No man can serve two masters” (Matt. 6:24). He was filled with awe at these words, as though they were said to him alone, and was enlightened in that same moment. He went off to the monastery of Solovetsky (Solovki), where, after a long and hard novitiate, he received the monastic schema. In time he became abbot, and resplendent as the sun in holiness, became known throughout the land of Russia. Because of this, Tsar Ivan the Formidable, a great ally of the saint, translated him to the vacant See of Moscow as metropolitan in 1566. But soon the Judaizer sect and the nobles plotted against the new metropolitan, slandering him and succeeding in having him deposed and imprisoned at Tver. When Tsar Ivan later began to investigate the lawfulness of this deposition, the Judaizer conspirators, desiring to silence Philip, murdered him in the monastery of his exile on December 23rd, 1569.

After some years, the body of the saint was found to be whole and incorrupt, and giving off a very beautiful fragrance. It was transferred to the monastery of Solovetsky.

FOR CONSIDERATION

The Orthodox Church, in teaching men perfect love, at the same time teaches them perfect obedience, from which flow both order and harmony among the faithful. The bishops owe obedience to the Lord, the priests to the bishops and the faithful to the one and the other. St. Ignatius writes about this: “It is your duty to obey without hypocrisy; he who would deceive his visible bishop would scorn also the Invisible.... I beg you, take care to fulfill all in the unity of God, under the guidance of your bishops, who occupy the place of God, and the priests, who constitute the assembly of the apostles,...not thinking that whatever may seem to you to be right, that should you do on your own, in isolation.”

[The Orthodox have always accepted this, but when the bishop preaches anything other than true Orthodoxy, the faithful are admonished by the testimony of the apostles, who were contemporaries of St. Ignatius, that they must not be obedient to disobedience. The faithful have, in such instances, ousted the bishop and replaced him with one who is Orthodox.]

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.