Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Tuesday of the Thirty-Fourth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 222]. Brethren:

2 ¹⁹Ye are no longer strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens of the saints and of the household of God, ²⁰who were built up on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the cornerstone, ²¹in Whom every building, being joined together, increaseth to a holy temple in the Lord, ²²in Whom ye also are being built up together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

3 ¹For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of the Christ, Jesus, on behalf of you, the nations— ²if, indeed, ye heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me in regard to you, ³that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (even as I wrote before briefly, ⁴according to which reading ye are able to perceive my understanding in the mystery of the Christ), ⁵which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as now it was revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit: ⁶the nations are to be joint-heirs, and fellow members of the body, and joint-partakers of His promise in the Christ, through the Gospel, ⁷of which I became a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God which was given to me according to the energy of His power.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 11]. At that time:

3 ²³Jesus Himself was about thirty years old when He began, being, as was supposed, a son of Joseph, the son of Eli, ²⁴the son of Matthan, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Joanna, the son of Joseph, ²⁵the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Naum, the son of Esli, the son of Nangai, ²⁶the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semei, the son of Josech, the son of Juda, ²⁷the son of Joannan, the son of Resa, the son of Zorobabel, the son of Salathiel, the son of Neri, ²⁸the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Kosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er, ²⁹the son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Joreim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ³⁰the son of Symeon, the son of Juda, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakeim, ³¹the son of Melea, the son of Mainan, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, ³²the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Booz, the son of Salmon, the son of Naason, ³³the son of Aminadab, the son of Aram, the son of Joram, the son of Esrom, the son of Phares, the son of Juda, ³⁴the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Thara, the son of Nachor, ³⁵the son of Saruch, the son of Ragav, the son of Phalek, the son of Ever, the son of Sala, ³⁶the son of Kainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Sem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, ³⁷the son of Mathusala, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Maleleel, the son of Kainan, ³⁸the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

4 ¹And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was being led in the Spirit into the wilderness.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

14. The commemoration of the Leave-taking of Theophany, and the holy Equal-to-the-apostles Nina, Enlightener of Iberia, and the holy Fathers who were slain at Sinai and Raitho.

Epistle

For the Equal-to-the-apostles:

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 131]. Brethren:

4 ⁹I think that God showed forth us the apostles last, as condemned to death; for we became a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. ¹⁰We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ. We are weak, but ye are strong. Ye are held in honor, but we are dishonored. ¹¹Until the present hour, we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are being buffeted, and never at rest. ¹²And we toil working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we bear up; ¹³being evilly spoken of, we beseech. We became as the filth of the world, the off-scouring of all until now. ¹⁴I do not write these things shaming you, but admonishing you as my beloved children. ¹⁵For if ye have myriads of tutors in Christ, yet ye have not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I begot you through the Gospel. ¹⁶Therefore, I beseech you, keep on becoming imitators of me.

For the venerable Fathers:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 325]. Brethren:

10 ³²Remind yourselves of the former days in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great contest of sufferings: ³³partly, being made a show of both by reproaches and affliction; and partly, having become partners of those who conducted themselves thus. ³⁴For ye also sympathized with those in bonds and ye yourselves accepted the seizure of your possessions with joy, knowing in yourselves that ye have in the heavens a better and abiding possession. ³⁵Do not begin therefore to cast away your boldness which hath great recompense. ³⁶For ye have need of patience, that, after ye do the will of God, ye might receive for yourselves the promise. ³⁷“For yet a very little while, the One Who cometh will come, and will not delay [cf. Hab. 2:3]. ³⁸“Now the just shall live by faith; and if one should draw himself back, My soul hath no pleasure in him [cf. Hab. 2:4].”

for Sl. usage, see [Rom. 8:28-39].

Gospel

For the Equal-to-the-apostles:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 104]. The Lord said this parable:

25 ¹“The kingdom of the heavens shall be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. ²“And five of them were prudent, and five were foolish. ³“Those who were foolish took lamps for themselves and took no oil with them; ⁴“but the prudent took oil in their vessels with their lamps. ⁵“But while the bridegroom tarried, they all dozed and went on sleeping. ⁶“But in the middle of the night, there came to pass a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him!’ ⁷“Then all those virgins were wakened and trimmed their lamps. ⁸“And the foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹“But the prudent answered, saying, ‘Peradventure there might not be enough for us and you, but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰“But while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came, and they who were ready went in with him to the wedding festivities; and the door was shut. ¹¹“And afterwards the remaining virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ¹²“But he answered and said, ‘Verily I say to you, I know ye not.’ ¹³“Be watching then, for ye know not the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man cometh.”

For the venerable Fathers:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 67]. The Lord said:

12 ³²“Cease being afraid, little flock, for your Father is well pleased to give you the kingdom. ³³“Sell your possessions and give alms. Make for yourselves purses which do not become old, an unfailing treasure in the heavens, where no thief draweth near nor moth destroyeth; ³⁴“for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ³⁵“Let your loins be girded about and the lamps be kept burning; ³⁶“and be ye like to men waiting for their own lord—whenever he should depart from the wedding festivities—that when he cometh and knocketh, straightway, they might open to him. ³⁷“Happy are those slaves whom the lord, after he cometh, shall find watching. Verily I say to you that he shall gird himself about and shall have them recline at table, and will come forth and minister to them. ³⁸“And if he should come in the second watch, and in the third watch should he come, and find them thus, happy are those slaves. ³⁹“But know ye this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched and not let his house be broken into. ⁴⁰“Ye therefore also keep on becoming ready, for in the hour ye think not, the Son of Man cometh.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

January 27th – Civil Calendar
January 14th – Church Calendar

1. St. Nina, the Enlightener of Georgia.

Hearing of the Georgian people, the maiden Nina desired from her early years to travel to Georgia and baptize the Georgians. The Mother of God appeared to her and promised her that she would take her to that land. When the Lord opened the path to her, the young Nina indeed went to Georgia, where she very quickly gained the love of the people. She baptized Mirian, King of Georgia, his wife Nana and their son Bakar, who then zealously aided Nina in her missionary efforts. Nina traveled throughout Georgia in the course of her life, and succeeded in bringing all the people to the Christian Faith—and this during a time of fearful persecution of Christians by the Emperor Diocletian. She rested from her many labors and entered into peace in the Lord in the year 335. Her grave is in a church in Samtavro. She performed many miracles both during her lifetime and after her death.

2. Our Holy Fathers, the Martyrs of Sinai and Raithu.

These holy fathers were killed by the Saracens; those of Sinai in the fourth century, and the others in the fifth.

FOR CONSIDERATION

If the dogma of faith seems at times to you to be tough food, you must first try to fulfill Christian moral dogma, and then the understanding of the dogma of faith will be revealed to you. The inquisitive examination of high things, without the effort to rectify one’s life, is of no use whatever. At one time, a group of Egyptian monks was considering Melchisedek, and being unable to come to any clarity about the mysterious personality of this ancient king and high priest, they invited Abba Copres to their place of assembly and questioned him concerning Melchisedek. Hearing this, Copres smote himself on the mouth three times and said: ‘Woe to you, Copres! You have set aside that which God ordained for you to do, and you investigate that which God does not require of you.’ The monks were filled with shame, and dispersed. St. Chrysostom writes: ‘If we hold true dogma and give no thought to our conduct, we shall find this of no use; and also if we give thought to our conduct and neglect true dogma, we shall receive nothing useful to our salvation. If we wish to be delivered from Gehenna and obtain the kingdom, we must be adorned from both sides: with both true faith and uprightness of life.’

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.