Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

The Saturday of the Second Week of the Great Fast

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 309].

3 ¹²Brethren, be taking heed, lest ever there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief in apostatizing from the living God; ¹³but be exhorting one another every day, as long as it is being called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened by the deceit of sin. ¹⁴For we have become partakers of Christ, if indeed we should hold fast the first principle of our subsistence firm even to the end, ¹⁵while it is being said, “Today, if ye will hear His voice, do not go on hardening your hearts as in the provocation [Ps. 94(95):8(7, 8)].” ¹⁶For who, having heard, did provoke? But was it not all those who came out of Egypt by Moses?

Another Reading for Saturday of the Second Week of the Great Fast in Commemoration of the Departed

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians [§ 270].

4 ¹³Brethren, we do not wish you to be ignorant concerning those who have fallen asleep, that ye may not be grieving, even as the rest who have no hope. ¹⁴For if we believe that Jesus died and is risen, so also those who fell asleep through Jesus will God bring with Him. ¹⁵For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we the living, the ones remaining over until the coming of the Lord, in no wise shall precede those who fell asleep. ¹⁶For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout of command, with a voice of an archangel, and with a trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. ¹⁷Then we the living, the ones remaining over, shall be carried off together with them in clouds to a meeting of the Lord in the air, and so shall we always be with the Lord.

Gospel

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

1 ³⁵Jesus, having risen up very early at night, went out and departed into a desolate place, and was praying there. ³⁶And Simon and those with him followed hard after Him. ³⁷And having found Him, they say to Him, “All are seeking Thee.” ³⁸And He saith to them, “Let us be going into the neighboring village-towns, in order that I might preach there also; for it was for this I have come forth.” ³⁹And He was preaching in their synagogues in all Galilee, and casting out the demons.

⁴⁰And a leper cometh to Him, beseeching Him, and kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If Thou art willing, Thou art able to cleanse me.” ⁴¹And Jesus, having been moved with compassion, stretched forth His hand and touched him, and saith to him, “I am willing; be thou cleansed.” ⁴²And after He spoke, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. ⁴³And having sternly admonished him, forthwith He sent him away, ⁴⁴also saying to him, “See that thou say nothing to anyone; but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing what Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.”

Commemoration of the Departed

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 16]. The Lord said to the Jews who had come to Him:

5 ²⁴“Verily, verily, I say to you, that the one who heareth My word and believeth the One Who sent Me hath everlasting life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed over out of death into life. ²⁵“Verily, verily, I say to you, that an hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they who hear shall live. ²⁶“For even as the Father hath life in Himself, so He also gave to the Son to have life in Himself, ²⁷“and He also gave to Him authority to execute judgment. That He is Son of Man, ²⁸“cease marvelling at this; for an hour is coming in which all those in the graves shall hear His voice, ²⁹“and shall go forth—they who did good things to a resurrection of life, but they who practised bad things to a resurrection of condemnation. ³⁰“I am not able to do anything of Myself. Even as I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the One Who sent Me, the Father.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the finding at the Gate of Evgenios of sacred relics of holy martyrs, including the Apostles Andronikos and Junia.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

March 7th – Civil Calendar: Non-Leap Year
March 6th – Civil Calendar: Leap Year
February 22nd – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Maurice and the 70 soldiers with him.

There was a great persecution of Christians in the time of the Emperor Maximian. Maurice was in charge of the local army in the town of Apameia in Syria, and pagans reported him to the emperor as a Christian and a spreader of Christianity among the soldiers. The emperor himself came and took him for questioning. Seventy soldiers were brought before the emperor with Maurice, among them his son, Photinus. The emperor was unable to make the heroes waver either with flattery or with threats. To them, they replied: ‘O emperor, there is no fear in the wise and strong souls of those who love the Lord.’ When the emperor ordered that their military belts and clothing be stripped from them, they said: ‘Our God will clothe us with raiment and girdles that are incorrupting, and with eternal glory’. When the emperor rebuked them for holding in contempt the military status he had given them, they replied: ‘Thine honor is dishonorable, for thou hast forgotten God, Who gave thee this royal power.’ Then the emperor ordered that Maurice’s son be slain before his eyes, that he might thus intimidate the father and the others. But Maurice said: ‘Thou hast fulfilled our desire, O torturer, and sent Photinus the soldier of Christ on before us.’ Then the emperor sentenced them to a most inhuman death: he had them taken to a marshy place, stripped, bound to trees and smeared with honey, for the mosquitoes, wasps and hornets to eat. They gave their souls to God in terrible torment after ten days, and went to eternal rejoicing with the holy angels in heaven. Christians secretly took their bodies and buried them. These courageous soldiers of Christ suffered in about 305.

2. The Many Martyrs of Evgenios, near Constantinople.

In the time of the Emperor Arkadios, the relics of many Christian martyrs were excavated, among which were those of the Apostle Andronicus and his helper, Junia (Rom. 16:7). These relics were discovered by a revelation from God to a cleric, Nicholas Calligraphos. ‘God alone knows their names, and He has written them in the Book of Life in heaven.’ Emperor Andronikos the First built a fine church over the relics of his namesake in the 12th century.

3. Our Holy Fathers Thalassios and Limnaeos.

Syrian hermits, one of their special ascetic practices was of silence. After the death of St. Thalassios in 440, Limnaeos joined St. Maron and lived with him on a mountaintop beneath the open sky.

FOR CONSIDERATION

St. Anthony teaches about ceaseless abiding with God: ‘Let your soul be with God at all times, and your body be as some statue on earth. Stand always straight before the face of God. Have the fear of God always before your eyes, as also the remembrance of death and withdrawal from all worldly things. Die daily, that you may live; for he who fears God will live forever. Be always alert, that you fall not into laziness and idleness. Hate all that is of this world and flee from self, for otherwise it will separate you from God. Hate all that brings harm to your soul. Do not depart from God for the sake of transient things. Do not take the example of him that is weaker than you, but that of him who is more perfect. Be attentive to the example of those who have loved the Lord with all their hearts and performed good works. Above all, pour forth constant prayer and give God grateful thanks for all that happens to you. Fulfil all that is commanded, and you will receive the inheritance which the “eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man” (I Cor. 2:9).’

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.