Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

The Fourth Sunday of the Great Fast, in which we Commemorate St. John Climacus (Of the Ladder).

Mode Plagal Four — Eighth Eothinon

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 314]. Brethren:

6 ¹³God, having made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, swore by Himself, ¹⁴saying, “Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee [cf. Gen. 22:17].” ¹⁵And thus, after he patiently endured, he attained the promise. ¹⁶For men indeed swear by the greater, and the oath for confirmation is to them an end of all contradiction. ¹⁷Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show to the heirs of the promise the immutability of His counsel, mediated by an oath, ¹⁸that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us, ¹⁹which we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and firm, and which entereth into “the inner space behind the veil [Lev. 16:2, 12, 15],” ²⁰where Jesus entered as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek.

COMMEMORATION OF SAINT JOHN OF THE LADDER

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 229]. Brethren:

5 ⁸Be walking as children of light— ⁹for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth— ¹⁰proving what is well-pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹And cease having fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even reprove them. ¹²For it is shameful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. ¹³But all things which are reproved are made manifest by the light; for all which is made manifest is light. ¹⁴Wherefore, He saith, “Rouse thyself, thou who sleepest, and arise from the dead, and the Christ shall shine on thee [cf. Is. 9:2, 26:19, 52:1, 60:1, 2].”

¹⁵Be taking heed then how exactly ye walk, not as unwise ones, but as wise ones, ¹⁶redeeming the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷On this account cease becoming foolish, but become as ones understanding what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸And cease being drunk with wine, in which is prodigality, but keep on being filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and chanting in your heart to the Lord.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 40]. At that time:

9 ¹⁷A certain man came to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, “Teacher, I brought to Thee my son who hath a dumb spirit. ¹⁸“And wheresoever it overtaketh him, it rendeth him; and he foameth and gnasheth his teeth, and is withering away. And I spoke to Thy disciples that they should cast it out, and they did not have the strength.” ¹⁹And He answereth and saith, “O unbelieving generation, until when shall I be with you? Until when shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.” ²⁰And they brought him to Him. And having seen Him, straightway the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and was rolling about foaming. ²¹And He asked his father, “How long a time is it since this hath happened to him?” And he said, “From childhood. ²²“And ofttimes it casteth him both into fire and into water, in order that it might destroy him. But if Thou art able to do anything, have compassion upon us and help us.” ²³And Jesus said to him, “As to the ‘if Thou art able,’ if thou art able to believe, all things can be to the one who believeth.” ²⁴And straightway the father of the little child cried out with tears and was saying, “I believe, O Lord; help Thou mine unbelief.” ²⁵And after Jesus saw that a crowd was running together, He rebuked the spirit, the unclean one, saying to it, “Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I command thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.” ²⁶And the spirit cried out and convulsed him much, and came out. And he became as if he were one dead, insomuch that many said, “He died.” ²⁷But Jesus took hold of his hand and raised him up, and he arose. ²⁸And after He entered into a house, His disciples were questioning Him privately, “Why were we not able to cast it out?” ²⁹And He said to them, “This kind can come forth by nothing, except by prayer and fasting.”

³⁰And having gone forth from that place, they were passing by through Galilee, and He was not willing that anyone should know it. ³¹For He was teaching His disciples and was saying to them, “The Son of Man is being delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill Him; and having been killed, He shall raise Himself the third day.”

Commemoration of Saint John of the Ladder

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 10]. At that time:

For Gk. usage, see Mt. 4:23-5:13; for Sl. usage, see Mt.4:25-5:13.

4 ²³Jesus was going around all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. ²⁴And the report of Him went out into all Syria. And they brought to Him all those who were ill, constrained by various diseases and torments, and possessed by demons, and lunatics, and paralytics; and He cured them. ²⁵And great crowds followed Him from Galilee, and Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and Judæa, and beyond the Jordan.

5 ¹And seeing the crowds, He went up into the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. ²And He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying:
   ³“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.
   ⁴“Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
   ⁵“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
   ⁶“Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.
   ⁷“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall find mercy.
   ⁸“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
   ⁹“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
   ¹⁰“Blessed are they who have been persecuted on account of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.
   ¹¹“Blessed are ye whenever they reproach you and persecute you, and say every evil word against you falsely on account of Me.
   ¹²“Be rejoicing and be exceedingly glad, for your reward is great in the heavens. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

¹³“Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt should become insipid, with what shall it be salted? For it is no longer good for anything, except to be cast out and to be trampled underfoot by men.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy 40 Martyrs who were martyred in the city of Sebaste.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 331]. Brethren:

12 ¹We also, having so great a cloud of witnesses which is set around us, and having laid aside every weight and sin that is easily circumvented, let us by means of patience be running the course which is set before us, ²looking to Jesus, the originator and accomplisher of our faith, Who, in exchange for the joy set before Him, endured a cross, having despised the shame, and hath sat down on the right of the throne of God. ³For consider the One Who hath endured contradiction by sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your souls.

⁴Ye did not yet resist as far as blood, struggling against sin. ⁵And ye have utterly forgotten the exhortation which He discourseth with you as to sons, “My son, cease making small account of the chastisement of the Lord, nor be faint when reproved by Him [Prov. 3:11]. ⁶“For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth [cf. Prov. 3:12].” ⁷If ye endure chastisement, God is dealing with you as with sons; for who is a son whom the father chastiseth not? ⁸But if ye are without chastisement, of which all have become partakers, then ye are bastards and not sons. ⁹Furthermore, we indeed used to have fathers of our flesh as instructors, and we were giving them respect. We shall much more be subject to the Father of the spirits and live, shall we not? ¹⁰For they indeed for a few days were chastening us according to that which seemed fit to them; but He for our profit, for us to partake of His holiness.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 80]. The Lord said this parable:

20 ¹“The kingdom of the heavens is like a man, a master of a house, who went out early in the morning to hire for himself laborers for his vineyard. ²“And after he made an agreement with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them forth into his vineyard. ³“And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. ⁴“And he said to them, ‘Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you.’ And they went forth. ⁵“Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. ⁶“And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and saith to them, ‘Why stand ye here idle all the day?’ ⁷“They say to him, ‘Because no one hired us for himself.’ He saith to them, ‘Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right ye shall receive.’ ⁸“And evening having come to pass, the lord of the vineyard saith to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.’ ⁹“And after they came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they received a denarius apiece. ¹⁰“But the first, having come, thought that they should receive more; and they themselves also received a denarius apiece. ¹¹“And after they received their hire, they began to murmur against the master of the house, ¹²“saying, ‘These last did work but one hour, and thou madest them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the heat.’ ¹³“But he gave answer to one of them and said, ‘Comrade, I do thee no wrong. Thou didst agree with me for a denarius, didst thou not? ¹⁴“‘Take that which is thine own and go thy way. But I wish to give to this last one, even as to thee. ¹⁵“‘Or is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with mine own things? Or is thine eye evil, because I am good?’ ¹⁶“Thus shall the last be first, and the first last; for many are called, but few are chosen.”

Synaxarion Readings

The Fourth Sunday of Great Lent: St. John Climacus

On this day, the fourth Sunday of Great Lent, we commemorate our venerable father among the saints, St. John of Sinai, the author of The Ladder of Divine Ascent.

No one knows the birthplace or parentage of our venerable Father John of Sinai. In his youth, at the age of sixteen, he came to the wilderness of Sinai and dwelt under the guidance of Abba Martyrius. When Abba Martyrius tonsured our venerable Father John at the age of twenty, he took him and went to that pillar of the wilderness, Abba John the Sabbaite in the wilderness of Gouda where he had with him his disciple Stephen the Cappadocian. When the Sabbaite elder saw them, he arose and took water, poured it into a small basin, washed the feet of the disciple (the young John) and kissed his hand; but did not wash the feet of Abba Martyrius his superior. Abba Stephen was scandalized by the situation. After the departure of Abba Martyrius and his disciple, the Elder John noticed that his own disciple was greatly perplexed and said to him, “Why are you so troubled? Believe me, I do not know who the boy is, but today I received the abbot of Sinai and washed his feet.” And after forty years, he did indeed become the abbot according to the prophecy of the elder.

After the passing of his spiritual father, St. John continued alone in the wilderness in a cave in the Wadi Thola. He traveled from time to time, going at least once as far as Alexandria. He records in The Ladder his visit to a large monastic community there and marvels of repentance, obedience, and humility which he observed. In his humility, he counted our venerable father George the Wonderworker of Arselaou as his master. In all, he spent some forty years in solitude and stillness. He guided the monks who dwelt in that desert since he was a most excellent and nurturing spiritual father—for in those days there were innumerable ascetics living in cells all through the mountains and valleys of Sinai. From time to time, he received visitors from farther away. At one point, some other monks, prompted to jealously by the adversary who hates all good, complained of St. John’s fame and loquacious words of teaching. In response, he humbly kept strict silence for over a year, until the same fathers who had complained came, asking him to speak once again for the benefit of all.

After he had spent forty years in the wilderness, the monks of Sinai asked him to become abbot of the great monastery built by the emperor Justinian beside the Burning Bush of Moses, the holy Monastery of St. Catherine. In obedience to the fathers, he left his blessed solitude to take up the responsibilities of abbot. It is told that on the very day on which he assumed the office of abbot, there came a group of about six hundred pilgrims. When they were seated, our venerable Father John saw someone in the crowd with short hair and wearing a Jewish tunic. This person was going about like someone with authority, directing the cooks, the stewards, the storekeepers, and other workers. After the people left, when the servers all sat down to eat, they sought everywhere for the one who had been going about supervising but did not find him. Then the servant of God, our venerable Father John, said, “Do not marvel. The lord Moses did nothing strange in this same place where he served before and which belongs to him.” Behold the wonder! It had been the holy Prophet and Lawgiver Moses who had served the guests.

At the request of Abba John, abbot of Raitho near the shore of the Red Sea, our venerable father wrote his wonderful book, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, in which he sets out the whole of Christian life as a divine ascent of thirty rungs to Christ. This book has been a treasure, a pearl beyond price, to this day. It is useful not only to monastics but to all devout Christians.... St. John was true physician of souls and had great spiritual insight into men’s behavior. He made detailed observations of the symptoms of men’s sin-sick souls, diagnosed their spiritual diseases, and prescribed the appropriate medicine for their recovery and salvation. He showed how one can ascend the “ladder of the virtues” step by step and reach the Promised Land, fleeing the Egypt of the passions. Yet, his success was due only to his own life of constant watchfulness, fasting, vigil, and prayers.

The monastic community he shepherded continues to this day beside the Burning Bush, and his teachings guide and direct monastics throughout the world. During Great Lent, The Ladder is read aloud in monasteries during meals so the monastics may receive his edifying spiritual counsels for their soul’s sustenance, as they simultaneously receive physical nourishment for their bodies.

Today the cave in which he dwelt in the wilderness of Sinai can still be seen, but his resting place is unknown except to the angels. He fell asleep in the Lord in the seventh century. St. John is also commemorated on March 30, the day of his repose.

[From the “Synaxarion of the Lenten Triodion and Pentecostarion.”, HDM Press.]

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

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

1. The Forty Holy Martyrs of Sebaste.

These were all soldiers in the Roman army, but believed firmly in the Lord Jesus. When a persecution arose in the time of Licinius, they were all taken for trial before the commander, who threatened to strip them of their military status. To this one of them, St. Candidus, replied: ‘Do not take only our military status, but also our bodies; nothing is dearer or of greater honor to us than Christ our God.’ Then the commander ordered his servants to stone the holy martyrs to death. But when the servants threw the stones at the Christians, the stones turned back and fell on them themselves, causing them grievous injuries. One stone fell on the commander’s face and smashed his teeth.

The torturers then stripped and bound the holy martyrs, and forced them onto the ice of a frozen lake; setting a watch all around it to prevent any of them escaping. The weather was bitterly cold. To make the torture worse, the pagans built and lit a bathhouse by the lake, in the sight of the freezing sufferers, with the idea that some of them might deny Christ and acknowledge the idols of Rome. In fact, one of them did abjure, came out of the water and went into the bathhouse. As soon as he entered the bath, the hapless one gave up his soul, probably due to the shock. So, he lost both the heavenly life and his earthly life.

After this, one of the sentries on the shore beheld forty crowns come down from heaven in great light. When the sentry beheld one of the crowns separate from the rest, this soldier, beholding this wonder and filled with holy zeal, removed his military clothing, deserted his company, confessed Christ, and joined the holy martyrs on the ice. Therefore, their number remained forty, and the fortieth crown reunited itself with the others. As each soldier reposed to the Lord, one of the wreathes would descend upon his head.

After the martyrs’ repose, the commander of the pagan troops ordered his soldiers to take up the martyrs’ bodies and burn them. When the pagans burned the bodies, their relics melted into one big mass. As the forty were united as one in their earthly life, so their relics became one in death. They remain united in heaven for eternity.

2. Our Holy Father Philoromos the Confessor.

He lived in asceticism in Galatia in the fourth century. It is said of him that he was so perfected in all the virtues that he was more like an angel than a man. He was especially praised for his patience. He was persecuted by the Emperor Julian the Apostate and suffered greatly for Christ, but after the death of that wicked persecutor of Christ, he lived in peace and was of help to many, entering into rest at the age of eighty.

3. St. Caesarios.

The brother of St. Gregory the Theologian, who died in 369, St. Caesarios was a theological writer. Among other things, he gave a painstaking answer to the question: How long did Adam and Eve spend in Paradise before the Fall? Some had put that time at six hours, some at twenty-four hours and some at three days. St. Caesarios’ estimate was that they were there for forty days. Because of that, he says, the Lord Christ fasted for forty days in the wilderness, and was for that length of time tempted of the devil. For, while the old Adam was not able to withstand the devil’s temptation in the abundance of Paradise, the New Adam withstood him as a true knight in hunger and thirst in the wilderness.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Hide your spiritual goods, and do not reveal them without necessity. See how people hide their material goods, and how, when they are compelled to say how much they have, they always conceal the greater part and reveal only the lesser. Only very few people want to reveal all that they have, and an even smaller number pretend to have more than they really have (and these the world regards as frivolous and mindless). This shows you how you must conceal your spiritual goods; that is, your virtues and your good works, your fasts and your vigils and prayers. Why do the wise children of this world not reveal their material goods? For two reasons: that rascals should not hear of them, and that they should not arouse the envy of malicious men. There can be rascals and the envious also with regard to spiritual goods. These are malicious spirits. As soon as you reveal them, they will take care to lessen or squander them. It is true that, as soon as you reveal them without need (let us say, from vanity, in order to receive praise), they snatch them and squander them. And you, who were rich in spiritual goods, imperceptibly lose them and suddenly find yourselves wretched. Many spiritually rich men, saints, made themselves as fools in the sight of the world, in order to hide their great wisdom and power from the sight of men. Abba Isaias writes: ‘Good works are pleasing to the Lord, if they are performed in secret.’ And St. Nilus of Sinai says: ‘The hidden skin of the body is white, but the skin that shows is burnt and black. So it is with our hidden and our visible spiritual works.’

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.