Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Second Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 9]. In those days:

3 ¹⁹Peter said to the people, “Repent and turn again, in order to blot out your sins, so that times of refreshing might come from the presence of the Lord, ²⁰“and that He might send forth the One, Jesus Christ, Who hath been appointed to you before, ²¹“Whom it is needful indeed for heaven to receive until the times of restoration of all things, of which God spoke by the mouth of all His holy prophets from of old. ²²“For Moses indeed said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God shall raise up for you a Prophet, like me, from among your brethren; Him shall ye hear in all things, whatsoever He might say to you [cf. Deut. 18:15, 18]. ²³“‘And it shall be that every soul which will not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed utterly from among the people [cf. Deut. 18:19].’ ²⁴“And indeed all the prophets, from Samuel and those subsequent, as many as spoke, also announced beforehand these days. ²⁵“Ye are the sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God Himself made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And all the families of the earth shall be blessed in thy seed [cf. Gen. 22:18].’ ²⁶“To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away each one of you from your wickedness.”

Gospel

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

2 ¹A marriage took place in Cana of Galilee, and the Mother of Jesus was there. ²And Jesus also was invited, and His disciples, to the marriage. ³And after they fell short of wine, the Mother of Jesus saith to Him, “They have no wine.” ⁴Jesus saith to her, “What is it to Me and to thee, woman? Mine hour is not yet come.” ⁵His Mother saith to the servants, “Whatsoever He saith to you, do it.” ⁶And there were standing there six stone waterpots, according to the purification of the Jews, containing two or three measures each. ⁷Jesus saith to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the top. ⁸And Jesus saith to them, “Draw out now, and bear it to the master of the feast.” And they brought it. ⁹Now when the master of the feast tasted the water that had become wine, and knew not from what place it was—but the servants who had drawn the water knew—the master of the feast called the bridegroom, ¹⁰and saith to him, “Every man first setteth forth the good wine, and whenever they have drunk freely, then the inferior. As for thee, thou hast kept the good wine until now.” ¹¹This did Jesus in Cana of Galilee as the beginning of the signs, and it made manifest His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our holy father among the saints, George, Bishop of Mitylene, and the holy Martyr Kalliopios.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

April 20th – Civil Calendar
April 7th – Church Calendar

1. St. George the Confessor.

For his great virtues, which he acquired through long asceticism, George was chosen and installed as Metropolitan of Mytilene. And this saint governed his flock with zeal and wisdom to old age. But when a persecution arose under Leo V, the Armenian, who destroyed the holy icons, this holy elder was summoned by the emperor to Constantinople, to the council of bishops which was summoned, at the emperor’s desire, to put a stop to the veneration of icons. But George not only refused to act according to the emperor’s desire; he, together with some other courageous bishops, stood up in defence of the holy icons. For this he was held in derision by the emperor and exiled to the region of Cherson, where, in physical pain and every sort of need, he spent the remainder of his earthly life. He died and went to immortal life in about 816. He was a wonder-worker both during his life and after his death, through his great righteousness and love for the Lord Jesus.

2. Our Holy Father Nil Sorsky.

One of the great fathers of the Russian Church, he was the founder of the monastic ‘skete’ way of life in Russia. He died peacefully in 1508, and his relics are preserved in the monastery at Sora. His rule of life in the sketes presents a spiritual and pragmatic work of the first order.

3. The Holy Martyr Calliopus (Kalliopios).

He was the only son, obtained from God with tears, of a senator of Perga in Pamphylia. His devout mother, Theoklea, taught him veneration of God and purity of life at an early age. Calliopus was still very young when a terrible persecution arose under the Emperor Maximian. To save him from death, his mother put him into a ship, gave him a sufficient sum of money and sent him off to the city of Pompeiopolis. But things turned out differently, by the providence of God. Disembarking at Pompeiopolis, Calliopus walked straight into some tumultuous pantheistic celebration. When he, in the press of the crazed mob, refused to take part in that senseless feast, he was brought to the commander, Maximus, to whom he confessed that he was a Christian. The commander ordered that he be beaten with iron staves, burned by fire and finally, wounded all over, thrown into prison. Hearing of the torture of her son, his mother, Theoklea, gave away all her goods to the poor and needy, and with a small sum of money, hurried to her son’s prison. Entering the prison, she bowed to her son and bound up his wounds. Finally, the commander pronounced the sentence that Calliopus be crucified. Joy and anguish were mingled together in his mother’s heart. When they led her son to the place of execution, she passed the executioner five gold pieces to crucify her son, not like the Lord, but upside-down. This she did from humility towards the Lord. Calliopus was crucified, upside-down, on Holy Thursday, and his mother stood below the cross giving thanks to God. When they took his dead body down from the cross the next day, she fell on it and breathed her last. Thus these two went to stand before the throne of the King of glory. They suffered with honor in 304.

4. Our Holy Father Daniel of Pereyaslavl.

He had as his special asceticism the care of the dead. Whenever he heard that someone had frozen to death or died in some other way, he hurried to give him burial and to pray to God for him. He died peacefully in 1540. His healing relics are preserved to this day.

5. Our Holy Father Gregory the Sinaite.

A great saint and ascetic of Sinai and Athos (see August 8th).

FOR CONSIDERATION

‘Those in spiritual authority must be careful to differentiate between themselves and those under them, as a shepherd must between himself and his sheep.’ So speaks St. Isidore of Pelusium, interpreting the First Epistle to St. Timothy. The life of a priest always serves as an example, whether for good or for ill. By a good life, a priest confirms the Gospel, and denies it by a bad one. No one else is in such a position to confirm or deny the Gospel as is a priest by his life. A good priest is differentiated by his actions from a bad priest, no less than a shepherd from a wolf. Therefore the portion of the good priest will be with the sons of God, and that of the bad with the wild beasts in darkness. Good shepherds of the Church, even at the moment of their last breath, were concerned for the flock that they were leaving behind them. On his deathbed, St. Joseph the Hymnographer prayed to God: ‘Defend Thy flock, O Son of God, and protect all the works of Thy hands to the end of time. Be Thou a helper of the beloved sons of Thy Church. Give to Thy Bride (the holy Church) eternal peace and stormless quiet.’ And St. Antipas, burning in a red-hot copper ox, prayed to God: ‘Not for myself alone, but for those who will, after me, become partakers of Thy mercy.’

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.