Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Wednesday of the Third Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 19]. In those days:

8 ¹⁸After Simon saw that through the laying on of the hands of the apostles the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, ¹⁹saying, “Give me also this authority, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit.” ²⁰But Peter said to him, “May thy silver be with thee for destruction, because thou didst think to acquire the gift of God by means of money. ²¹“There is neither part nor lot to thee in this matter, for thy heart is not straight before God. ²²“Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and entreat God if perhaps the thought of thy heart be forgiven thee. ²³“For I perceive thee to be in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of unrighteousness.” ²⁴And Simon answered and said, “Entreat ye the Lord for me, so that nothing of which ye have spoken might come upon me.” ²⁵They therefore indeed, having testified and spoken the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem and preached the Gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 21]. The Lord said to the Jews who had believed Him:

6 ³⁵“I am the bread of life; the one who cometh to Me in no wise shall hunger; and the one who believeth in Me in no wise shall thirst at any time. ³⁶“But I said to you that ye also have seen Me, and believe not. ³⁷“All that the Father giveth to Me shall come to Me, and the one who cometh to Me in no wise will I cast out; ³⁸“for I have come down out of the heavens, not in order that I may do Mine own will, but the will of the One Who sent Me. ³⁹“And this is the will of the Father Who sent Me, that all that He hath given Me I should not lose anything of it, but should raise it up in the last day.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Virgin-martyrs Agape, Irene, and Chionia in Illyria.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

April 29th – Civil Calendar
April 16th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyrs Agapia, Chionia and Irene.

They were sisters from the region of Aquileia. When the Emperor Diocletian was staying in Aquileia, he ordered that the famous spiritual guide, Chrysogonus, be executed. An old priest named Zoilus received a vision in which he was shown where the body of Chrysogonus lay unburied. The old man hurried off, found the body of the martyr, placed it in a coffin and carried it to his home. On the thirtieth day after that, St. Chrysogonus appeared to him and told him that the three maidens would be martyred in the next nine days, and that he, Zoilus, would himself enter into rest during that time. Anastasia the Clairvoyant also received the same tidings in a vision sent by Chrysogonus, who had been her teacher. The elder Zoilus did indeed find his rest after nine days, and the three sisters were brought to trial before the emperor. The emperor urged the holy maidens to worship idols, but they all refused, confessing their firm faith in Christ. Irene told the emperor that it was ridiculous to bow down to things made of wood and stone, made to order at an agreed price by the hands of a mortal man. The furious emperor flung them into prison. Now, when the emperor travelled to Macedonia, he took all his slaves and servants with him, including the three sisters. He gave them to Dulcitius, a general, for torture. Inflamed with a dark passion, he desired to defile the maidens, but when he tried to go into the prison, he lost his mind and fell upon the pots and cauldrons in front of the gate, embracing and kissing them, and was completely blackened with soot. When the emperor heard of this happening, he ordered another general to undertake the trial of the sisters. After terrible torture, the judge condemned the first two sisters to death by fire, but kept Irene for a time, hoping to defile her. But, when he sent Irene to the brothel along with some soldiers, an angel of God turned the soldiers back and led her out onto a high hill. The next day the general went out to the hill with his soldiers, and being unable to climb it, ordered that Irene be shot at with arrows. St. Anastasia gathered all three bodies together in one place and gave them burial. They suffered for Christ their King and Lord in about 304.

2. The Holy Martyr Leonides and those with him: Charissa, Nike, Galina, Kallis, Nunechia, Vasilissa and Theodora.

They were thrown into the sea, but it refused to receive them. They walked upon the sea as if it were dry land and sang praises to God: ‘I have won one battle, O Lord, and the soldiers have persecuted me, O Lord, and I have not denied Thee, O Lord; save Thou my soul!’ The pagans were at first astounded to behold this, but they then tied stones around their necks and again threw them into the deep, where they were drowned. They all suffered with honor for Christ our King and Lord in 281.

FOR CONSIDERATION

A story of the elder Barlaam: A man had three friends; two of these he loved sincerely, but avoided the third because he found him boring. It so happened that the emperor summoned the man to pay a debt. He turned to the first friend for aid, but he refused and went away. He asked help of the second, but he would not help him either. Somewhat shamefacedly, he turned to his third friend, who went willingly with him to the emperor. The meaning is this: the first friend is riches, the second is friends and family, and the third is the good deeds of a man in this world. The emperor is God, Who sends out His summons by means of death and demands payment of the debt. A man on the point of death looks for help from his riches, but they simply turn their back on him and pass into the hands of another. Then he turns to his kinsmen, but they go with him for a short distance, but then turn their backs on him, send him off and stay behind themselves tending to their own affairs. Then he begins to think on his good deeds, which he performed so grudgingly—and straightway these come with him on the road to the presence of the King and Judge. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. The soul’s only companions into the other world are his deeds, be they good or bad. All that which was dear and precious to a man abandons him and turns its back on him; only his deeds, down to the very last one, go with him. He who has a mind to understand, let him understand.

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.