Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Third Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 20]. In those days:

8 ²⁶An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Rise up and go toward the south, on the way which goeth down from Jerusalem to Gaza”; the same is desert. ²⁷And having risen, he went. And behold, an Ethiopian man, a eunuch, a potentate under Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, and who had come to Jerusalem to make obeisance, ²⁸was returning, and he was both sitting in his chariot and reading the Prophet Esaias. ²⁹And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and join thyself to this chariot.” ³⁰And Philip ran up and heard him reading the Prophet Esaias, and said, “So then dost thou really understand what thou readest?” ³¹But he said, “No. How can I, unless someone should guide me?” And he besought Philip to come up and sit with him. ³²And the section of the Scripture which he was reading was this: “As a sheep He was led to slaughter; and as a lamb dumb before him who sheareth him, thus He openeth not His mouth [cf. Is. 53:7]. ³³“In His humiliation, His judgment was taken away; but who shall describe His generation? For His life is being taken away from the earth [cf. Is. 53:8].” ³⁴And the eunuch answered and said to Philip, “I entreat thee, concerning Whom speaketh the prophet this? Concerning himself or concerning some other?” ³⁵And Philip opened his mouth and began from this Scripture, and preached the good tidings to him—Jesus. ³⁶And as they were going along the way, they came upon some water. And the eunuch saith, “Behold, water; what hindereth me to be baptized?” ³⁷And Philip said, “If thou believest with all thy heart, it is possible.” And he answered and said, “I believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God.” ³⁸And he commanded the chariot to stand still. And they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. ³⁹And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried off Philip, and the eunuch saw him no longer; then he went on his way rejoicing.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 22]. The Lord said to the Jews who had believed in Him:

6 ⁴⁰“This is the will of the One Who sent Me, that everyone who seeth the Son and believeth in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up in the last day.” ⁴¹The Jews then were murmuring about Him, because He said, “I am the bread, the One having come down out of the heavens.” ⁴²And they were saying, “This is Jesus, the son of Joseph, of Whom we know the father and the Mother, is it not? How is it then that this One saith, ‘I have come down out of the heavens’?” ⁴³Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Cease murmuring with one another. ⁴⁴“No one is able to come to Me unless the Father, the One Who sent Me, should draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our holy father among the saints, Symeon, Bishop of Persia, and those with him, Avdella the presbyter, Gothazat, Fousik, and 1,150 others, and our holy father among the saints, Akakios, Bishop of Melitene.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

April 30th – Civil Calendar
April 17th – Church Calendar

1. The Hieromartyr Simeon, Bishop in Persia.

In the time of the wicked King Sapor, Simeon was tortured for Christ together with two of his priests, Audel and Ananias. The king’s eunuch, Ustazan, who had first denied Christ but then, moved by the reprimand of St. Simeon, again confessed the true Faith before the king, was executed before they were. A thousand other Christians were also led to execution with St. Simeon, who purposely stood a little back so that he should be the last to die, and so be able to encourage the other Christians right to the end and keep them from wavering through fear of death. When the priest Ananias laid his head on the block, he was trembling all over. But the king’s clerk, Fusik, who was himself secretly a Christian, began to encourage him, saying: ‘Don’t be frightened, elder. Shut your eyes and be a man, and you’ll see the divine light.’ As soon as he had said this, it was seen that he was a Christian and he was denounced to the king. The king wore him down with harsh tortures, and also his daughter, the maiden Askitria. St. Simeon was eventually beheaded, after having seen his flock into the other world. The following year, on Great Friday, the king’s beloved eunuch, Azat, was slain for Christ, along with another thousand of the faithful. Then the king grieved for his eunuch and gave up killing any more Christians. They all suffered with honor for Christ their King and Lord in about 341.

2. St. Acacius, Bishop of Melitene.

He lived in asceticism in his birthplace, the city of Melitene in Armenia. Blessed Otreius, the bishop of that city, who took part in the Second Ecumenical Council in 381, ordained him to the priesthood. After Otreius’ death, Acacius was chosen as bishop. He participated in the Third Ecumenical Council in 431, which condemned the Nestorian blasphemy concerning the Mother of God. There he, together with St. Kyril of Alexandria, showed great zeal for the purity of the Orthodox Faith. St. Acacius was endowed with great grace by God, and worked many miracles. After long and zealous service of God, he died peacefully in 435.

3. St. Agapetus, Pope of Rome.

He was sent by Theodotus, King of the Goths, to the Emperor Justinian in Constantinople, to dissuade the latter from his campaign against the Goths. On the way, he healed a dumb and blind man. In Constantinople, he helped to uphold Orthodoxy, and died in 536.

4. Our Holy Father Zossima.

One of the founders of the ascetic community on the island of Solovetz (Solovki) in the White Sea. Many great saints were glorified in this community. His predecessor St. Sabbatius entered into rest in 1435, and St. Zossima in 1478.

FOR CONSIDERATION

After the Council of Chalcedon the Emperor Anastasios, a heretic, sent Elias, the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Flavian of Antioch to prison. One day these two saints foresaw the death of the heretic emperor, and simultaneously sent each other word of this, saying: ‘Anastasios has at this moment died; let us set out that we may be judged by God together with him!’ The emperor died, and both patriarchs died two days later. What zeal for the true Faith! And what a humble attitude to God’s judgement! These saints saw no other reason for their earthly life than the truth of God. Neither did they say ‘We have judged,’ but ‘Let God judge!’ Our sojourn on earth is not just for the sake of our being here, but for our personal decision for good or evil, for truth or falsehood. Blessed are we if we can lay all before the will of God and the judgement of God. But in all things a strong faith is vital. These Orthodox hierarchs had strong faith.

So had St. Acacius. Once, in a time of great drought, when the people were in despair, Acacius held a procession with the people all round the town. And he arranged for the Liturgy to be celebrated outside the town, outside the Church of St. Eustace. Consecrating the holy Gifts, Acacius did not pour water into the wine, but prayed to God that He, the Almighty, would send water into the chalice from a cloud. God hearkened to the prayer of His faithful servant and sent abundant rain onto the thirsty fields, as well as into the chalice.

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.