Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Tuesday of the Fifth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 31]. In those days:

12 ²⁵Barnabas and Saul, having fulfilled their ministration, returned from Jerusalem, having taken along with them John who was surnamed Mark.

13 ¹Now there were in the Church that was in Antioch certain prophets and teachers, as Barnabas, and Symeon who is called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian, and also Manaen, a foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ²And as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Separate now to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³Then after they fasted and prayed, and laid their hands upon them, they dismissed them. ⁴They themselves indeed therefore were sent forth by the Holy Spirit and went down to Seleucia; and from that place they sailed to Cyprus. ⁵And having come to be in Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John as an attendant. ⁶And having gone through the island, as far as Paphos, they found a certain magician, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus, ⁷who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul, and sought to hear the word of God. ⁸But Elymas the magician—for so is his name interpreted—withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul in different ways from the faith. ⁹But Saul, who also is called Paul, being filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently on him, ¹⁰and said, “O full of all guile and all cunning, son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? ¹¹“And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season.” And immediately there fell a mist and darkness upon him; and going about he was seeking guides who lead by the hand. ¹²Then the proconsul, after he saw what had happened, believed, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 33]. The Lord said to those Jews who had come to Him:

8 ⁵¹“Verily, verily, I say to you, if anyone should keep My word, he in no wise shall ever see death.” ⁵²Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that Thou hast a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets, and Thou sayest, ‘If anyone should keep My word, he in no wise shall ever taste of death’? ⁵³“Thou art not greater than our father Abraham who died, art Thou? And the prophets died. Whom makest Thou Thyself?” ⁵⁴Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; the One Who glorifieth Me is My Father, of Whom ye say that He is your God. ⁵⁵“And yet ye have not known Him; but I know Him. And if I should say, ‘I know Him not,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I know Him and keep His word. ⁵⁶“Your father Abraham rejoiced exceedingly that he should see My day; and he saw it and was glad.” ⁵⁷Then the Jews said to Him, “Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast Thou seen Abraham?” ⁵⁸Jesus said to them, “Verily, verily, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I am.” ⁵⁹Then they took up stones that they might cast at Him; but Jesus was hidden, and went forth out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Apostles of the Seventy, Jason and Sosipater, and their companions (commemorated on Sl. calendar on the 28^th of April). The commemoration of the holy Nine Martyrs of Kyzicus, Theognis, Rufus, Antipater, Theostichos, Artemas, Magnos, Theodotos, Thavmasios, and Philemon (commemorated on Gk. calendar on the 28^th of April).

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

May 12th – Civil Calendar
April 29th – Church Calendar

1. St. Basil of Ostrog.

Basil was born in Popovo Selo in Herzegovina, of simple and devout parents. From his youth he was filled with love for the Church of God, and when he grew up he went to the monastery of the Dormition of the Mother of God at Trebinje, and became a monk. As such, he quickly became known for his serious and rare ascetic life, for he loaded himself with ascetic practices, each harder than the last. He was later chosen and consecrated as Bishop of Zahum and Skenderia, much against his will. As a bishop, he first lived in the monastery at Tvrdoš, whence, as a good pastor, he confirmed his flock in the Orthodox Faith, keeping it from the cruelty of the Turks and the guile of the Latins. But when he was too pressed-upon by his enemies, and when Tvrdoš* was destroyed by the Turks, Basil moved to Ostrog, where he lived in strict asceticism, protecting his flock by his unceasing and loving prayers. He went peacefully to the Lord in the 16th century, leaving his whole and healing body, incorrupt and wonder-working, to the present day. The miracles at the grave of St. Basil are without number. Both Christians and Moslems hasten to his relics and find healing of the gravest sicknesses and sufferings. A great national gathering takes place there every year at Pentecost.

* Author’s Note: A new church, on the ruins of the old Tvrdoš, has been built in our day by Nikolai Runjevac, from the village of Poljica near Trebinje—a wonderful foundation in the sight of God and His people.

2. The Nine Holy Martyrs of Kyzikos.

These nine courageous martyrs, burning with love for Christ, refused to offer sacrifice to idols or to deny Christ the Lord, for which they were harshly tortured and finally beheaded. In the time of the Emperor Constantine, a church was built in Kyzikos in honor of these martyrs, and their incorrupt relics were laid there. Their names were: Theognes, Roufos, Antipater, Theostichos, Artemas, Magnos, Theodotos, Thaumasios and Philemon. They all scorned the temporal for the sake of the eternal, and the corruptible for the incorruptible. Therefore the Lord brought them into His eternal family and crowned them with wreaths of unfading glory. They suffered with honor and were glorified in the 3rd century.

3. Our Holy Father Memnon the Wonder-worker.

From his youth, Memnon gave himself to fasting and prayer, and purified himself so greatly that he became a dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit. He cured incurable illnesses and worked many other miracles. He appeared during storms at sea and saved boats from destruction. He entered peacefully into rest in the Lord in the second century, and went to His heavenly courts.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Nothing can be hidden from the omniscient God. To Him is known at every moment what is being done on earth, both in the external and in the internal, spiritual world. Not a single intention, not a single wish, not a single thought of his can a man hide from God. How can that which cannot be hidden from holy men be hidden from God? The great Tsar Ivan the Formidable came one day to church. In the church, Blessed Basil the Fool for Christ was at prayer. The tsar was indeed physically present in the church, but his mind was on Sparrow Hill, not far from Moscow, on which a palace had been begun. Throughout the service, Ivan was thinking of how to continue and complete his palace on that hill. After the service, the tsar saw Basil, and asked him where he had been. ‘In church,’ replied Basil, and immediately asked the tsar: ‘And where were you, my tsar?’ ‘I, too, have been in church,’ replied the tsar. But to this, the discerning saint made answer: ‘You are not speaking the truth, my little Ivan, for I saw you in thought walking on Sparrow Hill and building a palace there!’

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.